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I am a massive fan of Royal Road to Card Magic. It was virtually my bible at one time. Even today 50% of my repertoire comes from that one book.
But yes. Get the Mark Wilson book first to find your feet. Then if you are attracted to card tricks go for the Royal Road. I find Card College too big and unwieldy not to say expensive. I don't dislike it though.

I started with Royal Road and went onto Mark Wilson's later, but looking back, I wish I'd started with Mark Wilson's. I got so far into Card Magic I couldn't work on coins and the like properly. I was so used to the way card magic worked I couldn't grasp coin skills. I had to completely give up on using cards to learn the basic coin slights and vanishes.

I still think RRTCM is a great book however, in fact it is one of my favourites.

I started with the mark Wilson course when I began and it gives a very solid base in all forms of magic including coin, card, rope, stage, mentalism, and impromptu. If your interest in card magic it is one of the best starting points in my oppinion and gives you a very strong base to move on into more advanced books. The teaching in it is clear and easy to understand.
So if you are looking for the easiest book to learn from I would lean towards Mark Wilson.


A charming Cheat