Top Ten Series Enders I've Read This Year (So Far)

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

I couldn't come up with anything for today's original topic so I made one of my own up! I just finished the final book in two amazing series and it made me wonder what other fantastic series I'd wrapped up this year!

#1. Deluge by Lisa T. Bergren (River of Time #5)

#2. Here to Stay by Melissa Tagg (Where Love Begins #2)

#3. A Love Surrendered by Julie Lessman (Winds of Change #3)

#4. A Love Denied by Julie Lessman (Daughters of Boston #3)

#5. A Match of Wits by Jen Turano (Ladies of Distinction #4)

#6. In Perfect Time by Sarah Sundin (Wings of the Nightingale #3)

#7. Love's Fortune by Laura Frantz (Ballantyne Legacy #3)

#8. Revolutionary by Krista McGee (Anomaly #3)

#9. A Bouquet of Love by Janice Thompson (Weddings by Design #4)

#10. A Draw of Kings by Patrick W. Carr (The Staff and the Sword #3)

A Draw of Kings by Patrick W. Carr

About the Book
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?

My Thoughts
This was such a great conclusion to this series! I had no idea how the author was going to work everything out but he did it excellently!
As with the previous two books this one took a little bit of time to get into which was mostly due to the fact that I had to try to remember everything from the first two books and get my bearings. But once I did I kept wanting to know more and figure out what was going to happen. This author is very good at constantly keeping you guessing, never revealing what's coming up!
All of the characters were once again fantastic. There are so many key players in this story but they are all distinct enough that I was never confused and I connected to them all.
One of the great things about this series is all of the action. I love how the author writes everything in such a way that you can almost see it playing out in front of you. For some reason this book kept making me think of The Lord of the Rings and I kept imaging things in that context, which was actually pretty cool!

I won't say anything ore for fear of spoilers but just know that this is a great series that I highly recommend! And since I don't usually like fantasy that is high praise indeed!

Meet 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.

I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for my review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Waiting on Wednesday #84: A Draw of Kings

Hosted by Breaking the Spine.

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event that spotlights upcoming releases that we're
eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

A Draw of Kings by Patrick W. Carr
Bethany House-Jan 28, 2013

About the Book

Their journey to Merakh should have made Errol and his companions heroes of the realm. Instead, much is changed on their return. In the wake of the king's death, Duke Weir is ruling the country--and his intentions are to marry Adora to bring an heir.

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 at growing risk from the armies of Merakh and Morgol.

A dangerous mission to free Errol succeeds, but the dangers facing the kingdom are mounting with every passing moment. The barrier has fallen, ferals are swarming toward the land, and their enemies draw near. Will the revelation of Illustra's next true king come in time or will all be lost?

Why I Want It

I enjoyed the first two books and I'm interested to see where this one will take us!

The Hero's Lot by Patrick W. Carr

About the Book
When Sarin Valon, the corrupt secondus of the conclave, flees Erinon and the kingdom, Errol Stone believes his troubles have at last ended. But other forces bent on the destruction of the kingdom remain and conspire to accuse Errol and his friends of a conspiracy to usurp the throne.
In a bid to keep the three of 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. But Errol is also 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, Errol is placed under a compulsion, and he is driven to accomplish his task or die resisting.

My Thoughts
After being surprised by how much I enjoyed the first book in this series, A Cast of Stones, I was excited to read this installment, and I wasn't disappointed!  I really liked how so many of the characters from A Cast of Stones were in the story again, even some that I didn't expect! There were many questions answered in ways I never saw coming which was pretty cool but at the same time new questions were raised that left me quite ready for book three! One of my favorite parts of the first book was Errol's learning how to fight with his staff and so I found it really cool how he started to learn how to fight using two swords! I would really love to see him in action! I honestly don't know which of the books I liked better since they were both very good with unique plots and very interesting characters!

About the Author
Patrick W. Carr is the author of the acclaimed fantasy A Cast of Stones. He teaches high school and makes
his home in Nashville, Tennessee, with his incredible wife, Mary, and their four sons, Patrick, Connor, Daniel, and Ethan. Learn more at www.patrickwcarr.com.

I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for my review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Top Ten Books I'd Love to See as a Movie/TV Show...

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

...set in a perfect world in which movies don't butcher the books we love. These aren't in any particular order and are basically the books that I actually think might be able to make a good movie or TV show!
What's your opinion?

Movie
If We Survive by Andrew Klaven
Homelanders Series by Andrew Klaven
Anomaly by Krista McGee
River of Time Series by Lisa T. Bergren
The Staff & The Sword Series by Patrick W. Carr
Once Upon a Prince by Rachel Hauck

TV Show
Daughters of Boston Series by Julie Lessman
Winds of Change Series by Julie Lessman
Hollywood Nobody Series by Lisa Samson
On the Runway Series by Melody Carlson

Cast of Stones by Patrick W. Carr

About the Book

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 Thoughts
I am horrendously late in posting this review and I'm sorry! I was part of a tour back in January but wasn't able to finish the book in time so I wrote a partial review and promised a full review later. I also got the book from Bethany House and finished it but it has taken me this long to finally get around to posting my thoughts!
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book! It's not really my genre and I  originally requested it only since it sounded like something my little brother (who's not much of a reader) would actually like. So I was quite happy to discover that I was actually liking what I was reading! The plot was really cool and extremely unique. One of the things that I found the most interesting was how Errol's weapon of choice is a staff. Outside of Robin Hood you don't hear of that much so it was awesome. The characters were all really great, interesting, and well done and the writing was exceptional. Since it has been a couple months since I finished this book I don't remember too much else but I did thoroughly enjoy this book and I'm excited to read book two!


About the Author
Patrick W. Carr teaches high school math and makes his home in Nashville, Tennessee, with his incredible wife, Mary, and their four awesome sons, Patrick, Connor, Daniel, and Ethan. Learn more at www.patrickwcarr.com.


I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for my review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Book Beginnings: A Cast of Stones

Hosted by: Rose City Reader

"Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name."

A Cast of Stones by Patrick W. Carr
"Smells of earth and dung drifted slowly past the fog in Errol's brain. His skin prickled with cold. Water and ooze soaked his threadbare garments and he shivered."

My Thoughts
I love the imagery in this beginning! It is beautifully crafted and you can almost feel yourself in the same place. And at the same time it also draws you in to wonder how Errol got where he is! Great start!

A Cast of Stones by Patrick W. Carr: Tour-Review-Giveaway

On Tour with Prism Book Tours

A Cast of Stones
by Patrick Carr
Paperback, 400 pages
Expected Publication: February 1st 2013 by Bethany House Publishers

Premise:
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.

Available 2/1/13:

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

Christian Book Distributors

The Book Depository

My Thoughts

Sadly I haven't been able to finish this book yet. I have been insanely busy almost non-stop the past two weeks and have barely managed to get any reading done. I did read about 1/5 of it so far and I am really enjoying it! The author writes really well and the story is rather interesting. There has been a decent amount of action so far and by all appearances this won't stop as the book goes on. I can already see that this will be a great book for teenage boys and will probably give it to my brother to read! Based on what I've read so far I will probably be anxiously awaiting the release of book 2!

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.

Awards: ACFW Genesis Competition 2010 Finalist for “A Cast of Stones” in Speculative Fiction.

Find & Follow:

Website

Blog

Facebook

Music Themes

The World of A Cast of Stones 

Creation:
One of the first reviews for “A Cast of Stones” I received described the story as “intimate.” I really liked
that because that was the fell I’d been striving for. When Bethany House offered me a contract on the
series, they stipulated they didn’t want my book length to exceed 135k words for each installment. For a
romance or detective novel, that might seem like plenty of room, but for an epic fantasy, it was going to
be a tight squeeze. Consider that many epic fantasy novels can fill 800 or even 1000 pages.

I wasn’t complaining, but I did have to make some decisions on how to write and tell the story I wanted to
tell. Since I’d chosen to write a character driven story, I elected to be as economical with world-building as
I could manage. This was one of the reasons I elected to go medieval. The setting would be familiar to my
readers and I could count on their imagination to supply what my word count couldn’t.

What I couldn’t skimp on (at least not too much) was the initial scenes. Errol’s trip into the Sprata had to
be described in sufficient depth or I wasn’t going to succeed in pulling the reader (no pun intended) into
the story. I elected to use a setting I knew very well: Rock Island State Park in Tennessee. It’s a beautiful
place with waterfalls and lush hills and rugged terrain. It was perfect. I’d been hiking and rock-hopping
through the park at least a dozen times and had clear memories to go with the photographs we’d taken
over the years.

Tour-Wide Giveaway:

Grand Prize (USA):  Print copy of entire series of three books (#2 & #3 as they are published) + A Cast of Stones Mug + Lend your name to a character in book #3!!

2nd Prize (USA): Print copy of A Cast of Stones

International Entries: eCopy of A Cast of Stones

Open only to those who can legally enter. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by Rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and the winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Burgandy Ice @ Colorimetry and sponsored by Bethany House & the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Only on this Tour... the author shares the Creation, his Goals, some Visuals and Excerpts on each of these mini-themes:

The Herbwomen of secret lore

The World of The Staff & the Sword

The Readers of the cast lots

The Watchmen, elite warriors

The Clergy of power

Catch the entire Tour!!

LAUNCH-DAY BLAST! 

1/23 - Backing Books - Herbwomen

1/24 – Christian Novels – Review – World

1/25 – I Am a Reader, Not a Writer – Readers

1/27 – Reads to Reels – Watchmen

1/28 – LDS & Lovin’ It - Clergy

1/29 – Proud Book Nerd - World

1/30 – Open the Page - Herbwomen

1/31 – Wonderings of One Person – Review - Readers

2/1 – RELEASE-DAY BLAST! 

2/3 – Simple Wyrdings - Watchmen

2/4 – Bookworm Lisa – Review – Clergy

2/5 – Passion & Life – Readers

2/6 – Kari’s Crowded Bookshelf – Review Herbwomen

2/7 – Coffee, Books & Me - Readers

2/8 – Backing Books – Review – World

2/10 – Letters to the Cosmos - Watchmen

2/11 – Jill Williamson – Review – Clergy

2/12 – ADD Librarian Herbwomen

2/13 – Worthy 2 Read – Review - Watchmen

2/14 – Hey, Tara! - World

2/15 – Pieces of Whimsy – Review - Readers

2/17 – CTF Devourer – Review – Clergy

2/18 – Pause Time - Readers

2/19 – A Backwards Story – Review – World

2/19 - Christy’s Cozy Corner – Herbwomen

2/20 – Min Reads & Reviews – Review Watchmen

2/21 – FINALE BLAST, Winner announced