The Paper Magician

The Paper Magician, Book 1

By: Charlie N. Holmberg

Narrated by: Amy McFadden

Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

“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 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 fans of all ages.

Short-Listed for the 2015 ALA Fantasy Reading List

©2014 Charlie N. Holmberg (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

whimsical adventure quick pace.

wonderful take on use of witchcraft and sorcery. seeing how a young woman is in a coming of age story. into the growth of a masterful adult and learning how to not judge people by their first impression that people are actually a multi-faceted human beings. even a little bit of blossoming of young romance.

Good...but for the narration

I enjoyed the story, but prefer to enjoy this series via ebook. The choice of an American narrator for a series based in London is incomprehensible. I did not enjoy this narrator for this piece.

A wonderful story

As noted by other reviewers, the only drawback to this recording is the voice chosen for the main character by the performer. That and the repeated sound of heartbeats... Overall however, it's a good performance and a great story.

This was...well...something.

This was...something.
Non-spoiler review: Uninteresting adventure that I wish would end but took up the whole book. Heroin somehow gets into and out of a dangerous situation despite her complaining about her craft and not having much experience in her field against a character that should have been able to kill her in the first five minutes. Blah. Wasn't impressed and had hoped for better when I started it. :/


-Unenthusiastic Spoilers Ahead-

You meet the main character and are sort of introduced to the world the book it set in. You meet the love interest/mentor character. Main character complains a lot.
Suddenly the love interest/mentor has his heart -literally- stolen by a past lover who has turned evil. Main character has to save his heart which involves literally 'walking through his heart' and experiencing his past memories as well as his hopes, dreams, and fears. This takes up the whole book. Somehow despite having no real experience in her field she is able to get out of the dangerous situation just fine, saves the guy's heart, and returns to confess her feelings. This whole adventure is you getting to learn about the mentor/love interest background because you and the main character act as voyeurs watching his whole life play in front of you with the main character's commentary.

Great Book....

Loved it. Main characters name is a bit weird but it is and excellent book. Will read the next..

Quick paced and sweet

Set in Victorian England in a magical world we are introduced to our protagonist, who has been assigned to paper magic as her path in magic. The man she studies under is mysterious and sweet. One night he is gravely attacked with a forbidden magic by our antagonist, setting the stage for our main character to set out on a quest with what little knowledge she has of paper magic. Amy McFadden does an excellent job narrating the story making it quite amusing and entertaining. I believe anyone who is a fan of light hearted fantasy/magic themed books would enjoy it. Just don't expect it to be a deeply profound read, it's not Shakespeare.

Now I have to listen to/read the rest!

The magical system here is a new design to me. I am interested in reading the rest. More than a sprinkling of romance to come makes this enjoyable.

I'm not sure what to make of the way this tells a story within a story--that is, some of this is Ceony's story but there's also a good chunk of her spectating on Emery Thane's life in an odd way. It's not intentionally voeyeristic on her part, but it is a strange way to tell a character's story and I'm not sure what I think of it.

Cute story, weak plot

Entertaining enough for a debut novel, and the world building and magic system are interesting. The protagonist is well drawn too. Holmberg's weakness as a new author seems to be plotting. I will eventually read the other books in this trilogy, because she clearly had potential. I just wish her editor had spent more time and been willing to push a structural revision.

Good Story

Stylistically, I had a little trouble getting into the book but easily got past that.

Always a Favorite!

This Is one of my go to books, both paper and audiobook. I throughly enjoy to story and would recommend that anyone who starts this book to continue reading/listening to the rest of the series! It’s not always what you would expect.