Book Review – The Bone House, Stephen Lawhead

Summary? A frustrating first half leads to an exceptional second half of the book. Recommended.

The Bone House, part 2 of the Bright Empires series. I had read part one a few months ago, and decided to give part 2 a run. You can read my review of part one, The Skin Map.

Again, a quick part of the blurb from the Stephen Lawhead’s site. -

One piece of the skin map has been found. Now the race to unravel the future of the future turns deadly.

An avenue of Egyptian sphinxes, an Etruscan tufa tomb, a Bohemian coffee shop, and a Stone Age landscape where universes collide …

 The Bone House is a definite continuation from The Skin Map. Without reading part 1, part 2 will not make a whole lot of sense, I don’t think this is the kind of series you can start where you want!

The first half of the book is frankly frustrating. There are at least 5 story lines going on, and some you just have no idea why. And not just 5 story lines all happening around each other (though in many senses they are). One minute you are with someone in London, next with that persons great grandfather but in Ancient Egypt, next with someone else altogether in 18th century Egypt, And next again somewhere in Bohemia. It was interesting, intriguing, but a little messy at the same time.

But somewhere around half way all the story lines start to converge. Once I past this point the book was a page turner – I struggled to put it down, because it utterly caught my imagination. The other thing is that book 2 resolves a lot of the ‘unifinished’ business of book 1, bringing together what was a good story line with lots of lose ends, into something much more coherent.

What to say again without giving much away? Persevere through the first half, take your time to work out who is who and where and when they are, and it will all come together in the end, and it will be rewarding. Stephen Lawhead has already made his intention clear to publish book 3 – The Spirit Well – in September 2012. But unlike book 1, you are not left wondering ‘what??’. There is much to happen and much to be resolved, but this is a much clearer break at the end of the book, which left me feeling good about the story I read, and yet, interested in the next book.

So again, recommended to teenagers and above. For those younger, read and exercise your own discretion! There is nothing untoward in any language or relationships, but there are mature aspects of the book younger readers may or will have difficulty with. An interesting mix of fantasy, science fiction, philosophy and religion.

Book Review – The Skin Map, Stephen Lawhead

Summary? A good read, if not a little confusing at the start. Book 2 even better. Recommended.

I was intrigued by the description of The Skin Map, by Stephen R. Lawhead.

The ultimate quest for ultimate treasure. Kit Livingstone gets caught up in an Omniverse of intersecting realities as he chases the secret of a map tattooed on human skin. It’s time to walk the lines.

I have read books from this author before, and they had been interesting, so it was time to give it a go. I will be honest, there are some reviews out there that portray this book as poor, and I was nearly dissuaded, but glad I did take the time to read.

The book begins with our main characters – Kit and Wilhelmina, living unremarkable if not utterly dreary lives in modern day England. But things change when Kit meets his grandfather and namesake (Cosimo) and finds himself travelling through the multiverse to new places and times.

Unfortunately this makes him late to a date with his girlfriend, and so in an attempt to get himself out of trouble he tries to prove to her that it is real. And so begins the adventure. With settings ranging from modern day London, late middle ages Prague, Ancient Egypt and a few in between, it has an entertaining breadth and interesting story line.

The book travels at a leisurely pace, and to be honest, by the end of it you are not quite sure why some of the chapters were even there (though having read the second book already, it is becoming clearer). The only occasional difficulty is in working out what the chapter represents – who is the focus on, and what place and time period they are in. It is not too bad in the book, but you do need to take a second to think at every turn!

Being a fiction book, I don’t want to say too much and give things away. So what I will say is it was a ‘good’ book – not great, but not bad. An enjoyable read. For those expecting a ‘Christian Epic’, you will be disappointed. To me it certainly appears that Lawhead has a ‘Christian Worldview’, and maybe he will make more of this in the future, and he certainly poses poignant questions at opportune times, but this is not a strictly ‘Christian’ book. I just note as some previous reviewers this was their main complaint…

But having read the second book (which gets in all senses better), it is a great, and required, introduction to what appears will be a series of reasonable length. In short, recommended to teenagers and adults alike. For those with younger children, read it yourself and use your own discernment.

You can also like to read my review of The Bone House (book 2 in Bright Empires).

Great Books?

I love to read. I love to sit down with a great book and become engrossed in the story. For me reading is often restful and entertaining at the same time – I can lose hours and days in a good book, and come out refreshed and ready for anything.

So this year, I would like to read some more great books. Any suggestions?

Biographies and Testimonies.

I love these kind of books. I am almost finished re-reading Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy again. It is without doubt a great book (I reviewed it here).

Some other books like this I have read and remain in my memory are Mover of Men and Mountains – the story of RG Le Tourneau. It was at least 10 years ago but this still remains a powerful memory. Another very long time ago was ‘Vanya‘ – the story of a Soviet Christian in 1970 who was also a Red Army soldier. Lastly, I still remember Shadow of the Almighty being a very powerful book – the story of Jim Elliot. It might be time to find and read that one again!

I know I have read plenty more, but those ones remain even despite years intervening – I am sure It was about 1991 when I read Vanya!

So knowing there is many more out there, any suggestions?

Fiction

I love a good fiction book. Lord of the Rings is without question my favourite series. There is a problem with this though – it sets such an impossibly high standard that sometimes I read books and just shake my head, wishing authors would continue to take 20 years to write 3 books, rather than 3.

But I know there are other good books out there. I also love Perelandra by CS Lewis, not to mention Narnia.

The problem with fiction is finding good, clean fiction! You know what I mean. Books don’t need swearing. They don’t need illicit relationships, and even less, intimate descriptions of them. They don’t need a lot of the things people put in for ‘excitement’. The other problem these days (and now I am just ranting) is the use of an authors name but the book is written by someone else. I used to read Clive Cussler all the time, but now, they all have his name in big, bold letters, but are written by someone else, and the quality has drained away. They were never ‘great’ books, but they were at least a good read (if not unfortunately having undesirable elements), but now they aren’t even that. And he isn’t the only author whose name is being used for profit…

So help me out – rather than read Lord of the Rings 3 times this year, what can you recommend?

Reading – January 25 2012

I don’t often post content to other sites, but there were a couple of things today…

Surely most people have heard Don McLean’s song American Pie? Well, Mark Altrogge has rewritten the lyrics – I am sure you will work out my snippet…

But something turned from joy to wrath
The day the bacon died
So…

Bye, bye Mrs. Chicken Pot Pie
No more patties, nothing fatty, no more double French fries
It’s fat free yogurt on a half piece of rye
Singin’ this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die

 (see the whole song - Bye Bye Mrs. Chicken Pot Pie)

Make sure you take a look at the whole song! Classic! Also, while you are there, Mark has another great post Don’t Rent That Clown Suit Just Yet, talking about Gods Providence. Very timely for me in any case.

Totally off topic, but if you are into Motor racing, you might be interested in the Motor Racing Game being run. Just a community of enthusiasts guessing and learning, but lots of fun if that’s your thing (you will find me there…)

Lastly, my friend Richard Oddie from Whole Heart Music has another video out, this time, Amazing Grace.

Richard Oddie – First Light

Do you want to see some amazing and creative guitar, from a Christian musician?

Richard Oddie has been a good friend of ours for many years, and recently released a new video, playing the title track from his album, ‘First Light’. Take a look – it’s crazy! I love how it both sounds and looks artistic as he plays.

If you are interested, you can visit Richard’s website, Whole Heart Music.

First Light is a great instrumental album, and comes wholly recommended! (Yes, I own a copy)

First Light – Richard Oddie

(Email and RSS readers – you may need to click through to see the video)