Charlie N. Holmberg's Book of Magic
The Ultimate Fantasy Author's Guide to Magic Systems
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Charlie N. Holmberg's Book of Magic
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Narrated by:
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Angela Dawe
About this listen
Unravel the secrets to crafting a masterful magic system from bestselling fantasy author Charlie N. Holmberg.
Whether using magic as flavor or as an essential piece of plot, this book will guide fantasy authors, from new to experienced, through the delicate layers of creating, utilizing, and mastering magic systems.
In this book, we will...
- Discuss the schools, laws, and spectrum of magic
- Learn to build individual pieces of a magic system
- Dig into magic's influence on worldbuilding
- Examine different types and styles of magic
- Develop and polish original magic systems
With workshops, work pages, and reference materials included, this succinct one-and-done guide to crafting the magical elements of the fantasy genre is a must-have for speculative fiction authors.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
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-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,014
Enna knows to fear the mystings that roam the wildwood near her home. When one tries to kill her to obtain an enchanted stone, Enna takes a huge risk: fighting back with a mysting of her own. Maekallus’s help isn’t free. His price? A kiss. One with the power to steal her soul. But their deal leaves Maekallus bound to the mortal realm, which begins eating him alive. Only Enna’s kiss, given willingly, can save him from immediate destruction. It’s a temporary salvation for Maekallus and a lingering doom for Enna.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Good Premise, Bland Execution.
- By Avery Mello-Martinez on 04-19-20
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Keeper of Enchanted Rooms
- Whimbrel House, Book 1
- By: Charlie N. Holmberg
- Narrated by: Amanda Leigh Cobb, Graham Halstead, Nicholas Boulton
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,866
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,648
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,642
Rhode Island, 1846. Estranged from his family, writer Merritt Fernsby is surprised when he inherits a remote estate in the Narragansett Bay. Though the property has been uninhabited for more than a century, Merritt is ready to call it home—until he realizes he has no choice. With its doors slamming shut and locking behind him, Whimbrel House is not about to let Merritt leave. Ever.
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3 out of 5 stars
-
I don't know how to fairly review a book like this
- By Katelyn Standiford on 12-06-22
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Still the Sun
- By: Charlie N. Holmberg
- Narrated by: Natalie Naudus
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 52
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 47
Pell is an engineer and digger by trade—unearthing and repairing the fascinating artifacts left behind by the mysterious Ancients who once inhabited the sunbaked planet of Tampere. She’ll do anything to help the people of her village survive and to better understand the secrets of what came before.
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1 out of 5 stars
-
DNF. Hours of woman fixing machines
- By NMwritergal on 11-01-24
-
Star Mother
- A Novel (Star Mother, Book 1)
- By: Charlie N. Holmberg
- Narrated by: Khristine Hvam
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 603
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 558
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 556
When a star dies, a new one must be born. The Sun God chooses the village of Endwever to provide a mortal womb. The birthing of a star is always fatal for the mother, and Ceris Wenden, who considers herself an outsider, sacrifices herself to secure her family’s honor and take control of her legacy. But after her star child is born, Ceris does what no other star mother has: she survives. When Ceris returns to Endwever, however, it’s not nine months later—it’s seven hundred years later.
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3 out of 5 stars
-
I tried to love this story
- By Amazon Customer on 11-12-21
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Wizard of Most Wicked Ways
- Whimbrel House, Book 4
- By: Charlie N. Holmberg
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall0 out of 5 stars 0
-
Performance0 out of 5 stars 0
-
Story0 out of 5 stars 0
Whimbrel House is changing. Merritt and Hulda are raising a family. Owein has signed a marriage contract with the magically compatible Lady Cora, a heavyweight of British nobility who’s an ocean away. And the lovely shape-shifting druid Fallon makes a distractingly fetching friend for Owein. But another change is in the air, and this time it’s something wicked. The greatest wizard of the millennium, Silas Hogwood, is back—after five years dead. New body, same foul scent, and driven by madness and revenge.
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Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet
- By: Charlie N. Holmberg
- Narrated by: Kate Rudd
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,192
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,049
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,048
Maire is a baker with an extraordinary gift: she can infuse her treats with emotions and abilities, which are then passed on to those who eat them. She doesn't know why she can do this and remembers nothing of who she is or where she came from. When marauders raid her town, Maire is captured and sold to the eccentric Allemas, who enslaves her and demands that she produce sinister confections, including a witch's gingerbread cottage, a living cookie boy, and size-altering cakes.
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3 out of 5 stars
-
Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet
- By Jonas Lee on 07-28-16
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The Will and the Wilds
- By: Charlie N. Holmberg
- Narrated by: Angela Dawe
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,144
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,018
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,014
Enna knows to fear the mystings that roam the wildwood near her home. When one tries to kill her to obtain an enchanted stone, Enna takes a huge risk: fighting back with a mysting of her own. Maekallus’s help isn’t free. His price? A kiss. One with the power to steal her soul. But their deal leaves Maekallus bound to the mortal realm, which begins eating him alive. Only Enna’s kiss, given willingly, can save him from immediate destruction. It’s a temporary salvation for Maekallus and a lingering doom for Enna.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Good Premise, Bland Execution.
- By Avery Mello-Martinez on 04-19-20
-
Keeper of Enchanted Rooms
- Whimbrel House, Book 1
- By: Charlie N. Holmberg
- Narrated by: Amanda Leigh Cobb, Graham Halstead, Nicholas Boulton
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,866
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,648
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,642
Rhode Island, 1846. Estranged from his family, writer Merritt Fernsby is surprised when he inherits a remote estate in the Narragansett Bay. Though the property has been uninhabited for more than a century, Merritt is ready to call it home—until he realizes he has no choice. With its doors slamming shut and locking behind him, Whimbrel House is not about to let Merritt leave. Ever.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
I don't know how to fairly review a book like this
- By Katelyn Standiford on 12-06-22
-
Still the Sun
- By: Charlie N. Holmberg
- Narrated by: Natalie Naudus
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 52
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 47
Pell is an engineer and digger by trade—unearthing and repairing the fascinating artifacts left behind by the mysterious Ancients who once inhabited the sunbaked planet of Tampere. She’ll do anything to help the people of her village survive and to better understand the secrets of what came before.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
DNF. Hours of woman fixing machines
- By NMwritergal on 11-01-24
-
Star Mother
- A Novel (Star Mother, Book 1)
- By: Charlie N. Holmberg
- Narrated by: Khristine Hvam
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 603
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 558
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 556
When a star dies, a new one must be born. The Sun God chooses the village of Endwever to provide a mortal womb. The birthing of a star is always fatal for the mother, and Ceris Wenden, who considers herself an outsider, sacrifices herself to secure her family’s honor and take control of her legacy. But after her star child is born, Ceris does what no other star mother has: she survives. When Ceris returns to Endwever, however, it’s not nine months later—it’s seven hundred years later.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
I tried to love this story
- By Amazon Customer on 11-12-21
-
Spellbreaker
- Spellbreaker, Book 1
- By: Charlie N. Holmberg
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden, Joel Froomkin
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,381
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 2,124
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,121
The orphaned Elsie Camden learned as a girl that there were two kinds of wizards in the world: those who pay for the power to cast spells and those, like her, born with the ability to break them. But as an unlicensed magic user, her gift is a crime. Commissioned by an underground group known as the Cowls, Elsie uses her spellbreaking to push back against the aristocrats and help the common man. Elite magic user Bacchus Kelsey is one elusive spell away from his mastership when he catches Elsie breaking an enchantment. To protect her secret, Elsie strikes a bargain.
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4 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting read/listen
- By Roderica Ruddle on 12-21-20
-
Smoke and Summons
- Numina, Book 1
- By: Charlie N. Holmberg
- Narrated by: Scott Merriman, Lauren Ezzo
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 840
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 752
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 751
As a human vessel for an ancient spirit, Sandis lives no ordinary life. At the command of her master, she can be transformed against her will into his weapon - a raging monster summoned to do his bidding. Unlike other vessels, Sandis can host extremely powerful spirits, but hosting such creatures can be fatal. To stay alive, she must run. And in a city fueled by smoke and corruption, she finds a surprising ally. A cunning thief for hire, Rone owns a rare device that grants him immortality for one minute every day - an advantage that will come in handy in Sandis’s fight for freedom.
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3 out of 5 stars
-
By the end of the book, I was just annoyed.
- By Kathy on 02-06-19
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Veins of Gold
- By: Charlie N. Holmberg
- Narrated by: Piper Goodeve
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 215
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 182
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 179
Abandoned by their father for the gold rush, Gentry and her siblings labor to survive alone in the inhospitable West. When bizarre natural disasters begin wreaking havoc on the land, Gentry discovers a world of magic. Desperate for help, she accepts aid from a mysterious stranger. Winn not only sees the magic, but controls its hunger by feeding it gold - the very thing Gentry's father left to acquire. But the earth's unrest only grows worse, and Gentry's fear leads her to a terrible choice: marry a wealthy man she does not love or trust in Winn's unpredictable power to save her family.
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2 out of 5 stars
-
Poor world building and character development
- By WeveGotEars on 07-30-18
-
The Hanging City
- By: Charlie N. Holmberg
- Narrated by: Amy Bentley
- Length: 13 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 223
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 210
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 210
Seven years on the run from her abusive father, and with no hope of sanctuary among the dwindling pockets of human civilization, Lark is out of options. Her only leverage is a cursed power: she can thrust fear onto others, leaving all threats fleeing in terror. It’s a means of survival as she searches for a place to call home. If the campfire myths of her childhood are true, Lark’s sole chance for refuge could lie in Cagmar, the city of trolls—a brutal species and the sworn enemies of humanity.
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3 out of 5 stars
-
Not what I expected
- By Gigien on 08-30-23
-
The Paper Magician
- The Paper Magician, Book 1
- By: Charlie N. Holmberg
- Narrated by: Amy McFadden
- Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 6,050
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 5,454
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 5,443
Ceony Twill arrives at the cottage of Magician Emery Thane with a broken heart. Having graduated at the top of her class from the Tagis Praff School for the Magically Inclined, Ceony is assigned an apprenticeship in paper magic despite her dreams of bespelling metal. And once she's bonded to paper, that will be her only magic... forever. Yet the spells Ceony learns under the strange yet kind Thane turn out to be more marvelous than she could have ever imagined.
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3 out of 5 stars
-
The narrator needs to relax
- By Ashley on 09-15-14
-
The Little Book of Parenting
- How to Nurture Your Child to Their Full Potential
- By: Chinyelu Kunz
- Narrated by: Chinyelu Kunz
- Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall0 out of 5 stars 0
-
Performance0 out of 5 stars 0
-
Story0 out of 5 stars 0
The Little Book of Parenting covers everything you need to raise happy, resilient children from preschool to adult. Focusing on your emotional wellbeing as a starting point, it enables you to support your child with a healthy foundation, the ability to self-regulate, your dynamics as a family and the importance of clear but lovingly-set boundaries and solid routines.
By: Chinyelu Kunz
-
The Invisible Library
- The Invisible Library, Book 1
- By: Genevieve Cogman
- Narrated by: Kristin Atherton
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 524
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 481
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 478
Irene is a professional spy for the mysterious Library, which harvests fiction from different realities. And along with her enigmatic assistant Kai, she's posted to an alternative London. Their mission - to retrieve a dangerous book. But when they arrive, it's already been stolen. London's underground factions seem prepared to fight to the very death to find her book. Adding to the jeopardy, this world is chaos-infested - the laws of nature bent to allow supernatural creatures and unpredictable magic. Irene's new assistant is also hiding secrets of his own.
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1 out of 5 stars
-
Female character harassed and *apologizes* for it
- By Rebecca Myers on 06-05-21
By: Genevieve Cogman
-
The Teller of Small Fortunes
- By: Julie Leong
- Narrated by: Phyllis Ho
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 110
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 107
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 107
Tao is an immigrant fortune teller, traveling between villages with just her trusty mule for company. She only tells "small" fortunes: whether it will hail next week; which boy the barmaid will kiss; when the cow will calve. She knows from bitter experience that big fortunes come with big consequences… Even if it’s a lonely life, it’s better than the one she left behind. But a small fortune unexpectedly becomes something more when a (semi) reformed thief and an ex-mercenary recruit her into their desperate search for a lost child.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
What a great story!
- By Matt on 11-23-24
By: Julie Leong
-
Rock Chick Reawakening
- A Rock Chick Novella - 1001 Dark Nights
- By: Kristen Ashley
- Narrated by: Susannah Jones
- Length: 5 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,699
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,586
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,578
Rock Chick Reawakening shares the tale of the devastating event that nearly broke Daisy, an event that set Marcus Sloan - one of Denver's most respected businessmen and one of the Denver underground's most feared crime bosses - into finally making his move to win the heart of the woman who stole his.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
5 Rock Chick Reawakening Stars
- By whatcha.listening.to on 03-16-17
By: Kristen Ashley
-
A Sorceress Comes to Call
- By: T. Kingfisher
- Narrated by: Eliza Foss, Jennifer Pickens
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 328
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 309
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 309
Cordelia knows her mother is . . . unusual. Their house doesn’t have any doors between rooms—there are no secrets in this house—and her mother doesn't allow Cordelia to have a single friend. Unless you count Falada, her mother's beautiful white horse. The only time Cordelia feels truly free is on her daily rides with him. But more than simple eccentricity sets her mother apart. Other mothers don’t force their daughters to be silent and motionless for hours, sometimes days, on end. Other mothers aren’t sorcerers.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Fantastic listen!
- By Teresa Courtney on 08-26-24
By: T. Kingfisher
-
Death and the Last Vampire
- A Complete Vegas Immortals Series
- By: Holly Roberds
- Narrated by: Vivienne Ferrari, Logan McAllister
- Length: 28 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 114
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 111
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 111
I woke up with fangs, a thirst for blood, and no memories of my past. To add to my confusion, the Grim Reaper is inexplicably hell-bent on ending me. Who would've thought that the God of the Dead would wear designer suits and ooze power and danger like a mob boss straight from the underworld?
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Really fun
- By Elisa on 07-04-24
By: Holly Roberds
-
The Author's Guide to Murder
- A Novel
- By: Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, Karen White
- Narrated by: Angus King, Saskia Maarleveld, Brittany Pressley, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 35
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 33
There’s been a sensational murder at historic Castle Kinloch, a gothic fantasy of grey granite on a remote island in the Highlands of Scotland. Literary superstar Brett Saffron Presley has been found dead—under bizarre circumstances—in the castle tower’s book-lined study. Years ago, Presley purchased the castle as a showpiece for his brand and to lure paying guests with a taste for writerly glamour. Now it seems, the castle has done him in…or, possibly, one of the castle’s guests has.
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3 out of 5 stars
-
Couldn’t finish
- By TdelaT on 11-28-24
By: Beatriz Williams, and others