Review - The Skin Map (Bright Empires 1) by Stephen R. Lawhead

Kit is your average Londoner dealing with an average Londoner's complications, more specifically, the metro system. One problem leads to the next and on his way to his girlfriend's, he finds himself in a dark alley, Stane Way, but this dark alley's not as mysterious or treacherous as you may think, Kit ends up finding his great-grandfather for the first time...who's not looking as old as he probably should be.

Thus begins the adventure for the Skin Map, which contains directions through the ley lines that can transport a person from one location to another and even through different times.

There are two main storylines that we follow, at least at first. One takes us with Kit and his adventures with his great-grandfather and the other follows Kit's girlfriend Wilhelmina, who uses her 21st century know-how to influence her new situation as she finds herself by the side of the road in 17th century Bohemia.

While I enjoyed The Skin Map [US] [UK], it's not without it's faults. I guess this is where I should explain my rating system a bit because it really applies with this book. I'd say a perfectly executed and well-written book will get a 3 out of 5 stars. There's really nothing wrong with a 3 star book. More than that, it's got to do things that impress me, such as great characterization, a unique plot or magic system, etc.

The Skin Map is a great example of the perfect 3 star book. It's well done, I can't really say there's anything wrong with it. But then again, that's kind of the problem. The Skin Map is very formulaic. Everything's in it's spot, nice and tidy and there's not much in terms of surprises.

This aspect also hinders the sense of danger that's hinted at when the antagonists enter the picture. I can't say I was ever really worried when they were around even though I was told they were bad news.

The Skin Map is also not a gritty book, full of blood and violence. I like this every now and then - I've grown a bit wary of the trend where everyone is a terrible person who's only looking out for their own interests. This was a nice change.

Why Read The Skin Map?

Overall, I had a fun time reading The Skin Map. It's a light, straight-forward, romp through the 17th century and other parts of history. The sense of place is great, but don't expect many surprises. If you want well-crafted, this is it.

3 out of 5 Stars (Liked it)

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher

Update - What I'm Reading

Yes, I'm still on vacation, so this is really coming at you from the past...spooky....very spooky.

I don't think I've ever done a post like this, but I'm trying to improve as a blogger and I've always enjoyed similar such posts from others.

I've been making my way through Stephen King's The Dark Tower series. I recently finished The Waste Lands (Book 3) and was again blown away, just as in The Drawing of the Three. I'll hopefully have the review up next week.


I'm currently reading the second in Tim Marquitz' amazing Demon Squad series, Resurrection. Seriously, you really need to read this. (Yes, I did just link to Armageddon Bound yet again. I think I'll try to put a link to it in every post from now on, can you find it?) :D

Also starting Stephen R. Lawhead's The Skin Map. I'm in kind of a reading funk, I have so much I want to read, so much I've received to read, and then a bunch of series I'd like to finish (like the Dark Tower), so we'll see how far I get before I put some of these down and finally focus.


Then there's also Songs of the Dying Earth, edited by George R.R. Martin. I mentioned in an earlier post that I have a hard time with anthologies, but this one's been absolutely amazing so far. I'm not that far into it, but it's just great.

Lastly, I'm slowly making my way through the audiobook of The Shadow Rising (Wheel of Time 4). I don't have a commute anymore (as I mentioned last week - no current internship), so audiobook reading goes way down. I'll get my review up for The Dragon Reborn soon. Very soon.

I'm a very moody reader, not so much cranky, but more as in I have to be in the right mood to read a book and that's really the only fair way I can do it - fair to both the author and myself. These reads may change, but that doesn't mean they're bad or that I won't get back to something.