Lens of the World

Rating:
Summary: A nice little fantasy
Review: As in all of MacAvoy's novels, the writing in 'Lens..' is impeccable. The author uses clear and concise prose. For all its good points, the story left me unfulfilled at the end.

'Lens' is a character-driven story, meaning that all actions and events (and plots) are secondary to the character. As such there's not an overriding plot throughout the novel. It's more a series of three or four plots. This type of story doesn't particularly appeal to me, hence the three-star rating.

On another level, the character of Powl the teacher warned his pupil, the main character, about several things. The character was to be a begger, live in poverty, never consort with authority. MacAvoy mentioned these things several times. Not once did it come up again in the book. There was never a reason provided for any of Powl's cautionings (which seemed particularly ridculous when Powl himself didn't abide by any of his teachings). Perhaps MacAvoy planned for these ideas to be used in the future two books of the trilogy.

Rating:
Summary: A nice little fantasy
Review: As in all of MacAvoy's novels, the writing in 'Lens..' is impeccable. The author uses clear and concise prose. For all its good points, the story left me unfulfilled at the end.

'Lens' is a character-driven story, meaning that all actions and events (and plots) are secondary to the character. As such there's not an overriding plot throughout the novel. It's more a series of three or four plots. This type of story doesn't particularly appeal to me, hence the three-star rating.

On another level, the character of Powl the teacher warned his pupil, the main character, about several things. The character was to be a begger, live in poverty, never consort with authority. MacAvoy mentioned these things several times. Not once did it come up again in the book. There was never a reason provided for any of Powl's cautionings (which seemed particularly ridculous when Powl himself didn't abide by any of his teachings). Perhaps MacAvoy planned for these ideas to be used in the future two books of the trilogy.

Rating:
Summary: absolutely brilliant
Review: Beautiful and engaging. Unusual characters who are brought to life fully and unquestionably took me into another world, which left many impressions upon my mind. It could have done without the introduction, but even with it this is quite a beauty of a book. It has several twists that come out at you unexpectedly. It refrains from making the usual mistakes of a fantasy book- falling into its own world and filling the entire book with descriptions, assuming that everyone knows about this world as well as the author, using the cliched story lines, etc. Plot is ingenious, and the story is one you won't forget for a long time. Read it.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: Beautiful and engaging. Unusual characters who are brought to life fully and unquestionably took me into another world, which left many impressions upon my mind. It could have done without the introduction, but even with it this is quite a beauty of a book. It has several twists that come out at you unexpectedly. It refrains from making the usual mistakes of a fantasy book- falling into its own world and filling the entire book with descriptions, assuming that everyone knows about this world as well as the author, using the cliched story lines, etc. Plot is ingenious, and the story is one you won't forget for a long time. Read it.

Rating:
Summary: Highly original work from a master of the genre!
Review: In this series, MacAvoy has created a highly complex fantasy world with very little sorcery but plenty of sword play, science, philosophy, and mysticism. It is the story of Nazhuret, a strange looking orphan of mysterious origins who finds himself the pupil of an equally mysterious man known to him only as Powl.
Once his time with Powl is done, he sets off on his own and quickly finds himself embroiled in the affairs of others; something Powl has cautioned him to avoid if he wants to be truly free. Nazhuret tries his best to heed this advise after his first encounter with the outside word leaves a bad taste in his mouth. But what kind of fantasy hero would he be were he not somehow the catalyst of major events and circumstances? In his wandering he finds romance with an ambiguous stranger of questionabe morals. He also earns the love and respect of the young king and the contempt of the king's highest ranking noblemen. By the end, the secret of Nazhuret's origins is revealed and the enigma of Powl unraveled in a refreshingly unpredictabe manner.

Rating:
Summary: Highly original work from a master of the genre!
Review: In this series, MacAvoy has created a highly complex fantasy world with very little sorcery but plenty of sword play, science, philosophy, and mysticism. It is the story of Nazhuret, a strange looking orphan of mysterious origins who finds himself the pupil of an equally mysterious man known to him only as Powl.
Once his time with Powl is done, he sets off on his own and quickly finds himself embroiled in the affairs of others; something Powl has cautioned him to avoid if he wants to be truly free. Nazhuret tries his best to heed this advise after his first encounter with the outside word leaves a bad taste in his mouth. But what kind of fantasy hero would he be were he not somehow the catalyst of major events and circumstances? In his wandering he finds romance with an ambiguous stranger of questionabe morals. He also earns the love and respect of the young king and the contempt of the king's highest ranking noblemen. By the end, the secret of Nazhuret's origins is revealed and the enigma of Powl unraveled in a refreshingly unpredictabe manner.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful to Read Aloud
Review: It's always interesting to see how other people liked or didn't like the books in this trilogy. Of the three, this is far and away my favorite. They are all three worthwhile and engrossing reading for any lover of fantasy fiction, and place and character are evoked vividly in every book, but what really absorbed me about this book, was the writing. This is the only writing, outside of poetry, that I have ever felt compelled to read aloud to myself. The narration is first person (Nazhuret) and his tone is elegiac and self-effacing; the effect is a timelessness that, in my opinion, makes the book more a classic novel than genre fiction. I would love to know what inspired the author to find this pitch so perfectly!

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful to Read Aloud
Review: It's always interesting to see how other people liked or didn't like the books in this trilogy. Of the three, this is far and away my favorite. They are all three worthwhile and engrossing reading for any lover of fantasy fiction, and place and character are evoked vividly in every book, but what really absorbed me about this book, was the writing. This is the only writing, outside of poetry, that I have ever felt compelled to read aloud to myself. The narration is first person (Nazhuret) and his tone is elegiac and self-effacing; the effect is a timelessness that, in my opinion, makes the book more a classic novel than genre fiction. I would love to know what inspired the author to find this pitch so perfectly!

Rating:
Summary: Powerful start to a beautiful trilogy
Review: Lens is the first book of a trilogy entirely set in a "non-Earth" pre-industrial world, and arguably R.A.MacAvoy's best work to date. She creates a powerful story with realistic characters and situations and wastes no words in her elegant storytelling.

The story is about the coming of age of Nazhuret, a natural scientist who is dogged by mysterious happenings that he doesn't particularly want to believe in, as he is converted by his (rather bizarre) mentor into the Lens of the World (a concept that's rather hard to explain). He is let loose on society and becomes a nexus, altering what he come in contact with.

It's hard to spell out why this book is so good, but it's a real original in the Fantasy genre and definitely my favourite series (I read an awful lot of F/SF).

Rating:
Summary: Powerful start to a beautiful trilogy
Review: Lens is the first book of a trilogy entirely set in a "non-Earth" pre-industrial world, and arguably R.A.MacAvoy's best work to date. She creates a powerful story with realistic characters and situations and wastes no words in her elegant storytelling.

The story is about the coming of age of Nazhuret, a natural scientist who is dogged by mysterious happenings that he doesn't particularly want to believe in, as he is converted by his (rather bizarre) mentor into the Lens of the World (a concept that's rather hard to explain). He is let loose on society and becomes a nexus, altering what he come in contact with.

It's hard to spell out why this book is so good, but it's a real original in the Fantasy genre and definitely my favourite series (I read an awful lot of F/SF).