[hobbs525]

I looked for something on this so if I missed it, sorry...

I picked-up the Spirit Lens yesterday and I am already turned off by the first 10 pages. Has anyone finished this and what's the verdict?

Kat

[PeterWilliam]

I looked for something on this so if I missed it, sorry...

I picked-up the Spirit Lens yesterday and I am already turned off by the first 10 pages. Has anyone finished this and what's the verdict?

Kat

Brightstar is reading it right now in the January 2010 fantasy thread. It didn't sound good.

[hobbs525]

Thank you I found the info!!

[Bastard]

I think suciul commented on it earlier and thought that the book was slow going for a great portion in the beginning bot in the final third or so it really picks up and ends up being an excellent novel. Something along those lines. Other than Brightstar I don't think anyone has commented on reading it yet.

[BrightStar]

I know suciul said that whilst Spirit Lens was a slow starter, it picked up around page 100 or so. Even though I didn't like Spirit Lens by the first 30 or so pages, I tried to stick with it anyways. But, despite my efforts, I've not found my enjoyment of the book improving any more since getting past the first 100 pages-if anything, I'm disliking it more and more with each chapter. :(

The story has failed to really grab my interest, I don't really like (and can't visualize) the characters or the world. I was a massive fan of Song of the Beast and the Rai-kirah series (and enjoyed the Bridge of D'arnath series, though felt it had some flaws), but was massively dissapointed previously by the Lighthouse duology. I had hoped that Spirit Lens would restore my confidence in Berg, but now I fear that Spirit Lens will have cast her from her place at the top of my favorite authors list. I'm certainly horribly dissapointed by Spirit Lens---and the worse thing is, I'd read excerpts and information/progress reports about it on the authors blog, and was so sure it sounded great. This makes the dissapointment even greater for me.

[jackal912]

I guess it says something about me that I found the Lighthouse duology fascinating and it was probably my favorite of her books.. Would this mean I'd like Spirit Lens? :P

[BrightStar]

I guess it says something about me that I found the Lighthouse duology fascinating and it was probably my favorite of her books.. Would this mean I'd like Spirit Lens? :P

I'd be very curious to know whether you did, or not. I could never exactly figure out what it was that I didn't like about the Lighthouse duology, so I can't say whether Spirit Lens suffers from the same problems.

Unlike Spirit Lens though, I did actually start out really liking the Lighthouse duology, and in fact enjoyed much of the first half of the book. I felt it grew weak after then, and I struggled with it, but was rewarded by the ending-which left me desperate to read the next book. The second book in the Lighthouse duology was a big dissapointment for me though, although I never could say quite what it was about the book that failed for me.

[pockiiee]

I just finished the book, and unlike the posts above I enjoyed it. Think I read the whole thing in a couple of days.

That being said, I liked the lighthouse duology as well, but was rather disappointed in the second book and the ending of that duology. The character just didn't seem to grow, and I thought the ending was dry and by the end I stopped caring for the main character.

The Spirit lens is definitely a first book in a series; some major plotlines get revealed, but there is more to come. I liked the way it unfolded like a good mystery; the plotting elements I though were quite good and there were usually hints, like all good mysteries. I like mysteries in fantasy settings.

That being said, our hero is very similar to most of Berg's heroes; likable to a fault and almost too generous, suffering some trauma of the past that interferes with his daily life. I think berg likes to write from the POV of the long-suffering underdog. It's also a first person POV which Carol berg seems to sick to. So, I think if you liked the lighthouse duology you'd like this one too, probably more.

I thought the magician Dante was her best character in this new book, but the plot really didn't do him justice, I'd like to read a bit more about him. Also enjoyed Ilario thought he had some good moments. Didn't really like Portier the main lead, which was a bit of a problem. I hope he, well, grows up a bit :)

All in all I thought it was an OK first book, and I'd like to see where she's going with this one. Too bad I have to wait till 2011.

[jackal912]

I recently finished it as well - I enjoyed it muchly. More than I thought I would, even. I'm curious about Dante as well.. they were implying that he was going to stick around as a main protagonist from the blurbs and descriptions of the trilogy, yet considering what happened.. heh.