Book Review for The Witch’s Lens by Luanne G. Smith (Book 1 Of The Order Of The Seven Stars Series)

This book is a historical fantasy with elements of mythology, folklore, and magic. It is the first book of a series, and takes place in the Carpathian Mountains during World War I.

The protagonist, Petra, is a witch in hiding who sneaks out at night with her camera to take pictures of the dead. Petra’s mother was mortal, but her father was a witch—a well-known alchemist. Petra can change an object into anything she wants to. Her husband, Marek, had left to serve in the army and Petra is kicked out of her apartment. Marek is a mortal and does not know anything about her powers. Petra had pretty much given up using magic except for the daily illusion spell she used to hide the scar on her face. She is discovered and recruited by a Josef, a mortal soldier, to help in the war effort by fighting against the supernatural beings who are killing soldiers and turning them into bloodthirsty creatures.

Petra travels with Josef and a few other witches he had recruited into the battle zone where she works to fight a variety of supernatural beings and documents them with her camera. Most of the humans fighting in the war are not aware of the unseen beings fighting along with them. The team Petra joined has an enemy within it—someone fighting for the other side! Marek’s image begins showing up in photos that Petra is taking. She accompanies Zimin, the tsar’s mystic, to a castle where he is attending a meeting of the Order of the Seven Stars with the hope of discovering his weakness. Petra attends the meeting to discover that its purpose is to sell her to the highest bidder!

This is not my normal genre, but I enjoyed reading this book. I did struggle a bit to understand who all the creatures from mythology, legends, and folklore were. I liked Petra’s ability to take photos of the dead and to manipulate matter. The story kept me engaged wondering what was going to happen next. The characters were interesting and well developed. The witches had a variety of magical abilities and talents.

I would recommend this book for adults who enjoy reading dark fantasy and don’t mind a little gore and a hint of romance. This book is more about the battle of the witches and the undead than it is about the humans fighting in World War I. My rating for this book is 4 stars.