The Bright Empires Series

The Skin Map, The Bone House, The Spirit Well, The Shadow Lamp, The Fatal Tree

By: Stephen Lawhead

Narrated by: Simon Bubb

Length: 54 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's Summary

The Bright Empires series is a unique blend of epic treasure hunt, ancient history, alternate realities, cutting-edge physics, philosophy, and mystery. The result is a pause-resisting adventure like no other.

The Skin Map

Kit Livingstone’s great-grandfather reveals an unbelievable story: The ley lines throughout Britain are not merely the stuff of legend or weekend hobby of deluded cranks but pathways to other worlds.

One explorer knew more than most. Braving every danger, he toured both time and space on voyages of heroic discovery. Ever on his guard and fearful of becoming lost in the cosmos, he developed an intricate code - a road map of symbols - that he tattooed on his body. This Skin Map has since been lost in time. And the race is on to discover its secrets.

The Bone House

Kit is on a quest to understand the impossible mission he inherited from Cosimo: to restore a map that charts the hidden dimensions of the multiverse. Survival depends on staying one step ahead of the savage Burley Men.

Those who know how to use the ley lines have left their own world behind to travel across time and space - down avenues of Egyptian sphinxes, to an Etruscan tufa tomb, into a Bohemian coffee shop, and across a Stone Age landscape where universes collide - in this, the second quest to unlock the mystery of The Bone House.

The Spirit Well

Kit is mastering the ability to travel across realities using ley lines and has forged a link from the Bone House, a sacred lodge made of animal bones, to the fabled Spirit Well, a place of profound power.

Cassandra Clarke is overseeing an archaeological dig in Arizona when a chance encounter transports her to 1950s Damascus. There, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to the Seekers - the last living remnants of the Zetetic Society who need her help to track down the missing Cosimo Livingstone and his grandson Kit.

But there are darker forces at work in the universe whose agents always seem to be one step ahead of the rest - and they’re all desperate to gain the ultimate prize in this treasure hunt where the stakes increase at every turn.

The Shadow Lamp

Kit, Mina, Gianni, Cass, Haven, and Giles have gathered in Mina’s 16th-century coffeehouse 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.

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.

The Fatal Tree

It started with small 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.

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.

©2015 Stephen Lawhead (P)2021 Thomas Nelson

Great first book so the boxed set was a no brainer

I love the characters and the narrator does a good job. I have only finished the first book so far, but am looking forward to the rest. when I saw that it was a boxed set for 1 credit I had to grab it.

The books seem to be very clean and still interesting. I hate not knowing what a book will have in it as in foul language or "adult" scenes, but this one is clean so far.

At first I think Wilimena is kinda boring, but she turns out to be great. All the characters seem interesting. It's a fun read at a young adult level maybe. Full of twists and turns, mystery and action, laughter and sadness.

If you don't like heartfelt, light Sci-Fi then you won't like it though. It's right up my alley.

All or nothing. These five books are actually one book.

I have read many books and series by Lawhead, and this one was difficult to enjoy as easily as the others because it is really one long book. Each individual book had no real conclusion and each successive book had a first chapter called “Previously”. The number of characters felt excessive and it was difficult to see how some of the characters had earned a place in the story given the lack of contribution overall. Nevertheless, I do not regret reading it but rather consider Lawhead’s other works to be far more worthy of the reader’s time. I especially endorse the trilogy of Hood, Scarlet, and Tuck.

Primarily, my title says it all. This is really a single book and no reader would enjoy it except by reading all.

I Lived With them and Loved it

It is captivating, compelling and tho fantasy, so well written that it becomes almost plausible.

I can't make it through 5 chapters

Horrible wish I could return the reader is horrible maybe it would have been better with someone else

So Glad I Found This Aurthor

I don't give a lot of 5 star reviews, but this one deserves it. The characters are appealing and well developed, the storyline is interesting and has some good turns and the material is well written and thought provoking. I'm looking forward to downloading more from Mr. Lawhead. My only minor quibble would be a few hanging and unresolved (possibly unresolvable) time paradoxes.

It was a great listen, and the whole series for one credit makes it a tremendous values. The narration was perfect for the story and well performed.

What a journey!

Just the right amount of characters for an amazing journey through times, friendships, and the quest for something more.

Wonderful from start to finish

this collection is great from start to finish. I read these books before but decided to give the audio book a shot to give new life to the story I loved. I wasn't disappointed.