CSFF Blog Tour: Patrick Carr's A Draw of Kings, Day Three

Before I give my best approximation at a review (I feel like I really stink at these anymore, for various reasons), I’d like to point out Rebecca LuElla Miller’s excellent posts (link below)—she says everything I was thinking about this series, and a bit more.

Overall, things I loved—the borrowing from Earth cultures, as if this were an alternate Earth. The parallel story of apostasy in the Church, with a few who know the truth or suspect there’s more—and then the beautiful discovery that there is, and how various characters’ lives changed as a result.

I loved the complexity of the characters. And the richness of Errol’s journey. And the fact that the author doesn’t make things too easy on them. (I’m still shuddering, as another blogger mentioned, what Adora had to endure in book three!)

And—look at these gorgeous covers! I bought all three of these on Kindle, but I have to buy them in paperback as well so I can ogle them in person. :-)

Speaking of purchasing, I did receive an e-copy of the galley in exchange for an honest review, but the formatting as it came through for me was so annoying, and I knew I’d want to actually buy a copy, that I wound up purchasing it for Kindle as soon as it came out. Sorry, Bethany House! But I love, LOVE this series. It’s the best Christian fantasy offering I’ve read in a long time, maybe since Karen Hancock’s Guardian King trilogy. Like Becky, I’d rather read stories that are excellently told, regardless of genre, than mediocre ones just within SFF just to “support the genre.” If that makes me a snob, so be it. :-)

One thing that was a bit of a letdown—the ending felt a bit sparse. That tends to be my complaint about a lot of stories, that there isn’t enough wrap-up to let the reader really savor the resolution. In this case, and others had made the same observation, I just didn’t feel the story wrapped up as satisfyingly as I would have liked, emotionally, even though the main story questions were answered.

Regardless, this was a trilogy well worth reading, and despite my very limited reading time, I plan to revisit it soon!

Patrick W. Carr's website:  patrickwcarr.com

To purchase on Amazon:  A Cast of Stones, The Hero's Lot, and A Draw of Kings

As always, please check out what the other tour members have to say:

Gillian Adams
Jennifer Bogart
Keanan Brand
Beckie Burnham
Mike Coville
Pauline Creeden
Vicky DealSharingAunt
Carol Gehringer
Victor Gentile
Rebekah Gyger
Nikole Hahn
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Krystine Kercher
Jennette Mbewe
Amber McCallister
Shannon McDermott
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Joan Nienhuis
Nissa
Writer Rani
Nathan Reimer
Audrey Sauble
James Somers
Jojo Sutis
Steve Trower
Shane Werlinger
Phyllis Wheeler
 Nicole White
Jill Williamson