The Master Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg

Holmberg did not originally plan for the novel to be expanded into a series. Both The Paper Magician and The Glass Magician were sold to 47North, Amazon's publishing arm for speculative fiction, in the summer of 2013.

The Paper Magician was the ninth novel Holmberg completed and her first one to be published. She wrote the novel while living in Moscow, Idaho. Holmberg was influenced by the British historical drama Downton Abbey in creating The Paper Magician's setting. This resulted in the finished product being quite different from the original manuscript. The setting of The Paper Magician was originally otherworldly, but Holmberg's editor encouraged her to make it historical. Holmberg wanted to avoid crafting her protagonist's love interest with a 'semblance of perfection,' opting instead to create flawed characters and focus on themes of forgiveness and self-love. She thus decided that the magicians in her book would only be able to manipulate man-made materials, and that they would be required to 'bond to something specifically'. I initially wanted that to be a side-magic to a larger system, but ultimately made it the focus of the story.' Holmberg's idea was also influenced by the advice of author Brandon Sanderson to limit the magical powers of characters. In an interview with the Association for Mormon Letters, Holmberg said: 'I thought it would be fun to write about origami that came to life. Holmberg developed her idea for The Paper Magician after learning Japanese and being exposed to the art of origami. It follows apprentice magician Ceony Twill as she learns how to become a 'Folder': one who manipulates paper through magic. It is Holmberg's debut novel and the first book in The Paper Magician series, followed by The Glass Magician (2014), The Master Magician (2015), and The Plastic Magician (2018). The Paper Magician is a 2014 fantasy novel by American author Charlie N.

The Master Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg