The Hero's Lot - Patrick W. Carr

With the King Near Death, Will the Kingdom Fall?
When Sarin Valon, the corrupt and dangerous church leader, flees the city of Erinon and the kingdom, Errol Stone believes his troubles have at last ended. But he and his friends still have dangerous enemies working against them in secrets and whispers.

In a bid to keep them from the axe, Archbenefice Canon sends Martin and Luis to Errol's home village, Callowford, to discover what makes him so important to the kingdom, and in that journey they discover amazing new secrets about the workings of Aurae.

Back in Erinon, Errol is unjustly accused of consorting with spirits. Convicted, his punishment is a journey to the enemy kingdom of Merakh, where he must find Sarin Valon and kill him. To enforce their sentence, the church leaders place Errol under a compulsion—he must complete his task, or die trying.

The Hero's Lot is the second book in Patrick W. Carr's The Staff and the Sword series. Carr weaves a fantastic tale in this book as well as the first one, A Cast of Stones. The way these books are written is very unique and refreshing. The characters are so deeply personal and well rooted it's hard not to feel their emotions! But one of the things that really stuck out to me about the characters in Carr's books is that they are all so perfectly flawed, so human you could almost touch them! That's one thing I've always wanted to portray in my own writing, and Carr nails it!
Some of the shocking revelations in this book left me feeling as if I'd been punched in the gut. I understood the fear and the dread that the characters experienced as if it were personally happening to me! Awesome, awesome, writing!
Though I wasn't overly thrilled with the romance between Errol and the princess Adora. While I think Adora is a good character she sometimes came across as selfish, a bit fake, or self-seeking. Though I believe her insecurities as a princess is what helped make her character so good; absurdly enough I can't help but feel protective over Errol. I know it sounds silly and a bit crazy, but I just don't see how a princess who has had everything handed to her since birth can understand what Errol has been through. But see, in some ways this bit of a problem I have with Adora seems to only prove how good her character, as well as Errol's, is that it provokes such emotions from me.
One thing I've noticed about this book as well as the first one is that there is so many different things packed into one book that it feels like multiple stories, but a great thing about it is that it doesn't feel rushed in the slightest. Even on the last few pages of the final chapter several things took place, though it all led up to a cruel cliffhanger! UGH! But it was so good! Though in the beginning of the book, since it had been a little while, I was a little confused as to who certain characters were, I felt that it lacked background, though I eventually straightened out who was who, it took a little longer than I would have liked. When I reflect on this book I am startled at how many good solid characters there are! They are so unique, so perfect, so human, that I wish I could know the story from their perspective as well! With Carr's writing it feels as if no character is unimportant or minor, they all are people, with families and loved ones, no one is forgotten.
Excellent book! I loved every piece of it!
Title - The Hero's Lot
Author - Patrick W. Carr
Series/Trilogy Title - The Staff & the Sword
Book in Series/Trilogy - #2
Pages - 439
Type of Book - Christian Fantasy
Website - http://patrickwcarr.com/

I received this book for free from Bethany House publishers in exchange for my honest review.