“Charlie is a vibrant writer with an excellent voice and great world building. I thoroughly enjoyed the Paper Magician.” —Brandon Sanderson, author of Mistborn and The Way of Kings Ceony Twill arrives at the cottage of Magician Emery Thane with a broken heart. Having graduated at the top of her class from the Tagis Praff School for the Magically Inclined, Ceony is assigned an apprenticeship in … assigned an apprenticeship in paper magic despite her dreams of bespelling metal. And once she’s bonded to paper, that will be her only magic…forever.
Yet the spells Ceony learns under the strange yet kind Thane turn out to be more marvelous than she could have ever imagined—animating paper creatures, bringing stories to life via ghostly images, even reading fortunes. But as she discovers these wonders, Ceony also learns of the extraordinary dangers of forbidden magic.
An Excisioner—a practitioner of dark, flesh magic—invades the cottage and rips Thane’s heart from his chest. To save her teacher’s life, Ceony must face the evil magician and embark on an unbelievable adventure that will take her into the chambers of Thane’s still-beating heart—and reveal the very soul of the man.
From the imaginative mind of debut author Charlie N. Holmberg, The Paper Magician is an extraordinary adventure both dark and whimsical that will delight readers of all ages.
Short-Listed for the 2015 ALA Fantasy Reading List
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Intriguing, creative. Enjoyable read.
This book follows Ceony Twill. She went to Tagis Praff School for magicians. She completed her schooling in a year instead of the usual 2 years. She got a scholarship from an anonymous donor who turned out to be Magician Thane who she was assigned to. She wanted to be a smolter but with the folder or paper magician shortage she had no choice in the matter.
So, she goes to Magician Thane’s cottage outside of London. She is not at all thrilled about this nor does she want to be a paper magician. But after some time she begins to like paper. Magician Thane makes her a paper dog whom she named Fennel. He acts just like a real dog would.
Then one day Lira shows up. She is the ex wife of Emery. She became an excisioner. Someone that does dark magic with flesh. She flings Ceony aside and pins Emery against the wall of the kitchen. She then proceeds to rip his heart out and leaves. Ceony hurries and makes a paper heart for him. Which is said to maybe last a few days at best. Ceony sits out to find this woman and bring back the heart of the man whom shes falling for unexpectedly. She only has paper magic on her side since once you bond with a material that bond is for life.
This book is a really good read. It has a good plot line and builds characters easily. I almost get a Harry Potter feel. But with this one anyone can be a magician. She can make an origami bird and say breathe and it animates. But this only occurs after the bonding ceremony.
Good series
If I had to rate this book before completing the series, I probably would have given it 3 stars. But since I ended this on a positive note, this book deserves a slightly higher rating in my opinion.
The only big issue I had with The Paper Magician was her journey to save Magician Emery. Some of the scenes could have been shortened and accelerated. It was a drag to read at times.
And I also wish the romance was a bit stronger. I would have liked this book elaborating a bit more on their building relationship.
I had high hopes for this book, and it didn’t quite meet my expectations. Overall… not a bad first book.
Amazing I saw the world I felt want Ceony saw in the situations she was placed in. I can’t wait to start reading book two.
I did love the whimsical feel of this book.
Not good for teen as it depicts a relationship between master and pupil that is totally not appropriate. This is not a romantic relationship to me.
I really liked this series. It was unlike any other “magic” book I’ve ever read. The concept was unique and the characters behave different like people I actually know. Over all, it was a fast enjoyable read that at times made me mad, worried, and amused.
I didn’t think I would enjoy this book as much as I did. The only thing that could have made it better was to have a chapter from the guy’s perspective. How did he feel during the ordeal. I ordered the second and third book right away
This was not just entertaining for a few hours, it changed the way I saw paper forever. I congratulate the author on the effort she put into her research and imaginative details. Just when I thought she couldn’t amaze me with the uses of paper one more time, she pulled it off.
Astrid’s Description:
Ceony Twill is very upset that she has to learn paper magic. She worked hard to get to where she was only to be disappointed when she was not permitted to choose where to learn magic. She acts like a brat towards Magician Emery Thane. He is to be the man to teach her magic. As she learns about paper, she begins to see it in a new light. She also learns more about the forbidden, dark arts.
When an Excisioner, one who practices the dark arts, comes and steals Thane’s heart, Ceony takes his life into her hands and runs off to fight the Excisioner.
This book is fantastic. The detail paints pictures. The characters developed and grew. The ideas are new and exciting. I did not find the writing to be moving at too swift, or too slow, of pace. I loved it. I did notice that some people were angered at the lack of historical accuracy. Seriously people! Is it historically accurate to have MAGIC? Yeah, I didn’t think so, calm down and read the bloody book.
I liked this book so much that I bought the next two!