The Spirit Well by Stephen R. Lawhead (Thomas Nelson, 2012)
I am now totally hooked on Lawhead's Bright Empires series, and the next book isn't due out until September of this year. Keeping track of the action is a challenge, as the story jumps through multiple generations, eras, and places, but such dislocations are no more than the protagonists are expected to endure, and by this third book I've become an experienced traveller. Roller coasters can be great fun if you don't expect your equilibrium to remain unchallenged. (For one as face-blind as I am, it's actually easier than watching an ordinary movie.)
It's risky to praise a series from the middle—I thought Harry Potter had great potential, but grew more and more disappointed after the third book. So far, however, Bright Empires just gets better and better. This is probably because I like characters and mystery more than action, and this volume has a better thought-to-violence ratio than The Skin Map and The Bone House.
