Uprooted, by Naomi Novik. Del Ray, 2015

In a world that sounds remarkably like Eastern Europe a number of centuries ago, seventeen year old Agnieszka knows she’ll be losing her best friend, Kasia, soon. Kasia is smart, beautiful, and moves with grace. Agnieszka is clumsy, always manages to get dirty, breaks things, can’t cook or sew worth a darn, and manages to muck everything up- although she does have a knack for negotiating the forest without harm and always comes back with something, be it mushrooms, fruit, firewood, or herbs. This is the year of the Choosing, when the local wizard known as the Dragon chooses a seventeen year old girl to take to his tower. She will not be seen again for ten years. The girls, who claim he never molests them (and they are never believed), never stay in the valley after they return and do not speak of what happened to them. It’s important to keep the Dragon happy, because his magic is all that stands between the area and the Wood. Something evil and greedy lives in the forest- IS the forest- and it always seeks to expand its territory.

To her surprise, Agnieszka is picked. She goes to live in the tower- and is surprised to discover that the Dragon is trying to teach her magic. She has a unique natural talent, linked to the earth, and how it is expressed creates problems between her and the Dragon. She has reason to need this new power soon, as warring kingdoms and the Wood create havoc.

I loved this book. I really liked Agnieszka- I can very much identify with a heroine who constantly gets dirty and rips her clothing! The way her magic worked had a very authentic ring to it. The snippy, sarcastic Dragon is kind of an ass at first, but he grew on me a lot. The Wood is a unique menace and very well done; I found it quite creepy. The style is rather like that of a fairy tale- one of the darker ones. There are battles, possessions, assassinations, perilous escapes, horrors, and good things. The ending, when the Wood is revealed and dealt with, surprised me. I could not put this book down- it’s over 400 pages and I read it in two days. 

I received this book free from the Amazon Vine program in return for a fair review. 

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The Glass Magician, by Charlie N. Holmberg. 47 North, 2014

This is the second book in Holmberg’s trilogy about Ceony Twill, an apprentice magician. Set three months after the events in ‘The Paper Magician’, we find Ceony falling more in love with her teacher, Magician Emery Thane, feelings which she thinks he doesn’t reciprocate. We also find Grath Cobalt, partner to the evil Lira who Ceony froze, set on getting the secret of how she did the freeze out of Ceony so he can reverse it, and he’s willing to kill her family and friends to get it. Meanwhile, an Excisioner – a blood magician- is targeting magicians, seeking to increase his powers.

This book took a departure from ‘Paper Magician’ in that the first novel is told all from Ceony’s point of view, while ‘Glass Magician’ also shows Thane’s POV in one instance. ‘Glass Magician’ also has Ceony in a constant fret over how Thane feels about her- she manages to convince herself through much of the novel that she is.. unworthy.. somehow. While I realize she’s a teenager experiencing her first love, it seems odd in a person who is pretty darn resourceful and brave. I also found it annoying that she felt the entire problem with the two renegades was entirely her fault, and that only she should be at risk fixing it. This feeling leads her to rush into situations that lead to her needing rescue, rather than her solving things. In fact, it seemed like every female in this story ended up needing rescue. Ultimately she solves one of the problems on her own- in brilliant fashion- but the first part of the book made me feel like giving up on her.

Once again, it’s the author’s creation of a new kind of magic that impressed me the most. In the first book, it was how many ways paper could be enchanted even though it didn’t seem like a strong material. In this book, it’s glass that’s used in ways I’d never thought of. Of course I’ll read the third one- and hope that Ceony settles down some.

The above is an affiliate link. If you click through and buy something, Amazon will give me a few cents. This did not influence my review.

The Paper Magician, by Charlie N. Holmberg. 47North, 2014

Nineteen year old Ceony Twill has graduated magic school and is being sent for a year’s apprenticeship with a Master Magician. Sadly, she’s not going to learn to bespell metal; she’s being sent to a magician who uses paper for his spells. She considers this a bad fate, paper magic not being very fearsome and useful. She rapidly learns there is a lot more to it than she thought as Emery Thane demonstrates. And soon she’s learning on the fly when Thane is put out of action by an Excisioner- a magician who wields flesh. Thane will die soon if Ceony cannot best the Excisioner.

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, the author introduced a method of magic I’ve not seen used before: the magic of folding paper to create objects of power. It never occurred to me that origami could produce such things as a self-powered glider, a protective chain worn around the body, an animated dog or a beating heart. On the other hand, the story features a teenager falling in love with her 30 year old teacher (nothing happens between them; he spends most of the book in a coma). The teenager herself is bright, brave and talented but kind of irritating with her snoopiness. The time spent with her cooking meals and doing laundry were really not needed as part of the book. The first part of the book moved speedily along, with lots of things happening. The second half bogs down as Ceony wanders through the chambers of Thane’s heart and learns his history via scenes from his past played out in front of her. That section could use some serious editing. Final verdict is that if the library gets the other two books in the serious I’ll probably read them, but I’m not going to go seeking them out. Not sure if this book is aimed at the Young Adult crowd or adults; our library had it in the adult section but it seems more fitting for YA.

The above is an affiliate link. If you click through and buy something, Amazon will give me a few cents. This in no way affected my review.