
The Magus
British novelist, 1926–2005.
The Magus is a 1965 novel by John Fowles.
On 3 of the 17 lists it was eligible for.
The Novel Index earns a small commission if you buy through our links, at no extra cost to you. It never affects our rankings. More about how we earn.
At a glance
- Author
- John Fowles
- First published
- 1965
- Length
- 720 pages (UK paperback)
- Genre
- Literary fiction, Psychological, Philosophical, Postmodern
Is The Magus worth reading?
3 of the 17 best-of lists it could have made include it, among them 100 Best Novels (board's list) (Modern Library) and Readers' top 100 novels (The Guardian).
| List | Place | Original |
|---|---|---|
| 100 Best Novels (board's list) (Modern Library, 1998) | No. 93 | See the list |
| Readers' top 100 novels (The Guardian, 2026) | No. 93 | See the list |
| The Big Read top 100 (BBC, 2003) | No. 67 | See the list |
Best edition of The Magus
The edition we link to is the Vintage Classics paperback (2004), 720 pages.
- Publisher
- Vintage Classics (paperback, 2004)
- Pages
- 720
- ISBN
- 9780099478355
How critics and readers rate The Magus
Readers rate it most highly: it earned 27% of the points available on readers' and booksellers' lists, against 8% on critics' lists.
Share of the available points it earned on each kind of list it was eligible for. How the scores work
Books like The Magus
If you liked The Magus, try The Lord of the Rings, The Remains of the Day or Cloud Atlas.



