The Spirit Well

By: Stephen R. Lawhead

Narrated by: Simon Bubb

The quest for the Skin Map, originally tattooed on The Man Who is Map is now in pieces and scattered across time and space in a universe of multiple realities.

But what if the true treasure isn’t the map at all . . . what if the map marks something far greater? Those wanting to unlock that mystery are in a race to possess the secret – for good or evil. Kit Livingstone is mastering the ability to travel through the Omniverse using ley lines and has forged a link from the Bone House, a sacred lodge made of animal bones, to the fabled Spirit Well, a place of profound power.

His friend Mina, still determined to find Kit, is beginning to experience a greater destiny than she can fathom.Enter Cassandra Clarke. She is overseeing an archaeological dig in Arizona when a chance encounter transports her to 1950s Damascus. There, she finds herself pursued by the Seekers—members of the Zetetic Society who need her help to track down the missing Cosimo Livingstone and his grandson Kit.They’re all desperate to gain the ultimate prize in a treasure hunt where ancient history, alternate realities, cutting edge physics, eternal mystery, and philosophy intersect. The next clue might reside at The Spirit Well.

Well of Souls, from medieval Oxford to modern-day Spain, from the pyramids of Egypt to an ancient shrine in China, the race continues for a prize beyond all imagining.

©2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. (P)2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Lots of explanatory backfill for the series

This third entry into the Bright Empires series has a lot of explanatory backstories. As others have noted, the Bright Empires series should be regarded as one large book that was divided into five equal parts. Each book in this series starts where the previous one ended, and they don’t come to any conclusions at the end. As well, Lawhead has packed an excessive number of characters into the overall story which gets even more confusing given the time travel and the presence of multi-generational family lines. In this book, we follow Kit’s continuing adventures from the Stone Age back to reuniting with Mina. We get backstory on how Mina learned so much about last lines. We also learn about some of the Petrie descendants, though it isn’t clear on what role they are playing. We are introduced to a new character, Cass, who is clearly a recruit to the “good guy” team. We also learn a little bit about Burley’s emergence and transformation into a villain, though I suspect there is lot more to that story. All in all, Lawhead is a good storyteller, but I do wish that he would have streamlined this overall story by cutting out some unnecessary characters (or perhaps giving more cursory coverage of them if they are important later on). Mina and Cass are favorite characters, with Kit being okay but rather dull. Simon Bubb is fine as narrator.

fantastic

The Spirit Well sees Kit return to find Wilhelmina as a nun with a fellow key travelling priest and astronomer. We are introduced to Cass, an archaeologist who stumbles across key line travelling and joins the secret Zetetic Society. Douglas Pettis and Snipe have a chat with philosopher Bacon, and more of the history of the Petrie line is revealed. A fantastic story and once again well narrated by Simon Bubb.

Best. Narrator. Ever.

The voices this narrator pulls off for each character, no matter how minor, really makes this book come alive.

Great read/listen. Looking forward to the next one

Great listen. I thought the story line was expanded very well. This series has no end in sight.

Love Stephen LawHead!

I am really enjoying this series. You get pulled right into the plot and get to experience several different cultures and times in history. If you like time travel and mystery, you will enjoy this story.

intriguing concept. Love the story

Would you listen to The Spirit Well again? Why?

Yes i would listen again. I will get all the series and than listen to all again. That way I do not have to wait so long between books. Need to listen to the first 2 books before this book. I believe there will be 5 in the series. Stephen Lawhead does a good job of holding my interest with multiple threads through the book. He did leave some threads open in this book so we have to get the next book in the series to get closer.

What other book might you compare The Spirit Well to and why?

I would compare this some what to Ted Dekker's Black/Red/White. In Teds books only one person goes between realities. Here there are multiple people going to different time and place.

Bewildering ending

Loved the idea of the book. It was chopped up and I had believed it would all be pulled together at the end for a wonderful conclusion. Yet it ended abruptly and with no conclusion. I enjoyed the adventures but, didn't end well.

Been a fan of Lawhead for 25 years!!

What did you love best about The Spirit Well?

I thoroughly enjoyed this series. It explores ley lines, time travel, apocalyptic possibilities, archeology, science and more, but not in what I would consider a "cheesy" way. Lawhead has pulled his material from many current conversations that can be found on the Internet in alternative news sources about all of these subjects, and then some. Through his fictional story, he explores what life might be like if "all that" were true. I found the character development, the plot development, the historical aspects of the various settings for the story, etc. to all be very engaging.

Love this Series

What did you love best about The Spirit Well?

Number 3 in the Bright Empire Series did not fail to continue the quest story thru the lives of interesting characters. My only drawback was the introduction of Cassandra, her voice and deadpan presentation was not in keeping with the other characters and was disappointing as an addition to the group.
Also Douglas murdering his father seemed uncharacteristic of the family, to have such a bad apple as a core character is questionable and not fully explained since all the other father/sons gave all to the quest.
Despite that Kit and Mena continue as the brave souls in search of they not what! Love the reading and the character development and the story while convoluted is fascinating.

Which character – as performed by Simon Bubb – was your favorite?

Simon's rendering of Kit and Mena and terrific, I was not enamored of the Cassandra reading though, dull, she seems somehow off, just not engaging as a character who seems to be assured of playing an important part of the story.

Love this stuff!

It's great to know that the author spent so much time researching and gaining facts, then turning this into a very well written and exciting mystery adventure! Thank you!