2011 Book Blog – The Bone House

Stephen Lawhead’s second book in the Bright Empires series, The Bone House, was quite a trip. From ancient Egypt to 1600 Prague to present-day England to the era of cavemen – your head will be spinning by the time you close the book.

At first I was a little disoriented because it had been almost a year since the first book came out: The Skin Map, and my memory, not being what it used to be (thank you fibromyalgia) I couldn’t quite remember who was who and where they were. What didn’t help is the fact that the series deals with “ley leaping” – multiverse travel. You can not only shift places as you travel through a ley, you can end up at a different time period, although all time is moving forward. So if you were in Prague on Saturday, lept to ancient Egpyt on Sunday then returned to Prague, you will have returned after you originally left, though it can be anywhere from seconds to days or years – but always in the future.

So… The Skin Map left off with our protagonist, Kit, stuck in the tomb of Anen and thus we begin. His girlfriend, who unwittingly ended up separated from him in her first leap, shows up to rescue him then sends him on a mission while she returns back to Prague (around 1607). Kit follows her advice and ends up in a more recent version of Egypt, around the late 1700s-early 1800s where he is sent to meet Dr. Thomas Young (who is based on the real Dr. Thomas Young 1773-1829).

While Kit and Young search for the map (hoping to go back to a period of Egypt before the map was stolen but after it had been secreted), Mina (Kit’s girlfriend) is exploring ley travel, building her coffeehouse (the first ever in Prague, based strikingly on Starbucks), and working with the King’s alchemist to detect ley paths and people who’ve traveled through leys.

Meanwhile, in another time and place, we meet Arthur Flinders-Petrie who is The Man Who Is Map. He was the first to find ley travel and during his travels he kept a diary of where and when each ley led to. In order to not lose it, he had it tattooed on his body in a code he created. We find out that Arthur was very good friends with Anen and has traveled there for his help. His wife is having a difficult pregnancy and Anen should be able to help them.

Meanwhile, in another time and place, we meet Archie Burleigh. A young boy borne out of a one-night stand, his mother had been promised marriage to the dashing rich man, but … of course, he dumps her for her best friend, she ends up on drugs (laudanum) and Archie is out fencing apples to survive. Archie is then taken in by an antiques dealer and taught the trade. The old man dies but due to the laws of the day, the money is left to a relative he hasn’t seen in 20 years. Archie disappears for three years and returns as Archelaeus Burleigh, Earl of Sutherland… and now Kit’s arch enemy.

Meanwhile, in another time and place, we meet Douglas Flinders-Petrie, great-grandson of Arthur who steals a book from a British Museum, travels back in time to Oxford to find the “monk” who had written a book based on The Skin Map symbols. Douglas’ father failed to teach him the code. So he’s finding it out on his own. Though I’m still not sure if he’s a good guy or bad guy, I’m leaning towards bad guy since his “apprentice” Snipe is allowed his vicious acts.

After Kit and Young find the tomb, Kit and Mina meet up in Prague where, lo and behold, Archelaeous is there and heads out after Kit. Kit manages to make it to a ley and leaps through it… but it’s not the right one… and ends up… yup, in the stone age. Okay, not to be funny about it, it is actually one of the most beautiful parts of the book. Kit meets Big Hunter (Kit’s name for him) and over the course of a season, he learns some of their words, does what he can to help out. As winter comes another clan joins them at their winter cave, including the oldest caveman Kit has seen to date. En-Ul, the old man, has the gift of telepathy, as do all of the cave men. But En-Ul is the only one who can speak to Kit in such a way. All of the others have to vocalize the words they taught him. The young ones leave the cave every morning and return late in the evening every day. When Kit asks the Ancient One what they are doing, En-Ul shows him a picture in his mind and asks if Kit wants to go and see it. Of course. So the next morning, Kit leaves with the young ones, travel down through the snow-encrusted forest to a pit of bones. There they sort them and tie them up and carry them back up and into the woods where Kit finds a perfect circle hewn around the site. In the middle of the site is a “tent” (my word) large enough to hold to grown, but sitting men. The next day, En-Ul takes Kit with him to the Bone House where he goes into a deep sleep. Kit waits around a little then heads back up to his own place and spends the night dreaming about stars and planets and moons flying by faster and faster.

The next day, Kit goes down to see the Ancient One and just as he moves closer to him, the floor beneath him gives away and he falls and falls and falls until he ends up in what he assumes is heaven is actually the Well of Souls. I’m sure book 3 (due out Sept 2010 The Spirit Well).

Lawhead knew that some readers would need a refresher course, so at the beginning of the book there is a list of important people to know as well as a “Previously” section to try to get you up to date. It only took a few pages of reading and everything came back to me.

This book is really a lot of fun. Kit is often chiding himself for not being smart enough or strong enough or whatever… and Mina had changed from a blob on a sofa glued to television into an entrepreneur in 1607 Prague.

Definitely worth getting and reading. I would suggest read one right after the other so you don’t have to try to remember clues and such given in the first book. Good stuff!