Ceony Twill, a top graduate of the Tagis Praff School for the Magically Inclined, believes her dreams are crushed - rather than become bonded to metal, as is her dream, she is forced to become an apprentice of Emery Thane - one of the last remaining Folders (magicians bonded to paper). Her reserve wears off quite quickly, as Emery shows her the intricate ways of paper magic. His personal charm helps, too, so it only takes her a short while to warm up to her new path. However, trouble looms on the horizon, with Emery’s life - and quite literally his heart - in grave danger. Ceony takes it into her own hands to rescue her teacher (or perhaps, something more), from succumbing to his wounds and demons, and continue her adventure in the magical alternative to Victorian London.
Ceony as a protagonist only incited neutral feelings in my as I read The Paper Magician, but as the series continued, I became increasingly annoyed with her. In all three novels, she essentially follows the same pattern of making risky choices to feel important. Her entire personality comes down to this, no matter the consequences, although she does feel some remorse after the fact This would be fine if it wasn’t this much of a pattern - we all make mistakes, but if those mistakes are repeated twice, the leniency of benefit of the doubt wears off. I have no sympathy for Ceony, or her antiquated views, which we will get to later.
I have to say dislike the student-teacher dynamic the author chose for Ceony and Emery, simply because it made rooting for their relationship impossible. The power dynamic is completely off-balance, but it becomes a fleeting obstacle before their relationship develops. Furthermore, they are very much isolated from other characters, so much so that I cannot really say much about character portrayal and development for secondary characters, save for the fact they are token representations of friends, enemies or old flames.
The Victorian era the author chose to emulate had so much potential as well - as we know from history books, we have the Victorians to thank for many of our modern inventions, including indoor plumbing and moving medicine away from superstition toward science. The era however, like every other one before and after it, was not without its issues. Class differences, overworked employees in workhouses, dismal human rights and lack of equal rights for women. However, as an aesthetic inspiration for a novel, it should serve as a climatic background... if done correctly. I found myself forgetting about this setting, as it was not emulated in the clothing, or food descriptions (which were numerous). It was, however, emulated in the antiquated views of characters regarding the role of women within society. Even our main character remarks that a single man must get married soon as he is not capable of keeping house. Ceony also starts cleaning and cooking as soon as she is set up in her teacher’s house, even though it is not her duty (granted, the former is a passion of hers, so it's not a problem, but gives her a bit more character).
The one positive I can bring up in this review is the magic system, as it is unlike anything I have ever read. The idea to tweak typical elemental magic such that it only includes controlling man-made substances, with possibility of expansion in line with science discoveries is amazingly creative, and it’s such a shame it served its use in such a mediocre, at best, series. I am not familiar with the other work of this author, but perhaps her creativity will shine in a future novel.
The Paper Magician trilogy is a disappointing piece of fantasy that had the potential of becoming something great, but falling into stereotypes and not making the most of the aesthetics of the chosen setting. For anyone interested in the series, I would recommend reading the first book for the magic system, as it is enjoyable enough, and pretending it’s a standalone.
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