What do you think?
Rate this book
The Glastonbury Chronicles #1
Uneasy Lies the Head : The Glastonbury Chronicles, book 1
In the near future, Britain has given up its constitutional monarchy to become a republic. But though the crown is a museum piece and the family no longer bears its ancient titles, Stephen Windsor feels the stirrings of the lives of ancient sacred kings in his bones, which is not surprising as, at key points in Britain's history, he has been reincarnated to perform the supreme kingly act.
And though the throne is empty and forgotten, the land remembers and calls once more for a crown upon a royal head-and royal blood upon the ground.
And though the throne is empty and forgotten, the land remembers and calls once more for a crown upon a royal head-and royal blood upon the ground.
- GenresFantasy
1 pages, Audio CD
First published May 1, 2010
1 person is currently reading
13 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 15, 2019
DNF
Yeah I'm done.
I don't know if my issues mostly are with the narrator, or the book. But I found the 2 hours I've slogged through this, I just cannot any further.
The narrator made it really boring (at least I'm blaming the narrator for this purposes of this review, like I said... could just be the book or both). Everything sounded exactly the same and thus... boring.
I actually really disliked the fact that they used Prince William in this book. It's one thing to write about long dead kings, but another to write fiction about a living one (or Prince as he currently is.), AND their children... who were all alive by the time this book got published. There would be no 'Auntie Kate' for the grandson of Prince William, unless it was the wife of Louis. Which really, how awkward is that making Louis marry someone named the same as his mother.
It really makes things awkward.
This was published so recently even but it's already wrong due to that. Correction, this book was published 9 years ago
"that's why we dropped the Mountbatten" (as part of their name). Erm... have you met Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, Seventh in line for the throne. This is why you don't write fiction about living people. They will ruin your story.
Also, there is no chance in all the frozen hells, that even a Non Royal Royal would ever be named Stacey. Not even as a nickname. It made things really awkward feeling (like the Tiffany problem. If you don't know what that is, google it. Tiffany would have been more acceptable for those reasons)
I don't know if I'll bother trying to read this one instead of listening to it, because it is just so jarringly awkward.
Yeah I'm done.
I don't know if my issues mostly are with the narrator, or the book. But I found the 2 hours I've slogged through this, I just cannot any further.
The narrator made it really boring (at least I'm blaming the narrator for this purposes of this review, like I said... could just be the book or both). Everything sounded exactly the same and thus... boring.
I actually really disliked the fact that they used Prince William in this book. It's one thing to write about long dead kings, but another to write fiction about a living one (or Prince as he currently is.), AND their children... who were all alive by the time this book got published. There would be no 'Auntie Kate' for the grandson of Prince William, unless it was the wife of Louis. Which really, how awkward is that making Louis marry someone named the same as his mother.
It really makes things awkward.
"that's why we dropped the Mountbatten" (as part of their name). Erm... have you met Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, Seventh in line for the throne. This is why you don't write fiction about living people. They will ruin your story.
Also, there is no chance in all the frozen hells, that even a Non Royal Royal would ever be named Stacey. Not even as a nickname. It made things really awkward feeling (like the Tiffany problem. If you don't know what that is, google it. Tiffany would have been more acceptable for those reasons)
I don't know if I'll bother trying to read this one instead of listening to it, because it is just so jarringly awkward.
November 3, 2022
I liked the beginning and thought it was quite interesting and promising but unfortunately didn't deliver on the promise. I found it only mildly interesting and somewhat weird on the plot. I don't think I'll be reading the rest of the series unless I run out of books to read ;-)
October 26, 2019
What the crap did I just read? (Okay I didn’t get very far.) It alternated between sappy romance and a British History lesson. Weird. And so stupid.
May 11, 2011
If Robert Heinlein and Neil Gaiman had ever collaborated on a book series, it would probably look a lot like The Glastonbury Chronicles. In this series, S. P. Hendrick delicately weaves history, folklore, mythology, and fantasy into an intensely rich literary brocade.
The first volume, Uneasy Lies the Head, introduces Stephen and Kevin, and it becomes quickly apparent that their friendship is not based in the flesh, but it is, rather, a spiritual relationship spanning many lifetimes. Hendrick blurs the lines of…well, everything…to delicious effect: time, space, the mystical and the mundane, gender, and relationships, to name a few. With all else in soft focus, the reader gets such a pure view of the characters and their driving principles that the experience borders on transcendental.
Being unable to put the book down, I reached the end all too soon, and I found myself wanting to shake it upside down like an empty cereal box, hoping a few more morsels would drop out!
The first volume, Uneasy Lies the Head, introduces Stephen and Kevin, and it becomes quickly apparent that their friendship is not based in the flesh, but it is, rather, a spiritual relationship spanning many lifetimes. Hendrick blurs the lines of…well, everything…to delicious effect: time, space, the mystical and the mundane, gender, and relationships, to name a few. With all else in soft focus, the reader gets such a pure view of the characters and their driving principles that the experience borders on transcendental.
Being unable to put the book down, I reached the end all too soon, and I found myself wanting to shake it upside down like an empty cereal box, hoping a few more morsels would drop out!
October 2, 2012
After reading the reviews about this book I was looking forward to reading it. I loved the idea of the story picking up after our Monarchy as we know it being dissolved, and the Grandson of Prince William being the main character. I also loved the idea that with this there was an element of history and paganism. But for me there was definitely something lacking..... it felt a little rushed with no room for the characters to really grow.
It was however an easy read so I may read the other books in the series, and hope that over the series I find a better connection with the characters...
It was however an easy read so I may read the other books in the series, and hope that over the series I find a better connection with the characters...
Read
April 9, 2021DNF.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews