Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: Skill with brush and paper sets this one apart
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: mediocre characterizations
Review: The basic plot has already been outlined so I won't repeat it. Overall, the concept is good. However, the heroine was poorly developed as were the other minor characters except for the wicked aunt. She was the only character in this novel that was anything other than bland. Very disappointing overall. For other books based on Chinese culture, I suggest Bridge of Birds (Hughart) or Tea With The Black Dragon (McAvoy). Both very well written with complex characters.
Rating: 
Summary: Lots of good stuff here
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A kinder, gentler "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent debut
Review: This work of historical fantasy is an excellent debut by Ms. Cutter. The abridged bibliography of over 2 dozen texts is a testament to the authentic feel of Paper Mage. The main character, Xiao Yen, struggles to choose between filial piety (duty to her family) and full self-expression. Part of this decision includes whether or not she wants to become a paper mage -- a sorceress whose speciality is creating magical creatures from origami. From a fantasy-geek perspective, the "magic system" is quite novel, but it begs further exploration. There are more types of magic than just paper magic in this world; but even though these magics are also intriguing, the author barely touches on them. All in all, I look forward to Ms. Cutter's next work, whether it be another novel set in the world of Paper Mage, or a story in an entirely new setting.
Rating:
Summary: enjoyable
Review: Three aspects of 'Paper Mage' combine into an exquisite book. First, the setting is a careful reproduction of historical China; this provides an interesting backdrop. Second, the main character possesses an interesting magic conducted via origami, meditation, and chi flow. Third, a single question unifies the book: should she persue marriage & children or a career? Don't be turned off by the "goddess" -- this a minor part of the book.
Rating:
Summary: enjoyable
Review: Three aspects of 'Paper Mage' combine into an exquisite book. First, the setting is a careful reproduction of historical China; this provides an interesting backdrop. Second, the main character possesses an interesting magic conducted via origami, meditation, and chi flow. Third, a single question unifies the book: should she persue marriage & children or a career? Don't be turned off by the "goddess" -- this a minor part of the book.
Rating:
Summary: Good idea, bad book.
Review: While I agree that this book is a bit different from other fantasy novels, I think Paper Mage was far from perfect. There's more to a book than just an idea. That's the only reason this book gets two stars from me instead of one. With the exception of Xiao Yen, the characters were very flat. There was some attempt at developing Udo and Wang Tie-Tie but they still ended up feeling like cardboard cut outs. Each chapter skipped back and forth between past and present. Not too original and not necessary. The plot, though initially interesting, skipped around a bit too much. It was more like several short stories linked together. So much more could have been done with this book.
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