The Witch's Lens

A Novel (The Order of the Seven Stars, Book 1)

By: Luanne G. Smith

Narrated by: Gail Shalan

Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

As World War I rages, there are evils—both living and dead—that only a witch can see in a spellbinding novel by the Amazon Charts and Washington Post bestselling author of The Raven Spell.

With her husband off fighting at World War I’s eastern front, Petra Kurková embraces her fleeting freedom, roaming the city at night with her camera. A born witch, she’s discovered that she can capture the souls of the dead on film. Her supernatural skills don’t go unnoticed by the enigmatic Josef Svoboda. He’s recruiting a team of sorcerers to infiltrate the front lines, where the bloodshed of combat has resurrected foul creatures. Petra’s unique abilities will be needed against the most dangerous enemies of all—those ever present, undead, and unseen.

Deep in the cursed Carpathian Mountains, the ragtag team meets with an emissary of an ancient organization founded to maintain balance between worlds. Photographing the escalating horrors is beyond anything Petra imagined. So are the secrets among her fellow witches. But Petra can’t turn back. Not before she discovers her husband’s fate and the myriad ways her magic is manifesting. To defeat an occult foe, Petra must release the power she’s been concealing for so long, or risk damning a war-torn world to ashes.

©2023 Luanne G. Smith (P)2023 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Gail Shalan narrates this fantastical novel set during WWI.… Shalan's voice is full of feeling. Her deliberate intonation and quick pace create anticipation and a sense of adventure.… Shalan becomes the various characters located in a Central European region. The suspense over who is fighting for what side is alluring, horrific, and fun to listen to.”—AudioFile Magazine

“Of particular interest to fans of dark fantasy set in the era of World War I…vividly, expressively, and brilliantly performed by the impressive storytelling talents of professional narrator Gail Shalan.”—Midwest Book Review

“A delicious foray into a new series that melds history with the supernatural…Smith’s fans, as well as new readers, will delight in the heady mixture of historical fiction, fantasy, and horror.”—Library Journal

Using Witch Magic in WWI Russia

I liked that the main character could take photographs and then see what the entity really was (ghost, demon, living person, etc) .

Picked up towards the end

It was slow but I'm interested in learning more after the last part of the book.

Thank you for a great story

So glad to have more stories by thos author. I am excited for the next. I hope this series goes on for a long time. I couldn't even fall asleep! LOVE the narrator also!

Just awesome!

Another awesome book by LuAnne G Smith. She never disappoints with her books. Can’t wait for the next book.

Interesting listen

This paranormal listen is way different than anything I have listened to before. The uniqueness made it worth the listen and I look forward to the next one.

Enjoyable

Not as spellbinding as Luanne Smith’s prior books but we'll written and enjoy it. Narration and performance were excellent.

Interesting concept

Good and evil overlap. Depends on your position. Both sides think they are justified. I thought this was interesting but it didn’t grip me. I liked it but didn’t love it. Don’t think I’ll go on with series. But encourage you to give it a try. Ambitious combination of factual events and fantasy.

Strangely unsatisfying 2.5 stars

It was about magic without being magical and about conflict with much sense of conflict. The whole thing with the camera went nowhere, as though it was a good idea that the author didn't really know what to do with. The same is true of some of the characters. It's like a series of events that individually were somewhat interesting but don't really coalesce into a compelling story.

The performance was good.

It wrapped abruptly without really ending even part of the story (i know it is intended as the first in a series). I won't be looking for the sequel.

Decent Paranormal Historical Fantasy

I have a particular soft spot for historical fantasy and this was recommended after reading the Winternight Trilogy. It was a decent and quick read. I felt like a lot more bits could've been fleshed out especially towards the end but wasn't disappointed overall. My one "complaint" is that Gale (audio narrator), while great at accents and character profiles, has too much of a breathy-whispery voice which made it nearly impossible to hear in the car - even at full volume.

The only drawback is that it’s a new release

Total joy to listen to! I was DISMAYED to realize at the end that this is a new release, so the sequel will be a ways off.