The Skin Map
In present-day London, Kit Livingstone is down on his luck until one day, out of the blue, he’s visited by his late great-grandfather, Cosimo. Cosimo talks to Kit about traveling via ley lines, which in this book, are like supernatural railroads that allow you to time travel and visit alternate dimensions, or realities.
Next, Kit tells his girlfriend, Wilhelmina, everything Cosimo relayed to him about time traveling. They decide to embark on their ley line travels together, only to become separated from one another and lost in time. The rest of the book describes their adventures apart.
There are lots of other fun and interesting characters in this book, such as, the person with the map of all the ley lines tattooed on their skin. The Skin Map. Apparently, all ley lines lead to the ultimate Paradise humanity has been seeking since the beginning of time.
The Skin Map is incredibly fun and engaging! I was so surprised, as I thought it would be more intense and serious. It flows nicely and has great readability—it’s very hard to put down.
I particularly like how this book tells two completely different stories: Kit’s action-adventure side of the story and Wilhelmina’s ambitious, more modern business-savvy side of the story. It also touches on the butterfly effects of time travel, which is often neglected in lots of other time travel books.
Overall, this book was great! I highly recommend.
There are 5 books total in the Bright Empires series. The next ones are:
- #2 – The Bone House (2011)
- #3 – The Spirit Well (2012)
- #4 – The Shadow Lamp (2013)
What did you think about The Skin Map?
Last Updated on February 8, 2026 by Sarah Ann
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