Another catch up post on what I am reading. Finished the Numina trilogy by Charlie Holmberg in early May. This urban fantasy series is set in a dark city and leverages a number of standard world building elements including magic, multiple-dimensions of existence, and social issue tropes.
The storyline revolves around two younger characters. Sandis, the heroine, is a human vessel for an ancient spirit. 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. Rone, the hero, is cunning thief for hire. He owns a rare device that grants him immortality for one minute every day—a unique advantage that will come in handy in Sandis’s fight for freedom.
I actually read the first book in the Numina trilogy, Smoke & Summons, three years ago. It was featured on KU when it was first released. When I started reading every day again, my goal was to mix up the types of books I selected each time. I have a number of series that I started and didn’t continue right away because if that. I found it a little challenging to get “resynced” when I started the next book in this type of series (sci-fi/fantasy with world building and continuing plot-lines) . I decided this year to use the “bing” approach to read this type of series. This is the second series I did this with this year. It does work better for me. How about you?
The Numina trilogy is not the strongest writing and it does have some technical flaws. The setting, characters, and plot line are engaging. I do have Holmberg’s Paper Magician series on my TBR list. This trilogy was enjoyable enough that I expect I will get to that series later this year.