The Master Magician

Book Title: The Master Magician

Author: Charlie N. Holmberg

Series: The Paper Magician #3

Date Started: October 23rd 2019

Date Completed: October 21st 2019

Genres: Romance, Fantasy, Adventure, Mystery

Quality Rating: Three Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Three Stars

Final Rating: Three Stars

Review:

The Master Magician is the final instalment in an easy, enjoyable series of books. Magical, adventurous and cute (but kinda sickly sweet, you know), it's the kind of thing you pick up when you just aren't feeling up to a 600-page epic that's going to try and trick you and have you on the edge of your seat. I just wanted some magic, some mystery, and pretty metaphors.

Holmberg's triumph with this series is its magic system, and she absolutely dives into it. From the things you can do with each discipline of magic (paper, smelter (metal), polymaker (plastic), gaffer (glass), excisioner (blood), more that I'm sure I've forgotten), to the ways in which magic affects 18th Century London and the authorities governing it. I'll admit, sometimes things don't make sense; a trick with paper that was conveniently used earlier now doesn't occur to the characters, or something that could've completely solved a problem earlier is introduced without comment later on. But for the pure creativity of the magic system and how exciting it is to see everything develop, it doesn't really matter. Holmberg pulls something new out of the bag for practically every page you turn.

Let's be honest, each one of these books is basically the same formula when you think about it, but it's done in a way that you don't really notice unless you do sit down and think about it. Ultimately, that's what all stories are anyway. I will say that what annoyed me slightly was the collection of side stories that were very easily solved, to the point it made me wonder why they were there at all. But, oh well. What I'm basically saying is that The Paper Magician series isn't going to be winning any awards for its writing, but we need to remember that books and stories are just as important as entertainment as they are pieces of literature.

I do wonder how Ceony is still alive at this point when her instincts and ability to stay out of trouble are practically non-existent - and knowingly so - for the plot's sake. Yes, you need a way to get her into the middle of the danger for tension but this girl has the best luck at not dying when she really should be dead I have ever come across. The other characters are also incredibly irresponsible when they tell her anything to do with the plot considering her track record, but where would the fun in that be.

The Paper Magician trilogy has been a nice, pretty series wrapped up in a nice, pretty bow. It's not always my thing, but it's been fun, I've had a good time. I fully support easy, enjoyable reads, especially since we all need those simple stories to pull us away from the real world every now and then.

The Scorpio Races

Book Title: The Scorpio Races

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Date Started: September 27th 2019

Date Completed: October 7th 2019

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Romance

Quality Rating: Five Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Five Stars

Final Rating: Five Stars

Review:

To say this book wasn't what I expected means a couple of things, but mostly it means I didn't expect to be so knocked off my feet. The Scorpio Races is very different from a lot of things out there, and it's fearlessly confident of its worth; there's no feeling that things are being pushed in or hurried up to keep the reader entertained. It is a gentle, fierce book, and is proud of it.

I love that the writing is so understated. This story is slow-burning, and all the more satisfying for it. The stakes are sky-high for these characters in very personal ways, but the narrative ebbs and flows with the natural timing of things like waves. It seems to instinctively know when to introduce the little threads of feminism or class politics, when to give you a small thrill, when to fill you with dread. It almost feels like there isn't a writer at all, which is all the more impressive on Stiefvater's part.

The main crux of the plot is the annual race with people-eating horses - and yes, I've simplified that because I think the story is really about the people. Stiefvater basically gives a masterclass on how to unite character motivations with a narrative so that the audience both understands the person and fully backs in the story. On top of that perfectly structured groundwork, she starts laying worldbuilding and lore and vibrancy: a world that is grounded in its realism, set on an offshore island sometime in the late 20th/early 21st century presumably, but magical enough that we can fall head over heels into the dreamlike atmosphere.

Both protagonists, Sean and Puck alike, are equals in this story. The ending perhaps felt like it wrapped up Sean's story a little neater than Puck's, but I didn't feel like any part of the plot was favoured at all until then. Because we were watching two very different but still comparable stories at once, entirely balanced, their arcs (and the romance) was so much more interesting. I didn't know who I wanted to win the race, I just knew that I wanted them both to get what they needed in the end. And that's a stronger driving force than any material goal.

Stiefvater's The Raven Cycle was enjoyable, but I honestly believe that The Scorpio Races is a mini-masterpiece that deserves just as much recognition. Maybe it should even be added to the lines of classics that favour like Black Beauty and Flambards, not because it happens to have horses in it, but because it understands the thoughtful stories they seem to tell with those around them, and the fierce inspiration they seem to give to writers.