Book Review of The Shadow Lamp by Stephen Lawhead – plus A GIVEAWAY! – Day 1

This is day 1 in a 3 day review of the novel THE SHADOW LAMP by Stephen Lawhead. As part of the Christian Science Fiction & Fantasy Blog Tour, we are covering this—the fourth book—in Stephen’s five part series which will conclude next year with THE FATAL TREE. I can’t wait!

THE PLOT

From Amazon:

The quest for answers … and ultimate survival … hinges on finding the cosmic link between the Skin Map, the Shadow Lamp, and the Spirit Well.

The search for the map of blue symbols began in a rainy alley in London but has since expanded through space and time and includes more seekers.

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

At the same time, the Zetetic Society has uncovered a terrifying secret which, if proven, will rock the very foundations of Creation. 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 AUTHOR

Stephen R. Lawhead is a prolific, bestselling, and internationally acclaimed author of mythic history and imaginative fiction. He is best known for his King Raven trilogy, a re-telling of the Robin Hood legend, and Pendragon Cycle, centering on the King Arthur legend. Other notable works include the Song of Albion, Celtic Crusades and Dragon King Trilogies, Byzantium, Patrick, Avalon, and the works of science-fiction Dream Thief and Empyrion saga. Lawhead makes his home in Oxford, England, with his wife.

The cool thing is that I was able to meet Stephen personally just after book 1 came out, and was able to have him sign it. Even more special was that I found my book as part of his nationwide “Treasure Hunt” contest the publisher put on. Because of that, I had an extra copy which I gave away.

This year, I also have an extra copy, and will be giving it away! Read all the way to the bottom for your first clue!

THE BOOK COVERS

Tomorrow I’ll be covering my thoughts on the plot and writing, so stay tuned for that … but until then, I really just HAVE to talk about the book covers.

Really .. aren’t the book covers just AWESOME? These designers really knew what they were doing with this series … because when you put the books together on your shelf, they look just incrediblly inviting! You just WANT to pick them up and find out what mysteries lie inside.

Here are the first four together, just so you can see what they look like.

And here are the full covers side by side. Is that cool, or what?!

THE GIVEAWAY

What am I giving away? A FREE COPY of THE SHADOW LAMP. Not only that, but I have requested a signed book-plate that I will attach to the novel before I send it out. (The only gotcha is that you have to wait for the book-plate to arrive from Stephen.)

To be entered into this give-away, you must solve THREE RIDDLES! One on this blog post, one on the next, and one more on the final one!

Today’s riddle is the following:

Your answer will be a nine word phrase. To solve the riddle, you must either own your own copy of THE SHADOW LAMP, or else go to the online preview at Amazonnce you have the phrase, email it to me through the following contact form.

Once all the entries are in I will hold a random drawing for the winner, so stay tuned!

THE OTHER TOUR MEMBERS

Make sure you visit the other tour members’ websits to read more reviews of THE SHADOW LAMP!