In the Eye of Heaven by David Keck

I read this book a year ago (finished it almost exactly to the date) and I absolutely LOVED it! If you have ever been to a renaissance festival on a cold autumn day, and have walked across the competition field where the knights tilt, and smelled the crushed grass and mud, then you will know recognize that mood in the first 50 pages of this book.
This book is not (yet) about a character on the impossible task of saving the world, but about him finding his place in a world where a knight must prove his metal. After losing his inheritance of his fathers estate to his older brother, the main character must join a band of knights under the banner of a prince in hiding (masked). They journey across the land on their way to competitions -- mock battles with other bands of knights while lords watch and choose who will be their champions in their courts.
This band of knights is a rag-tag band of men who are gruff, rough around the edges, but like-able.
There is much adventure in this book including ghosts, and other mystical creepy things. The great thing is, Keck keeps the "magic" and "supernatural" sparse and believable. The story is rooted in a rousing adventure where knights feel privileged to sleep on the floor of a lord's keep, and having lice is commonplace. Real and gritty, true to the way it must have been in the middle ages. One of the best books I've read in a long time! If you like GRR Martin, you'll dig this book!
Can't wait for the next one!

I just finished reading In the Eye of Heaven. I am an avid reader of fantasy but this story did not demand and hold my attention the way other fantasy novels have. I read it on the plane and I actually put it down to watch a movie I was not so interested in.

What frustrated me in particular was the fact that for much of the first half of the novel I did not understand exactly what was going on. While the story seems mired in detail, I found that the timeline was not clear to me. At times it seemed the main character went from night to night without day in between, or did I just miss it? Often, where the story would grab my interest, some confusion would cause me to back off a bit... still curious but frustrated.

I was disappointed in the major conflict in the story. I did not agree with the assumption that someone with honor would grant a boon to a victor of something that is not his to offer (it is his father's vote, not his). And then during the vote, where the book is so detailed in other respects, the author lets the reader see only half the votes. I like the ideas presented in the novel and the background plot still holds my interest, but I hope the next novel is more satisfying.