Third Eye

by Felicia Day, Sean Astin (Narrator), Neil Gaiman (Narrator)

Once upon a time, in the magical land of San Francisco, there lived a not-so-ordinary girl named Laurel Pettigrew. She was supposed to be the Chosen One. The plan was simple: she would vanquish the great evil Tybus in an epic battle. But destiny had other ideas, and Laurel's performance in the whole heroics department was a colossal flop.

Now, instead of being a legendary hero, Laurel's the resident pariah of the magic realm. And what’s worse, the dark wizard Tybus swooped in, took over the realm, and forced all supernatural creatures to live under his tyrannical rule. He’s even stripped away the magical powers of those who refused to join his wicked cause. Yeah, everyone hates her. Well, everyone except her two roomies—Sybil, the sassiest diva of a fairy, who could throw shade with the flick of a wing. And Frank, the vampire who rocks a bald spot and a serious paunch. They are the real MVPs, the ride-or-die buddies who have her back, no matter how many colossal fails she racks up.

And it’s all about to get even weirder. Along comes Kate, a Normie who somehow knows more about Laurel than Laurel knows about herself. Turns out, she's got some secrets up her sleeve that might just give Laurel a shot at redemption and a chance to rewrite her destiny.

Third Eye is a side-splitting adventure that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Laurel and her ragtag team of misfits must embark on a wild journey to take down Tybus. It's a treacherous path, but they'll have to put their differences aside and work together. Get ready to laugh, gasp, and cheer as they stumble their way towards an epic showdown.

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook, Fiction, Humor, Urban Fantasy, Magic, Paranormal

7 pages, Audible Audio

First published October 5, 2023

About the author

Actress, New Media Geek, Gamer, Misanthrope. Voracious reader.

Felicia Day is a prolific multi-hyphenate. She's the New York Times Bestselling author of "You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)" and the creativity book "Embrace Your Weird", and she recently wrote the Audible series "Third Eye" that won "Best Audio Drama" at the Audie Awards in 2024. She has appeared as an actor in numerous television shows such as “Supernatural”, “Eureka” and “The Magicians” and she can be heard as a voice actor in such shows as "Adventure Time" and "Monster High."

She is perhaps best known for her work in the web video world. Felicia co-starred in the internet musical sensation “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” which won an Emmy. She also created and starred in the seminal web series “The Guild” which ran for six seasons, won numerous awards for web video excellence, and spawned a hit comic book series with Dark Horse Comics. Recently, her outfit from the show was added to the Smithsonian American History collection as an example of early web media pioneering.

Felicia produced dozens of shows with her former digital company Geek and Sundry, including Wil Wheaton’s “Tabletop” and the RPG sensation “Critical Role”, and currently streams, writes and acts for her audience of six million fans across socials as she attempts to slow down now that she's a mother. (She is failing at it, badly.)

Reviews

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had no idea that Felicia Day was also a writer! I know her from productions such as Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Dollhouse, EUReKA, The Quest and Supernatural (and a few others). Turns out, she's also a gamer and, like I said, writer. Finding this was pure coincidence but the cast alone sold me on it.

Plot-wise, this was a "Chosen One" story. Laurel grew up in San Francisco knowing she was destined to battle and defeat the great evil, Tybus. Too bad she actually lost and everyone paid for it by losing their magic unless they signed up for the goon squad. Thus, Laurel is now hated by everyone and lives a loser life. Actually, she has two friends: vampire Frank and fairy Sybil.
One day, a kid (Kate) shows up that is supposed to be a normie. However, she knows far too much and can somehow use magic despite that not even possible if she was a supernatural being.
So is this a second chance at defeating the oppressor? Was Laurel ever truly meant to be a hero? What is going on?

Sadly, the fantasy story itself was pretty standard BUT it's how nerdy/geeky/dorky Felicia Day is playing with the standard tropes she knows so well that makes this all the funnier. Furthermore, there were quite hilarious moment that had me chuckle and even burst out laughing.

Moreover, all the voice-actors were brilliant. We got Neil Gaiman as the narrator, Felicia Day as the MC, Wil Wheaton, Sean Astin, Christopher Judge, Alan Tudyk, Weird Al Yankovic and more (David Tennant, by the way, was NOT in this => the face of the betrayer ) and their enthusiasm was downright contagious.

Pretty cool and definitely fun reading experience.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the idea that the world wasn't able to be saved by a random 17 year old.

[Ben Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Felicia Day, so when I first heard about Third Eye I was super excited. I had high expectations and it did not disappoint!

This was such a fun and fast paced story. It's a full cast and everyone did an amazing job to bring the world to life. There's also sound effects and everything. Felicia Day did say that this story was one she originally wanted to make into a TV show, but in this format it's perfect and just as immersive.

__
We follow a chosen one who's failed, set in a world where the big bad won and stripped everyone of their magic. Laurel is just trying to live her life with the stigma of being a failure following her wherever she goes. But when she meets a Normie (non magic folk), it sets things into motion and everything may not be lost.

[Aidin · Rating 5 out of 5]

“ Good Plans don’t end in question marks . “

The credit is undoubtedly well spent. It is a full cast audiobook: Just Neil Gaiman and Wil Wheaton should be more than enough for anyone to buy this. The performances, the effects added, the music, they’re all just awesome.

Imagine Harry Potter World but in this version, the Voldemort has won and every one is living under his tyranny. Now after 20 years, some unforeseen circumstances or in other words, fate, comes into action to stop the villain.

As if the unique plot and cast isn’t already enough, the book puts cherries on top of cake in the shape of: lot of comedy, or to be more specific, adult comedy, a depressed chosen one and all kinds of weirdos and average people of magic world teaming up.

Commuting in the past week has been the most fun this year thanks to this audiobook. Don’t hesitate and start listening to this book.

[Lukasz · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was hilarious. And silly. And a pure pleasure to listen to. Third Eye, Felicia Day’s audio-only fantasy, follows Laurel, the chosen one who failed to destroy the evil lord and save the magical realm. Considered a failure and officially shamed during yearly ceremonies, Laurel is universally loathed. Then Kate, a Normie, comes along and changes everything.

The story may be silly, but a full cast of brilliant narrators turned it into something truly special. Everyone provides a stellar performance, but I must mention London Hughes, who voices Sybil, a sexy and self-centered fairy, and, of course, Neil Gaiman as the authorly narrator. They're amazing.

I usually listen to audiobooks at 2x speed, but this one was too good for that. I listened at 1.25x speed, which I consider glacially slow 99% of the time. And it was still a delight. Highly recommended to all audiobook fans, especially those in need of something light, easy, and wonderfully entertaining.

[D. H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the surface it’s about…
a chosen one who failed to defeat the great evil and then is forced to live a life of public shame.

But it’s actually about…
getting back to work after a big failure.

It was awesome that…
every one’s performance is so good.

The big beautiful themes:
-recovering from failure
-fate / destiny
-controlling parents
-being used by others
-fighting the narrative

What this taught me about how to be good is…
a person keeps trying.

What this taught me about how to die is…
Its best to do it trying.

Best read…
by people who like comedic fantasy.

[Melani · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little overly aware of tropes, but fun.

I had some difficulty with the voice actor for Kate, it was a fake 'young' voice and it grated on my ears after a while.

I'm also not sure that Neil Gaiman was the right person for the Narrator. He doesn't have a voice that does wink-wink joke well for me, it's too ponderous. I found it especially noticeable after Wil Wheaton's parts, because Wil DOES have a voice that does that kind of humor well. He did a fine job, but it wasn't it.

My last complaint is that the story is definitely a little too self-aware. It's very in-joke and trope aware. I don't always enjoy those kinds of stories.

All of that said, I really did like this. I think as a deconstruction of the Chosen One trope, this does pretty well. It's cute and fun.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This full cast production is so much fun. I highly recommend! A story of The Chosen One who fails to save the supernatural community and therefore causes everyone to be stripped of their magic. 15 years later, Laurel is extremely unpopular and struggling with a massive amount of guilt when a normie teenager ends up in her shop and somehow knows all about her life.

The cast on this is amazing. 🤩 An incredible group of performers who really bring this world to life.
I especially enjoyed the sprinkling of Supernatural and Buffy references throughout the story 🥰

[Deb✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the full cast of characters in this audio book. I loved Neil Gaiman's narration. He always does a fantastic job, and I am a fan.

Felicia Day has a knack for writing a fun story, and I enjoyed this one. It's a simple chosen one story with several twists and turns along with a good plot that keeps you guessing until the end.

There was one character who had kind of an annoying personality in general, but it was just part of the story. This is why I gave it 4 stars.

Overall, it's something quirky and different and fun to listen to, so go for it! ⭐️

[Yestin · Rating 1 out of 5]

As much as I wanted to enjoy this book (I even preordered it), I couldn't. I've heard it described as "TV for your ears", and I agree, but in the most negative way possible. You don't get to see the attractive people, costumes, sets, etc.., you only get to listen to people 'acting'. It was all quite loud and frantic, and really not what I look for when listening to an audio book.

I'm not sure if it was just the (over)acting, but I found myself hating almost every character by the half way point. I even considered not finishing it because I dreaded listening to these people whine on and on. I'm glad I made it to the end though, the last 30-60 minutes were the best part.

I love most of Felicia Day's work, and this book is distinclty 'her', but I just couldn't enjoy it as an audio book.

This could be a good series or movie (or play), but as an audio book it REALLY didn't work for me.

[Kellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this! It was so fun! And honestly I’ll listen to Neil Gaiman narrate anything. I enjoyed that it pokes fun at the chosen one trope, and some other fantasy tropes but didn’t crap all over them. I would love Felicia Day to do more projects like this!

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this isn't exactly a book. More like an audio program I guess. Each "chapter" is an episode. There is sound effects and music. Each character is played by a different actor.

As a format, I think this is great, and would consume more stories this way. In my early days of getting into audiobooks I borrowed some BBC Sherlock Holmes stuff that worked the same way, and I'm surprised there haven't been more like this. If I was rating just the audio portion, it would be an easy 5 stars.

One improvement I'd love to see is some kind of full cast list posted somewhere (ideally in text, not audio, but I'd take an audio update over nothing). There are so many characters and I recognize some of the voices but not all. I was only able to find some partial lists on various sites, but nothing on audible or Felicia's website. I'm not sure if this warrants an IMDB page, but I love how IMDB has pages for TV Episodes because I often use them to look up someone and try to jog my memory as to what else I've seen them in before.

With regards to the actual story, I had mixed feelings. Some of the humor was great, but a lot of it didn't work for me. That's always going to be subjective though.

I also didn't find any of the characters very likeable though, which is my bigger issue. I thought they were interesting characters, but I like to have something to "root" for. I guess I was rooting for Laurel, but often I was just frustrated with her.

My favorite character was probably Robicus (not sure I'm spelling that right). It may be that I'm partial to Wil Wheaton, or maybe it's just you're not supposed to like him, so I thought that was well done.

Overall, I thought this was enjoyable but not amazing. I do love that it was a self contained story. That's so rare these days. Everything is a series. If you like fantasy, and nerdy humor and/or are a fan of The Guild this one is probably worth a listen. Probably closer to 3.5 stars than 3, but not quite 4 for me.

[Elizabeth Bell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish I hadn't wasted a credit on this. I imagine Sibyl is supposed to be comic relief, but she annoyed the crap out of me with her self-obsession. I liked some of the performances.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love all the things about this book. I thought I heard Alan Tudyk in there, but he wasn't on the credit list. Felicia made me simultaneously love and want to smack the characters upside their heads. Kind of like a gory/cozy fantasy novel. Glad I purchased this, decidedly not a waste of time or money.

[Eleanor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fun! I am a minor fan of Felicia Day and this was an enjoyable tropey story. The performances were a little hammy at times but that wasn't necessarily bad, and the writing was very quippy - there was almost too much of it if I'm being honest. Otherwise, the characters were fun and the storylines connected in a nice way!

[Dana Higgins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story was fun to listen to because it was dramatized to be kind of like a tv show, a very campy tv show. There’s no way I would have made it through the whole thing if I actually was reading it.

[Emma Reece · Rating 5 out of 5]

okay this was SUCH a fun story!! The full cast is amazing (plus I’ll listen to anything Neil Gaiman reads lol) I was actually laughing out loud several times and it was a fun fantasy escape full of developed characters and fun banter!!

[Tom Becker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not what I thought it would be. It was a good, theatrical experience with sound effects and a narrator. Good story, but written for young adults. It would have made a good podcast.

['Nathan Burgoine · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much fun in the end, and there were some great laugh-out-loud moments. Full cast was totally the way to go, and as much as I would have liked this as a television show (as Day tried to get it made as), this was maybe better, honestly.

[Henry Bell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a fun audio book. A lot of cameos.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a delightful full audio production (sound effects, music, voice actor for each character) that was a joy to listen to. It’s a comical fantasy story that subverts the Chosen One trope. I will miss having these folks in my ears, making me laugh!

[Josh Angel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even if the writing wasn't good - which it is - I likely would have listened to this just based on the incredible voice talent alone.

THE CAST

Neil Gaiman: Neil should narrate everything. Literally any time a narrator is called for, especially if the narrator is at all humorous, it should be Neil. In this case, I feel like the narrator role was written specifically for him, it just so perfectly matched his personality. If it wasn't written for him, well, he made it his own.

London Hughes: Wow, what a talent. I'd never heard of her before this production, but I'm a fan now. She has SO much personality that she injected into this role. Some of the best audiobook acting I've ever heard. The casting was perfection, just like her performance. So funny!

Felicia Day: I've been a fan of Felicia's since The Guild days, and of course her performance was spot on. I'm suspect she wrote the part with herself in mind, because it's very.. well, Felicia Day. An excellent, quirky performance.

Sean Astin? Truly?: I'm a little mind-blown that the vampire character was voiced by Sean Astin, because I spent the entire book thinking it was Patton Oswalt. Even now I feel like Sean Astin's name was a typo, and had to google it several times to be sure that - yes - it really was Sean Astin, not Patton Oswalt. It didn't sound like Sean's voice at all, and I'm very impressed with his vocal flexibility and acting.

LilyPichu: Another stand out performance was LilyPichu, who I was not familiar with prior to this production. A professional voice actor, and you can tell. She perhaps had the best technical control of her voice, and used it like an instrument. Voicing a young girl convincingly can be difficult, and LilyPichu pulls it off with ease, while injecting a lot of feisty personality into the role. I'm not likely to go find her on YouTube or Twitch, so I hope she returns to voicing audiobooks so I can enjoy her performances in the future.

Will Wheaton: I like Will Wheaton a lot, but sometimes he's tapped to narrate books that don't quite fit his voice. But in this case, he was cast perfectly, and his character leaned into all the things he does best. He may have been my least favorite voice performance in this production, but that's only because he was overshadowed by some insanely talented performers. Anywhere else, his would have been a stand-out performance. That's how good the voice acting was in this production.

Additional Cast Credit: Besides the celebrity cast, there were several great performances that I cannot find the credits for. The actress playing the mother was great, as was the vampires love interest. Sadly, the professional voice actors don't get specific mention, as the focus is on the celebrity voices, but I wanted to give a shout out to the "anonymous" actors as well for great performances.

THE WRITING

The story is very openly a parody of Harry Potter, but the story doesn't really matter too much. This story was a bare-bones Urban Fantasy yarn with all the expected tropes, but really it's just an excuse for lots of clever jokes and quips. And that's OK, because this story was clearly written in such a way as to allow the voice actors to own it, and own it they did.

This was a fun & funny book that is a perfect palette cleanser between more serious works, with a crazy good voice cast. I got very strong Buffy the Vampire Slayer vibes from this, and I mean that in the best way possible. Highly recommend.

4.5 out of 5, rounded up.

[Malureanu Vlad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh...I wished this was good...

If they had spent as much time writing as they did on production, it could have been so much better...but it's gray and bland for me...

Bobiverse has the best pop culture/nerd references out of all I have encountered so far and its classes are above this.

Light from Uncommon Stars has a waaaay better apprentice/master story, better teen drama, better everything.

It's so PG13 and wants not to bother or offend or anything that it does that perfectly...it's bland, and I am sorry. Finishing it felt like work, and I wanted it to be good since I love Felicia Day, but this felt rushed...if she used a 20-sided dye to decide her character's actions, it would have been a better story, I am convinced. I am confident it was a lot more enjoyable to act, and produce than it was for me to listen to it...

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three stars for the story itself, and five stars for the audible production, which was more radio show than recorded book. The cast was outstanding, with particular kudos given to London Hughes, whose portrayal of a flighty and always ravenous fairy should have annoyed me, but whose charm won me over. The rest of a cast is a who's who of show biz nerds. Besides Felicia Day, who wrote the story, you've got Wil Wheaton, Sean Astin and Alan Tudyk and looking up the cast now, I see that it also features Harvey Guillén and Weird Al. Tremendous fun.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve liked Felicia Day since I saw her in The Guild years ago, so when I saw Third Eye featured, it seemed like a great fit. I enjoy a good urban fantasy, and this one absolutely fits the bill. It’s also a full cast audio book, and it included sound effects and music too. I’m so happy I decided to grab this one and listen to it the last few days, as it was hilarious and highly entertaining with fantastic performances.

It’s actually interesting timing that I listened to this story now, as I’d just previously listened to my first graphic audio book. Third Eye was kind of what I’d expected or hoped for with graphic audio, but as it turns out, it’s on another level. That, I’m sure, has much to do with those doing the voicework, including Felicia Day, Neil Gaiman, Sean Astin, London Hughes, Wil Wheaton, LilyPichu, and more. The story is narrated by Gaiman, but all characters are voiced with included sound effects and music, and it flowed so effortlessly. There wasn’t a weird disconnect between the narrator and story; the production was really good. It was also incredibly immersive, and I felt as if I could fully visualize what was happening, which was awesome. The characters were fantastic as well, and the dialogue and banter among them was definitely top tier.

I highly recommend this story and audio experience to fans of humorous fantasy. I’m a little sad there isn’t more. Maybe I’ll rewatch The Guild!

[Caryn - iam.caryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Performing a radio play is a lost art… that stays lost.

While I can appreciate what they were trying to do here, it simply didn’t work. Choosing regular actors to voice so many characters I think is the biggest flaw. I suppose they thought that in order to make a radio play work, they felt like they had to talk too fast, overact, and yell their lines or pushing out their lines in one single breath. Projects like this is where professional voice actors would have made a huge difference.

What’s a shame is the story itself is really quite fun and could have been interesting. I feel like if it had been a properly formatted book that was done by an audiobook narrator, this could have been a truly excellent and imaginative book.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this production! Listened on a long road trip to a stressful situation and it kept me engaged and happily entertained the whole time. Voice cast was great, story was well done and nicely twisty without being tropey (while also embracing tropes, I think Day may be a witch to be able to do this). This is one I will probably listen to again at some point if only to catch some of the jokes I missed. The humor is subtle when needed and hilariously big in moments. I really enjoyed the relationships the characters developed with each other, how they believably grew within themselves, and that it felt like the story kept going for them, even with the arc being nicely tied up enough.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun story and maybe would be a great TV show episode. I liked the characters overall, each with their quirky personalities and some more diabolical than you thought. But the overall audio cast was too much. The voices were annoying and some even shrill, where read in an even tone would have been much more enjoyable. And the narrator himself while a talented author, perhaps his voice does not quite lend to a sarcastic retelling. I loved Felicia Day in Supernatural and am thrilled that she's doing these fun projects, but acting in visual and acting in audio are differently perceived. I did enjoy the storyline of friendships working together to rid them of the big bad. The twists and surprises were fun as well. There was a lot of humor, which I love in a story like this. A paranormal sit com series would be perfect for adapting this work.

[Chantal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely delightful take on the ‘chosen one’ fantasy trope—couldn’t stop listening to it and finished in a day. Fell in love with the characters instantly—they’re comedic, acted well by some of my favourite people, and their story arcs were fantastic. The ‘failure’ character was so relatable and it was even somewhat healing to realize the messaging for her story and the ending. Can’t recommend this enough.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really fun audiobook production with a great cast. I was excited to see Felicia Day creating this, so I definitely bought it without looking into it. I had a blast with it. But it was missing a little something so hence the four stars. But I was entertained and would definitely listen to more in the future.

Also, it felt like there were a few nods to Supernatural in here, and if that's not what they were intended for, I'm going to pretend like they were lol