Lens of the World - Softcover

MacAvoy, R A

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0747279535 ISBN 13: 9780747279532

Publisher: Headline, 1991

Synopsis

Lens of the World is the story of a prodigious life. It recounts the coming of age of Nazhuret, an outcast and orphan who rises from his lowly estate as a ward of the Sordaling military school to become a mighty warrior, philosopher, and confidant of the King of Vestinglon. As he grows, the young man receives outlandish knowledge and is prepared for an entirely exceptional destiny far beyond the narrow confines of his kingdom. In Lens Of The World, master storyteller R.A. Macavoy spins a narrative web packed with nuances and mysteries, feverish dreams and unlikely rewards. "LENS OF THE WORLD IS A WORK OF SOARING IMAGINATION." - Bestselling author Morgan Llywelyn "THIS BOOK IS WORTH OWNING IN HARDCOVER AND PULLING OUT ON A REGULAR BASIS." - Locus Magazine "IT'S STYLE RIVETS ATTENTION, AND THE STORY IS ONE WHICH REMAINS IN THE MIND." - Andre Norton

About this title

About the Author

R. A. MacAvoy is a highly acclaimed author of imaginative and original science fiction and fantasy novels. Her debut novel, Tea with the Black Dragon, won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. She has also written the Damiano trilogy, the chronicles of a wizard’s young son, set during an alternate history version of the Italian Renaissance; The Book of Kells; and Twisting the Rope, the highly acclaimed sequel to Tea with the Black Dragon. She is also the author of the beloved and much-praised Lens of the World trilogy.

From School Library Journal

YA-- In this, the first volume of a fantasy series, MacAvoy does not merely set the stage, hint at a plot to be unveiled later, or tease readers with suggested themes. Instead, she presents a fully developed novel that preserves interesting territory to be explored in the future. The plot crosses the classic quest fantasy with the bildungsroman, and the novel is composed in the epistolary style. Nazhuret, a child seemingly without family, is the ward of a military school for the sons of nobility. As an adolescent, he finds himself propelled into a weird relationship with the mysterious Powl. Their meeting is a memorable set-piece worthy of Poe. Nazhuret's re-education under Powl involves trials to make the most hardworking student shudder. At the end of it, Powl sends Nazhuret into the world, a kind of beggar/philosopher, a lens-grinder on tour. It is here that MacAvoy's intent becomes clear, because Nazhuret is indeed, for readers, the lens of the world, the optic through which they see the mysterious, shifting ambiguities that create a reality. This is a plot and a theme and a character so rich that revelations would be unforgivable. Add to these one of the most surprising supporting characters and plots in years and a fantasy setting that is always intriguing but never intrusive and you have a book that readers won't want to end. --Cathy Chauvette, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Headline
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0747279535
• ISBN 13: 9780747279532
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288