The Spirit Well

By: Stephen Lawhead

Narrated by: Simon Bubb

The Search for the Map—and the secret behind its cryptic code—intensifies in a quest across time, space, and multiple realities.

But what if the true treasure isn’t the map at all . . . what if the map marks something far greater? Something one world cannot contain? Those who desire to unlock that mystery are in a race to possess the secret—for good or evil.

Kit Livingstone is mastering the ability to travel across realities 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 is undercover in a Spanish monastery high in the Pyrenees, learning all she can from a monk named Brother Lazarus. Still determined to find Kit, she is beginning to experience a greater destiny than she can fathom.

Cassandra Clarke is overseeing an archaeological dig in Arizona when a chance encounter transports her to 1950s Damascus. There, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to the Seekers—the last living remnants of the Zetetic Society who need her help to track down the missing Cosimo Livingstone and his grandson Kit.

But there are darker forces at work in the universe whose agents always seem to be one step ahead of the rest—and they’re all desperate to gain the ultimate prize in this treasure hunt where the stakes increase at every turn. At the heart of the mystery lies the Spirit Well.

“Lawhead’s intricately plotted, compelling tale continues to demonstrate his mastery of world building.” —Library Journal

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.

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.

Best. Narrator. Ever.

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

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.