The Works - Jamy Ian Swiss Trilogy

These are the books represent a pivotal point in my magical career. Upon hearing about a book of purely essays rather than tricks I was far from intrigued, until one day I read an online article by Jamy Ian Swiss and was struck by his magical insights, which in turn moved me to seek out his first book 'Shattering Illusions'. Hours after I had opened it up I already felt my fundamental perspective on my magic change, I used to go about this art idly picking up tricks and performing them with no further thought that it could be anything more than that, but I soon learnt about everything this wonderful art could offer.

Jamy's writing style and thoughts are undoubtedly controversial to some, and at points does come across as unecessarily harsh or opinionated, but that isn't a bad thing. The point isn't just to blindly agree with everything he says but also consider what you disagree with, as that will help you reinforce your own views on the matters he is discussing. Odds are so many magicians disagree with what he has said because they know so much of his criticisms apply to them.

Its hard to succintly review nearly 1000 pages of essays of a variety of topics, but just trust me when I say this trilogy is an essential series of books for anyone that wishes to think about magic on a deeper level and truly loves their art, there is absolutely so much to be gained from these works no matter what level of magic you are at. Its a miracle that they haven't sold out, if you can I'd highly recommend buying it now, its the best investment you'll make in a long time.