Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lens of the World | 1990 | R.A. MacAvoy | Buy |
| 2 | King of the Dead | 1991 | R.A. MacAvoy | Buy |
| 3 | The Belly of the Wolf | 1993 | R.A. MacAvoy | Buy |
| 4 | The Lens of the World Trilogy: Lens of the World, King of the Dead, and The Belly of the Wolf | 2017 | R.A. MacAvoy | Buy |
The Lens of the World trilogy begins in 1990 with a New York Times Notable Book of the same name. Nazhuret is raised as an outsider at a military school, where he is eventually taken under the wing of a mysterious teacher called Powl. Under Powl’s guidance he learns languages, astronomy, swordsmanship, and optics — the “lens of the world” is both a literal instrument and a metaphor for how Nazhuret learns to see.
King of the Dead (1991) and The Belly of the Wolf (1993) continue his story at later stages of his life — a middle-aged man who has found love and would prefer to be left alone, and then an old man drawn into one final crisis involving the kingdom he has served. Each book has a different emotional register that reflects where Nazhuret is in his life.
MacAvoy reissued the complete trilogy as a single omnibus volume in 2017. New readers should start with Lens of the World, which functions as both an introduction to the world and a complete coming-of-age story.