The Hero’s Lot is the second book in The Staff & The Sword series by Patrick W. Carr. It continues the story of Errol Stone, the orphan drunk who has discovered he is an omne, someone who can read anybody else’s cast. As Errol learns to navigate his way around the politics of the King’s court and the church he faces his growing feelings for Adora, the niece of King Rodran. At the same time he also faces growing enemies within the church as well who wish to see him out of the way so he cannot interfere with the cast for the new king. This leads to him facing charges from the church for heresy due to his prior association with the herbwomen near his native village. The punishment is a compulsion to find and kill Sarin Valon, the previous secondus of the church, in Merakh. A task that would be near impossible for almost everyone, but that Errol would be unable to avoid due to the compulsion placed on him. Leaving on the trip to do so reunites Errol with Naaman Ru and Rokha, along with his mentor Rale. At the last minute Adora runs away to join them. While he is gone Martin, Luis, and Cruk decide to investigate Errol’s background by returning to his home village where they are joined in their travels by Karele, a man who claims he is able to call upon the Aurae, beings similar to angels or the holy spirit.
I decided to read this book because I really don’t like leaving a story unfinished, unless I really just did not like it. Glad to say that was not the case here. Much like the first book in the series this book has heavy Christian overtones to it, specifically in the form of the church and its various doctrines. The more I read the series the more parallels I see between the church in this world and the medieval Catholic church and their doctrines. One of the minor characters, Conger, is a former priest who was forced to leave because he fell in love and got married. This particular example really makes me think of the Catholic Church’s doctrines on priests being unable to marry. Despite these similarities the book was still really good and I greatly enjoyed getting to read more of Errol’s journey as he continues growing as a person. In this story he is confronted with a variety of obstacles that make him grow by forcing him to come to terms with his past, with his own skills and abilities or occasional lack thereof, and with his faith and trust in the church and the people who represent the church. Paralleling that though we also get to see the continued growth of other characters such as Adora as she decides to follow Errol and then decides she must learn to take care of herself even if that means learning to use a sword, or Martin who is forced to confront the possibility that some people are actually able to call upon or know the Aurae, the spiritual beings who are supposedly unknowable. Even with characters that are not likable, such as Naaman Ru who shows tremendous character growth as he willingly helps Errol by the end of the story despite not wanting to for the vast majority of it. Overall, this was a great book and I give it four out of five stars.
Much like the first book in the series I would recommend this book to others. However, I feel I must point out that it is a Christian fantasy story and this may not be something everybody feels comfortable reading. I don’t let that interfere with my ability to enjoy a good story but I know not everybody wants to read something like that. This book would be great for those to actually enjoy Christian Fantasy stories or for those who enjoy a good fantasy story and don’t mind the Christian aspects of the story. Tying into that I am also going to say that there is a bit more violence in this story than in the first one but not by much. This is primarily due to the task imposed upon Errol by the church which forces him into potentially violent confrontations. On top of that, this series is about growing up and discovering who you are as a person. I rather enjoy that kind of story and thus enjoyed this one. This might be something to keep in mind as you approach the series. I don’t really know if this is something suitable for young adults as that really depends upon the person but in my opinion I think it would be as long as they are prepared to handle the various topics it brings up. Overall, I would recommend this book to other people and hope they enjoy it as well. If anyone else has read this series you are welcome to share your thoughts in the comments. I look forward to hearing what you think.