The Paper Magician
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.
Readers also enjoyed
Charlie N. Holmberg
Charlie N. Holmberg has a knack for finding magic in the margins—the kind of wonder tucked inside ordinary things, like folded paper, whispered spells, or the quiet ache of a lonely heart. Best known for The Paper Magician series, she writes fantasy that doesn’t shout but hums—spellbinding stories where imaginative worlds meet deeply human characters, and the line between enchantment and reality is deliciously thin.
Raised in Salt Lake City and shaped by the worlds of anime and Star Trek, Holmberg’s early love for storytelling bloomed in fan fiction before evolving into fully realized novels. Her writing often carries that same sense of earnest imagination—worlds that are clever and surprising without ever losing their emotional grounding. Whether it’s the steampunk whimsy of The Plastic Magician, the eerie elegance of The Fifth Doll, or the slow-burning celestial magic of Star Mother, her books unfold with the quiet confidence of an author who trusts her readers to follow her into the strange and the beautiful.
The Paper Magician Trilogy
The Paper Magician Trilogy consists of four books. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
