In the Eye of Heaven: A Review
by Chadwick Ginther - Wednesday Sep 05 2007 12:00 pm
Posted in: Reviews, Staff Pick, SciFi & Fantasy

I got an advanced reading copy of In the Eye of Heaven in the winter of 2005. The buzz around the book was great, and as David Keck is a former Winnipegger, I was hoping for a good read. "Good read" turned out to be an understatement.

Not only was this one of the best first efforts I have read, but the book was so well crafted, I was frustrated it was a spring release, meaning I couldn't recommend it through Christmas.

But I recommended it anyway. To any customer who was interested in great authors, or liked this style of densely political, character driven, historically influenced fantasy. To anyone asking about local authors, I just dropped the name David Keck.

It worked, and the book enjoyed a healthy stay on our hardcover fiction bestseller list. Why should you care? Well the book is just great fantasy. Keck introduces his world slowly, creating an encounter with the magical and the fantastic as Knight Errant Durand, the book's protagonist does. What begins as a simple tale of a knight and his inheritance quickly becomes a story of courtly politics colliding with the magic of the Otherworld in a nation on the brink of collapse. By then I was so invested in Durand and his troubles, that I felt I was experiencing the magic as Durand did.

Keck skillfully weaves the details of his world into the narrative, no detail feels forced or expository. Not once does it seem he is describing a world that exists only in his imagination. This is a battle every aspiring, and even experienced fantasy author must fight and overcome, Keck does so here with the touch of a veteran.

In the Eye of Heaven works just as well as a tale on its own as it does the introduction of a new series- a truly difficult task. Its sequel, In a Time of Treason is one of my most anticipated books of 2008.

Link to David Keck's Official Website

Read David Keck's Blog here.

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