Finally read the Magicians trilogy. Skip it the Sci-Fi Series is better.
The first book; Main guy is mega nerd, learns of magic college. Does pathetic and is not as cool as any of his friends. Done. Okay a monster does break into the school and eat someone; later the cast kills it but that was 4 pages of battle after 200+ of the main character being a whiny bitch.
Book 2, now we get to the point where the real world fucks off and the cast is in a land of magical creatures. Then the cast gets bored. Why, no challenge for them. Main guy fucks up. Gets lost in the real world with no way back and finds out why his cohort is Soooo much more Powerful. Clue; fox God, botched ritual, and a lot of grunting. Then they save all magic from the old gods. Trust me that is about as much description you get on how they did it.
Book 3. Some theft. the magic college is a real dick on rules. Magical world is at war. Slacker character takes the lead. Main guy brings a person back from dead. Kills a god and creates his own magical land with his girlfriend. End
So the producers of the series went, "We like your characters, their development, and the world's they live in. The issue is your plot sucks. So yeah