Third Eye: The Sound of Peace (The King's Watch Book 11)

Product Information

Proving himself to be a hugely versatile writer, Attwood has also contributed to the ‘King’s Watch Story’ collection of books. This series has been written alongside other writers, including Lucy Campbell, making him a more than adept novelist. Maintaining a profile both offline and on, he continues to make a name for himself, being highly popular with readers from all over.

Thank goodness there was an index of names because the cast was so big I would have had no idea who anyone was otherwise; so many of whom make such little impact you wonder why you had been introduced at all.

Publication Order of Tom Morton Books

It’s been a long wait since Conrad’s last adventure – catch up with all the news from Mark Hayden’s best-selling King’s Watch universe and meet old friends again. Conrad Clarke, former RAF pilot and alleged gangster, gets a text – and a visit – from The Allfather. The King is dead and now a new king must be elevated in his place. But, where some see it as a time of grieving and celebration, others see it as a way to change the past. Thrust into the election by circumstance rather than duty, Conrad Clarke and company soon find themselves standing between the Mages of Mowbray and the Daughters of the Goddess as the two negotiate to bring the 7 Kingdoms into the 21st century. FWIW, It's not the first time this has happened - book 8 suffered from similar problems as I covered in my review of that.

The writing in Eight Kings felt clunky. I think much of it had to do with passing the POV character around, and since this is written from 1st person, it made for some really awkward transitions. For example, at the end of the chapter, the Conrad voice would flat out tell the reader, "And now I'm going to let Mina tell you what happened next" or something along those lines. And there were places in the story where the current narrator just flat out wouldn't tell you what was happening because 'So-and-so is going to tell you all about it in the next chapter', or 'you need to read all about what happened in this short story' or (and this one irked me the most) 'it doesn't bear repeating here.' The last time this type of writing was featured so heavily was in the first book, and the author used it less and less after even the first half of that novel. It just made for some really clunky storytelling. In Eight Kings (book 6), I complained that it seems like it is always Conrad who knows "what's what" with a plan to go with it (i.e., to explain some scenarios in the story) only to reveal that he actually didn't know. That phenomenon reared it's ugly head again in this book. So how would Conrad know that Saïa Ripley would be kidnapped by the fae? Know enough to make plans. Know enough to pacify and reassure Cordy that justice will be served? Know enough to perhaps instruct Cordy to recruit Flora into being their informer? When you look at it there, the plot kinda breaks down. Of all the flavours of fantasy novels, I only really enjoy those set in the real world (often described as urban fantasy, although some, as is the case here, are mostly rural) - whether it's the intricate cleverness of something like Gene Wolfe's Castleview, or when it's mixed with the police procedural, as in Ben Aaronovich's Rivers of London, Sarah Painter's Crow Investigations or Paul Cornell's Shadow Police. That meant I was delighted to discover Mark Hayden's King's Watch series. In many ways it's great, though it has proved to be something of a curate's egg. And then one night, strange lights drift across the lawn, and suddenly Don is a man with a mission. A mission to be rescued, if only he can find a way to send a letter… At least, until this one. The story elements are all still there, but the writing felt much more like the first book than what I had just finished in the 5th book. I would put this one at a low 3-star compared to the others. It is still better than 2 stars though.Sigh.....I have read every book in the series, so far. This includes the stand-alone short stories. I have enjoyed all of them, and, rated them highly. Until now. If you felt it was important enough to publish a short story about it, than it must have been important enough to be included in the book to begin with. There's a lot of extraneous material constantly mentioned that could easily be cut. Another reviewer mentioned the wedding, and said it would be more exciting at this point if Conrad and Mina split up, and I hate to say it, but at this juncture, I'd have to agree. We get it by now-they're engaged and there's a wedding/weddings to be had in the future. Under these current circumstances, it's subsequently heading toward it requiring it's own devoted book. That is how Conrad Clarke's journey into the world of magic and the supernatural begins. The phantom image that had been appearing to him suddenly becomes real...and that reality is nothing that his prior life in the RAF had prepared him for. Soon he is tasked with a series of tests that will bring him new teammates, new abilities, and new responsibilities and strange new "friends" that he wasn't prepared for. And...nothing like getting thrown into the deep end as his first true mission could literally save everyone he knows and loves.