Tag Archives: Stephen Lawhead

Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy Blog Tour — The Shadow Lamp

11 Nov

The folks on the CSFF Blog Tour are featuring Stephen Lawhead’s 4th book in the Bright Empires series, The Shadow Lamp. Here is a little about the book and author:

548078The quest for answers—and ultimate survival—hinges on finding the cosmic link between the Skin Map, the Shadow Lamp, and the Spirit Well.

The search for the map of blue symbols began in a rainy alley in London but has since expanded through space and time and includes more seekers.

Kit, Mina, Gianni, Cass, Haven, and Giles have gathered in Mina’s 16th-century coffee house and are united in their determination to find a path back to the Spirit Well. Yet, with their shadow lamps destroyed and key pieces of the map still missing, the journey will be far more difficult than they imagine. And when one of their own disappears with Sir Henry’s cryptic Green Book, they no longer know who to trust.

At the same time, the Zetetic Society has uncovered a terrifying secret which, if proven, will rock the very foundations of Creation. The quest for answers is no longer limited to recovering an unknown treasure. The fate of the universe depends on unraveling the riddle of the Skin Map.

To purchase this book, click on the image below.

lawheadStephen Lawhead is an internationally acclaimed author of mythic history and imaginative fiction. He was born in 1950, in Nebraska in the USA. His early life was lived in America where he earned a university degree in Fine Arts and attended theological seminary for two years.

His first professional writing was done at Campus Life magazine in Chicago, where he was an editor and staff writer. During his five years at Campus Life he wrote hundreds of articles and several non-fiction books.

After a brief and unsuccessful foray into the music business—as president of his own record company—he launched his free-lance career in 1981. In the Hall of the Dragon King was his first novel.

In 1986 the Lawhead family moved to Britain so that Stephen could conduct research for the PENDRAGON CYCLE books. They settled there permanently in 1990, with some years spent living in Austria and a sabbatical in the United States.

In addition to his twenty-four novels, he has written nine children’s books, many of them originally offered to his two sons, Drake and Ross. He is married to Alice Slaikeu Lawhead, with whom he has collaborated on books and articles. They make their home in Oxford, England.

Stephen’s non-fiction, fiction and children’s titles have variously been published in twenty-four foreign languages. He has won numerous industry awards, and in 2003 was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by the University of Nebraska.

His middle name is ‘Ray’.

I will be returning tomorrow with a brief synopsis/review of the first 3 books in the series. In the meantime please check out what others on the tour have to say by clicking on the links below.
Julie Bihn
Red Bissell
Thomas Clayton Booher
Thomas Fletcher Booher
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

Book Review: The Spirit Well

24 Oct

Kit Livingstone is on a quest for the ultimate treasure—a tattooed map to an alternate universe! When he witnesses Arthur Flinders-Petrie carry his dead wife into a pool of light—and emerge with her alive—Kit wonders if The Spirit Well is the secret of the map. And if it is, can Arthur’s ruthless great-grandson be far behind?

 

 

 

(From the author’s website) — Stephen Lawhead is an internationally acclaimed author of mythic history and imaginative fiction. He was born in 1950, in Nebraska in the USA. His early life was lived in America where he earned a university degree in Fine Arts and attended theological seminary for two years.

His first professional writing was done at Campus Life magazine in Chicago, where he was an editor and staff writer. During his five years at Campus Life he wrote hundreds of articles and several non-fiction books.

After a brief and unsuccessful foray into the music business—as president of his own record company—he launched his free-lance career in 1981. In the Hall of the Dragon King was his first novel.

In 1986 the Lawhead family moved to Britain so that Stephen could conduct research for the PENDRAGON CYCLE books. They settled there permanently in 1990, with some years spent living in Austria and a sabbatical in the United States.

In addition to his twenty-four novels, he has written nine children’s books, many of them originally offered to his two sons, Drake and Ross. He is married to Alice Slaikeu Lawhead, with whom he has collaborated on books and articles. They make their home in Oxford, England.

Stephen’s non-fiction, fiction and children’s titles have variously been published in twenty-four foreign languages. He has won numerous industry awards, and in 2003 was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by the University of Nebraska.

His middle name is ‘Ray’.

 

My Impressions:

First off, The Spirit Well is book 3 in a 5 book series. (Books 4 & 5 are yet to be published.) You would do well to read the first two first (click HERE for links to my reviews of books 1 & 2). I have read several reviews this week that said the readers had little trouble picking up with this story starting with book 3. I on the other hand would be horribly lost, somewhat like Kit is in his caveman era. See, you need to start at the beginning. That being said, I really liked The Spirit Well. A lot of the background to what has been going on with the characters is told, some questions are answered and the characters that I like, namely Mina are expanded. I also like the new strong female character that is introduced in this volume.

So what is the book about? Ley travel. Oh my, it is complicated and as my husband stated last night may be too much for me because it may involve math! But don’t worry if you are numerically challenged, the characters are involved in a big quest for a map made of skin (human) and they travel from world to world, location to location and reality to reality with a minimum of fuss and just a bit of nausea. The newest character to the series, paleontologist and PhD candidate Cassandra Clarke even gets a list of essentials for ley travel from her new mentor. Besides the boots, loose clothing and gold sovereigns, I would add a language translator. Learn a foreign language or 2 or 3 before attempting ley travel! Kit gets into a lot of sticky spots because of his neglect of foreign language training.

The Spirit Well continues the epic adventure well. It is a wonder of fantastical writing, great research and endearing characters. Also you will love to hate the bad guys! So if you like fantasy on the grand scale, go out and get books 1 – 3 of Stephen Lawhead’s Bright Empires series.

Highly Recommended.

 

To find out what others think of this epic adventure, click on the links below:

Jim Armstrong
Julie Bihn
Red Bissell
Jennifer Bogart 
Thomas Clayton Booher
Thomas Fletcher Booher
Brenda Castro
Jeff Chapman
Christine
Karri Compton
Theresa Dunlap
Emmalyn Edwards
April Erwin
Victor Gentile
Jeremy Harder
Bruce Hennigan
Timothy Hicks
Janeen Ippolito
Becca Johnson
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Emileigh Latham
Rebekah Loper
Shannon McDermott
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Anna Mittower
Joan Nienhuis
Lyn Perry
Nathan Reimer
Chawna Schroeder
Rachel Starr Thomson
Robert Treskillard
Steve Trower
Dona Watson
Shane Werlinger
Phyllis Wheeler

 

(I received a copy of The Spirit Well from the publisher.)

Book Giveaway: The Bone House

23 Oct

Kit is on a quest for the ultimate treasure. But are his travels in time changing history for better or worse?

When Kit Livingstone’s great grandfather appeared to him in a deserted alley during a London rainstorm, he revealed an incredible story: the ley lines throughout Britain are not merely the stuff of legend but are in fact pathways to other worlds. An intricate code–a map of bizarre symbols–is the roadmap they need to navigate the multi-layered universe. But the five pieces have gone missing. Braving constant danger, Kit accepts his place in the adventure–though he has no idea just how critical a role he’ll play.

 

To win a copy of Stephen Lawhead’s newest book in the Bright Empires series, just leave me a comment with your email address. Please Note:  your email address must be in the body of the comment.   The winner will be announced here no later than November 2.  Giveaway ends on 10/31/11.