FROM PUBLISHER: Dark Forces Have Gathered and the Final Battle for Illustra Has Begun.

Their journey to Merakh should have made Errol and his companions heroes of the realm. Instead, they've been branded enemies of the kingdom.

In the wake of the king's death, Duke Weir is ruling the country--and he intends to marry Adora to bring an heir from the royal line. With Errol and the others imprisoned and the identity of the rightful heir to the throne still hidden in secrecy, Illustra is on the verge of civil war--and threatened by hostile forces gathering on every side.

A dangerous mission to free Errol is attempted, but the dangers facing the kingdom mount with every passing moment. The barrier has fallen, ferrals are swarming toward the land, and their enemies draw ever closer. Will the discovery of the true heir turn back the tide of Illustra's destruction?

A Draw of Kings was a very satisfying end to the Staff and the Sword series. Some of the end was projected pretty obviously early on in the book, but the story was still very engaging. If anything this book was almost cut down too much. I'm used to readying books by Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson and R.T. Kaelin. I like details and I like the side stories. Quite often what would be chapters in a Jordan novel gets a small paragraph here. I'm not sure if the author just didn't feel up to writing these scenes or if his editor was overly ruthless the scissors.

Even with passages cut down severely, I still found this to be a good book and a great series. I liked the ending but I wasn't surprised by it either. I do hope the author continues to write, he is a very good story teller in my opinion. ( )

While the action and adventure of A Draw of Kings will draw many readers, it is Patrick’s characters that have a place in my heart:

Errol Stone, the young drunkard turned hero and savior of his kingdom time and time again, is complex. He has been manipulated and used by just about everyone he meets, but he is a true man of honor.

Adora, the princess of the realm, is not one to sit back, but with a fierceness in her heart and her love for her man, she battles those who are more skilled and stronger than herself.

Martin and Luis, men of the church, grow in their understanding of their roles in the salvation of the kingdom and in the knowledge of their God.

Rokha, the daring fighter, is perhaps my favorite. She is a true warrior who fights and loves with all her heart.

The plot, the medieval setting, and the well-drawn characters are all big draws (pardon the pun), but it is the theology of A Draw of Kings that leaves me thinking. The thread of the mystery of this world’s God, a triune deity that closely resembles the true God, is beautiful. There is a scene towards the end of the book that resembles Holy Communion with a liturgy that proclaims the gospel of Christ. My favorite lines are a description of the sacrificial Eleison, the second in their trinity, as the triumphant champion, the champion of our world. It is for this that I would whole-heartedly recommend this series to all who love fantasy. The gospel is presented in a non-threatening way that will leave those who are seeking wanting more.

So, pick up all three books in this series. Read them and then make sure your friends read them. I highly recommend them.

Highly Recommended.

(I received this book in conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour compliments of Bethany House. All opinions are mine alone.) ( )

If you are looking for a thrilling adventure, something comparable to Tolkien’s MiddleEarth, or Lewis’s Narnia, look no further than the kingdom of Illustra and Patrick W. Carr’s “The Staff and the Sword” series. "A Draw of Kings" is third and final installment of this series and is satisfying in every way.
The setting of this tale is a medieval kingdom where the crown and the church hold sway over the lives of its people. But mythic tales of antediluvian monsters turn into stark reality as evil threatens to overtake the good kingdom of Illustra. The hero of the books is an unassuming misfit, Errol Stone, who rises from a lowlife drunken teenager to become a true hero of the land. He learns he is a reader, one who can cast lots in wood or stone. But he isn’t just any reader, he is a special "omne" and can read any other reader’s lot.
In "A Draw of Kings", Errol faces his destiny, throwing himself into the desperate quest for some boon to save the land from sure defeat. No one knows who will be the next king, and every attempt to find out by casting lots ends in bewilderment. Without a king they are surely doomed. Their God’s blessing depends on the barrier made with blood, and that barrier is weakening. Stone must rescue a lost treasure and restore it to the kingdom. Then he must look his love in the eye and forsake her to save the realm. Will he have courage? Is his destiny to die? Will Illustra be spared a cruel demise? These questions are answered in a compelling way in the thrilling conclusion to this saga.
The books in this series are superbly written, the tale is engrossing. This is a page turner with a surprising amount of depth. It isn’t a direct allegory like at times the Chronicles of Narnia seem to be. Nor does it have its own language and ethos completely, as does The Lord of the Rings. But this series is in the same vein. Carr crafts a Christian world, with a sacred history, and a classic good versus evil fight. The hero must sacrifice his own desires and beyond this there are even more parallels with Christian themes. A doctrine and tradition-oriented church cannot accept the religion of the mystics and their faith in the Spirit of God, and an ancient book of the sacred history of Illustra has been lost. Sound familiar? I appreciate though, that the book never comes off as a direct allegory and doesn’t preach a moral or lesson to learn. It is a story first and foremost.
I would compare the power and beauty of the story to the "Sword of Shanarra" series by Terry Brooks, or any of several series written by Stephen R. Lawhead – both favorite authors of mine. Patrick W. Carr joins them as this is the best fantasy series I have read in years.
If you are looking for some new fiction to add to your shelf, this is the series for you. Preview the first 40 pages of this book, or pick up the first book in the series on Kindle for free (for a limited time). And be sure to enter a contest to win one of two free sets of all three books in the series.
Disclaimer:
This book was provided by Bethany House via Chapter-by-Chapter.com. The reviewer was under no obligation to offer a positive review. ( )

Synopsis (May contain slight spoilers for previous books in the trilogy): In this third, and final, book of the Staff and Sword trilogy, the war for Illustra begins. In order to maintain order within the Judica, Errol must retrieve The Book that was left behind in Merakh. Meanwhile, Adora and Liam must journey to the Shadowlands to make a pact with these newly discovered allies. A feeling of dread descends upon everyone, as the people of Illustra realize they are surrounded by vast armies of enemies and demon spawn. They must discover who their king and savior is - or else the barrier will never be restored and the demons will destroy Illustra.

My Thoughts: This book was every bit as good as the previous two - and it tied off most of the loose ends quite well. For fantasy fans, this book was packed with battles, intrigue, foreign lands, and ranging demon-spawn. I was also quite impressed with Carr's ability to write religious allegory. He deftly got his message across by showing it within the story instead of writing lectures into the dialog as many authors do. In fact, I bumped this book up an extra half a star (something I rarely do) because I admire how much finesse it takes to write a good allegory without sermonizing.

One of the allegorical issues presented is the fallibility of humans (as well as the organizations that we create). The church, in Carr's world, was composed of many good men (as well as a few villains) who often made mistakes and were suffering under misunderstandings of God which had accumulated after the loss of their religious book. This is the message that I originally interpreted as criticisms of the Catholic Church in my review of Hero's Lot, though after reading this book the criticism feels more forgiving. The message is: no one is perfect, we are all human, and we're going to make mistakes. We can't judge everyone in a group based upon the mistakes of some of its leaders. I'm not sure if this is the message that Carr intended, but it is how I felt when I read A Draw of Kings.

The other allegorical message that I felt was done tremendously well related to faith and doubt. There was a moment when Adora as climbing a cliff and Liam was behind her, and even though she knew Liam was there to catch her if she fell, she suddenly doubted that he was there at all - that he had ever been there. And then he carried her. I'm sorry if that is a spoiler, but I couldn't help but point out the beauty of that moment. Because it's so true, isn't it? It's so easy to lose faith - even though this loss of faith is irrational when viewed from the outside-the-moment.

My interpretation of this story has evolved so much while reading this third book, that I feel I ought to go back and revise some of the criticisms I made about the second book. Of course, I always have to include criticisms, but.... Which brings me around to my criticisms of A Draw of Kings. My first complaint is how violent it was. I felt that the good guys (Adora especially) were sometimes more violent than they ought to have been. Of course, this could simply be another way in which we are only human - and therefore fallible. So this is only a small criticism. The other criticism is that I felt threads were dropped in relation to the countries other than Merakh. There needed to be a little more tie-up after that much build-up. But that, too, is only a minor issue since the major threads were tied up wonderfully.

Overall I was greatly pleased with this book, and I will recommend it to all of my friends who read books of this genre. In fact, I'm hoping it wins some awards - it's well-deserving of the Christy Award for Young Adult literature.

See full review on my blog at: Resistance is Futile ( )