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  • The Paper Magician

  • The Paper Magician, Book 1
  • Written by: Charlie N. Holmberg
  • Narrated by: Amy McFadden
  • Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins
  • 3.9 out of 5 stars (101 ratings)

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The Paper Magician cover art

The Paper Magician

Written by: Charlie N. Holmberg
Narrated by: Amy McFadden
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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.

What listeners say about The Paper Magician

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Read the physical book

Unfortunately, this is one of those books I think that I would have preferred reading on my own, rather than listening to. I just felt like the way that the narrator voiced the main character was so infuriating that I couldn't focus on the actual story.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

it was ok

I had a hard time relating to the characters, although I liked the premise if the book I did not overly enjoy my listening experience #Audilbe1

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Narrator ruined it

the story was relatively well done though the characters were a bit unlikable. My largest issue with this, and why I will not be getting the sequels via audiobook is the narrator. It was absolutely ridiculous, reading as if she was a swooning maiden for the entire book, regardless of whether she was voicing a character or not.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good story narration odd

The story was good. The narration was weird in that the characters are British but the narrator narrates the story without an accent. The only time she used an accent was in dialogue with other characters.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

If I could return it I would

The story had so much potential but ultimately felt flat and juvenile, not to mention unnecessarily promoting an unhealthy relationship dynamic. BUT the worst part of this for me was the audio book rendered. The voice actor was unfortunately horrible both at emulating a British accent but also at appropriately conveying accurate emotions.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

If you want my heart, you'll have to steal it

Part way through "The Master Magician" I realized I could not just jump into the middle of this series, and had to start from the beginning.
Capsule synopsis: Harry Potter meets Jane Eyre. Throw in elements of Relationship Hell, including a very literal depiction of a romantic metaphor.

But be warned: Even if it was not originally intended, this is a continued story.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Narrator was amazing. story went way off the rails

First off, I don't get the negativity about the performance, the narrator is amazing and her voice is great!
The story of the book....it seems interesting and is building up nicely and then suddenly shifts in an instant and there are some really crazy story choices that become very disturbing, for apparently no reason other than to shock the reader. It really did not make sense, and the whole...falling in love with your teacher trope is....not it. I was REALLY surprised by how much of a nosedive the ending took...won't be continuing, and glad I got it for a b1g2 deal, otherwise i would've definitely returned it.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Half the story is a flash back?

It was okay for the most part, narrator is fine as long as you can accept her over exuberance. The story seems to take a odd turn in the middle. Then it just kinda turns into a flash back for the final half of the book. It felt a little unfinished as a whole book.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Whimsical Fantasy (with dark overtones)

This starts immediately plunging you into the fantastical late Victorian/Edwardian world of Miss Ceony Twill, top of her year at Tagis Praff School for the Magically Inclined, but not able to be a Metal Magician but instead finding herself apprenticed to the young handsome Magician Thane, of the few Paper Magicians.

Loved the magic, the whimsy (Fennel, the birds and frogs) but then the dark side slides in with the appearance of the Excisioners (blood magic wizards) and Ceony had to pit her considerable wits to win the day (any more detail will be definitely spoilery),

This is a YA story, but be warned, there is a lot of blood and gore especially towards the end.

Clever and imaginative. I really enjoyed it.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

some what of a spoiler but not really

I loved this story but the only thing that I am kinda struggling against is that of the relationship between the main characters and their ages. Like one is 19 and the other 30 I believe. That's a what, an 11 years give or take age difference.

Don't get me wrong I'm not hating this story. I really do find it intrested and a wonderful read, it's just the age difference that throws me off. Also, I haven't read the whole series as of writing this, but from the following book titles I expect that the two main characters wil end up in a romantic relationship with each other as hinted in the fortune reading at the end of the story.

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