22nd February 2025

The second King’s Watch novel, which I came across randomly in a charity shop, picks up pretty immediately after the first, as Conrad is more formally accepted into the Watch.

We revisit some of the elements from the first novel, which provides a nice reminder of where we are and how we got here. Then it’s on to a new mission as an unusual Roman facility is discovered below London.

It’s a good adventure, although there’s perhaps a bit too much going on, and a lot feels like setup for books to come. I did notice however there’s a creeping sexism feeling like it’s entered the narrative, with quite noticeably different descriptions of the male and female characters that Conrad meets, which felt uncomfortable.

The other uncomfortable aspect of this book is its size. It’s a very large paperback, and yet doesn’t feel like it wants to open fully, so is a bit of a handful.

I’m ambivalent over whether to continue this series. I suspect it might depend on whether the third book presents itself to me!

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28th October 2023

I’ve been seeing this book and series promoted for a long time, and finally got round to picking up what I thought was the first book.

While it sort of is the first, I discovered that there are actually five earlier novels, but they are more action thrillery, and this is a sort of fantasy spin-off which has expanded to be the real main series.

The character, world, and plot I found really compelling. There’s that classic setup of someone new to the magick world, with tons to learn and intrigue and mystery everywhere. And a bunch of hints throughout that there’s more to learn and more history to uncover.

I really enjoyed a bunch of the interactions between characters, and can easily see this expanding into a rich series and world as the books go on.

I did think though that aspects of the narrative are a bit rough. There are a few places where I felt like something had been missed in establishing or re-establishing a point or a character. There’s a pair of characters whose relationship is entirely unmentioned. There’s a lot brought in, particularly later on, which is clearly referring back to earlier stories, but without enough context to help the new reader.

But that aside, I really enjoyed reading this, and fully intend to continue on to more of the stories.

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