William Meikle

Watchers: The Coming of the King (Book 1 of 3)

KHP Industries (print on demand) - Available from Amazon

ISBN 0-9379220-4-6

$16/£10

It's the mid 1700s, and while most of England is carrying on its day-to-day activities as usual, up at Hadrian's Wall, everyone lives in fear for their souls - for on the other side, the vampires rule.

Our introduction to this alternate history is first as a witness to the execution of Charles I in London, in 1649. We learn he had been liked - until he “came out” as a vampire, whereupon he was quickly condemned, thus keeping England vampire-free.

We are then transported a hundred or so years forward, to 1745, and to a border fort/town, where we meet our two mischievous protagonists. Still young, they don’t take their guard duties too seriously, unable to believe the dire warnings of the elders. But it all beings to come true.

The first inkling of the true horror beyond the wall is given when a refugee comes seeking sanctuary for himself and his daughter. He brings tales of the marauders, and knowledge that they are gathering strength again. It was in one of their raids on the few remaining human settlements that he lost the rest of his family, and his daughter was injured and left in a coma. He had nowhere left to turn, so sought the borders.

And so the adventure begins: one of the young men, Sean, is besotted by the unconscious girl, and takes on the duty to convey her to a doctor in Sheffield; the other, Martin, volunteers to go over the wall with the man, Campbell, with the aim of gathering more precise information on the plans of the vampires.

During their various travels, we are given the opportunity to learn the relevant history. For example, that the Battle of Bannockburn, where Robert the Bruce defeated Edward II, was in fact won thanks to the Bruce recruiting the vampires, and granting them land in return for their help. And thus, the vampire population of Scotland was begun.

The adventures of Sean and Martin remain linked through the story, and at the end, the find themselves back at their hometown quite unexpectedly. Their lives have already changed immeasurably, but further change is still on the horizon, for this is the first book of three.

The book is very well-written. The language is rich, giving you no trouble imagining things hiding in every shadow and around every corner, and the pace keeps you going -long after you should have turned out the lights and gone to bed yourself :) I found myself carrying the book everywhere, and taking slightly longer over lunch than I should have, as I just had to know what was happening!

- Blackie

Watchers: The Battle for the Throne (Book 2 of 3)

KHP Industries (print on demand) - Available from Amazon

ISBN 0-9679220-7-0

$16/£10

At the end of Watchers, Book 1, we left Martin and Sean back at their hometown of Milecastle, a fort on the wall protecting England from a Scotland overrun with vampires. They's each had separate adventures away from home, which culminated in their returns in time to aid in a massive battle. In this battle, the town's leader and Martin's father, the Thane, was killed, and so an unprepared Martin took on his new title and responsibility.

Now, he must take his remaining force south to warn the nearest town, and continue fighting as the vampire army also heads south - intent on taking the English throne.

Sean volunteers to go north to gather any information which may help. Of course, he also knows that the girl whom he had tried to help had been kidnapped and taken northwards, so this is his chance to be a hero and rescue her.

Martin arrives at Carlisle to find people even less prepared than those at Milecastle - because they'd jailed his messenger as a troublemaker! Unsurprisingly, when the vampires attack - that night - the town falls quite quickly. Undeterred, Martin gathers his men and heads east. Along the way, he encounters minor skirmishes which serve to illustrate his growing strength as a leader, his ability to fight, and his possible turning into a werewolf. This latter <thing> seems to be the result of what had seemed to be a normal fight with wolves in book 1: there were hints that perhaps there had been a magic quality to the successful kill, but nothing quite to this extent - very nicely built up! This wolfishness serves him well in the climactic battle.

Meanwhile, Sean is also discovering a major change. Early on, we learn he had been bitten in the Milecastle battle, and it had been strong enough to work on his brain to stop him from seeing a doctor - and so as he is travelling north (with Campbell, also from book 1) he starts to succumb to a sudden urge to attack his companion. There is an intervention by the local people, then an amazing ritual to attempt to cure him. No one knows if it has worked as they set off again. Their final battle occurs at the same time as Martin's: the swaps back and forth between the events of these two are neatly timed throughout the book, and become more frequent as we near the climax, till we get the near-simultaneous descriptions of the concurrent battles. The inter-dependence between the two battles is also (I think) cleverly handled.

This book ends more abruptly than the first, and on more of a cliffhanger, but by now, we are hooked. There are so many questions unanswered, about Martin and about Sean, of the whereabouts of the girl, and what effect those two battles will have on the plans of the vampires.

- Blackie

Watchers: Culloden! (Book 3 of 3)

KHP Industries (print on demand) - Available from Amazon

ISBN 0-9747680-8-1

$16/£10

The third book in William Meikle's trilogy has been published at last - well, actually some time ago but only now have I found the opportunities to read and then review it.

To briefly recap, two young men, Martin and Sean, travel from their home on the border between Scotland and England, to warn about a vampire attack on their castle. The vampires “own” Scotland, and wish to take the English throne. The knowledge of the plans for the throne had been brought to them by a fugitive and his unconscious daughter, Mary, who's been attacked by the vampires: to be the mother of the vampire king's heir.

In one of the battles with the vampires, Sean is bitten. In a separate mini-adventure, Martin has an encounter with a werewolf (although this particular term is not used, so we cannot assume that all the stereotypical effects).

Martin inherits his title of Thane of Milecastle, and as such gathers a small army to lead to assist nearby towns, such as Carlisle, in the fight against the vampires. The vampires are on an inexorable march south to London.

Due to Martin's “affliction”, he eventually loses a significant number of his troops to fear, as well as some who underestimate the threat and are massacred in an uneven fight at Carlisle.

With his loyal few, he continues to try to battle on. One of his soldiers is very inventive, and comes up with a variety of ways to modify machinery to shoot holy water and silver droplets (silver injures these vampires). Needless to say, this improves their odds greatly, as the vampires in turn underestimate their foe.

Nonetheless, eventually Martin is captured by the vampires, and put in their arena for some sport. It turns out that the vampire king has some knowledge of the wolf inside Martin, since when the beast starts to take over to assist Martin, the king locks Martin into the form and manages to enslave him “as a pet” he claims to the watching crowd.

Meanwhile, Sean has come to terms with his vampiric side, and tamed it (with the help of another race), and used it to infiltrate the king's entourage. Thus, he and Martin become reunited. Together, they go in search of Mary: Sean with hopes of rescuing her, and Martin with the aim of thwarting the vampire king's plans for succession.

After many clever twists and turns, we are brought to the climax, where Martin and his mini army are in great battle with the vampires (at Culloden), and Sean - now very changed - is on a single-minded quest to find Mary and ensure that her vampire child is not born (it's due any day).

The last pages are a whirlwind of excitement (I've just reread them, and feel quite out of breath!) and tying up most of the loose ends. Martin gets his prey, Sean gets his girl, but ... what happens to Martin's werewolf side, and Sean's vampire side, and Mary & her baby? Well, I am afraid you will have to read it to find out! :)

- Blackie