The Master Magician

The rule of magic - a person can bond with one magic only during their lifetime. Ceony Twill has a secret, one that she has kept hidden from the Magician authorities and her mentor Mg. Emery Thane. Ceony discovered a spell that can unbind her from her bonded Paper magic and bind her to another of her choice as often as she wishes and it is getting harder to keep it to herself. Ceony has excelled in her Apprenticeship studies under Emery and is ready to sit her final exam to graduate as a Magician. Emery wishes to avoid any question of favouritism due to their secret relationship (as they plan to reveal the news once she qualifies) and has arranged for her another Paper Magician to test her. However, Mg. Bailey detests Emery and due to his deep grudge, he is determined to make Ceony go through a tough and rigorous process before he will even allow her to attempt the exam as payback. On top of this, a deadly and psychotic Excisioner called Saraj escapes prison and out to seek revenge on Ceony. He becomes aware of her particular talents and wants the knowledge for himself. While Emery and Ceony are separated she promises to not go after Saraj alone but when communications abruptly cease from Emery she fears for his and her family's safety. She decides she cannot sit idly by and do nothing. Armed with all magic at her disposal, Ceony will need every spell in her unique arsenal to track and defeat Saraj but even with her impressive skills, will her abilities be enough to get to the bloodthirsty criminal before it's too late? 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟. Perfect ending to an amazing, thrilling, magical and romantic series. I loved Ceony, she was impressive both as a person for her loyalty, bravery and love as well as her commitment to her abilities and perseverance under pressure. Emery continues to be the dorky and endearingly sweet man I loved from day 1. I adored how their relationship has allowed them both to grow stronger as individuals and as a powerful duo. I'm sad that this trilogy is ending but I have thoroughly enjoyed every page.

This is the last book in the Paper Magician Trilogy. On the romance side of the story: Ceony is nearing the end of her 2 year apprenticeship under the tutelage of Magician Thane. When last we saw them, Ceony had been a live-in apprentice for just over 3 months. Between that time and the start of this book, Ceony’s romance with Thane has developed, but that development has occurred “off stage”, between books. I found that disappointing because I wanted to be there for that stuff! Sigh… of frustration. However, the romance development I missed, isn’t what I initially think it is. If you’re expecting passion and sex and angst, you won’t get that here. That said, early on in this story I experienced one of the most romantic scenes I have read in a while. I slapped my hands over my heart as I read it and sighed. The end satisfies the romantic in me as well. But the romance is not the focus of the story. Not all villains were “taken care of” in the first 2 books. Ceony is alarmed to learn one is on the loose. She worries about the safety of her family whose details have always been known to all the villains. Of course, true to character, she has to meddle in matters that are under control as far as Thane is concerned. And in meddling, does she make things better or worse? An added element to the story is that Ceony spends the last weeks of her apprenticeship with another Magician instead of Thane, in order to avoid any perceived bias at exam time because of her relationship with Thane. The new student/teacher relationship is fraught with difficulty. Ceony’s arrogance comes to the fore. No humility there. She is an accelerated, brilliant student. It makes sense that she has confidence and considers some lessons beneath her or basic. But her attitude can be off-putting. It jolted me. She reminded me of the arrogant confidence of Dr. House in the popular TV series. I wondered why I could find that arrogance tolerable from a man, but harder to swallow from a young, early 1900’s woman. That said, I still love Ceony. She is courageous and clever, daring and passionate about using all the magic knowledge she possesses for good and defeating evil. And what magic knowledge Ceony has developed! She has a youthful naivete in her that I envy, as she is prepared to take risks I would never have the courage to undertake. I could see some plot-holes, and I often wondered about how Ceony was tolerated by her mentors and associates. Despite this, and the handling of the romance (I wanted MORE ROMANCE), I loved this final book. This was a great end to the trilogy – or was it? There is scope for further books to be written in this Magician series, and I hope they are. The reading experience during this book, and the entire trilogy was unique for me. I was taken on adventurous, mysterious, suspenseful and romantic rides. I lived vicariously. I loved it all. The cover artwork on all three books is great. Goes perfectly with the story. Recommended.

After reading the first two books, I had to dive into this one, as well. While The Paper Magician remains my favourite of the three, as it introduces the reader to the characters and their world, The Master Magician--like The Glass Magician before it--further solidifies who the characters are, and what their goals and relationships are to one another. In this, (The Master Magician), I can say with all certainty that I like the progress with regards to character growth and relationships--up to a certain point. Don't get me wrong; I love this book, love how the world is crafted, the tension, the way the plot moves, even when Ceony is making some of the same poor choices she did in the previous book that led to terrible consequences--it all feels very authentic in that. The fact that, as a person, she is subject to error, and without those errors, there wouldn't be a story to follow. That said, I found myself a bit disappointed in the ending--not the very end, per se, I loved that--but in the way things left off between Ceony and Bennet. It felt like it left a lot unresolved, and same in regards to things between her and Magician Bailey, as well as Mg. Bailey and Mg. Thane. Then again, perhaps this was intended to leave it to the reader's imaginations. Criticism aside, it was still a brilliantly written book. It flowed beautifully, the action was every bit as compelling as it had been in the previous two books, and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. If not for an interview I've seen of the author in which she explains something remains unresolved in the final book--and that in turn, a fourth installment MAY be added in the distant future--I might be more disappointed in the way things ended than I am. All in all, I really enjoyed these books from start to finish, and if Charlie N. Holmberg ever continues with the series, I'd certainly be more than happy to keep reading on. :)

*Sigh* I'm really disappointed in this third book and struggled to finish it. [Contains some spoilers, but not big ones.] I read The Paper Magician (Book #1), and really enjoyed it. The world the author created was built just enough, the characters were interesting, the villain was unique, and the resolution was satisfying. Ceony, the protagonist, was a little annoying, but in a youthful sort of way that made sense for her character. I didn't *love* the relationship between Ceony and Emery, but it also didn't feel out of place. The Glass Magician (Book #2), was less enjoyable than the first book, but follow-up works are hard and I still enjoyed the read. Ceony's infatuation with Emery was really starting to irk me, but I was still able to write it off as a crush on her part. Her friendship with Delilah seemed out of place because Delilah (or hardly any other characters from her school, etc.) was not introduced in the first book. So, now I'm to The Paper Magician (Book #3). I basically didn't like anything about this book. Ceony comes off as ridiculously juvenile and whiny despite being more experienced and about to test for her official title of "Magician." In the previous books she was headstrong, but in this one she's just silly. Maybe the author was trying to show Ceony's evolution into a full-fledged magician, but it didn't work. Mg. Bailey as a character had a lot of potential but by the end of the book I didn't even know why he was a character in the story at all! He ends up being a weak Snape knock-off. Ceony's obsession/infatuation with Emery became really obnoxious (as a side note, I didn't care for how much cooking/cleaning/etc. she did in the first two books, but in the third book, combined with all the other "relationship" details, it really seemed like she was practicing to be a maid/wife). Ceony's relationship with Bennet was also really random, and the ending conversation between them came out of no where. And let's talk about the ending conversation between Ceony and Mg. Aviosky... Um, what?!? I know this book is a period piece, and the role of women and opportunities for women need to be considered in that context (I guess), but seriously.... I'm giving this book 3 stars because the first two were substantially better and laid at least a bit of a foundation. On it's own though, I'd probably give the book 1-2 stars.

To be honest, the last part was a bit of a disappointment. It was still entertaining, but I expected more. Ceony and Emery's relationship is still a big mystery to me. Their "love" came out of nowhere in book one, wasn't too developed in book two, and it doesn't seem to have a solid foundation in this book either. We're told, rather than shown, that they're in love. Yes, we see affection between the two, but the plot skips two years ahead from book two to book three and all the things that build a relationship are missing from the picture of those two in my head. As such, I couldn't quite relate to Ceony's desire to finish her apprenticeship as quickly as possible to finally be with Emery. In general, Ceony is not a very good protagonist. I like her humour and her general attitude, but her decision-making is seriously flawed. She constantly acts like she's the only one who could possibly succeed in bringing down Saraj. In the previous books, most of her stupid decisions were made in emergency situations. In this one, she seems to seek out every dangerous and idiotic course of action on purpose, and for no other reason than that she thinks she needs to prove her worth and show everyone how amazing she is. It seemed like her knowledge of being able to switch from one kind of magic to another made her even more reckless. A lot of the potential of this series wasn't realized. The conflicts were never really solved to my satisfaction. Mg. Bailey slowly faded away without any sort of conclusion to his part in the story - Ceony "beat" him, and that's his story over (never mind the fact that she was so sympathetic towards him in the first book and now seems to loathe him because he get int the way of her epic romance). We never learn what happens with Ceony's knowledge of switching from one type of magic to another. Several more people know the secret now, but we don't get an inkling of how this impacts the world (which is a real pity) and how it changes the magical community. I know all of this sounds very negative, but the book was easy and quick to read. It was fluently written and coherent and it was (despite all its flaws) entertaining to read. It's the kind of book you can bring on holiday - light enough that a few distractions don't matter, but engaging enough to keep your interest. And really, after reading the first two, wouldn't you want to know how it ends?