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A Hero's Journey
Dr. Emma Earl never wanted to be a hero. But when she finds a magic suit of armor that can deflect bullets and turn her invisible, she becomes part of an ancient war between good and evil. It’s up to Emma as the latest incarnation of the heroic Scarlet Knight to save Rampart City from the fiendish Black Dragoon and his plan to rule first the city and then the whole world!
268 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 9, 2012
3 people are currently reading
183 people want to read
About the author
P.T. Dilloway
58 books10 followersP.T. Dilloway has been a writer for most of his life. He completed his first story in third grade and received an ‘A’ for the assignment. Around that time he also placed in a local writing contest for a television station, receiving an action figure in lieu of a trophy, thus securing his love with the written word.
Two of P.T.'s novels are already indie published. "Where You Belong" is the heartwarming story of a man in search of himself and his place in the world. "Virgin Territory" is a suspenseful tale of a man who finds love from beyond the grave. He’s also indie published a volume of short stories collectively titled "The Carnival Papers". His superhero novel "A Hero's Journey" was published October 2012. He also contributed to the flash fiction anthology "We Are Now" with Neil Vogler and Sean Craven in December 2012.
When not writing, P.T. enjoys reading and photographing Michigan’s many lighthouses. In order to pay the bills, he earned an accounting degree from Saginaw Valley State University in 2000 and for the past ten years has worked as a payroll accountant in Detroit. He lives in suburban Detroit, where he continues to work on new writing projects.
Two of P.T.'s novels are already indie published. "Where You Belong" is the heartwarming story of a man in search of himself and his place in the world. "Virgin Territory" is a suspenseful tale of a man who finds love from beyond the grave. He’s also indie published a volume of short stories collectively titled "The Carnival Papers". His superhero novel "A Hero's Journey" was published October 2012. He also contributed to the flash fiction anthology "We Are Now" with Neil Vogler and Sean Craven in December 2012.
When not writing, P.T. enjoys reading and photographing Michigan’s many lighthouses. In order to pay the bills, he earned an accounting degree from Saginaw Valley State University in 2000 and for the past ten years has worked as a payroll accountant in Detroit. He lives in suburban Detroit, where he continues to work on new writing projects.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 10, 2012
This book by Patrick Dilloway is a riveting "alternate earth" read. In this tale, we are introduced to Rampart City, a place so well envisioned that it feels real with every turn of the page. The "hero" in "A Hero's Journey" is Dr. Emma Earl--a super bright young woman who goes to work at the Plaine Museum where she uncovers a mysterious artifact from the time of Merlin.
I think that people who love stories that have an ancient Egyptian flavor to them (or who are fans of The Librarian series starring Noah Wylie which periodically airs on TNT) will really like this tale. My only gripe with this book is that I thought Emma burst into the water works a little too much. However, my opinion on this may be because I'm not as "in touch" with my feminine side as others (so it's quite possible that all the crying is justified).
Patrick is a masterful storyteller, and with this book he has created a fantastical world filled with witches, ghosts, knights, and magic swords. "A Hero's Journey" is about the transformation that Emma must take to fulfill her destiny as a comic book-type hero. And just like the big time heroes from D.C. and Marvel, there are sacrifices that she must make with regard to those that she loves in order to keep them safe. In many ways, it's both heart-wrenching and noble. But it's definitely the kind of story that keeps you hooked until you've reached the amazing finale in just a few hours. And boy does this book have one heck of a climax. When I found out who the Black Dragoon actually was, it left me speechless. In reflecting on my experience in reading this book, I think the Black Dragoon belongs on the shelf of great villains right next to Darth Vader and the Joker. And most people will agree that a good villain MAKES the story.
"A Hero's Journey" is appropriate for any age level. Children should have a lot of fun with it and be inspired by Emma in her fight against the forces of evil. I hope that when you finish it, you'll join me in my desire to return to Rampart City soon. There's definitely enough source material to keep the story of the Scarlet Knight going for many books to come.
I think that people who love stories that have an ancient Egyptian flavor to them (or who are fans of The Librarian series starring Noah Wylie which periodically airs on TNT) will really like this tale. My only gripe with this book is that I thought Emma burst into the water works a little too much. However, my opinion on this may be because I'm not as "in touch" with my feminine side as others (so it's quite possible that all the crying is justified).
Patrick is a masterful storyteller, and with this book he has created a fantastical world filled with witches, ghosts, knights, and magic swords. "A Hero's Journey" is about the transformation that Emma must take to fulfill her destiny as a comic book-type hero. And just like the big time heroes from D.C. and Marvel, there are sacrifices that she must make with regard to those that she loves in order to keep them safe. In many ways, it's both heart-wrenching and noble. But it's definitely the kind of story that keeps you hooked until you've reached the amazing finale in just a few hours. And boy does this book have one heck of a climax. When I found out who the Black Dragoon actually was, it left me speechless. In reflecting on my experience in reading this book, I think the Black Dragoon belongs on the shelf of great villains right next to Darth Vader and the Joker. And most people will agree that a good villain MAKES the story.
"A Hero's Journey" is appropriate for any age level. Children should have a lot of fun with it and be inspired by Emma in her fight against the forces of evil. I hope that when you finish it, you'll join me in my desire to return to Rampart City soon. There's definitely enough source material to keep the story of the Scarlet Knight going for many books to come.
January 13, 2013
It took me several chapters to get into this story. At first it comes across as mainstream fiction, rather than fantasy. It also has a slow build up, but it’s worth it to stick with it. By the time the ghost Marlin started talking to Emma about becoming the Scarlet Knight, I had to keep reading to find out what would happen next.
Dilloway has created a fascinating world with Rampart City. The characters and details come across as very realistic, so realistic it almost doesn’t seem like fantasy. However, there are hints that more fantasy type elements will be coming in the form of various artifacts at the museum and mysterious voices talking to Emma. Eventually, the Black Dragoon breaks loose. At first, it’s a little jarring to make this leap out of what seemed to be a normal world. However, the conflict was intense at this point and kept me glued to the pages. Also, the details of all the magical elements were clever and well thought out.
I was glad to see a female super hero as there aren’t too many of those around. In many ways, I’m similar to Emma in personality, so I could easily identify with her. I wanted her to succeed and to overcome the guilt issues form her past – things that weren’t even her fault. My only criticism of Emma is that she cried a lot. I feel the author could have added some variation to express her sadness in certain situations. However, despite her sensitivities, she was still a strong and determined person as she kept trying to stop the Black Dragoon. I think this is a reflection on a lot of women who, even though they may be sensitive, are equally as strong.
Another thing I thought highly clever, was the Black Dragoon. He didn’t just attack people with his claws, he attacked them with their own fears. He found their weaknesses and preyed on them. This was far worse than any physical attack. How often are people in real life adversely affected by their own fears?
The only reason I held back a star is because the beginning lagged and was low on conflict. It needs something. However, some of the details that were brought out in the beginning enhanced the story, so it could be my own impatient nature. All I can say is, be patient and keep reading. It’s worth it.
I highly recommend this book and look forward to more. As I understand, a whole series of books is coming out in this world.
Dilloway has created a fascinating world with Rampart City. The characters and details come across as very realistic, so realistic it almost doesn’t seem like fantasy. However, there are hints that more fantasy type elements will be coming in the form of various artifacts at the museum and mysterious voices talking to Emma. Eventually, the Black Dragoon breaks loose. At first, it’s a little jarring to make this leap out of what seemed to be a normal world. However, the conflict was intense at this point and kept me glued to the pages. Also, the details of all the magical elements were clever and well thought out.
I was glad to see a female super hero as there aren’t too many of those around. In many ways, I’m similar to Emma in personality, so I could easily identify with her. I wanted her to succeed and to overcome the guilt issues form her past – things that weren’t even her fault. My only criticism of Emma is that she cried a lot. I feel the author could have added some variation to express her sadness in certain situations. However, despite her sensitivities, she was still a strong and determined person as she kept trying to stop the Black Dragoon. I think this is a reflection on a lot of women who, even though they may be sensitive, are equally as strong.
Another thing I thought highly clever, was the Black Dragoon. He didn’t just attack people with his claws, he attacked them with their own fears. He found their weaknesses and preyed on them. This was far worse than any physical attack. How often are people in real life adversely affected by their own fears?
The only reason I held back a star is because the beginning lagged and was low on conflict. It needs something. However, some of the details that were brought out in the beginning enhanced the story, so it could be my own impatient nature. All I can say is, be patient and keep reading. It’s worth it.
I highly recommend this book and look forward to more. As I understand, a whole series of books is coming out in this world.
January 30, 2015
Do you like superheroes? Magic? Stories about monsters? underground hobos that can communicate with (and maybe control) rats? How about stories about loves lost? Witches? Police investigations? Who doesn’t get a kick out of a crime boss that makes a deal with a corrupt politician? What about ghosts?
Well, A Hero’s Journey has all this AND MORE! In fact, I was stunned by a couple of things with this story. 1) It does a pretty good job of blending a LOT of disparate elements into a cohesive story and 2) it still manages to be a quick read.
One top of those two big things, the first few chapters are so mundane in nature that I was afraid in the beginning that there wouldn’t be enough space to even establish our main character as a hero – let alone all these other elements that I already mentioned. So when the first few chapters introduced our hero who was starting a new job and meeting her co-workers, I kept thinking that we were running out of real estate in the book to get to the meat of the story.
But man, when the weirdness began, it was an avalanche. I quickly realized that I needed those early chapters to root me in something. PT does a great job of building a very likable hero, one who you keep thinking isn’t going to be strong enough to win, but isn’t sensible enough to call it quits when she should.
The story wasn’t quite perfect, sometimes I felt like characters were a bit too blasé about the crumbling reality around them. And sometimes the characters seemed to piece together clues that I’m not sure anyone would have. Well, Emma did get a doctorate while still a teenager, so I’ll grant that she’s probably a bit quicker of mind than I am. But I still feel like there were times when characters did what they did because they were supposed to, not because that was the most logical thing to do given the information they had in front of them.
With that said, this is still a great book, and I dare anyone to read and not fall in love with the story’s main character, Emma Earl. I highly recommend.
Well, A Hero’s Journey has all this AND MORE! In fact, I was stunned by a couple of things with this story. 1) It does a pretty good job of blending a LOT of disparate elements into a cohesive story and 2) it still manages to be a quick read.
One top of those two big things, the first few chapters are so mundane in nature that I was afraid in the beginning that there wouldn’t be enough space to even establish our main character as a hero – let alone all these other elements that I already mentioned. So when the first few chapters introduced our hero who was starting a new job and meeting her co-workers, I kept thinking that we were running out of real estate in the book to get to the meat of the story.
But man, when the weirdness began, it was an avalanche. I quickly realized that I needed those early chapters to root me in something. PT does a great job of building a very likable hero, one who you keep thinking isn’t going to be strong enough to win, but isn’t sensible enough to call it quits when she should.
The story wasn’t quite perfect, sometimes I felt like characters were a bit too blasé about the crumbling reality around them. And sometimes the characters seemed to piece together clues that I’m not sure anyone would have. Well, Emma did get a doctorate while still a teenager, so I’ll grant that she’s probably a bit quicker of mind than I am. But I still feel like there were times when characters did what they did because they were supposed to, not because that was the most logical thing to do given the information they had in front of them.
With that said, this is still a great book, and I dare anyone to read and not fall in love with the story’s main character, Emma Earl. I highly recommend.
April 16, 2015
Five stars for A Hero's Journey! Once again, P.T. Dilloway has created a well-ploted story, with a cast of interesting characters (including a rat!) and a hero with heart, faults, and likability. I particularly enjoyed the character of the ghost, Marlin. The magical elements are believable, and entertaining. Awesome read!
September 4, 2020
What can I say, I still like it.
July 19, 2013
Probably 3.5 stars...
This was a pretty quick read for me, I think I finished it in about 4 hours total reading time. It's pretty fast paced once the story gets started and that makes for a quick read for me. The premise is promising, albeit not terribly original. Dr. Emma Earl is a promising young prodigy who at only 19 has graduated with her Doctorate and is starting a new job as a lab assistant in the Geology department at the Plaine Museum in Rampart City.
Rampart City, the name alone clues you in on what type of story this is going to be. The first thing that popped into my head was Gotham City! Rampart City is the perfect name for a sci-fi/comic book city. This book is a throwback to all the old comic book series like Batman, Superman, etc... It has that feel to it and honestly I think it would make a great graphic novel. I think that it would present as a better overall story in that format.
So, things start to fall apart on Emma's first week at her new job. The man she works directly under is a day drunk and honestly, just not doing his job. She meets Dr. Dreyfus who works in the archaeology department and is immediately attracted to him and vice versa, but Emma is determined to obey the non-fraternization policy that they museum upholds. He brings her an artifact that he can't identify and asks her to research it to see what she can find on it so that keeps her busy for awhile. Suddenly a co-worker suffers a terrible loss and at the funeral things start to get a little crazy for Emma.
I was a little taken aback when on the first page we learn that Emma has a size 15 foot! I don't know why this was revealed other than in an attempt to let us know that she is tall without coming out and saying it, but I will say that it turned me off to her character a bit. I kept picturing her with these huge clown feet and it kind of took away from her character for me. Now give her an 11 and she's still tall, but not gigantic!
I liked the fast pace of the story, how the Black Dragoon and the Scarlet Knight were revealed and how their characters developed. I wasn't surprised when the identity of the Black Dragoon was revealed, I had it narrowed down based on the events. I had a problem with the portrayal of the police force, particularly Donovan. There were times that she's all hard ass and pushy, calling names and being brutal then she handles a murder scene and suddenly she's all sympathetic and girly. I HATED how everyone, not just Donovan, kept calling Becky "fatty" or "the fat girl". To me, even in a book, that's not acceptable unless it's to make a specific point. This was not the case, they were just being mean and it was worse when it wasn't just the mean people doing it!
So, I gave this a 3.5 star rating on Goodreads and I stand by that rating. I enjoyed the story, but I had issues with it that I just couldn't look past. I think that if you enjoy a good sci-fi story with comic book potential then you may like this book. It's not a read that everyone will enjoy, but I don't feel, at all, like it was a waste of my time.
This was a pretty quick read for me, I think I finished it in about 4 hours total reading time. It's pretty fast paced once the story gets started and that makes for a quick read for me. The premise is promising, albeit not terribly original. Dr. Emma Earl is a promising young prodigy who at only 19 has graduated with her Doctorate and is starting a new job as a lab assistant in the Geology department at the Plaine Museum in Rampart City.
Rampart City, the name alone clues you in on what type of story this is going to be. The first thing that popped into my head was Gotham City! Rampart City is the perfect name for a sci-fi/comic book city. This book is a throwback to all the old comic book series like Batman, Superman, etc... It has that feel to it and honestly I think it would make a great graphic novel. I think that it would present as a better overall story in that format.
So, things start to fall apart on Emma's first week at her new job. The man she works directly under is a day drunk and honestly, just not doing his job. She meets Dr. Dreyfus who works in the archaeology department and is immediately attracted to him and vice versa, but Emma is determined to obey the non-fraternization policy that they museum upholds. He brings her an artifact that he can't identify and asks her to research it to see what she can find on it so that keeps her busy for awhile. Suddenly a co-worker suffers a terrible loss and at the funeral things start to get a little crazy for Emma.
I was a little taken aback when on the first page we learn that Emma has a size 15 foot! I don't know why this was revealed other than in an attempt to let us know that she is tall without coming out and saying it, but I will say that it turned me off to her character a bit. I kept picturing her with these huge clown feet and it kind of took away from her character for me. Now give her an 11 and she's still tall, but not gigantic!
I liked the fast pace of the story, how the Black Dragoon and the Scarlet Knight were revealed and how their characters developed. I wasn't surprised when the identity of the Black Dragoon was revealed, I had it narrowed down based on the events. I had a problem with the portrayal of the police force, particularly Donovan. There were times that she's all hard ass and pushy, calling names and being brutal then she handles a murder scene and suddenly she's all sympathetic and girly. I HATED how everyone, not just Donovan, kept calling Becky "fatty" or "the fat girl". To me, even in a book, that's not acceptable unless it's to make a specific point. This was not the case, they were just being mean and it was worse when it wasn't just the mean people doing it!
So, I gave this a 3.5 star rating on Goodreads and I stand by that rating. I enjoyed the story, but I had issues with it that I just couldn't look past. I think that if you enjoy a good sci-fi story with comic book potential then you may like this book. It's not a read that everyone will enjoy, but I don't feel, at all, like it was a waste of my time.
January 27, 2013
PT Dilloway has patiently created an entire series of books around the legacy of the Scarlet Knight. "A Hero's Journey" is the first of them, and features a contemporary incarnation in the form of one-time child prodigy Emma Earl, who lost her parents when she was eight. We catch up with Emma as she begins work at the Plaine Museum, which for her is the heart of Rampart City, where she grew up. She visited the museum frequently growing up, becoming fast friends with the apparently unassuming janitor Percival Graves, who would regale her with tales of the Scarlet Knight. When a colleague and potential romantic interest brings Emma a strange monolith, a sequence of events begins that reveals Graves as the Scarlet Knight of his own tales, and Emma as his successor, as well as the only one capable of stopping the Black Dragoon's murderous rampage.
Dilloway weaves a world of magic and intrigue that will appeal to fans of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson, a modern Greek hero just as the Scarlet Witch is molded in the tradition of classic 1960s superheroes like Adam West's Batman. Emma had a rough time growing up, for any number of reasons, and anyone who shares this experience will sympathize and find sympathy in her journey. It is most recommended to young readers.
Dilloway weaves a world of magic and intrigue that will appeal to fans of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson, a modern Greek hero just as the Scarlet Witch is molded in the tradition of classic 1960s superheroes like Adam West's Batman. Emma had a rough time growing up, for any number of reasons, and anyone who shares this experience will sympathize and find sympathy in her journey. It is most recommended to young readers.
April 17, 2014
All Dr. Emma Earl ever wanted was to be a geologist and work at her favorite museum. Yet fate had a different calling for her. When a red-eyed monster starts on a murdering rampage, Emma is called to become the Scarlet Knight. She doesn't want to be a hero. Will she be able to find the courage and save Rampart City from the Black Dragoon?
A marvelous tale of superheroes, ancient evil, and magic. I love the legend for the Scarlet Knight. Even more so, the mystery of the demon that becomes the Black Dragoon. The story takes place in the modern world, but it gives the reader a glimpse of a hidden magical world just beneath it with a grand history.
Emma was a sweet and amiable character. I wondered at first how she could do as the Scarlet Knight, but she surprised me, and I found myself cheering her on! It does take a while to get to the superhero part, but the story progresses at a faster pace after that. The whole cast of characters was well written. I particularly liked Mr. Graves and Marlin. Perfect complements to Emma's straight-laced ways.
I'd recommend this book to anyone who stories about superheroes, magic, and mystery.
A marvelous tale of superheroes, ancient evil, and magic. I love the legend for the Scarlet Knight. Even more so, the mystery of the demon that becomes the Black Dragoon. The story takes place in the modern world, but it gives the reader a glimpse of a hidden magical world just beneath it with a grand history.
Emma was a sweet and amiable character. I wondered at first how she could do as the Scarlet Knight, but she surprised me, and I found myself cheering her on! It does take a while to get to the superhero part, but the story progresses at a faster pace after that. The whole cast of characters was well written. I particularly liked Mr. Graves and Marlin. Perfect complements to Emma's straight-laced ways.
I'd recommend this book to anyone who stories about superheroes, magic, and mystery.
November 13, 2012
Best book ever! But I might be a little biased.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews