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Spellmaker

Spellbreaker, Book 2

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About this listen

A Wall Street Journal bestseller.

Dead wizards, stolen enchantments, and broken promises force a young spellbreaker out of the shadows in the next thrilling installment of the Spellbreaker series by the bestselling author of The Paper Magician.

England, 1895. An unsolved series of magician murders and opus thefts isn’t a puzzle to Elsie Camden. But to reveal a master spellcaster as the culprit means incriminating herself as an unregistered spellbreaker. When Elsie refuses to join forces with the charming assassin, her secret is exposed, she’s thrown in jail, and the murderer disappears. But Elsie’s hope hasn’t vanished.

Through a twist of luck, the elite magic user Bacchus Kelsey helps Elsie join the lawful, but with a caveat: they must marry to prove their cover story. Forced beneath a magical tutor while her bond with Bacchus grows, Elsie seeks to thwart the plans of England’s most devious criminal—if she can find them.

With hundreds of stolen spells at their disposal, the villain has a plan—and it involves seducing Elsie to the dark side. But even now that her secret is out, Elsie must be careful how she uses the new abilities she’s discovering, or she may play right into the criminal’s hands.

©2021 Charlie N. Holmberg. (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Action & Adventure Crime Fantasy Fiction Historical Murder Magic Magic Users Wizardry England

Critic reviews

“Narrator Elizabeth Knowleden returns to this magical series as brash Elsie, with Noel Arthur joining in as reserved Bacchus. Lyrical accents and evocative descriptions ground listeners in Holmberg's fantasy world as Elsie and Bacchus attempt to halt a murderous rampage through nineteenth-century England.... Knowlenden and Arthur deliver full-bodied performances. Their nuanced pacing pulls listeners into both the danger and the tender moments between the lovers.” (AudioFile Magazine)

“The romance between Elsie and Bacchus, combined with the fantasy of magic and good fighting evil, will appeal to fans of the previous Spellbreaker novel (Spellbreaker, 2020) and to fans of Naomi Novik or Katherine Arden’s Winternight trilogy.” (Booklist, starred review)

All stars
Most relevant
Although I enjoyed this book, I didn't enjoy it as much as the first, which I read entirely as a kindle book. However I decided to pair this one with the audible edition too. I thought the female narrator was great and spot on for the story, however the male narration was off putting and I found his voice quite stilted at times.

Poor male narration

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I really enjoyed the first book and both narrators.
The male narrator in this is very flat and sounds like he is reading the back of the cereal box.

Unfortunate choice of male narrator

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So the story is great, it follows on from Spellbreaker. Elsie is a formidable spellbreaker who crosses paths with Bacchus a spellmaker, the world and and characters that the author has created is wondrous, like most of her stories it's so easy to immerse yourself in such rich and entertaining tales.

The only downside is listening to it on audible, the male narrator isn't great and the audio for the male narrator isn't the best quality, which was a little jarring at times, I think I'll read the story at a later date on Kindle, without the distraction of the narration issues. Female narration was good and had a clear audio.

Not great audio

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I really enjoyed Spellmaker, you need to read Spellbreaker first to understand the story. Highly recommended

Love it

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I loved the other books by Charlie N. Holmberg and was waiting for this one for months. It wasn't as good as the previous ones though.
The audio shifted from a narrator I liked on the sample to another I didn't, so it only made it worse for me.

The change of narrator by chapter wasn't enjoyable

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