Fatal Tree CSFF Tour Day 3 - All is Not Lost, God is Still In Control

THE FATAL TREE
THE BRIGHT EMPIRES - Book 5
by

Stephen R Lawhead

(click image for book link)

DAY 3 - All is Not Lost, God is Still In Control

      On this third, and last, day of the Fatal Tree blog tour I wanted to discuss how things work out in The Lord's time, that often isn't our time schedule. But, I don't want to give away the ending. One of the main characters, Wilhelmina, or Mina, seemed a bit nonchalant about God and religion in general back in the first book of the series, the Skin Map. To me, she seemed miserable, and blamed the world for her misfortune.  Over time her travel along the ley lines, and more importantly the gentle kindness of Englebert, or Etzel,  led her to an understanding of a higher purpose for her life. Mina's look to heaven and a prayer of thanks after a safe return seemed to bring home this point.

     To me, Etzel represented the mind-set and attitude Christians should portray. From the beginning, he took newcomer Mina under his wing and grew a business with her. Lord Burleigh and his henchmen attack and harm Etzel, yet Etzel is able to forgive them through Grace, and he brings the five prisoners food and drink to feed them in their cell. Etzel's continued kindness and compassion sway the four henchmen, and Etzel is able to secure their release from prison. Left alone in his cell, Burleigh has weeks to ponder his plight, and begins to reconsider his actions and how his choices had brought him to where he had sunk so low. Yet again, Etzel's actions brought others closer to The Lord. 

     I wondered how past events were important, then remembered how Mina returned to an earlier time to help Kit. When Kit fell through the Spirit House and ended up seeing Arthur Flinders-Petrie carry Xuan Li into the Well of Souls. This happened in the past, yet Kit needed to see Arthur's walk into the waters to help explain why time needed to seek its balance. Turms the Immortal saved the life of Benedict, Arthur and Xuan Li's son. Years later, Turms is unable to save the life of Douglas Flinders-Petrie, Arthur's great-grandson. A balance of sorts is achieved. 

     The Skin Map is a road map of the ley lines through time, but it is also a guide to the balance of all that works into The Lord's plan for mankind. As humans, we are given free will to chose our responses and actions. When we chose wisely we move toward The Lord's plan for our life. When we go against God's plan, stronger measures are called for, and many detours through tough times we wouldn't have needed to  make. Burleigh saw no need for The Lord, or being kind to others. He brought about his own chastisement of a solitary prison cell. He thought he was in control, and master of his own fate. 

Instead, Burleigh learned that God is in control, whether you are lost in far places or times, or in the midst of multitudes. Mina learned that God is there when you seek him; he's been watching over you all along. My take-away from the series is that The Lord has a plan bigger than all of time, and he knows the outcome. 

We have the choice of whether to work toward His Goal, or work against it.

*The Fatal Tree -    http://www.amazon.com/The-Fatal-Tree-Bright-Empires/dp/1595548084/
Author Website -  http://www.stephenlawhead.com/
Author Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stephen-R-Lawhead/84503526872


I received a review copy of The Fatal Tree by Stephen R Lawhead from Thomas Nelson in conjunction with the December CSFF Blog Tour



Extra: If you're like me and like to read a complete story collection, and read Kindle books, Amazon has the complete Bright Empires set for $16.99
     Stephen Lawhead Bright Empires Set on Kindle

Youtube of First Book:

CSFF Tour Links:
  Julie Bihn Thomas Clayton Booher Beckie Burnham Jeff Chapman Karri Compton April Erwin Victor Gentile Jason Joyner Janeen Ippolito Carol Keen Emileigh Latham Rebekah Loper Shannon McDermott Meagan @ Blooming with Books Rebecca LuElla Miller Nissa Jalynn Patterson Writer Rani Nathan Reimer Audrey Sauble Jojo Sutis Rachel Starr Thomson Robert Treskillard Steve Trower Shane Werlinger Phyllis Wheeler

Fatal Tree CSFF Tour Day 2 - It's All Down Hill from Here

THE FATAL TREE
THE BRIGHT EMPIRES - Book 5
by

Stephen R Lawhead

(click image for book link)

DAY 2 - It's All Down Hill from Here

Stay tuned tomorrow. Day 3 - All is Not Lost, God is Still In Control

*The Fatal Tree -    http://www.amazon.com/The-Fatal-Tree-Bright-Empires/dp/1595548084/
Author Website -  http://www.stephenlawhead.com/
Author Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stephen-R-Lawhead/84503526872


I received a review copy of The Fatal Tree by Stephen R Lawhead from Thomas Nelson in conjunction with the December CSFF Blog Tour

Yesterday, I mentioned some of the problems caused by tampering with time. Today, I wanted to mention some of the way things have grown worse for the ley travelers. Raising arms, or hands, at some locations helps trigger ley-line travel. When Kit and Cass watch a small bird die after a jolt from the Fatal yew tree, Cass tries to save Kit from stumbling into the tree and instead opens a ley-line portal at the tree that surges between Cass and Kit, throwing the pair apart. The path is blocked and they are caught for a time in the distant past.

Wilhelmina is traveling to meet Kit and Cass, but instead keeps returning to Egypt at the beginning of the previous century. After five failed attempts, she makes the jump and meets with Thomas to discuss a matter of life and death; everyone's.

Englebert the baker has tried time after time to see the Chief Magistrate, but is turned away. On the ninth attempt, the steward convinces the judge to see Englebert who begs for leniency concerning the same Burleigh Men who attacked him. The Burleigh Men seem to have come around to treating Englebert better, but the Magistrate will have none of the forgiveness Englebert claims he has for Lord Burleigh's men. Instead, Englebert is sent away.

Lord Burleigh seems to have lost the most. His men appreciate Englebert's kindness and have left his prison cell. When Burleigh is brought food yet again by the kind baker, Burleigh ignores him and stares at the wall until the baker leaves. As the chapter unfolds, Burleigh realizes that it's no Englebert he dislikes so, it is Englebert's savior Jesus. Englebert explains that is is because of Jesus that he must show kindness, and forgiveness. The Burleigh men can accept this, but Burleigh can not. He remains convinced Englebert has an ulterior motive. So, it seems like Lord Burleigh has lost the most, his freedom, his care for his men, and most importantly, the peace inside from following only what he knows and believes. His spirit is quenched and all he possesses is emptiness inside as he sits alone in a prison cell.

Amazon has the complete Bright Empires in a Kindle collection for $16.99
     Stephen Lawhead Bright Empires Set on Kindle

CSFF Tour Links:
  Julie Bihn Thomas Clayton Booher Beckie Burnham Jeff Chapman Karri Compton April Erwin Victor Gentile Jason Joyner Janeen Ippolito Carol Keen Emileigh Latham Rebekah Loper Shannon McDermott Meagan @ Blooming with Books Rebecca LuElla Miller Nissa Jalynn Patterson Writer Rani Nathan Reimer Audrey Sauble Jojo Sutis Rachel Starr Thomson Robert Treskillard Steve Trower Shane Werlinger Phyllis Wheeler

Fatal Tree CSFF Tour Day 1 - The Beginning of the End of Everything

THE FATAL TREE
THE BRIGHT EMPIRES - Book 5
by

Stephen R Lawhead

(click image for book link)

DAY 1 - The Beginning of the End of Everything

Mr. Lawhead manages to tie all the Bright Empires storylines  together in this fifth and final book of the series. I mention this because I've always enjoyed his rich story details, scenes, and characterization. He brings everything to life. The tale began back in the first book, The Skin Map, when Kip's great-grandfather introduces him to ley-line travel. By this fifth book, it seems everyone is traveling at times. That's where the problem seems to compound. All this travel has unsettled the universal order.

We found out in the previous book, The Shadow Lamp, that Arthur Flinders-Petrie had disrupted the natural laws by his actions at the Spirit Well. In The Fatal Tree, time itself is trying to regain its balance as people and things from different eras are dropped in other time and other places. Things like disappearing bridges holding cars were strange enough, but one poor mother had fed her three children and husband, who were all back at the table to eat breakfast even though their dirty dishes were in the sink but really strange. Even stranger, was the lady who kept running into herself coming from another direction. This early section of the story really made me wonder about what might happen if time stopped flowing normally, and took a side trip.

To give you an idea how bad things are by the first few chapters, Wilhelmina has traveled to the Ice Age and finds out the saber tooth cat, Baby, arrived after her, Kip and his group are back in the Stone Age trying to get around a well-charged yew tree that is right over the badly needed main ley-line, Lord Burleigh is stuck in a prison cell and his men have been moved after showing their appreciation of Etzel's continued kindness in prison because of his faith, and Zetetic members are meeting their selves coming and going; literally.
then, just when you think things can't get any worse... guess what?

Stay tuned tomorrow.

*The Fatal Tree -    http://www.amazon.com/The-Fatal-Tree-Bright-Empires/dp/1595548084/
Author Website -  http://www.stephenlawhead.com/
Author Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stephen-R-Lawhead/84503526872


I received a review copy of The Fatal Tree by Stephen R Lawhead from Thomas Nelson in conjunction with the December CSFF Blog Tour



Extra: If you're like me and like to read a complete story collection, and read Kindle books, Amazon has the complete Bright Empires set for $16.99
     Stephen Lawhead Bright Empires Set on Kindle

Youtube of First Book:

CSFF Tour Links:
  Julie Bihn Thomas Clayton Booher Beckie Burnham Jeff Chapman Karri Compton April Erwin Victor Gentile Jason Joyner Janeen Ippolito Carol Keen Emileigh Latham Rebekah Loper Shannon McDermott Meagan @ Blooming with Books Rebecca LuElla Miller Nissa Jalynn Patterson Writer Rani Nathan Reimer Audrey Sauble Jojo Sutis Rachel Starr Thomson Robert Treskillard Steve Trower Shane Werlinger Phyllis Wheeler

The Shadow Lamp CSFF Tour - Day Three

 

 The Shadow Lamp

Bright Empires - Book Four by Stephen R. Lawhead

Last Day of the Shadow Lamp Blog Tour

The End of It All, or Only the Beginning?-  

click image for Amazon link or click link below) Shadow Lamp- available from:

Amazon -    http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Lamp-Bright-Empires-Quest/dp/1595548076/
CBD -    http://www.christianbook.com/the-shadow-lamp-bright-empires/9781595548078/pd/548078?product_redirect=1&Ntt=548078&item_code=&Ntk=keywords&event=ESRCP
Author Website -  http://www.stephenlawhead.com/
Author Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stephen-R-Lawhead/84503526872

I received a review copy of The Shadow Lamp by Stephen R. Lawhead from the nice folks at Thomas Nelson in conjunction with the Nov CSFF Blog Tour

 

I wonder if the reason for ley lines is to illustrate the connections between The Creator's plan and our actions as humans? Kit finds that at some point, the strongest ley lines connect back to the Spirit Well. Maybe I'm looking for allegory where none exists, but I wonder if The Spirit Well is an allegory for Christ; who referred to himself as the Well of Life and a provider of Living waters? Lord Burleigh denies God's existence, yet never stops to consider how all the wonders of the world came into existence in perfect harmony. Could stronger ley lines connect stronger occurrences of faith in those locations or by those people with the Spirit Well's living water? Maybe ley lines are like tributaries leading back to the Spirit Well. The Spirit Well waters were described by Kit as full of light; having an inner glow. I pictured the ley lines as glowing lights beneath the ground, kind of like fiber-optics, that connect back to the source - The Spirit Well. Shadow Lamps reveal hidden ley line locations by reflection ley line locations. Are we acting like Shadow Lamps to a lost world by reflecting the source of life, and living waters, Jesus?

I enjoyed The Shadow Lamp. The author delves deeper in each volume in the series. The fifth book is due out next year, and I'm looking forward to having all my new questions answered by the final chapter in The Bright Empires storyline.
 

*Participants’ links:
 

Julie Bihn Red Bissell Thomas Clayton Booher Thomas Fletcher Booher Beckie Burnham Jeff Chapman Karri Compton Theresa Dunlap April Erwin Timothy Hicks Christopher Hopper Becky Jesse Becca Johnson Jason Joyner Carol Keen Rebekah Loper Shannon McDermott Meagan @ Blooming with Books Rebecca LuElla Miller Mirriam Neal Writer Rani Nathan Reimer Chawna Schroeder Jojo Sutis Rachel Starr Thomson Robert Treskillard Steve Trower Rachel Wyant Phyllis Wheeler Deborah Wilson

The Shadow Lamp CSFF Tour - Day Two

 

 The Shadow Lamp

Bright Empires - Book Four by Stephen R. Lawhead

Second Day of the Shadow Lamp Blog Tour

Coffee, Doughnuts, and the Burley Men, or Everything is Part of the Bigger Plan 

click image for Amazon link or click link below) Shadow Lamp- available from:

Amazon -    http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Lamp-Bright-Empires-Quest/dp/1595548076/
CBD -    http://www.christianbook.com/the-shadow-lamp-bright-empires/9781595548078/pd/548078?product_redirect=1&Ntt=548078&item_code=&Ntk=keywords&event=ESRCP
Author Website -  http://www.stephenlawhead.com/
Author Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stephen-R-Lawhead/84503526872

I received a review copy of The Shadow Lamp by Stephen R. Lawhead from the nice folks at Thomas Nelson in conjunction with the Nov CSFF Blog Tour

 

The Burley Men and Lord Burleigh have been a thorn in the side of Kit and Mina, and the rest of the good guys at the Zetetic Society for the past three volumes of the Bright Empires series, and the Shadow Lamp is no exception to Burleigh and group's interference. Today I wanted to discuss The Master Plan, as hinted at in the series. Actions occur as part of The Creator's Master Plan. When Mina accidently arrives in Prague, all seemed lost. Yet she meets and befriends Etzel, the baker, on the way to town. Mina and Etzel go into business together, and open the very first coffee house. Their Grand Imperial Kaffehaus is such a success it gains the attention of the court alchemists, especially Balthazar, who is hired by Lord Burleigh to manufacture the Shadow Lamps.

On Mina's earlier ley travels, she finds a much needed mentor in Brother Lazarus. Brother Lazarus travels with Kit, and later Cass, who's father, Tony, is an astrophysicist. Brother Lazarus and Tony's discussion lead to their discovery that the universe's expansion is slowing. If that's not bad enough, Lord Burleigh finds out about the Grand Imperial Kaffeehaus and pay Etzel a not so friendly visit one night. In the Shadow Lamp, we learn more about the formation of The Burley Men, and about Etzel. Before the fourth book, Etzel seemed more a less a hard-working, every day kind of support character. In The Shadow Lamp we learn more about Etzel's faith, and his integrity to protect his friends. Even in hard times, Etzel vows to protect their location as The Burley Men try to beat the answer out of him.

I also like Kit and Cass's almost accidental discovery. It seemed to tie the Shadow lamps, The Skin Map, and the Ley Lines together nicely. One of the many things I enjoy so well about Mr. Lawhead's books, is his rich, eye to details. His far-ranging storylines illustrate so well, to me, that we all play a part in the grander scheme of things. While we may think we matter little, to The Creator, each of us are important and our actions and choices have far-reaching consequences.
 

Day 3 Blog: The End of It All, or Only the Beginning?- Day Three how The Bright empire series may explain some spiritual truths
 

*Participants’ links:
 

Julie Bihn Red Bissell Thomas Clayton Booher Thomas Fletcher Booher Beckie Burnham Jeff Chapman Karri Compton Theresa Dunlap April Erwin Timothy Hicks Christopher Hopper Becky Jesse Becca Johnson Jason Joyner Carol Keen Rebekah Loper Shannon McDermott Meagan @ Blooming with Books Rebecca LuElla Miller Mirriam Neal Writer Rani Nathan Reimer Chawna Schroeder Jojo Sutis Rachel Starr Thomson Robert Treskillard Steve Trower Rachel Wyant Phyllis Wheeler Deborah Wilson

The Shadow Lamp CSFF Tour - Day One

 

 The Shadow Lamp

Bright Empires - Book Four by Stephen R. Lawhead

First Day of the Shadow Lamp Blog Tour

Who Turned the Lamps Out?

click image for Amazon link or click link below) Shadow Lamp- available from:

Amazon -    http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Lamp-Bright-Empires-Quest/dp/1595548076/
CBD -    http://www.christianbook.com/the-shadow-lamp-bright-empires/9781595548078/pd/548078?product_redirect=1&Ntt=548078&item_code=&Ntk=keywords&event=ESRCP
Author Website -  http://www.stephenlawhead.com/
Author Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stephen-R-Lawhead/84503526872

I received a review copy of The Shadow Lamp by Stephen R. Lawhead from the nice folks at Thomas Nelson in conjunction with the Nov CSFF Blog Tour

 

   The title, The Shadow Lamp, seemed a contradiction at first. Why would a lamp dispel light? But, when Kit and other ley line travelers use the lamps, they are able to locate the ley lines for travel. The lines are hidden to sight, but the small brass boxes enable them to find their way across space and time. If you're not too sure about ley line travel, here's a short video from the third book in the Bright Empires series, The Spirit Well:

 Book four, The Shadow Lamp, begins with Kit, Mina, and Brother Lazarus examining a burned out ley lamp. It sounded as if the lamp overloaded and had a melt down. Melt down seems like a good theme for this book in the series. Kit is returned to the future from the time of the River City Clan, but he realizes he was most at peace and contented with them. Newcomer, Cassandra Clarke, goes looking for information about Kit's grandfather, Cosimo, and seems to fall for the grandson. Anthony Clarke, Cass's father, searches the ley lines for his daughter and instead encounters the Zetetic Society. Even Lord Burleigh encounters problems with his plans, and we learn a bit more about the beginnings of the Burley Men. I know that's a lot of names, new and old, but Mr. Lawhead's story is as big as time and space.

This latest addition to the Bright Empires series deepens many existing characters, and adds some interesting new one. Cass and Kit seem an item, so I wondered if Min and Etzel are a pair. I liked the character of Cass's mentor, Brother Lazarus. He seems wise beyond his years, and many he comes into contact with seem better for Brother Lazarus' guidance. Mr. Lawhead has a knack for explaining complex theories in simple terms by way of Brother Lazarus. It kind of struck me that Cass's dad, Tony, is able to speak to her about matters of science and logic. As a counter-point to Tony, Brother Lazarus explains matters of faith and knowledge beyond normal human understanding.

My still unanswered question, is what is the purpose of the inter-temporal ley lines? Are they a cosmic accident, or all part of the greater plan hinted at in this book? Like an onion, each new layer peeled away in the Bright Empires saga, seems to yield more questions than answers. The Shadow Lamp is one of those books I enjoy reading because it makes me stop and think long after turning the last page.

 

Day 2 Blog: Coffee, Doughnuts, and the Burley Men, or Everything is Part of the Bigger Plan - Day Two I'll discuss how Lord Burleigh secretly helped Kit and Mina when he developed the Shadow Lamp they borrowed for ley travel. 

*Participants’ links:
 

Julie Bihn Red Bissell Thomas Clayton Booher Thomas Fletcher Booher Beckie Burnham Jeff Chapman Karri Compton Theresa Dunlap April Erwin Timothy Hicks Christopher Hopper Becky Jesse Becca Johnson Jason Joyner Carol Keen Rebekah Loper Shannon McDermott Meagan @ Blooming with Books Rebecca LuElla Miller Mirriam Neal Writer Rani Nathan Reimer Chawna Schroeder Jojo Sutis Rachel Starr Thomson Robert Treskillard Steve Trower Rachel Wyant Phyllis Wheeler Deborah Wilson