![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nwhikerIt could have been good, a new take on magic, a rather interesting one.
It wasn't.
Because the author, like so many, wanted to pretend why was writing fantasy, but she was in fact writing a romance.
Which is fine. Just called is magical romance, and be honest about it.
The books? Not linking, but The Paper Magician, The Glass Magician, and The Master Magician. By Charlie N. Holmberg, who is very proud of her boy name, she and her sisters all got boy names, hurl!
Warning! There may be spoilers. But really, don't waste time on the books, but warning anyhow.
The main character is un-beleivable, un-likeable, nasty, rude, and preachy. She falls in love with her teacher in about three minutes. Just... no.
The books don't get better, they get worse, the first was the best of the lot, and even it wasn't very good. I read all three in the series because they were free in my Kindle lending library, and most of the books in said lending library are even worse that this, thought for other reasons.
The idea of the magic was really good. An interesting system, but poof, it ended up being nothing more than that, nothing more than a feeble attempt as disguising a romance.
Also, about the magic... Clearly in this world there are power magics and less powerful ones. Ceony, the main protagonist, is supersmart and supertalented, and yet she is bound to paper magic, a weak magic, because there is some need, but that is never explained. What is it about paper magic that is needed? The whole start of the series is about how disappointed she is, because as top of her class, she should have gotten a better assignment, etc, but nothing in the books gives a clue as to why paper magicians are, in fact, really in need, and the whole theme just feels like a set-up.
I can't quite figure out if the series was intended for adults or children. If adults, it really is insulting. If kids, it's got some bad messages. See above (rude main character) and below (message to young girls.)
Oh. And on at least two occasions in the books, the author's ignorance shone through when she thought she was being clever, but was only clever if you were speaking American English, not British English, or that pulled from American imagery. Which since the books are set around 1900 in London... blah. Ew, again.
Another issue I must bring up is the stupidity of the main character who repeatedly puts others in danger -and is responsible for her best friend being killed- because she won't listen to people who know better/in power/whatever. I understand that ploy in YA novels -I'm looking at you, JKR, and Harry's repeated I know better, oh, Sirius is dead! escapades-, but in a novel where the protagonist is 19, it just makes her look profoundly stupid. Not brave, and not daring. Just stupid.
And -go ahead, call me paranoid- I'm always a bit suspicious in books when the heroine is clearly Northern European (red hair in this case), her female rival has long black hair, and the main villain -whose purpose is just to be a villain, he doesn't appear to have much of a villainous plan- is Indian, and constantly described as dark. This may be my problem, but I get really tired of the evil-dark-haired-woman and the evil-brown-man vs the good white people that shows up constantly, often, I'm almost sure, without the author even intending it.
Warning: prejudice shining through in the next comment: it's one more God-y Moron young woman writer who yet AGAIN writes what she considers a strong female character, who is, nonetheless, putty in the guy's hand. That's the true poison in the book, and many like it. When even a women who is presented as strong is subservient to men, this enforces, imo, the idea that women are not equal to men, and that even the best of us somehow need to be protected and told waht to do. Etc. And what the fuck is it with Mormon writers and barely legal women/older men romances?
Anyhow, I could go on at length. I read the first book for book club (and ended up not being able to go, grrr, but then again, my bookclub mates were spared my vitriol), the second and third during this move, so I don't feel like I wasted good reading time on them, just fractured small bits. Still, totally not worth it for an adult, and imo, toxic for girls.
It wasn't.
Because the author, like so many, wanted to pretend why was writing fantasy, but she was in fact writing a romance.
Which is fine. Just called is magical romance, and be honest about it.
The books? Not linking, but The Paper Magician, The Glass Magician, and The Master Magician. By Charlie N. Holmberg, who is very proud of her boy name, she and her sisters all got boy names, hurl!
Warning! There may be spoilers. But really, don't waste time on the books, but warning anyhow.
The main character is un-beleivable, un-likeable, nasty, rude, and preachy. She falls in love with her teacher in about three minutes. Just... no.
The books don't get better, they get worse, the first was the best of the lot, and even it wasn't very good. I read all three in the series because they were free in my Kindle lending library, and most of the books in said lending library are even worse that this, thought for other reasons.
The idea of the magic was really good. An interesting system, but poof, it ended up being nothing more than that, nothing more than a feeble attempt as disguising a romance.
Also, about the magic... Clearly in this world there are power magics and less powerful ones. Ceony, the main protagonist, is supersmart and supertalented, and yet she is bound to paper magic, a weak magic, because there is some need, but that is never explained. What is it about paper magic that is needed? The whole start of the series is about how disappointed she is, because as top of her class, she should have gotten a better assignment, etc, but nothing in the books gives a clue as to why paper magicians are, in fact, really in need, and the whole theme just feels like a set-up.
I can't quite figure out if the series was intended for adults or children. If adults, it really is insulting. If kids, it's got some bad messages. See above (rude main character) and below (message to young girls.)
Oh. And on at least two occasions in the books, the author's ignorance shone through when she thought she was being clever, but was only clever if you were speaking American English, not British English, or that pulled from American imagery. Which since the books are set around 1900 in London... blah. Ew, again.
Another issue I must bring up is the stupidity of the main character who repeatedly puts others in danger -and is responsible for her best friend being killed- because she won't listen to people who know better/in power/whatever. I understand that ploy in YA novels -I'm looking at you, JKR, and Harry's repeated I know better, oh, Sirius is dead! escapades-, but in a novel where the protagonist is 19, it just makes her look profoundly stupid. Not brave, and not daring. Just stupid.
And -go ahead, call me paranoid- I'm always a bit suspicious in books when the heroine is clearly Northern European (red hair in this case), her female rival has long black hair, and the main villain -whose purpose is just to be a villain, he doesn't appear to have much of a villainous plan- is Indian, and constantly described as dark. This may be my problem, but I get really tired of the evil-dark-haired-woman and the evil-brown-man vs the good white people that shows up constantly, often, I'm almost sure, without the author even intending it.
Warning: prejudice shining through in the next comment: it's one more God-y Moron young woman writer who yet AGAIN writes what she considers a strong female character, who is, nonetheless, putty in the guy's hand. That's the true poison in the book, and many like it. When even a women who is presented as strong is subservient to men, this enforces, imo, the idea that women are not equal to men, and that even the best of us somehow need to be protected and told waht to do. Etc. And what the fuck is it with Mormon writers and barely legal women/older men romances?
Anyhow, I could go on at length. I read the first book for book club (and ended up not being able to go, grrr, but then again, my bookclub mates were spared my vitriol), the second and third during this move, so I don't feel like I wasted good reading time on them, just fractured small bits. Still, totally not worth it for an adult, and imo, toxic for girls.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 6 Sep 2015 16:34 (UTC)no subject
Date: 6 Sep 2015 17:42 (UTC)But no.
Book 2 and 3 are in the Kindle Owners Lending library, so I got them, because while idiotic, they were easier than looking for something decent to read when I was done with the day and tired from packing boxes. But not worth it otherwise.
It still pisses me off because, when it all boils down to it SHE GOT PUBLISHED. And is now a major author to be reckoned with, and her books are pure crap.