RachelStarrThomson.com

“The Skin Map” by Stephen Lawhead: CSFF Tour Day 1

It’s time once again for the Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy Blog Tour! This month’s featured book (featured late, as the astute among you may be aware, because of a delay in books reaching reviewers) is by one of the Grand Masters of Christian speculative fiction, Stephen R. Lawhead.

Stephen Lawhead has been writing books with fairly overt Christian undertones (and sometimes blazing overtones), mostly in the secular market, ever since In the Hall of the Dragon King in 1985. After the Dragon King Trilogy, he delved into Celtic mythos and the story of Arthur and the early Celtic church in two of my all-time favourite series, labeled “fantasy” and “mythic history,” The Song of Albion Trilogy and the Pendragon Cycle.

His latest work is The Skin Map, a “Bright Empires” novel, a book described as epic treasure hunt, science fiction, alternate history, fantasy, and a whole host of other things mashed together.

Mr. Lawhead’s website declares, “The series is underpinned by the cutting-edge work of quantum physicists, natural philosophers, and cosmologists who describe a universe not only much greater, but also far stranger than we imagine . . . ‘I have not read or written anything quite like it,’ says Lawhead. ‘It’s been forming in my mind for at least fifteen years. Now I am finally writing it, because I think I can finally do justice to such an intricately woven storyline. BRIGHT EMPIRES is the most challenging work I’ve ever undertaken, and I’m alternately exhilarated and terrified by it.’”

A review is forthcoming tomorrow, followed by . . . something-or-other on Wednesday. In the meantime, visit StephenLawhead.com, and then check out ArkMusic.com, where you’ll find brilliant soundtracks to other books by this author, written and recorded by Jeff Johnson and Brian Dunning (including Byzantium, The King Raven Trilogy, Patrick, and The Song of Albion).

You can also check out the links of my fellow bloggers below.

Red Bissell
Thomas Clayton Booher
Keanan Brand
Grace Bridges
Beckie Burnham
Morgan L. Busse
Jeff Chapman
Christian Fiction Book Reviews
Valerie Comer
Karri Compton
Amy Cruson
CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
George Duncan
April Erwin
Tori Greene
Ryan Heart
Bruce Hennigan
Timothy Hicks
Christopher Hopper
Becky Jesse
Cris Jesse
Becca Johnson
Jason Joyner
Julie
Carol Keen
Krystine Kercher
Shannon McDermott
Allen McGraw
Matt Mikalatos
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Nissa
John W. Otte
Gavin Patchett
Sarah Sawyer
Chawna Schroeder
Kathleen Smith
Rachel Starr Thomson
Donna Swanson
Robert Treskillard
Steve Trower
Fred Warren
Dona Watson
Phyllis Wheeler
Nicole White
Elizabeth Williams
Dave Wilson

Posted

in

,

by

Rachel

Tags:

Comments

5 responses to ““The Skin Map” by Stephen Lawhead: CSFF Tour Day 1”

  1. Rachel Avatar
    Rachel

    Incidentally, “Taliesin” and “Grail” are more peripheral to the story than the other books, and I liked them least. So if you don’t care for “Taliesin,” keep reading; the series is worth it!

    Reply
  2. Rachel Starr Thomson Avatar
    Rachel Starr Thomson

    Hey Katherine! Stephen Lawhead is a Christian, so his books do have a lot of Christian themes. There is also pagan stuff since (at least at the beginning of Taliesin) the characters are pagans :). I’ve never sat down and broken down what I think his theology is based on his fiction, and I don’t think that would be fair since his goal isn’t to preach or teach theology but to tell a good story — and most of the stories are at least partially fantasy, so they don’t correspond 100% to our daily experiences of life. I DO know that his stories have encouraged me in my own faith, especially the later Arthur books (“Merlin” is my favourite). They gave me a perspective on Christianity that I found bracing and challenging.

    Reply
  3. Katherine Sophia Avatar
    Katherine Sophia

    I tried to read Taliesin last year sometime, but I really didn’t know much about Lawhead, and was extremely busy and tried skimming it, which just left me confused. I ended up not reading much of it because I didn’t have time to sort through it. But now I kind of want to pick it up again sometime… 🙂
    What did you think of the… theology, for lack of a better word, in that series? I guess the story of Arthur has always been kind of mystical, but that book seemed like it had a lot of Christian themes in it, with a lot of pagan stuff too.

    Reply
  4. The Skin Map Wrap « A Christian Worldview of Fiction

    […] Jason Joyner ?? ? Shannon McDermott ? ? ? John W. Otte ? ? ? Donna Swanson ? ? ? Rachel Starr Thomson ? ? ? Robert Treskillard ? ? ? Steve Trower ? ? ? […]

    Reply
  5. CSFF Blog Tour – The Skin Map, Day 1 « A Christian Worldview of Fiction

    […] John W. Otte Gavin Patchett Sarah Sawyer Chawna Schroeder Kathleen Smith ? Donna Swanson ? Rachel Starr Thomson ? Robert Treskillard ? Steve Trower ? Fred Warren Dona Watson […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *