The Paper Magician

In the midst of reading about depressing climate change this past week I decided I need to read something lighter and more for entertainment value. I also had a credit with Amazon to use on books due to the class action lawsuit settlement. I ended up reading The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg, a young adult novel that looked appealing. If fit the bill perfectly, it isn’t a great book, but it was delightful in many ways.

A young girl in 1901 in London has just finished her coursework to become a magician. And in this society, unlike Harry Potter’s world, magician’s are a normal part of life. Ceony Twill had hopes to become a smelter and make enchanted jewelry, but instead, due to a lack of paper magicians, she is assigned paper. The story begins with her entering into her apprenticeship and then progresses from there.

The book does turn out to have a touch of a love story, but I found the descriptions and ideas for how to use paper as a magical device really interesting. I also enjoyed the main character, she was witty, stuck up for herself, and didn’t always do as she was supposed to. The other reason I picked this book is I really loved the author’s biography, it made me laugh.

This the first book in a series and I’m fairly sure I will continue on, it sucked me in and these are what a friend of mine who never watches TV calls TV novels: light, entertaining, fun.