Charlie Holmberg’s The Paper Magician (reviewed here) surprised me with its fresh take on elemental magic and the two main characters, Ceomy and her mentor Thane. Holmberg follow up novel, The Glass Magician, is set immediately after the first book and introduces new heroic side kicks and new villains. While The Glass Magician is good, it is not in the same league as The Paper Magician, primarily because it has more YA elements than the first.
In Paper Ceomy is brave and prudent and takes independent action only to save Thane’s life, and only when there is nothing else to do. In The Glass Magician, Ceomy makes one dumb move after another, tries to go after Grath – unsuccessfully – despite being told not to, and gets her good friend into the mess. The Ceomy vs. Villains situations comprise the bulk of the plot, something more typical of YA fantasy than stories aimed at adults.
Also typical of YA novels, Ceomy spends too much of the book worrying whether Thane loves her. The romance was a nice plus in Paper, but it’s overdone in Glass, reducing mature, likable Ceomy to a silly girl.
I still enjoyed The Glass Magician, still liked Ceomy, Thane and the magic system. I just didn’t enjoy it quite as much as The Paper Magician.
3-4 Stars
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