Charlie N. Holmberg and the Multiplicity of Magic

I’m back again with more stories from one of my favorite authors, Charlie N. Holmberg. The most recent ones that I’ve read from her are the Spellbreaker/ Spellmaker duo. These two books follow the whirlwind courtship of Elsie Camden and Bacchus Kelsey in London of 1895 as they unravel the mystery of a series of murders involving wizards and the theft of their “opus,” the spell book that magic-users leave behind when they die.
           
As always, the author creates a charming new world of fantasy and a sweet love story. But what really stuck me this time around as I read was that this was a new world. In fact, all of the books she writes seem to take place in new worlds, regardless of whether the names of locations or the time periods stay the same. It seems that with every new story she writes, the form and rules of magic change.
           
For instance, the recent Spellbreaker series invokes magic in different disciplines (rational, physical, temporal, spiritual). In her Paper Magician series, magic users specialize in using different materials (paper, glass, metal, wood, plastic). The Will and the Wilds revolves around an enchanted stone in an imaginary world and The Fifth Doll revolves around enchanted nesting dolls in Russia. Veins of Gold involves a sort of nature magic that allows for the control of animals and takes place in America during the time of the gold rush, whereas Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet traces its enchantments back to “world makers” who aren’t even from Earth. Both the Numina series and Followed by Frost are in made-up realms, but Followed by Frost involves a freezing curse and the Numina books feature human vessels who can be used to harness powerful spirits.
           
As you can see, in each new book the magical element changes in some way. Even in the stories that seem similar (such as the Spellbreaker duet and the Paper Magician series, where in both magic users must train for licensing in their chosen vocation), the magic in each is dissimilar enough that those literary worlds can’t possibly coexist together.
           
Personally, I prefer to have stories that can all take place in the same universe. So all my vampires will have similar traits (sensitivity to sunlight until a certain age, crying tears of blood, etc.), all my witches will need spell books but my elves won’t, that sort of thing. I love the idea that all my characters could conceivably cross paths with one another in a fictional world. In fact, some of them do! (For example, Lisa and Brandon from “I Like You As a Friend, But Not a Zombie” in the anthology make an appearance in The Heart of Everything.)

As exciting as it is to discover new theories of magic, I’ll probably continue to favor more consistency in my stories. What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments section! Until the next time, keep reading!

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