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

Review: Player of Games, by Iain M. Banks

The Player of Games (1988) [US][UK], by Iain M. Banks, is the second novel in the Culture series. It is set among an aggressive caste driven civilization whose whole society is strictly regimented and ranked according to a highly complex game played called Azad. To the Culture, the Empire of Azad is an anomaly. It has failed to evolve many of the more docile cultural traits typically associated with its technological level. Violence, slavery, and cruelty run free, something the culture cannot allow to continue.

Enters Jernau Morat Gurgeh, the most recognized and skilled Culture game player. In the Culture, game playing has been elevated to a philosophical and academic art. And so, our gaming superstar is wooed by Special Circumstances as a cultural envoy to the Azad. Sent there to learn the game of Azad and show the locals how skilled the Culture is, little does Gurgeh know that the fate of a civilization may rest on his talents.

The Player of Games is a fascinating novel on many levels. It can be read as an adventure, wherein an outsider must play a game against the best and brightest of an entire civilization. It is also a deep and sustained look at a culture that has eliminated physical force in favor of a game. Contests are decided in the ring, where wits are superior to force. Where one might assume that the shift from the physical to the intellectual would liberate and enlighten, this is far from the case. Therein, I like to think, lies the author's main point. That just because we don't whack each other with sticks anymore, doesn't mean we are civilized.

The Empire of Azad is cruel. Both to its own and those it conquers. The cast/slavery system maintained through the game of Azad empowers the powerful and crushes the weak. Depravity reigns at the highest levels of society. Not a place one would choose to go on vacation if you catch my meaning...

To not spoil the entire story for you, but much game playing ensues... hence the title of the book. The most fascinating aspect of the whole novel, to me at least, is that the rules of the game are never explained! At first I thought this would cause the challenges to bore me for lack of understanding, but far from it. The challenge of the games and the contest of wills which takes place between the participants is so artfully done that readers will not care that they don't have a clue what is going on. The meaning and intent is crystal clear, even if the rules are not.

In my review of Consider Phlebas I mentioned how the Culture novels and somewhat more mature than your standard space opera. There is action and intrigue and aventure, yes, but there is also much more. I think educated readers will very much enjoy the Player of Games, but also the series as a whole. There is something to appeal to virtually every academic discipline that comes to mind, which will have your brain churning in the background as your eyes devour each sentence.

All that aside, I personally enjoy it when stuff blows up... not very mature of me I know. And while there are a few bangs here and there, the lack of action makes it so that this is probably one of my least favorite culture novels, even though I appreciate it immensely on a more rational level.

That sums up my relatively spoiler free review of The Player of Games. Stay tuned next week for the Use of Weapons, the 3rd installment in my review of the Culture series. I should mention that the Use of Weapons is probably my 2nd favorite novel in the series...

Quick Review - The Temple of the Dead (Sepulchral Earth 2) by Tim Marquitz

You may know this by now, but I'm a huge fan of Tim Marquitz. He writes dark urban fantasy or just dark fantasy and he's amazing...and quite hilarious at times (especially here).

Under the rumbling gray sky, Harlan Cole clutched his swollen ribs, his face a patchwork of graven lines. He circled right as the walker came at him. Short huffs of breath spewed from cracked lips. He looked into the corpse's blackened sockets to see pools of insect larvae churning in their depths. Harlan fought the urge to gag as a long brown roach skittered from the corpse’s eye and ran across its cheek. It disappeared when it wormed its way inside the walker’s jaundiced ear.

The Temple of the Dead, the second in Tim's Sepulchral Earth serial novella (my review of the first), is part of his more serious repertoire, tackling the zombie apocalypse in a new way that only Tim Marquitz can do.

This is zombies with a fantastical twist, involving magic, ghouls, guns, and an epic quest. In this installment, we find out more about Harlan Cole's past and motivations behind his pursuit of the breach and make some significant steps toward that goal.

Highly Recommended!

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.