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adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
When a thief is given a mission to steal an ancient relic, she unknowingly sets into motion fateful events that impact the survival of the world in Julie Kagawa’s Fateless.
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To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.
As a member of the Thieves Guild, Sparrow has known only a life loyal to their cause and the Guildmaster, Vahn who raised her, as well as the uncanny luck she seems to have in acquiring goods and escaping the notice of guards that has contributed to her steady rise within the Guild. Given a secretive mission from The Circle, the mysterious group in control of the Guild, Sparrow is determined to prove her worth and place; with the stakes high, meaning life or death for her and Vahn, and the seemingly impossible task they’ve set for her, Sparrow feels as if she cannot fail. Pursued by an assassin, Raithe, whom Sparrow finds equal parts enigmatically frustrating, dangerous, and alluring, whose purpose it is to prevent the return of the Deathless King, she soon finds herself aligned with him after a rapid succession of betrayals from those she’s known her whole life. On a quest to prevent the utter destruction of the entire world, Sparrow and Raithe are joined by a charming Fatechaser, Halek, and a Scarab Clan warrior, Kysa, as they journey toward Raithe’s home to meet with his queen to learn the complete details of the disturbing and disastrous fate they’re trying to avert.
The world is imaginative and depicted well, with the searing heat from the two suns and resulting parching dryness that the characters and their surroundings experience translating easily and vividly from the page, as well as a thoroughly thought-out and presented belief system of Fate and history surrounding the Deathless Kings and the First Kingdom that further shapes the world and how it functions. The premise and dynamic regarding Fate and the Fateless is intriguing, and having that paired with magic and dreams interacting offers an eerie, otherworldly opportunity of emotional exploration between bouts of traveling and battle-laden action. With trust not a natural inclination for Sparrow given how she was raised and the nature of her profession, and an even more tenuous proposition given the series of betrayals she experienced in rapid succession, she exhibits a stuttering and believable growth by gradually placing her confidence and trust in her small group of unlikely companions of Raithe, Halek, and Kysa, demonstrating the strength and depth of her character and her ability to adapt, even if the betrayals and those she now calls allies were predictable turns of events to progress the narrative forward toward what awaits in the next installment.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.