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A review by mastersal
The Glass Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg
3.0
While I was mostly distracted while reading this (nothing to do with the book), I am glad I picked this up. This a cute, undemanding fantasy with a great magic-world premise - quite enjoyable.
The plot is about Ceony who continues her paper apprenticeship and gets into scapes along the way. It picks up soon after Book 1 so the main relationship between her and Emery continues to feel quite rushed - they’ve known each other for only three months during this book! I was still invested in them together however; mostly due to Emery who has this absent-minded professor air about him.
Ceony remains a bit of an idiot - rushing into situations where common sense would dictate she stay away. For me I forgave that (despite the dreaded first person POV which annoys me usually) largely because we see her work on other things. The magic system here - with its need for preparation - helps set this up. There is no magic wand waving in this system where material has to be prepped and spells readies. I like that the bag of tricks is finite.
The world also opens up here to feature Glass Magic through a new friend of Ceony - which was the best part in my mind. The central action plots and villain remain paper-thin which was a shame - unlike the first book, the villains were even less compelling here having little context or connection. They were the weakest part of the story for me.
Still - read this book for the world, the main characters (idiots and all). Quick fun time.
PS. Do not listen to the audiobook - I listened to the sample and the male voices that the narrator put on made me shudder.
The plot is about Ceony who continues her paper apprenticeship and gets into scapes along the way. It picks up soon after Book 1 so the main relationship between her and Emery continues to feel quite rushed - they’ve known each other for only three months during this book! I was still invested in them together however; mostly due to Emery who has this absent-minded professor air about him.
Ceony remains a bit of an idiot - rushing into situations where common sense would dictate she stay away. For me I forgave that (despite the dreaded first person POV which annoys me usually) largely because we see her work on other things. The magic system here - with its need for preparation - helps set this up. There is no magic wand waving in this system where material has to be prepped and spells readies. I like that the bag of tricks is finite.
The world also opens up here to feature Glass Magic through a new friend of Ceony - which was the best part in my mind. The central action plots and villain remain paper-thin which was a shame - unlike the first book, the villains were even less compelling here having little context or connection. They were the weakest part of the story for me.
Still - read this book for the world, the main characters (idiots and all). Quick fun time.
PS. Do not listen to the audiobook - I listened to the sample and the male voices that the narrator put on made me shudder.