“The Magician’s Land” is a young adult fantasy novel by Lev Grossman, is the third part of his “Magicians” trilogy, and which follows the continuing adventures of Quentin Coldwater after his dethroning and banishment from the magical land of Fillory, and his efforts to nevertheless save Fillory once more. Having been exiled from Fillory, Quentin, now nearing the age of 30, struggles back in the real world. He ultimately decides to return to Brakebills, to at least exist in the world of magic peripherally through it. There, he becomes a professor of Mending Magic, growing comfortable with his life at the school, but remains haunted by the past – especially by the death of Alice.

Plum, a senior student at Brakebills, and a descendent of Rupert Chatwin from the “Fillory and Further” novels, looks forward to life after college. She and some of her friends decide to play a magic prank on another student for stealing wine from their club, but the prank backfires when Plum accidentally nearly releases Alice’s niffin. Quentin manages to save her, but chooses not to attempt to destroy Alice. Plum is expelled and Quentin is fired for this.

Quentin takes Plum under his wing, and the two become involved in the criminal world of magic. A blackbird hires them to steal a suitcase that once belonged to Rupert Chatwin. Inside is a journal with a spell that can be used to create an entirely new magical land, such as Fillory. Quentin and Plum successfully steal the suitcase and journal, and hole up in an apartment in New York’s West Village. Why the bird wants this journal is unknown to anyone, and the bird insists this is no one else’s concern but his own.

Meanwhile, in Fillory, King Eliot, Queen Janet, King Josh, and Queen Poppy receive word from Ember the Ram god that Fillory’s time is limited, and that Fillory will one day cease to exist. All four determine that they will find a way to prevent this. Ultimately, Eliot crosses over into the real world to see if Quentin has any ideas.

In the real world, Quentin creates a new land with a spell found in Rupert’s journal. Quentin is stunned to find that Alice’s niffin inhabits this new world. Quentin manages to trap Alice’s niffin, and to restore her to a human being. Alice is enraged that she is now mortal once more, but slowly comes to forgive Quentin for restoring her, and for the bad past between them.

Together with Eliot and Plum, Quentin and Alice journey to the Neitherlands to find Penny, who is still tending to things with the Order. They seek out his help to find a solution. They discover that Fillory still has potential, but how to save it is unknown. The bird also appears, confessing he works for Ember, and it is Ember who wants the journal.

Quentin and Alice then journey to Fillory as it collapses in on itself while a war rages across the land. They confront Ember, having realized his plan: With the journal, he would begin a new world according exactly to his specification while Fillory died. Now, Ember will die with Fillory. There is one way to save Fillory, and that is with the sacrifice of holy blood from a god, just as a sacrifice of holy blood originally created Fillory. Quentin becomes a dragon to beat Ember into submission, and then becomes a man once more to kill Ember. Umber, Ember’s brother, willingly gives himself up for sacrifice.

Quentin, now imbued with the power of a god, fixes Fillory and restores it to its former glory. He then gives up his god powers, for Fillory can exist without a god for the time being. He and Alice are the only ones who return to Earth, where they create a new land of their own, together.