The Skin Map (Bright Empires, #1)

by Stephen Lawhead

It is the ultimate quest for the ultimate treasure. Chasing a map tattooed on human skin. Across an omniverse of intersecting realities. To unravel the future of the future.

Kit Livingstone’s great-grandfather appears to him in a deserted alley during a tumultuous storm. He reveals an unbelievable story: that the ley lines throughout Britain are not merely the stuff of legend or the weekend hobby of deluded cranks, but pathways to other worlds. To those who know how to use them, they grant the ability to travel the multi-layered universe of which we ordinarily inhabit only a tiny part.

One explorer knew more than most. Braving every danger, he toured both time and space on voyages of heroic discovery. Ever on his guard and fearful of becoming lost in the cosmos, he developed an intricate code—a roadmap of symbols—that he tattooed onto his own body. This Skin Map has since been lost in time. Now the race is on to recover all the pieces and discover its secrets.

But the Skin Map itself is not the ultimate goal. It is merely the beginning of a vast and marvelous quest for a prize beyond imagining.

The Bright Empires series—from acclaimed author Stephen R. Lawhead—is a unique blend of epic treasure hunt, ancient history, alternate realities, cutting-edge physics, philosophy, and mystery. The result is a page-turning, adventure like no other.

“Anything but ordinary . . . Dynamic settings are mixed with unpredictable adventures [and] parallel worlds.” —BookPage 

• ISBN10: 1595549358
• ISBN13: 9781595549358
• Publish Date: 30 May 2011 (first published 30 August 2010)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Thomas Nelson Publishers
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 416
• Language: English

Reviews

[ladygrey]

The premise is interesting and I liked the mythology he's building with ley lines. But 80% of his writing is description and setting and what every single person they meet is wearing and I just don't like that style of writing.

Nothing happens in Kit's storyline until the very end and by then I'm not interested in him or any of the characters surrounding him. And Cosimo tells Sir Henry in the beginning that he's going to train Kit in the whole ley line thing, but in all those days they're traveling and while their at Sir Henry's house he doesn't hardly at all which just bothered me. Kit turned out to be kind of a loser compared to Wilhemina, which is interesting since he's kind of presented as the central character.

Hardly anything happened in Alfred's storyline even though it seemed like it was going to be interesting at first and should have been interesting since he's kind of the crux of the story.

And I have questions that I'd read the sequel to learn more if I liked his writing style better. I mean how did Wilhemina find them? Was she looking for them? Was she just following Burleigh? Did she know Kit had crossed Burleigh? Did Alfred get his wife back? Is Lady Fayth going to be even more interesting now working with Burleigh? But the questions aren't pressing enough to propel me to the sequel.

Lawhead handles plot well, but I hardly engaged with the people in his story so it wasn't that interesting to me (with the exception of Wilhemina's story which did focus on a good balance of plot and character without driving me to distraction by dwelling on description. And Lady Fayth - it's interesting his female characters are more interesting than any of the guys). The characters are how I become immersed in the story and there just wasn't enough here for me.