The Spirit Well by Stephen R. LawheadMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
“The Spirit Well” is the third entry in the “Bright Empires” series, a set which travels in time from contemporary to Victorian to Renaissance to medieval to Stone Age and back, based on the concept of time travel (and multidimensional travel) via ley lines, those lines of power which circumnavigate and divide the planet. After a hefty and highly-detailed introduction, “The Spirit Well” gets off to a quicker start, with some introduction to characters and some surprising action. Almost before we realize it, we enter the realms of high fantasy, magic, metaphysics, and spirituality. Reading this novel is akin to taking trips through history, literature, metaphysics, and more-and what’s more, enjoying it immensely. There is no need to activate suspension of disbelief; it happens automatically, without time to ponder, “could such really occur?” Another delightful aspect of this book is that as the story shifts perspective from one character to another, from one dimension to another, from one era to another, it does so completely smoothly, because the reader is immediately so enraptured with the story lines.
Although I had not read the previous entries in the series, “The Skin Map” and “The Bone House,” reading “The Spirit Well” has definitely convinced me to do so.
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