I read this book when I was younger, and it deserves to be a classic in my eyes. It’s got all the elements of a good fantasy story, most of which I don’t even know how to word, but this book has it!
The world it’s set in is built really well, and just breathes with life. The little details sprinkled throughout the book are just so fun to scour. Not to mention the plot twist(s), which are not necessarily predictable, but make sense completely when they are revealed. The characters all fit who they are, and don’t break character. Every character follows their own logic, and doesn’t just do what is convenient for the plot. It almost feels like the plot was more shaped around the characters than the characters shaped to fit the plot.
Also, every time you confuse a character, it only happens with the siblings the book is focused on, who get confused a lot by people in the book. It feels okay to mess up which one likes fishing and which one likes reading, because the characters do it themselves. Which is just so wonderful to me, it always feels unforgivable when I confuse characters, but this was different.
Finally, I really love the magic system in Magyk. It had depth and somehow remained simple. It subverted the 13 is an unlucky number, stating that the 13th son of the 13th son would have great magic, which was just fun! I do recommend this book, as it is wonderful, though maybe for a younger audience.