The Fatal Tree

By: Stephen Lawhead

Narrated by: Simon Bubb

Kit stared at his fellow questors. “Is this it . . . the End of Everything?”

It started with small, seemingly insignificant wrinkles in time: A busy bridge suddenly disappears, spilling cars into the sea. A beast from another realm roams modern streets. Napoleon’s army appears in 1930s Damascus ready for battle. But that’s only the beginning as entire realities collide and collapse.

The questors are spread throughout the universe. Mina is stuck on a plain of solid ice, her only companion an angry cave lion. Tony and Gianni are monitoring the cataclysmic reversal of the cosmic expansion—but coming up short on answers. And Burleigh is languishing in a dreary underground dungeon—his only hope of survival the very man he tried to murder.

Kit and Cass are back in the Stone Age trying to reach the Spirit Well. But an enormous yew tree has grown over the portal, effectively cutting off any chance of return. Unless someone can find a solution—and fast—all Creation will be destroyed in the universal apocalypse known as The End of Everything.

In this final volume of the fantastic Bright Empires series, Stephen R. Lawhead brings this multi-stranded tale to a stunning and immensely satisfying conclusion.

“In the sweeping style of George R. R. Martin and J. R. Tolkien, Lawhead has created a diverse universe and rich cast of characters. Multiple story lines weave to form a satisfying ending to this mythological speculative series.” —Library Journal

Been a fan of Lawhead for 25 years!

What made the experience of listening to The Fatal Tree the most enjoyable?

I thoroughly enjoyed this series. It explores ley lines, time travel, apocalyptic possibilities, archeology, science and more, but not in what I would consider a "cheesy" way. Lawhead has pulled his material from many current conversations that can be found on the Internet in alternative news sources about all of these subjects, and then some. Through his fictional story, he explores what life might be like if "all that" were true. I found the character development, the plot development, the historical aspects of the various settings for the story, etc. to all be very engaging.

outstanding resolution to a mondboggling race

although I loved the performance the production was sub par other than that. an outstanding piece of literature. for those who enjoy thrill of a chase, mystery, crime, time and space travel its a hit. start with the skin map and trust ne when I say this is one of those series that keeps getting better!

Excellent as always

Stephen Lawhead has delivered on every book of his I have read... And I have read them all.

powerful

This is a powerful conclusion to a beautiful story. I appreciate Lawhead's portrayal of grace in the face of great difficulty. I also appreciated the theme of God's providence. God is good and does work all things out for the good!

nice story, too many words

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The story moved very slowly. There was too much repetition and the dialogue was sometimes irritatingly redundant. I liked the overall story line and ideas--it just needed more editing. It seemed to be more an issue in the later books in the series. I didn't notice it so much in the first couple.

Could you see The Fatal Tree being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

It could be quite amazing visually. The story line is very sound, and a critical rewrite might be just what it needs.