Showing posts with label Stephen Lawhead. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stephen Lawhead. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Stephen Lawhead Spirit Well CSFF Tour - Day 3


The Spirit Well
Book Three in the Bright Empires series - by Stephan R. Lawhead


Blog Tour - Day 3  No Matter Where You Go, Then You Are
 
(click image for Amazon link or click link below) The Spirit Well - available from:


You can add the Amazon Audible version for $9.99 when purchased with the eBook, to switch between reading and listening to the book - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0095PEMIW/ref=kics_hp_dp_narration


Author’s Web site -            http://www.stephenlawhead.com/
Author's Facebook Page -  http://www.facebook.com/StephenRLawhead

 
I received a review copy of The Spirit Well from Thomas Nelson in conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour


I wanted to return to something that came to mind during yesterday's blog. As each traveler followed their ley line, they didn't always end up at he same place or even time. I'm not sure if it was intended, but couldn't the landing time have been what each needed to grow into the person they needed to become? Kit landed in a quiet, fairly peaceful time. He needed the introspection from that period. Mina landed centuries ago, but followed a trail forward to end at a monastery, where she found fulfillment in quiet servitude and worship. Cass landed in a near modern time, so the change was less abrupt, and she found answers to her question.
 
A theme that seemed to run through the Spirit Well, is that nothing happens by chance. each landed where they did for a reason. I think Lawhead used this part of the plot to show readers that God is in control. Even in the small things, he can use us and others to nudge someone in the direction they need to go. Like the cast of characters in The Spirit Well, life often doesn't make sense. Just when we think we have things figured out, we gain new knowledge and opportunities. The Lord wants what is best for us in the long run. As Kit, Mina, and Cass found, no matter where you go, then in life you are, and The Lord is there with you.
 
I had one last question about ley travel. While you can't meet yourself, could you send a warning back from a future event? Guess we'll have to wait for the next book to find out more about Stephen Lawhead's Bright Empires universe. Hope it's soon.


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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Stephen Lawhead Spirit Well CSFF Tour - Day 2


The Spirit Well
Book Three in the Bright Empires series - by Stephan R. Lawhead


Blog Tour - Day 2  Are We Then Yet? Traveling the Ley Line Express.



 
(click image for Amazon link or click link below) The Spirit Well - available from:


You can add the Amazon Audible version for $9.99 when purchased with the eBook, to switch between reading and listening to the book - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0095PEMIW/ref=kics_hp_dp_narration


Author’s Web site -            http://www.stephenlawhead.com/
Author's Facebook Page -  http://www.facebook.com/StephenRLawhead

 
I received a review copy of The Spirit Well from Thomas Nelson in conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour


The newest ley traveler, Cassandra Clark, begins the book as a healthy skeptic about much of life. Disappointed by what once excited her, she seems like a ship without a rudder. Luckily she finds new direction in her life as she travels the ley lines. Her next trip ended in a different place, and as she found out, a different time. Gone were the arid plains of darkened ash. Her new landing spot was still dry, but at least there were other people. This is where Cass first encounters the Zetetic Society and learns there really is life after ley travel.

Kit takes an odd turn in a cave, following someone or something, and surprises a hunter in a nearly modern setting. Problem is, Kit has almost forgotten how to speak after living among the River City Clan for so long, and the stranger he meets doesn't speak English. Dressed in rough animal skins, and sporting untamed hair and beard, Kit doesn't make a very good first impression. When he's brought to town, many of the locals think Kit is crazy and want to lock him up. He's passed from one group to another, with no one wanting to take responsibility for "the loco man in the desert." Kit takes solace in his memory of his friends in the caves. He realizes he was contented while living there, and ready to take on life with a fresh determination.

Mina goes searching for Kit, and instead finds new direction for her life too. A series of clues and circumstances leads her to find a new friend and a mentor in an unexpected place and time. Thanks to her new training, Mina is able to plan her trips up and down the ley lines to arrive within a day of when she wanted. As she returns to the monastery, time and again, Mina develops a peaceful spirit by living and working among the nuns and friars.

Ley line travel provides a life changing result in all three characters. Each find their way as they seem to land in places and times that will help them the most. Some even find or renew their faith. But that's tomorrow's discussion.


Day 3 Blog: No Matter Where You Go, Then You Are

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Monday, October 22, 2012

Stephen Lawhead Spirit Well CSFF Tour - First Day


The Spirit Well
Book Three in the Bright Empires series - by Stephan R. Lawhead


Blog Tour - Day 1 Ley Lines and Time Streams and Newbies, Oh My!


 
(click image for Amazon link or click link below) The Spirit Well - available from:


You can add the Amazon Audible version for $9.99 when purchased with the eBook, to switch between reading and listening to the book - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0095PEMIW/ref=kics_hp_dp_narration


Author’s Web site -            http://www.stephenlawhead.com/
Author's Facebook Page -  http://www.facebook.com/StephenRLawhead

 
I received a review copy of The Spirit Well from Thomas Nelson in conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour




The Spirit Well is third book in Stephen R. Lawhead's Bright Empires series. Mina and Kit return in the newest addition to The Bright Empire series by author Stephen R. Lawhead. If you read The Bone House, book two in the series, you may remember Kit was stuck in the distant past. He was in a time long before recorded history. It seemed like life was exceptionally hard, but Kit's character finds his place in their society as he learns to communicate in a kind of basic telepathy. Yes, that makes sense. Language hadn't been developed this early, and the River City Clan needed a way to communicate. Lawhead's explanation sounded believable and it doesn't conflict with many scientific theories about early man's physiology. The amazing breadth of knowledge encountered in Mr. Lawhead's books never ceases to amaze me. With so much research, I often wonder how he finds time to write.

While Kit wanders around the Ice Age landscape, Mina procures a new, improved ley line detector model from her friend, Gustavus. The new model tracks directionally a little too efficiently for Mina, so she leaves Prague for an extended time in search of Kit . She finds a ley-travel mentor in an unexpected place and time, and learns time isn't always linear when it comes to ley travel. She answered one of my questions. Why don't ley travelers ever run into an earlier or later version of themselves; like Marty in Back to the Future?
Cassandra Clarke is the newbie ley-traveler. She happens upon a ley portal during an palaeontological dig in the American Southwest. This Ghost Road, as it is called by Native American Shamans, leads Cass to the strangest place yet in the series. Arid volcanic gravel covered the ground as far as she could see, only broken in the far distance by black hills. Cass didn't know how she had arrived, and what's worse, didn't know how to get home. No one knew she was gone and wouldn't know to look for her.

  Tomorrow I'll discuss how moving in four dimensions makes it that much easier to get lost. Even if you return to the right place, returning to the wrong time is even worse.
  And what does the Zetetic Society really know about traveling the ley lines?


Day 2 Blog: Are We Then Yet? Traveling the Ley Line Express.




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Wednesday, October 26, 2011







Author’s Web site - http://www.stephenlawhead.com/


I received a review copy from the nice people at Thomas Nelson of The Bone House
in conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour







Here on the last day I thought I'd mention some questions I had about the series, and ley travel in particular. Kit's great-grandfather Cosmo explained his slowed aging by travel the ley lines. I wondered if ley travel leaves some type of temporal field around the traveler. Since you can travel to multiple places in the past, and Kit's servant traveled with Kit to the servant's future, can Kit find a ley line leading to Kit's future? Could Kit, or Lord Burleigh, travel back to the time just before Kit first left and stop him from leaving? If Kit can't travel to his future, would he be safe from Lord Burleigh in a time-line after Burleigh existed? And, does the time spent in another ley time line equal the time gone on their home time-line? I guess I'm wondering if Kit and Mina will encounter a Rip Van Winkle effect and return years after they first left London. If it sounds like I'm thinking too deeply on the Bone House and The Bright Empires series, then that says something about how well I enjoyed the book.


The Bone House reminded me a bit of an earlier Lawhead book series, The Paradise War. In that series, two college students travel by means of a Scottish stone cairn at a special time of day to another place that seems another time. Both series involve moving two modern day people o another place, but The Bright Empires story adds another wrinkle by including travel through time. One of the things I enjoy about the Bone House is how the author works in real places, real times, and even a few real people. His eye to detail shows in how well he crafts the story and places the reader in a place and time totally foreign to a modern reader and still brings it to life.


Some readers may find The Bone House a harder read than most books, but I appreciate an author who writes to make you think rather than spoon feed you each detail to make sure you understand. I enjoyed the second book in the Bright Empires series, and look forward to reading what new twists and turns Mr. lawhead can manage to pull off in the third book of the series.



*Participants’ links:
Noah Arsenault
Red Bissell
Thomas Clayton Booher
Beckie Burnham
Morgan L. Busse
CSFF Blog Tour
Jeff Chapman
Carol Bruce Collett
Karri Compton
D. G. D. Davidson
Theresa Dunlap
April Erwin
Victor Gentile
Tori Greene
Ryan Heart
Bruce Hennigan
Timothy Hicks
Christopher Hopper
Janeen Ippolito
Becca Johnson
Jason Joyner
Julie
Carol Keen
Krystine Kercher
Marzabeth
Katie McCurdy
Shannon McDermott
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Joan Nienhuis
Chawna Schroeder
Kathleen Smith
Donna Swanson
Rachel Starr Thomson
Robert Treskillard
Steve Trower
Fred Warren
Phyllis Wheeler
Nicole White
Rachel Wyant

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Tuesday, October 25, 2011

The Bone House


The Bright Empires - Book Two by Stephan R. Lawhead


Blog Tour - Day 2
Been There, Done That, Got the Papyrus T-Shirt





Skin Map(1st book in series) Trailer:















One thing that came to mind as I read The Bone house was how some of the locations were revisited, yet no one seemed to run into their self. This seemed confusing until I read that Mina told Kit to meet a man known as the Last Man on Earth Who Everything before a later meeting when the group would reconnect. The plan to collect an item before the Burleigh men seemed like a good idea. As long as Kit's group arrived earlier, they could gain the advantage. Yet even with this type of foreknowledge, plans didn't always work out as planned. In one timeline, a close run-in with the Burleigh Men and the Duke himself led to Kit's sidekick getting shot and almost captured. Kit tried to escape, but the ley lines failed to work as expected. He became separated from his team, and then Mina couldn't locate him. Kit became stranded in another place, in another time, and with no easy way out.


Through it all, a greater plan is in place for Kit, Mina, and the others' life. It's a plan the Master Planner has had in place since the beginning; a plan that existed long before the Skin Map. The idea of a Master Plan seemed a central theme of the book, and maybe the series. Life doesn't occur haphazardly. Things often happen because of choices made. Making a bad choice doesn't cancel the Lord's plans for a life, but it may require extra work one someones part for the same result. This is something I felt Kit has yet to discover. Though Evil may seem to be winning at times, the conclusion is already known and Evil is destined to be defeated.



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Monday, October 24, 2011

The Bone House


The Bright Empires - Book Two by Stephan R. Lawhead


Blog Tour - Day 1
Ley, Ley, La Ley Lines





Author’s Web site - http://www.stephenlawhead.com/



I received a review copy from Thomas Nelson of The Bone House
in conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour




Author Trailer:









The Bone House is second in the Bright Empires trilogy by Stephen R. Lawhead. It's rare that a second book holds my interest as much as the first. Some how, Mr, Lwhead pulls it off. Kit and Mina are back and closing on the Skin Map's location. In this book, Kit strikes me as a character akin to Ralph Hinkley in the 1980's TV series, The Greatest American Hero. He's learning as he's going becasue he doesn't have an instruction manual. This makes for an exciting read as the reader isn't quite sure what to expect as Kit rides the ley lines from place to place and time to time. Wilhelmina, Kit's former girlfriend who goes by Mina, has hit her stride in the past. She's co-owner of the hottest, and only, coffeehouse in Prague, part owner in a shipping company, and knows the Austrian Prince. Just when things seemed darkest for Kit, Mina shows up with a ley line-type GPS.




One of the things I enjoyed about the Bone House is the history slice of life Mr. Lawhead brings the reader. He seems to understand each period, easily moving between changes of manerisms and speech as the characters travel the ley lines. One of the most interesting examples for me was the character ported to the Stone Age. We know little about the people and period, but the author brought the world to life. There was little dialogue, but you almost feel the excitement as modern man learns to communicate with stone age man.




Ley lines connect times and places and we find out they aren't always running. As I read, I wondered if ley lines farther from Kit and Mina's home time and place require some kind of re-charge period. This might explain the Stone Age ley line's limited window of opportunity. The leys remind me of a computer processor. Circuits open and shut, and sometimes one-way travel is allowed, but shunted off in a new direction. Billions of possible combinations exist, and it seems impossibly complex. Yet, to the one who design it all, it makes sense.




Day 2 Blog: Been There, Done That, Got the Papyrus T-Shirt


*Participants’ links:


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Wednesday, November 03, 2010



The Skin Map:
The Bright Empires Series - Book One
by
Stephen R Lawhead

Blog Tour - Day 3

It's Not Just Skins versus Shirts in the Grand Scheme of Things




(click image for Amazon link or click link below)

The Skin Map - available from:
Author Webpage:
Stephen R Lawhead – http://www.stephenlawhead.com/


I received a review copy from Thomas Nelson of The Skin Map
for this blog tour


On the third and final day of the Skin Map Blog Tour I wanted to mention some of the little details Mr. Lawhead included that helped bring the settings to life. One of the most painful chapters to read concerns when the original Skin Map owner, Arthur Flinders-Petrie travels to China during the early days of Chinese-British trade. Arthur returns to the House of Wu, the most gifted tattoo artist in China, to render on Arthur's chest the most important location yet found. Until reading the tattoo scene I had never realized the pain suffered through to gain the tattoo. This chapter is aptly named "In Which an Honorable Skin is Notably Inscribed."

Another chapter title I liked is, "In Which Wilheminia Changes History Much for the Better." As mentioned in yesterday's blog, one of the themes, or lessons, I liked is that things work out for a reason. In Wilhemina's case, her terrible plight is instead the best thing that might have happened to her. How she turned the tables on the businessmen in 1600s Prague reminded me of Mark Twain's book, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. She used her modern knowledge to level the playing field for her and Etzell.

A small detail I appreciated about the Skin Map layout are the inclusion of the swirls and marks appearing at the top of each chapter, and alluded to on the Skin Map. The symbols helped me visualize how the Skin Map may have been marked in like manner. I even wondered if the symbols in some way point to the locations of each chapter.


In closing, I want to say how well I enjoyed reading the book. When the book arrived in the mail Friday afternoon I was afraid I might have too short a time to do the story justice. Instead, I finished the book by the next evening and hated to close the cover as the last chapter ended. Fans of Sliders and The Time Tunnel will appreciate the rich storytelling and scenes found in The Skin Map. I wish the sequel released early next year, but craftsmanship takes time and makes it worth the wait.

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Tuesday, November 02, 2010



The Skin Map:
The Bright Empires Series - Book One
by
Stephen R Lawhead

Blog Tour - Day 2

Grow Where You Are Planted or
Things Happen Because of a Grand Plan




(click image for Amazon link or click link below)

The Skin Map - available from:
Author Webpage:
Stephen R Lawhead – http://www.stephenlawhead.com/


I received a review copy from Thomas Nelson of The Skin Map
for this blog tour


One of the spiritual themes I liked in the Skin Map is the concept that everything works according to a celestial plan. When Kit's former girlfriend, Wilhelmina, is dropped into a strange world and time she thinks everything is horrible thanks to Kit sending her to a such a cold, muddy place. In her time she was a baker's assistant and endured the work as best she could.
She meets Englebert Stifflebeam, or Etzel as he prefers, who is on his way to Prague in 1606 to open a bakery. When Etzel finds out she knows how to bake, he tells Mina - her nickname - that God's providence brought them together at that time. She scoffs at first, but finds in Etzel a strong faith in God and patience that she needs, and Etzel finds the business sense and baking skills he needs. Over time, Mina admits to herself that she is far happier than she ever was in London, even without modern conveniences.
Kit the Questor-in-training learns from his great-grandfather that all things work with a purpose toward a final goal. Through harrowing experiences Kit also gains a faith in God as he learns to trust in a higher power, rather than believe his life existed at the whim of fate. The Skin Map shows but a small portion of this great causeway though space and time, and the reader will gain a idea of Creation's vastness. Kit also learns that the choices we make can have far reaching consequences. A kind gift of bread by Cosmo, Kit's great-grandfather, to a poor lady may have averted the Great London Fire. But Kit is warned that Wilhelmina may inadvertently grave affect another time stream.


Our lives are like Kit's interactions with the past. Our choices and actions do ripple out like a stone cast into a quiet pond, influencing everything we come into contact with; directly or indirectly. When we chose to follow the right path, our influences can provide a long term positive effect for others.

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Monday, November 01, 2010





The Skin Map:
The Bright Empires Series - Book One
by
Stephen R Lawhead


Blog Tour - Day 1
SLIDERS MEETS THE TIME TUNNEL


(click image for Amazon link or click link below)

The Skin Map - available from:




Author Webpage:
Stephen R Lawhead – http://www.stephenlawhead.com/





I received a review copy from Thomas Nelson of The Skin Map
for this blog tour


One of the things I've noticed from past books I've read by Mr. Lawhead is how richly he paints a setting. The Skin Map myriad settings surpassed his prior books as the characters are catapulted from modern-day London to a 19th Century sea-side town to 17th Century England to ancient Egypt. In his latest book, readers are treated to a mad journey through time and across the Globe to recover the elusive Skin Map. At first the title and idea of a map tattooed on someones skin brought back memories of old pirate movies, but I soon found myself getting into the story and rooting on the good guys.

The main character, Kit Livingstone, meets his great-grandfather after a series of London subway and bus mishaps. His ancestor convinces Kit to follow him down a misty London alleyway that opens on a fishing village on the coast. Kit thinks the village a quaint reenactment site, but finds he landed over a century in the past. Over a loaf of bread and fresh cheese, his great-grandfather explains that Kit has the gift of walking Ley lines - a naturally occuring energy source - and traveling to other places and othe times.

Cosmo, the great-grandfather, continues that not everyone can locate and travel these Ley lines. His small, close-knit group known as the Questors have travelled and recorded the more common paths, but are looking for the Skin Map; a vast compendium of paths and connections that is comparable to the London underground but vastly more conplex.

What's a good story without bad guys? That's where the Burleys come in. Henchmen for Lord Burliegh have trailed and almost cornered the Questors in an attempt to gain control of the Skin Map and control of the Ley lines. It's a race against time, for he that controls the Ley lines controls time itself.




Tomorrow: Grow Where You Are Planted or Things Happen Because of a Grand Plan


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Wednesday, May 20, 2009

BLOG TOUR - DAY 3

King Raven - Robin Hood with a Secret Identity



Tuck
by Stephen Lawhead

Stephen Lawhead's Web site - http://www.stephenlawhead.com/


(Click book for Amazon link) or


Amazon Link:


Rhiban Hud, or Bran, became King Raven earlier in the series after a comment by Angharad that Bran was indeed King Raven. He kept up the persona as a way to hid his identity and to strike fear in the hearts of his enemies. King Raven represented a dichotomy of sorts. To those he fought against, and who cheated the poor and weak, King Raven represented a dark spirit who struck swiftly and silently. To the poor and needy, King Raven represented someone who fought for them and brought aid to fill their need.

I liked the King Raven idea. Like superman's secret identity, King Raven was the mysterious persona Bran became when in costume. This is in stark contrast to the old Robin Hood versions where Robin and his Merry Men ran around in bright green tights. The black King Raven headdress blended well into the shadows of the Welsh countryside. Bright green leggings just don't strike me as very good camouflage, even in a tree filled forest. The black costume may have represented unvoiced fears of the opposition. Bran's costume allowed him to appear suddenly, as if from thin air. Bran's haunting call echoing through the forest must have struck fear in his enemies. The description reminded me of a trumpet of judgement from Revelation.

A king must have the wisdom to follow wise judgement. Thanks to the counsel of Tuck and Angharad, Rhibran made wise choices. Thanks to fervent prayer, Tuck and Angharad gave Bran wise advise. Robin follows this advice, and leads the group to many small victories. King Raven also represents the two sides of man's choice. He would follow God's word, but a wish for expediency tempers his action. Bran sees peace only after a great war is fought. Tuck sees the potential for peace through personal contact with the enemy. Even after failing more than once to reach a peaceful agreement, Tuck doesn't give up hope but continues in his attempts.


This encouragement to continue in what is right, though things don't work out, is a theme that runs through the story. Don't give up hope in following the right path, instead persevere for one day all will receive the reward they have earned.

*Participants’ Links:



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Monday, May 18, 2009

BLOG TOUR - DAY 1
Major Twists on an old Tale.


Tuck
by Stephen Lawhead



Stephen Lawhead's Web site - http://www.stephenlawhead.com/

(Click book for Amazon link) or

Amazon Link:

I've never read a Stephen Lawhead book before, though I have Hood and other books in my 'to read' stack. Not finding time to read his books before now is my loss. Tuck, third in the King Raven series, follows the adventures of the good friar during the 11th century as he helps Rhiban Hud both politically and spiritually. Rhiban's lady love is Merian. Marshall Guy de Gysburne works along side the Sheriff de Glanville to serve the whims of Abbot Hugo. Names throughout the book sound almost familiar to the often heard tale of Robin Hood. Tuck even contains a couple of pronunciation pages. To get you in the spirit of the trilogy, on Lawhead's site, you can find actual audio links to hear the way certain words should sound.
http://www.stephenlawhead.com/extras/pronunciation.shtml

The careful eye to detail for the countryside and the period by Lawhead shows through as he weaves his tale around the characters. The tale of Bran and his followers' quest to recapture Caer Cardarn and Elfael sounds plausiable, even considering the odds stacked against them each step of the way. But as Tuck points out, "when God is with you, who may stand against you?"
One of the many things I enjoyed about Tuck, is how the characters play off each other in the story. Not everyone blindly follows Bran, or Rihiban, as he commands the freedom forces.

Unlike some of the Robin Hood movie characters, no battalion of merry men hide out in the deep forest without worry of capture. Rhiban Hud in Tuck is closest to the BBC Robin Hood version, from what the characters sound like online, than most other versions. Bran doesn't always know the right answer, but he is willing to take the steps needed to help his people and family. Bran's decisions aren't always popular, but through it all Tuck supports his friend and leader.


Tomorrow's Day 2 blog review discusses the issue of faith in the forrest.

*Participants’ Links:

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