This was an enjoyable book to read but proves to be a remarkably frustrating one to review. The Paper Magician is aimed primarily at the Young Adult audience and is set in an alternate late Victorian era where magic seems to be tightly integrated into society. In fact it would appear to have taken the place of science (though that may be an over simplification).

You're likely to instinctively compare The Paper Magician with Harry Potter because there are some surface similarities, like references to a school for magicians and the young adult vibe. But, this is a smaller and more intimate story. Coming in at a mere 224 pages it is very brief by fantasy standards and though that is not an inherently bad thing some of my criticisms may result from the brevity.

A Story About Two Characters

Meet Ceony Twill, a young and newly graduated Magician. She wanted to work with metal but instead is forced to apprentice to a Folder, a paper magician. She's not to happy about that and the magician in question, Emery Thane seems like a peculiar sort. Naturally of course he gradually wins her over.

While there are other characters in the story they get minimal page time and with the exception of Lira, more on her in a moment, really don't get any sort of development. This sort of narrow focus on only the key elements of the story is a direct result of its short length, but in many ways worked in the story's favor.

The first third of the story sets up the new status quo for Ceony and establishes both her and Emery's characters as well as their relationship. At which point a major wrench is thrown into the works with the introduction of Lira and the story becomes more action oriented with Ceony going on a quest of sorts to rescue Emery.

Magician and Apprentice

In that first part of the story the relationship between Ceony and Emery is very clearly established as that of master and apprentice with Emery noticeably older than Ceony, by a good ten years and taking an active role in teaching her the craft of Folding. The idea of the apprentice having to go on a quest to save the master fits into the traditional hero's story quite well though the gender roles here are comparatively modern and probably not very authentically Victorian.

Ceony's feelings for Emery evolve noticeably (rather too rapidly really) as the story continues and while it does make for a nice romantic element for the tale, I can see potential future problems from this set up. Ceony's behavior is very much that of a girl with a crush on a mysterious and romantic older man, which fits. But that older man is her teacher. Because of the structure of the story we don't see Emery at any point reciprocate those feelings, but we are also left with the implication that he may in the future. Which just feels a bit, off.

Throughout the story Ceony is shown to be independent minded and relatively self-sufficient, to the extent any of us are at least. But there's a distinct Eliza Doolittle/Henry Higgins dynamic happening here and I'm not sure how I feel about that.

A Unique Take On Magic

Something that's a real strength in The Paper Magician is the way magic works. You want to establish some rules for magic, but it's easy to have magic devolve into something purely mechanistic. Holmberg doesn't explain how magic works, instead she shows what magic can do in certain circumstances.

Folders can only work magic through paper. Which at first sounds like a major limitation, but there are some very inventive uses of paper magic in this story that potentially give it great range and variety. The magic is both whimsical and, well, magical.

And magic isn't limited to just paper, that just happens to be what these two magicians are specialized in. We learn that there are magicians for metal, rubber and plastic. Presumably other substances like rock and wood also have magicians. There's also another, darker, form of magic. There are magician's who work with people and animals as a material.

You Know She's Evil, She's Busty and Wears Black

And it turns out that that is exactly what Lira is. As well as having a personal connection with Emery she is also an active practitioner of this dark magic. She comes across as a little stereotypically evil. She's self-confident, possessive of Emery and dresses inappropriately, by Victorian standards.

While we get to see events from Ceony's perspective and her journey through Emery's heart gives us a lot of insight into his past and thoughts, Lira remains a fairly thin characterization. We find out what she did, but at no point do we learn why. In fact we're really never given a motivation for any of her actions beyond perhaps a certain selfish jealousy.

There are a few hints that something happened. References to other magicians who work or worked with her. But we don't get to see or hear from them. This is a case where the brevity of the story worked against it. Lira could have done with some more development.

How Exactly Does This Society Work?

I kept coming back to this question as I read The Paper Magician. The concept is actually quite fascinating. But we're really not exposed to how society itself functions which magic a known component. There are schools of magic and the one non-magical character we meet seems to treat magic as just part of how things are so I'm assuming this is not an isolated setup.

But we don't find out how, if at all, magic has changed society. Is it just a direct replacement for science? Is there an overlap? Again the brevity of the story really doesn't allow for exploring that, but I want to know. I also want to know if the differences I noted in behavior from the Victorian norm are part of how that society has changed, or just part and parcel of a modern author telling a modern story.

Problems and Yet I Liked It

So I've mentioned several problems I have with the book and I think they are legitimate issues. And yet. I enjoyed reading it. I liked the fact it was a short and relatively small stakes tale (one life on the line, not the entire world). I like the unique take on magic. And above all I liked the character of Ceony.

In the end I think that's what sells it for me, and that's why I want to read the sequel The Glass Magician. There may be some story problems but none of them got in the way of me enjoying the book and I want to read more about the character.