Review of The Fatal Tree by Stephen Lawhead – Day 1 – PLUS A DOUBLE GIVEAWAY!

Welcome back to another Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy Blog Tour review! This time we’re looking at the last book in THE BRIGHT EMPIRES series—THE FATAL TREE—by the illustrious Stephen R. Lawhead.

For day one I must, again, begin with the cover. Every single cover in this series was beyond excellent, each novel taking on a dominant color theme.

But this one for THE FATAL TREE tops them all with its multi-colored, spooky and awesome view of the tree itself. Truly a remarkable cover, and all of them will help sell these novels for many years.

For those of you unfamiliar with this series, it is a stunning blend of treasure hunting, history, alternate dimensions, futuristic physics theories and philosophy, with a bit of mystery. An epic like no other. Lawhead really has created something unique here.

So, for day one I’d like to provide an overview of this book, with day two talking about the characters and writing, and day three discussing the mind-bending climax of the book.

Here’s the official description:

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 —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

Also, remember that the entire series is for sale as A SINGLE KINDLE DOWNLOAD for an incredible price near to $14.

THE DOUBLE GIVEAWAY

I am giving away TWO brand new, pristine books from the Bright Empires series

• THE SKIN MAP (book 1 for those who haven’t started the series yet), and
• THE FATAL TREE (book 5 for those who are just finishing it up)

Note that book 5 will include a signed bookplate by Stephen Lawhead!

To win, you need to:

1. SOLVE THREE PUZZLES, and also
2. Leave a meaningful comment on each of my 3 posts ofthe tour!

Today’s puzzle is as follows … use the following links (L) to find the proper paragraph (P) and word (W). Use these words to put the phrase together.

Begin counting paragraphs after all titles and miscellaneous stuff. For word counting, ignore all punctuation.

Link 1: http://stephenlawhead.com/
Link 2: http://stephenlawhead.com/bright-empires-novels/the-skin-map
Link 3: http://stephenlawhead.com/bright-empires-novels/the-bone-house
Link 4: http://stephenlawhead.com/bright-empires-novels/the-spirit-well
Link 5: http://stephenlawhead.com/bright-empires-novels/the-shadow-lamp
Link 6: http://stephenlawhead.com/bright-empires-novels/the-fatal-tree

Once you have the secret phrase, email it to me through this contact form. Also, let me know which book you are interested in and I’ll hold two drawings at the end for all those that solve the puzzles.

Also, REMEMBER TO COMMENT BELOW, as that is part of the eligibility rules.

(To save on excessive international postage, sadly the contest is open only to residents of the United States. Sorry )

OTHER TOUR PARTICIPANTS

And make sure you visit the other members of the tour …