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


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3 comments:

Phyllis Wheeler said...

Great thoughts, Timothy Hicks! I like your calling the bronze gizmo a GPS. I guess that's what it is! And the stone age men--do you think they are Neanderthals, or something altogether different and larger in a different universe?

This book is better than the first one, I think. Either that or I'm getting into the story more now.

10:00 PM
Fantasythyme said...

I thought the Neanderthals might be more than simple cave men. They are more empathetic than modern man. Maybe that scene is actually in the future rather than the past. That would explain Kit's long trip to the other place.

7:31 AM
Rebecca LuElla Miller said...

I enjoyed all three of your tour posts, Tim. I like the approach you've taken in each, showing your thoughts about the book and the issues it brings up as well as Mr. Lawhead's creative use of the ley lines concept.

I had one question, though. Did Giles actually travel to his own future? Because that's the one thing I thought limited ley travel.

Becky

12:30 PM

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