Review brought to you by OBS staff member Annabell Cadiz
Synopsis:
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 …
Kit Livingstone met his great grandfather Cosimo in a rainy alley in London where he discovered the reality of alternate realities.
Now he’s on the run – and on a quest, trying to understand the impossible mission he inherited from Cosimo: to restore a map that charts the hidden dimensions of the multiverse while staying one step ahead of the savage Burley Men.
The key is the Skin Map – but where it leads and what it means, Kit has no idea. The pieces have been scattered throughout this universe and beyond.
Mina, from her outpost in seventeenth-century Prague, is quickly gaining both the experience and the means to succeed in the quest. Yet so are those with evil intent, who from the shadows are manipulating great minds of history for their own malign purposes.
Across time and space, through manifest and hidden worlds, those who know how to use ley lines to travel through astral planes have left their own world behind in this, the second quest: to unlock the mystery of The Bone House.
Review:
As a HUGE lover of words and the enchanting stories author’s words can create, I have always loved when a novel can grasp my every sense and thrust me into a world without issuing an apology. I had been given Bone House but had not been aware it was the second book in a series. I usually pay better attention than that but in truth, even with instances where I did not fully understand what was going on since the novels in Lawhead’s Bright Empire Series must be read in order, I still had a marvelous time reading.
The Bone House follows Kit Livingstone on his dangerous quest through parallel universes to find a map his grandfather, Cosimo, instructed him to find before he was murdered. Kit’s grandfather had found a way to travel through space and time along ley lines and that ability is documented in the Skin Map. Kit not only has to endure ley traveling but the deadly Burley Men who are also seeking the Skin Map. Kit has help in his strong and sassy girlfriend, Mina, who had gotten stuck in Prague and is setting out to make sure Kit completes his task. The fate of the universe rests in their hands and they must do whatever it takes to find the pieces of the Skin Map, for if the map falls into the wrong hands, the world as they know it will change forever.
The Bone House is a novel wrapped in intrigue and casual suspense. It is not meant to keep you on the edge of your seat but is a story that will peek your interest gradually, enticing you little by little to keep reading until you are absorbed by it.
The characterization is well done. Lawhead changes the story from one perspective to another but does so gently as not to confuse the reader as to which character is speaking. There is back story to the characters and a connection between them. I did not fully realize it both because I have yet to read the first one, and also, because Lawhead has chosen to do so purposefully it seems. As the second novel in his series, Lawhead releases more pieces of the puzzle to the plot but does not make all of them fit together just yet.
The language and depth of description made Bone House such a relishing read. Lawhead explores era and culture as if he himself were able to ley travel. The backdrops are lush, theatrical, and expressive. The dialogue is charmingly simplistic and eloquent. The way Lawhead is able to weave and create such an intricate plot while simultaneously making sure his enormous cast of characters don’t flounder underdeveloped, proves the man can handle the ambitious undertaking of such a lengthy plot. There sub-stories mixed into the main plot and sub-characters mixed in with the main ones. It can become a bit confusing to keep up with all of them, but Lawhead does a fine job of pacing the story as not to lose the reader for too long.
Even though I had not read Skin Map, the first in the series, and even though I was not able to grasp all the connections of the characters due to that fact, I still really enjoyed Bone House. The characters are wonderful, the descriptions are splendid, the language is elegant, and the plot enticing. The Bright Empire Series are novels filled with fantastic fantasy, dangerous adventures, and top-notch story telling.
I recommend reading this series but start with the first one so you can fully grasp and enjoy the world Lawhead has created.
