Book Review: The Skin Map By Stephen Lawhead

I recently received a copy of the book, The Skin Map by Stephen Lawhead, to review.


The Skin Map is book one of the Bright Empires series.

To many, hearing the words "skin map" probably gives them a vision of people being skinned to use their skin for the map. Throw that out. Well, although it IS made from skin.

I'll admit it, I was rather shocked to see Thomas Nelson publish a book talking about Ley Lines. To me, they are more known for religious themed books, with a few bibliographies, memoirs, and cook books thrown in for good measure. But supernatural and magick?

Bring it on. ;) The Skin Map is the tale of Kit Livingstone, who's great-grandfather appears to him one Murphy's Law ridden day in a London Alley and tells him that time travel does exist, in thanks to Ley Lines - magical lines that criss cross throughout Britain. Cosimo (his great-grandfather) whisks him away - from a less than interesting life, might I add - and they are off throughout time in search of "The Skin Map" - the only known map of the Fey Lines. The Skin Map was created by a traveler who had the map tattooed on his skin. After his death, well, you can guess what happened.

Of course, they are not the only ones in search of the map. But is the map itself the prize? What does the map really lead to?

I got your attention there, didn't I? ;)

If you like historical fantasies with a dash of mythological thrown in, I think you'll find this one delivers and is an entertaining read - you'll want to continue on in the series, however, to understand and see everything concluded. Just reading this book will leave you questions you want answered. I'm impatiently waiting for Book Two - entitled The Bone House, that should be out next September from what I've read.

...seriously, that's the one thing that drives me nuts about series books. I hate waiting for the next one. I love instantly reading the next one. Sigh! Also, if you love unique looking books, the pages are "off" so it looks like a handbound book, and there are symbols on the cover, as well as on some of title pages. (Ditch the dust jacket for a fun, older looking book on your shelves!) This one makes a good gift for those into this style of book. (Fans of series such as The Dresden Files will enjoy it.)

The Skin Map by Stephen Lawhead is available now as a hardcover book at your favorite local bookstore, as well as download for your Kindle or other e-reader. It contains 398 pages, plus a few more pages of an essay by the author at the end of the book. The suggested retail price is $24.99, although Amazon has it for $16.49 as of this posting.

I received a copy of this book in order to read and share my opinion of.