Charlie Holmberg came to a young writer's conference that I attended with a group of students. She did a presentation on magic systems that I highly enjoyed. I've been eager to read this book for quite some time.
Ceony Twill wanted to be a smelter, but instead, they asked her to be a folder. As she neared the completion of her magical education, the direction of her life was changed forever. Her new mentor, Emery Thane, teaches her the basics of paper folding before the deranged Excisioner, Lira, shows up and literally steals his heart. Can Ceony save him?
I had a really hard time rating this book. Part of me found this book absolutely delightful. I loved the magic system. Holmberg is very careful in the way she uses magic - one of the rules she follows that many authors skip is that the magic used has to be within the bounds of what the reader already knows. This makes it more believable, and readers can logically follow the jumps the character takes to solve problems. This is easily the most enjoyable part of the book. The magic system was very carefully planned out, with Thane teaching Ceony many basic things that she encounters in her journey to save his heart.
For the most part, I loved the plot of this book. I did feel that it became a little repetitive. Holmberg almost seems to follow an almost painfully obvious formula while exploring Thane's heart: Ceony runs from Lira, Ceony witnesses some intimate, character-defining memory or imagining of Thane's, Ceony encounters and outsmarts Lira, Ceony runs into the next chamber. The parts of Thane's heart are interesting in and of themselves, but the repetition of this pattern through the bulk of the plot made it a little slow. Some of the things were predictable (for example, I had deduced Lira was his ex-wife before it was revealed), and so some of the middle sections were a little difficult to get through.
A lot of the reviews I glanced through on Goodreads make this sound like people thought it was supposed to be historical fiction. In my opinion, this book is not historical fiction! Yes, it takes place at the turn of the 20th century in England, but that doesn't mean that it's historical fiction. There is no aspect of this book that's supposed to be historically accurate. Holmberg loosely took British society at that time and set her story in it. I feel like this is an irrelevant criticism from people who don't typically read fantasy. I think it was inventive of Holmberg to write a fantasy piece in an older time period. Unlike Harry Potter that is meant to take place in the 1980s or 1990s, The Paper Magician was supposed to take place in the 1890s or so, and many of the aspects fit that. Sure, perhaps she didn't put as much study into their vernacular, but ultimately, THIS IS NOT HISTORICAL FICTION!
Another criticism I've seen is that it's difficult to grasp both the time period and the magic system at the start, and I have to say, I agree. I had a little bit of a difficult time getting into the story at the start. Holmberg's attempt to start in the middle of the action is a little clumsy in my opinion, without some necessary information right at the start.
I haven't had this much to say about a book in a while! In all, I really did enjoy The Paper Magician. While it could certainly stand alone, there was also a lot of potential for additional books, so I really want to read what comes next!
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