Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg

Continuing on my quest to find books similar to Diana Wynne Jones' Howl's Moving Castle I found The Paper Magician Trilogy by Charlie N. Holmberg and I have to say I was delighted by this book.

It starts off a bit slow introducing us to Ceony and Emery Thane, as well as focusing on world building. Then the book really takes off with a twist I seriously did not see coming!

The Paper Magician is the story of Ceony Twill who after completing her classes at Tagis Praff School for the Magically Inclined she is assigned to be a Folder (a magician who works in paper) rather than being a Smelter (a magician who works in metal) like she wanted. There are less students signing up to be Folders, so some students like Ceony are assigned to the study. Ceony is distressed by these turn of events and wows the audience with some very lovely snark. Which her new teacher Magician Emery Thane all takes in stride.

Eventually Ceony resolves herself to being a Folder and even finds that she doesn't mind it so much as she once did. She gets into a routine with Thane and advances quite quickly in her studies. When everything is looking up for Ceony finally, the calm bubble that she has created bursts with a visit from Emery Thane's ex-wife and magician on the run, Lira. Lira is an Excisioner (a magician who works in the dark arts, flesh magic). She takes Emery Thane's heart and Ceony manages to keep him from dying by quickly folding a paper heart to keep him alive. Ceony goes further when it looks like no one can save Emery Thane, and goes after Lira to recover her teacher's heart.

Through a series of magic booby traps Ceony finds herself traversing through Emery's heart and seeing who exactly Emery Thane is and was. She has to navigate the four chambers of his heart, see his greatest triumphs, fears, and regrets; all while fleeing from Lira who has followed her. But the deeper into his heart Ceony gets, the more questions arise. With the clock ticking will Ceony save her mentor before it's too late?

This book was fantastic. It has a very slow buildup to the action but once you get there the novel's pace quickens quite a bit. My only complaint is that the book, and the sequels, are all very short. I just know I am going to want more!