Customer Reviews

Paper Mage

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Paper Mage is a meticulously researched historical fantasy that breathes life into an alien culture, an alien time, and retains a sense of heart. It's also well written and fast moving, despite the unusual structure. I liked the structure a lot (it is like Le Guin's The Dispossed): chapters alternate between the adult Xiao Yen who is an adept mage but who has lost her luck, and the child Xiao Yen who is lucky and studying in a school for would-be paper mages. The character conflicts and character growth reflect Chinese rather than western values, centering on things like luck and family, which is a refreshing change from most fantasy. It's kind of like Amy Tan meets Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon -- a breath of fresh air to US fantasy fiction. I loved it!

There are lots of things fantasy writers with "foreign" cultures can do to annoy me, but the top two are projecting their own, modern/Western concerns on their setting and emphasizing trivial "foreignness" at the expense of genuine cultural differences. Cutter neatly avoided both of those problems. The characters' concerns were their own, and deep human commonalities as well as important value differences came through. (I think the reviewer who referred to Wang Tie-Tie as the wicked aunt missed at least half the characterization, but that's not Leah Cutter's fault!)

Hughart's _Bridge of Birds_ was a fun read, but Cutter was attempting something entirely different -- and she achieved it. If I wasn't a really picky person, I'd give it five stars, but five screams perfection to me, and this doesn't have to be a perfect book to be a good one.

This is a wonderful story that is wonderfully written. The book is set in 9th century China and the writing has a definite Asian flair to it. This makes the "reading escape" experience more comfortable and complete. You easily get lost in the story of Xiao Yen and her magical world. The author is very knowledgable about China and the culture of the time. I also like the style of the chapters switching back and forth from the current story to the time of Xiao Yen growing up. This allows the excitement and magic of the tale to be more fully explained by her earlier experiences with her family and her learning of the art of paper folding. Because you are so easily transported to Xiao Yen's world, the fantasy that makes the story so exciting seems believable and appropriate to the exotic setting. I don't want to give away any of the story so that the reader is surprised as Xiao Yen takes them on an exciting and magical journey through ancient China, complete with tigers and dragons.

I was quite disappointed in this book. One of the main conflicts is that the main character has no belief in herself or her abilities and spends the entire book bemoaning the loss of her luck. Anything goes wrong -- it's because she lost her luck. Things go right -- must be because she is lucky. I spent the whole book hoping she would come to have faith in herself... but she doesn't! She just "gets" some different luck.

The magic system, while fascinating, is given somewhat short shrift. The chapters alternate between the past (her studies) and the present (her journey) but it's often hard to remember what happened when. The writing itself is quite good, and sections of the plot are absolutely gripping. I give this book 3 stars because I feel it's just a bit better than mediocre.

I've read a lot of fantasy and science fiction. It's a true delight to read a work where the main character, a fully realized person I feel I could talk to, works through her conflicts with something _other_ than violence. Even when forced to hurt someone, she regrets the pain involved. I won't give away the story, but there are many places in the book where the movement, the dance of energy, is simply wonderful.

Too many stories revolve around violence - this absolutely lovely book revolves around the character, in a way that recalls the inner peace of the dance of tai-chi, the flow of water, and the sound of the wind...

Cutter's fresh take on magic and skill at immersing the reader in Chinese customs and values, combined with a deeply appealing heroine, make this a must-read for fantasy fans tired of Tolkien knock-offs. Buy this book, sit down with a cup of green tea, and let your imagination be folded into new shapes by this delicate and surprising tale.

Set in a fantasy equivalent of T'ang China, it's dependent upon a more subtle grasp of the culture of the time. It may be alien to many Western readers for this reason, but the psychology behind the characters' motivations will be appreciated by fans of Chinese literature. The author has obviously done boatloads of research into the real-world analogue of her world, and her attention to detail is manifest in her rich landscapes and exotic mythologies. She does a good job of describing a scene with the right number of words -- verbose where detail is warranted, but able to capture an emotion in a brief phrase if needed. I will certainly be looking for her other books; I enjoyed every word of this one, and will reread it to catch nuances I missed the first time through.

I am glad I picked this book out of the store shelf. It was a fabulous read and I thoroughly enjoyed the Eastern Fantasy theme. The main character's motivations was true to her background, and her reactions to every given situation were real and relevant. At every stage of the story, the main character grows accordingly, but the fact that the author leaves much room for more development is a brilliant stroke of human nature in fiction. The concept of paper and magic is novel to me, and I thought this terribly refreshing; the way its power is so dependent on the skill of the weilder. The personal relationships presented in this story drives the plot, simple, but makes perfect sense. I did, however, find a weak point which was the motivation of the main character concerning her obligation to the story's divinities. Though *that* storyline is necessarily intertwined with her personal quest, it was greatly overpowered by the other aspects contained in the plot. With that said, indeed the good qualities of this story far outweighs its flaws.

A good read! I'm looking forward to more from Ms. Cutter.

A good read for people who enjoy an eastern theme to their fantasy -- A pleasant, mild flavored story, quiet and a pleasant diversion but not intensely gripping.

The main character grows through the book, in slow measured steps as the reader is treated to alternating chapters of her current adventure and a retcon of her training to become a Paper Mage. The use of paper magic is delightful, and the world building is interesting and full of well molded characters, but without great depth to any character outside Xiao Yen, who's POV most of the story is seen from.

Warning, one scene of gang rape. Dispassionately described, mostly "off screen". Otherwise it's a nice read to pass the hours on a quiet afternoon, with a hot beverage and a sweet. Would make a good intro for futher adventures of Xiao Yen.

It's fresh, and it's not something I eat everyday, but it's just not that good...

Paper Mage holds a lot of promise. A fantasy based on the Eastern world would surely stand out in the middle of all the other European-based fantasy. And it succeeds on that one thing alone perhaps; it is quite believably set in China. But the overall effect of this is that it's candycoated.

Many parts are difficult to digest. Although the writing is poetic, it jerks around and contains an awful lot of unecessary information. For instance, I do not find it a good idea at all that every time something is described, references to old stories are mentioned. Because this book is described through Xiao Yen, the main character's point of view (basically), the overall effect of this makes it sound fake, as if it's trying TOO hard to be authentic. "Fu Be Be walked without hesitation, like the ghost Wu Quang Yin on her way to collect more souls." Even as a child raised on stories, I do not think this way. It's just not right.

And then there's the constant shifting of chapters. It's just not necessary either, and distracts from the storyline.

Xiao Yen herself is difficult to like. Although I should easily be able to identify with her, being 'away from my home and family' and being 'different' kind of thing, I sort of detested her. Her way of showing her homesickness is not very convincing; it just sounds as if she's complaining. It could have been done in a better way, but the author chose to wrote it in a painfully obvious and excruciating manner. Not to mention her constant detachment from her companions is annoying; no wonder she's so lonely, she won't let anyone in her life! In the end she learns nothing 'new', and I feel disappointed that how I had expected the novel to end as per the first real chapter is how it ended. Everything was predictable.

In short, it is a somewhat vaguely entertaining book if you're looking for something Eastern. Probably a good rent from the library. That's what I did. Go for it.