Book 46 The Paper Magician

 

The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg fulfilled the category “Book Set in Victorian Times” for the PopSugar 2022 Reading Challenge. The Victorian era is from June 1837 to January 1901. This story almost qualifies as it takes place later in 1901. I’m counting it.

I read another book for the prompt, but I can’t remember the plot as I read it a year ago. PopSugar drops their list on December 1, and I read House of Shadows by Darcy Coats and enjoyed it. It’s so completely gothic. A young woman is forced to marry and move into a house that does not want her. Literally. Her groom’s new family does not want her there, but the house doesn’t either. What follows is a great haunted house, Victorian gothic tale with tons of ghosts and romance. But at this point, I can’t give you any more details.

I opted to read another for the prompt as I had only a few titles left on the list. I accidentally read the entire series, save one.

Oops.

The Paper Magician spoke to me in an odd way. Here’s what it’s about. Victorian England has magicians. People with the skill can convert man-made materials into spells. Disciplines include paper, rubber, plastic, metal (alloys), fire, and glass. Then someone realized that people are man-made! Uh, oh. And humans became a material, too. These excisioners (as they are called) are pure evil, having to kill to bond to their material.

The story follows Ceony Twill as she starts her training as a paper magician. She had hoped to be a metal magician and work charms on locks, jewelry, etc. No one wants paper. On the surface, it appears boring and useless. Ceony, with her unique memory (almost photographic), learns differently through a series of events that no apprentice should experience.

Her paper master is attacked, and his heart is ripped out by an excisioner. Ceony must step up and save her master using only her skill with paper, defeat the evil excisioner, and live through it all.

The first book was a fun romp through this new magical realm. The author did an excellent job setting up their rules of magic—but not completely. I liked the idea of only being able to use manufactured things instead of the elements. But the magicians could do amazing things with just paper or a piece of glass. I’m not sure all the magic was completely thought through with the world-building. But it worked (if you didn’t overthink it).

I liked that Ceony was not perfect. She was arrogant, hot-headed, and real. She wasn’t some perfect specimen of either womanhood or magicianship. She was a real girl who made rash decisions based on her emotions, as you would expect a twenty-year-old to do. Even for all her snottiness, I loved her. She tries, she thinks, she acts.

As I mentioned, I read the whole series. I loved it for the magic and the characters. The entire world seemed not complete. There was little explanation for why rubber buttons on your shoes can make you go faster, but no one ever tried paper wings on the shoes. The spells and magic seemed random and arbitrary. Of course, it could’ve been a device of the author, using a young woman who might not know all the details. I’ve read many intricate fantasy words for YA, such as Harry Potter, The Immortal Nicolas Flamel, The Infernal Devices. Those books have a solid backdrop for their worlds and book. The Paper Magician series needed a little more development on the magic rules and how it affects the people. BUT it was such a fun romp that I didn’t care. The series inspired me to create my own story, not in the same world but something similar.

I give The Paper Magician (along with the rest of the series, The Glass Magician, and the Master Magician) by Charlie N. Holmberg Four Paper Cranes to deliver this message.