Recent Reads {The Skin Map}

The Skin Map by Stephen R. Lawhead - Most years, when I get birthday money, I spend at least part of it on books.  This year I purchased my own copies of The Skin Map and The Bone House with birthday money.  I had read The Skin Map very shortly after it was first published, but now that I had the second book in the series to read, I thought it would probably be a good idea to refresh my memory of the first.  I enjoyed it every bit as much the second time through, but then again, Lawhead is one of my favorite authors and I never seem to get tired of reading his work.

The Bright Empires series is an intriguing combination of science fiction, suspense thriller, and historical novel.  Kit Livingstone lives a rather dull existence in a dead-end job and a lackluster romance, but all that changes when he unexpectedly meets with his great-grandfather and is introduced to the adventures of ley line travel.  Kit tries to show his skeptical girlfriend Mina what happened, but they become separated - she finds herself in Bavaria of long ago, while Kit returns to the London of the 17th century where he had been with his great-grandfather.  And so begins their quest to find Mina in whatever alternate universe she has landed in, while eluding the bad guys in the race to find the skin map.  At the same time, Mina is adjusting to the surprising changes in her circumstance and making the best of things.

My comments from my first read of The Skin Map.

By the same author:  The Pendragon Cycle: Taliesin, Merlin, Arthur, Pendragon, and Grail;  Patrick.

Recent Reads {A Poisoned Season}

A Poisoned Season by Tasha Alexander - This is the follow-up to And Only to Deceive, and follows  the adventures of Lady Emily Ashton as she finds herself involved in another investigation.  Emily is being very choosy about the invitations she accepts as the London season gets under way, and soon finds herself gaining attention of a man claiming to be the heir to the French throne - attention she does not want!  She has a rather low opinion of Mr Berry, and is skeptical of his claim that he is the decendent of the dauphin who escaped the French Revolution.  At the same time, jewelry and other valuable items that once belonged to Marie Antoinette are being stolen from London homes by a clever cat burglar.  And Emily finds that she has a mysterious secret admirer.  Are there connections? Emily sets out to find out, and the urgency intensifies when a young man of her acquaintance is found murdered after he reports that a valuable diamond of Marie Antoinette's was stolen from him.  While navigating the social scene and dealing with gossip about her own character, Emily continues to pursue the investigation with valuable help from Colin Hargreaves.  And Colin is pursuing Emily with clear intent to marrying her.  By the end of this clever novel of intrigue and suspense, Emily identifies her admirer, unmasks a murderer, finds the truth about the dauphin's descendents, and makes a decision about marrying again.

By the same author:  And Only to Deceive

Recent Reads{The Begotten}

The Begotten by Lisa T. Bergren - This book was recommended to me by a friend at least two years ago, and has been on my to-read list ever since.  I finally got around to reading it this past week, and I'm so glad I did!  This is historical fiction that deals with the Church of the middle ages and spiritual gifts and calling.  The setting is fourteenth century Italy, and the main characters are a noblewoman with the gift of healing, an unusual priest with the gift of wisdom, and a knight of the Church with the gift of faith.  They are brought together by divine circumstances with an ancient prophetic writing and its illumination that challenges them and encourages them to use their gifts as God directs them and to trust Him alone.  The story is definitely a page-turner, something of a mystery and a thriller, because these main characters are being pursued by a powerful enemy that they don't identify until very late in the book, and there is danger and intrigue all around.  I found it to be inspirational as well as entertaining.

Although I do wish my friend had told me it's the first part of a trilogy! Now I have to track down the next two in the series so I can find out what happens next!

 

Recent Reads {And Only To Deceive}

And Only To Deceive by Tasha Alexander - Tasha Alexander titles have popped up a few times on Amazon as suggested books after searching for other historical fiction, but when I quickly skimmed past a review on a Jane Austen fan blog I thought I would give it a try.  The setting and many plot elements actually remind me far more of Deanna Raybourn's novels, her Lady Julia Grey series being a favorite of mine.  This one opens with the young society widow Lady Emily Ashton reflecting on her brief marriage and very superficial relationship with her late husband, Philip.  She readily admits that she accepted his proposal in order to escape her mother's home, and although she liked him well enough, she certainly wasn't deeply in love, nor did she feel a great loss at the news of his death while on a safari in Africa.  As information about Philip's regard for her, and his interest in Greek antiquities comes to her, she begins to regret his loss more keenly and especially that she never really got to know him.  However, her interest in her late husband's dealings in antiquities also stirs up danger and intrigue and a number of questions about how he might have been connected to a black market in antiquities and engaged in fraudulent activities.  Determined to remain free of her mother's influence and resistant to any thought of marrying again, Emily sets out to unravel the mysteries and decide which, if any, of Philip's friends she can trust.  She also decides to follow up on rumours that her husband may still be alive somewhere in Africa, and her quest places her in more danger than she realizes.  Emily is an interesting character, and while there are many elements of this story that are strikingly similar to the Lady Julia series, I think Raybourn's characters are more eccentric themselves, and certainly have a more unusual supporting cast of characters.  Alexander's novel has a lot of flair in its suspense and mystery, with just a hint of romance, so it was an easy read and left me wanting to read the follow-up novel.

Recent Reads {Arthur}

Arthur by Stephen R Lawhead - The third novel in the Pendgragon Cycle picks up the tale with a young Arthur pulling the legendary sword out of the stone and laying his claim to the High Kingship of Britain.  Many of the small kings refuse to accept his claim and he starts out as the war chief of Britain and the staunch support of a few powerful allies.  The story is told in three parts, with three different narrators.  Pelleas, the faithful steward to Merlin the magician, opens the story.  Pelleas and Merlin knew of Arthur's parentage and arranged to keep him safe until the time was right for him to come forward as the rightful heir to Aurelius.  Then Bedwyr, Arthur's loyal sword-brother and ally, takes up the story, telling of the wars against the barbarians trying to invade Britain and of the alliances forged and victories won that finally earn Arthur his title as High King.  The final part of the tale is told by Aneirin, who joins the retinue as an assistant to Merlin.  At this point, Arthur has had his kingmaking, and work has begun on the Round Table that is part of Gwenhwyvar's wedding gift.  During Aneirin's narration, the wicked Morgian finally meets her end, and we are introduced to the traitorous Medraut.  Throughout the story, Arthur keeps his focus on holding Britain in peace and as the Kingdom of Summer that the bard Taliesin had dreamed about.  Despite Arthur's great faith, the power of darkness and evil is great as well, and Arthur comes very near to losing his Queen and the Kingdom itself, and the book ends with Arthur's and Merlin's mysterious disappearance.

By the same author:  Patrick, The Skin Map.  Other books in the Pendragon Cycle are: Taliesin, Merlin, Pendragon, and Grail.   My comments from the previous time I read Arthur are here.

Recent Reads {Tchaikovsky}

Tchaikovsky by Roland John Wiley - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was a colorful and tragic character in so many ways, so I thought that his biography would be very interesting. I was a bit surprised that my own library system didn't have much choice at all when it came to biographies of this great composer, however. This one by Wiley may have been the only one written for adults, if I remember correctly. It was held by the college branch of the library, which should have tipped me off that it was more textbook than anything. I hesitate to say that it was painfully boring, because if I had been a college student and had this work as assigned reading, I'm sure I would have enjoyed it compared to most textbooks. But compared to the enjoyable biographies of composers by Jeremy Siepmann that I'd recently read, this was much too dry and detailed to hold my interest. Wiley followed a similar format to the Siepmann books - a chapter describing his life, activities, and correspondence during a particular time period; then a chapter describing the music composed during that period. However, this book was so densely packed with minutiae and footnotes that I skimmed over large portions of the "everyday life" chapters, and actually skipped most of the "music" chapters. It was just too much detail. And without the compositions to listen to, I wasn't much interested in reading page upon page of description of the musical devices used in an opera or song cycle I wasn't even familiar with. I now know a lot more about the background and character of Tchaikovsky, and a great deal about what he and his correspondents thought and felt about his music and life circumstances. As a detailed and annotated biography and description of his compostions, this is a very thorough study, but it is not exactly an attention-grabber.

Recent Reads {Already Compromised}

Already Compromised by Ken Ham & Greg Hall with Britt Beemer - As a follow-up of sorts to the eye-opening book, Already Gone, this book examines what Christian colleges are really teaching, and it might surprise many Christian parents to find out!  A research team put together an extensive questionnaire and took it to the presidents, academic deans, vice presidents, and department heads of 200 Christian colleges and universities.  The results reveal some disconcerting news - while these schools overwhelmingly reported that they believe the Bible is true and that God created the earth, what they actually mean by these statements, and what might be taught in the classrooms, are not necessarily the same thing.  For example, more than 90% said they believe in the flood of Noah's Day, but less than 60% believed that the flood was worldwide.  Or how about this one - more Science Department heads believe the Genesis 1-2 account of creation is literally true than do Religion Department heads.  And almost 60% of Science Department heads consider themselves to be young-earth Christians, while less than 15% of Religion Department heads would say the same.  What does this mean?  Well, for parents and students searching for a college to attend may want to ask some harder questions and consider what is really believed and taught at these institutions of higher learning.  Just because they have reputations as Christian colleges or are associated with a particular denomination may not mean they respect the authority of Scripture in practice.  And it means that Christians, and the Church, need to sit up and take notice of the slippery slope we find ourselves on.  We need to speak up and we need to pray, and we need to stand firm on God's Word as the ultimate authority and source of truth.

It's weighty subject matter, but it's not a difficult read at all, and is explained well.  Along with Already Gone, I believe this book should be read by Christian parents, Christian educators, and pastors.  And I think this one should be read by college-bound teens as well, preferably before they choose their school.  There is a very encouraging and practical chapter towards the end of the book written specifically to students.

By the same author(s):  Already Gone, The New Answers Book 1