Features
- Cover Type: Paperback with 204 pages
- Published by: ereads.com November 8, 2002
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 1585869945
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-1585869947
-
Book Dimensions:
8.5 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
- Weighs: 9.6 ounces
From Publishers Weekly
In the absorbing, realistic world depicted in this first volume of a projected series, MacAvoy ( The Book of Kells ) introduces Nazhuret who, looking back from middle age, tells of the adventures of his youth. Half-student, half-servant in the military Royal School of Sordaling, where he appears short and ugly to his tall Velonyan companions, Nazhuret is forced out at age 20. He is taken on by Powl--a mysterious individual learned in arts such as astronomy, war and languages--who teaches Nazhuret, above all, to control his body and mind. After several years, Nazhuret begins to find his own way, traveling around Velonya as an itinerant optician and befriending a wolf. Going south, he works as a bouncer in a tavern, where he discovers his mixed heritage: he is part Rezhmian, of a neighboring country often at war with Velonya. When he discovers a plot to kill King Raduf, Nazhuret's training, both of body and mind, is sorely tested. MacAvoy's complex realm is full of confusion and ambiguity, in which, as Powl says, "You, Nazhuret . . . are the lens of the world: the lens through which the world may become aware of itself. The world, on the the other hand, is the only lens in which you can see yourself."
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Reader Reviews
This review is from: Lens of the World (Paperback)
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!
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