The Magus vs The Queen of Hearts: Which Should You Read?

Both live on shelves: British and irish fiction, Fiction

Cover of The Magus

The Magus John Fowles · 1965 ★★★★☆ 3.9 670 pages · ≈ 12 h 24 m · Moderate Find on Amazon

vs

Cover of The Queen of Hearts

The Queen of Hearts Wilkie Collins · 1859 ★★★★☆ 4.0 344 pages · ≈ 6 h 22 m · Challenging Find on Amazon

The verdict

Ratings are close: 3.9 vs 4.0 — either is a safe pick by score.
The Queen of Hearts is the quicker read — about 6 hours vs 12 for The Magus.
The Magus is the easier read (Moderate), The Queen of Hearts more demanding (Challenging).

Side by side