Fate is a story about a man’s search for meaning, and a quest for immortality. It’s the second book in a loose trilogy, although the third book has not come out yet.
I’m a really big fan of stories about immortality, especially when they focus on the curse of the immortals (although if I had the chance of immortality I’d take it without question). I just picked this up at the library and I haven’t read the first book in the series, but it seems like it’s only loosely connected and I didn’t have any trouble following the plot.
The story reaches far over the world and through time, with a large cast of characters. Almost all of them are interesting, but it’s clear that the author favors some over the others. Occasionally, given the size of the cast, I did find myself losing track of them. But during the course of the book I became a huge fan of Fredericks’ writing style. She’s eloquent and flamboyant, and captured my attention through the book. Frankly, there are parts where the story slows down and in the hands of a more functional writer these sections would perhaps have been a slog to get through, but the writing style is excellent and it kept me intrigued even when a scene or section of the story wasn’t.
I was surprised, and in truth a little disappointed, that there wasn’t more attention given to the curse of the immortals. I thought the whole book would have been about that, but instead the majority of the book is about the quest. However, there are some…interesting developments that happen. Fredericks delves into human psychology in an astute manner and captures an authenticity of the era.
I thoroughly enjoyed the journey of this book and it made me want to check out the first one of the series, and it also left me frustrated that the next book isn’t out yet. This is a good piece of work that I highly recommend.
