About the book:
The Staff and the Sword: Book 1
Bethany House
An Epic Medieval Saga Fantasy Readers Will Love
In the backwater village of Callowford, Errol Stone's search
for a drink is interrupted by a church messenger who arrives with urgent
missives for the hermit priest in the hills. Desperate for coin, Errol
volunteers to deliver them but soon finds himself hunted by deadly assassins.
Forced to flee with the priest and a small band of travelers, Errol soon learns
he's joined a quest that could change the fate of his kingdom.
Protected for millennia by the heirs of the first king, the
kingdom's dynasty is near an end and a new king must be selected. As tension
and danger mount, Errol must leave behind his drunkenness and grief, learn to
fight, and come to know his God in order to survive a journey to
discover his destiny.
My review:
A
Cast of Stones begins with Errol Stone, the town drunk,
in search of his next drink. Little does he know, when he agrees to deliver a
letter for a church messenger that his life will never be the same again.
Patrick Carr’s debut
novel is full of action, danger, magic and some great characters. Errol is not
your typical hero. At the start of the novel he is controlled by his vice and
is full of self doubt, little self worth and has never journeyed beyond
Callowford or the neighboring town of Berea. As the story progresses, he discovers
his true value and realizes he is strong enough to handle the responsibilities placed
on him, whatever they may be. There is also a strong cast of supporting
characters who make the story that much better.
As a fantasy addict I
knew I would enjoy this novel and I was not disappointed. The writing was fantastic and the story kept
me up well into the night. A Cast of
Stones is a must read for fantasy fans and I’m looking forward to the
sequel, The Hero’s Lot!
***I received a copy
of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are
my own***
Book Excerpt:
The woman took another, slow step toward him, her smile stretching the cuts and bruises on her face. "I don't care who kills you boy, but do you really want to die by the borale arrow?" She laughed. "Do you relish feeling it rip and tear its way out of your flesh, leaving you to die from blood loss, screaming in pain?" She nodded back towards Balina. "The captain has a sword, freshly sharpened. He can make your end quick and painless.
"Don't believe her boy," Merodach said. He pitched his voice to carry over the flood below. "A malus never kills quickly. they feed on pain. Come with me. I can take you to safety." He took a step.
Errol tried in vain to watch everyone. The pounding of his heart merged with the flood waters. He cast the briefest of looks down, fought to keep from sobbing. The roiling depths were too far away to survive a jump.
He was going to die. All that remained was to choose between the arrow, the sword and the water.
Without turning his back to Merodach or the malus-possesed woman, he climbed the railing.
The three of them inched forward.
"Come, boy." The woman's voiced crooned. "There's no need for such a death." Her voice grew mocking. "Don't you want to be buried in your faith? Don't you want the priest to bless your grave?"
"Errol, don't." Merodach's voice cut across the woman's.
For a moment, something in the assassin's voice penetrated the fog that clouded his thinking. Could he be telling the truth? If he'd wanted Errol dead, he could have simply fired. It would be impossible to miss at this range. But that would leave Merodach open to counter-attack by the malus and her guard.
He didn't want to die. Errol took a tentative step toward the assassin, tried at once to ignore the arrow aimed at his chest and brace for its impact that would kill him.
An animal like snarl erupted from behind him. Merodach raised the bow, drew.
He launched himself into space, heard the whine of the borale's arrow merge with a cry of rage and pain.
The water rushed up at him.
About the Author:
Patrick Carr was born on an Air Force base in West Germany
at the height of the cold war. He has been told this was not his fault. As an
Air Force brat, he experienced a change in locale every three years until his
father retired to Tennessee. Patrick saw more of the world on his own through a
varied and somewhat eclectic education and work history. He graduated from
Georgia Tech in 1984 and has worked as a draftsman at a nuclear plant, did
design work for the Air Force, worked for a printing company, and consulted as
an engineer. Patrick’s day gig for the last five years has been teaching high school
math in Nashville, TN. He currently makes his home in Nashville with his
wonderfully patient wife, Mary, and four sons he thinks are amazing: Patrick,
Connor, Daniel, and Ethan. Sometime in the future he would like to be a jazz
pianist. Patrick thinks writing about himself in the third person is kind of
weird.
1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I teach Geometry (I can hear the groans now – 2 column
proofs) and spend a lot of time around the activities of my sons. I have two in
college and two in high school, so that’s starting to slow down a bit. I do a
bit of woodworking, but would really like to go back and pick up piano lessons
again. I’d like to learn how to play jazz. Mary and I are on the verge of being
empty-nesters so we’re trying to feel our way through that. It’s kind of weird.
2.
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
My dad was a great storyteller. Couple that with my own
voracious reading habit and writing kind of followed from that. I used to read
to my kids a lot when they were young and decided to write a story with them as
the protagonists. I had tried a few things before, but that’s when writing
really became a passion.
3.
Are there any authors or books that have influenced you in any way?
There are way too many to list. Fantasy in the last
thirty-five years has been fortunate to have some incredible writers. I would
probably say David Eddings is my favorite. I think I’ve read The Belgariad a
half-dozen times and it wouldn’t bother me to read it a few more. His dialog is
just so good. After him, I enjoy settling into Stephen R. Donaldson, Guy Kay,
Robert Jordan, and Raymond Feist. I would love to meet some of these guys. I
would probably babble, but it would be worth it.
4.
Do you have any interesting writing quirks?
Coffee is a real help. I don’t know if that’s a quirk,
because so many of my friends say the same thing. We just finished Christmas
and I have to tell you nothing gets my writing moving better than a piece of
fudge and a cup of coffee. Other than that, I’ve noticed that I can edit under
any circumstances, but when it comes to writing a first draft, the environment
has to be exactly right.
5.
How many books have you written? Do you have a favorite?
I’ve written six. A Cast of Stones is the first in a
trilogy. The second book is titled The Hero’s Lot and I would have to say it’s
my favorite at this point. That’s probably a little strange because it’s the
middle volume and sometimes those are kind of placeholders, but I love the way
the characters developed in the story and there are so many powerful scenes
that I could do there because I didn’t have the world-building overhead.
6.
What was the hardest part of writing A
Cast of Stones?
Coming up with a beginning. I started the book back in 2006.
I had three or four chapters that I really liked, but it just didn’t feel quite
right. So I shelved it for about three years. Then in late 2009 I had this idea
for a totally different direction for the beginning. I wrote the first few
pages and ran them by my sister (she’s my alpha reader). She loved it. That’s
when I knew I was on the right track.
7. What
are you currently reading? What's your favorite genre?
It’s difficult for me to write if I’m reading someone else’s
stuff so I have to save up for when I’m between books. I hate that because
there’s so much out there I enjoy. I went through a phase this last summer when
I read a lot of detective novels. I started with the old stuff first, you know,
Raymond Chandler who gave us Phillip Marlowe. A friend suggested I try a couple
of books from The Dresden Files. I was surprised at how similar the two voices
were even though they were written 60-70 years apart. That just goes to show
there’s no time limit on good writing.
8.
Can you tell us a little bit about your next book?
The tension in the story ratchets up quite a bit, not only
for the danger the kingdom of Illustra is in, but for Errol personally. There’s
a character I introduce at the end of “The Hero’s Lot” that I dearly love. His
name is Hadari. In fact, I liked him so much that I’m rewriting some of the
third book so that he’s more prominent.
What's
the best place for readers to connect with you?
The best place to find me is on my personal author page
or on facebook. I don’t twitter (yet) because I’m not sure I have anything to add
in that medium yet and time is a pretty scarce resource right now. I’d love for
people to stop by and say high. Feedback for a writer is so important.
Reunited
with her gnome, dwarf, animal, fairy friends ... and best of all,
Werrien, things seem like they couldn't get any better for Kristina. But
when Werrien becomes fascinated with an unusual seeing stone, the
''Black Shard'', Kristina is haunted by a ghostlike old hag. Struggling
against suspicion, guilt, illness, and ultimately the one who wants to
possess her soul, Kristina will see it's in her weakest moment that she
will encounter more strength than she has ever known.
