Based on Lev Grossman’s best-selling trilogy, the new Syfy TV show, The Magicians introduces a new magical world. At first it seems like a personal safe heaven to main character Quentin Coldwater (Jason Ralph), but he soon discovers the danger that lurks underneath.

This fantasy/horror series takes place around Brakebills University, a school that specializes in teaching magicians how to perfect their spellcasting. When Quentin is invited to study at Brakebills, he discovers that the fantasy children’s book series, “Fillory and Further”, that helped him through his childhood, might be real. As Quentin and his classmates try to understand magic, he realizes Fillory isn’t at all what he believed it to be as a young boy.

I’ve never read Grossman’s books, so I can’t say how closely the show relates, but from the pilot, it had me hooked. It took a while to get the ball of the plot rolling but once it did, there has not been a dull moment. In the beginning, I got serious Harry Potter/ Chronicles of Narnia vibes until the end of the pilot when the darker, scarier themes were revealed. As the season progresses, characters are thrown into steamy romances, life or death situations (no spoilers, but they mostly end with death), and magical secrets with only a glimmer of hope to keep them going.

The Magicians will leave you craving for the next episode with each heart-wrenching cliffhanger. Season two premiered on Jan. 25, and you can catch up on missed episodes on the Syfy app or website. If you still need to watch the first season, luckily for you it’s available for binge-watching on Netflix and Hulu.