Lens of the World [Hardcover]

R. A. MacAvoy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1990

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

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

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.

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.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 286 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow & Co; 1st edition (June 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688094848
• ISBN-13: 978-0688094843
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,503,675 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful to Read Aloud, January 25, 2000

By 

Robin Boone (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

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!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful start to a beautiful trilogy, October 24, 2001

By 

Kathleen Cobcroft (Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lens of the World (Lens of the World Trilogy, Book 1) (Paperback)

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).

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb Fantasy, December 31, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Lens of the World (Paperback)

This is the first book of a wonderful, undeservedly obscure fantasy trilogy. IMHO, R.A. MacAvoy is, along with Gene Wolfe, one of the two best authors currently writing in the genre. Most of what passes for fantasy today is cartoonish by comparison.