I have a question prepared. I am prepared, indeed.

1. Serious question: Quentin and Julia both have what could be described as depression, though of different types and severity. In various places throughout The Magicians and The Magician King you (or your narrator) attribute Quentin’s depression different causes. He perks up when he’s admitted to Brakebills, but falls back into ennui after graduation, but has another sort of awakening on finding Fillory, but even in Fillory develops some anhedonia after being a king for a long time. In other places, you seem to suggest that his depression is due to a lack of purpose in life, or biochemical in nature, or related to the benign neglect of his parents. Of course, these various causes are not mutually exclusive, but I am interested in how you see them as being related or unrelated, and what you think Quentin’s long-term prognosis is.

Relatedly, why is there no magical help for Pouncy’s depression? Would divine intervention have actually helped him?

2. Serious question: will we find out more about Eliot and his past? There is that brief scene in the observatory in the first book, which Quentin thinks on briefly, but then that’s all. Are there no other gay students at Brakebills, or is Eliot only interested in being degraded in a sexual role-play situation by a straight (or ostensibly straight) man? Is this kink a source of his self-loathing, or is that related to his rejection by his family? Was it his father who broke his jaw? Will there be a serious romantic interest for Eliot before the end of the series?

3. Stupid question: why didn’t Quentin use magic to change his clothes when he and Julia were ejected from Fillory into the “real world”?

4. Sort-of stupid question: will The Magician’s Land have more about the nature of magic and its importance in Fillory? Or about the nature and creation of the Neitherlands?

5. Who is the little girl who makes the passports??? I know you probably won’t say outright, but any clues are appreciated!

6. Are you going to reveal whatever the sinister background of Brakebills’ headmaster is?

7. Why doesn’t the “magical establishment” know about the “safe houses” and their hedge witches and wizards? That seems like a huge oversight. How many “Julias” could be out there?

I hope you are enjoying San Francisco and have had the chance to get a Mission style burrito. (If not, there are some good places in the Castro–I recommend La Tortilla on Castro Street or El Castillito on Church near the Safeway).