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A review by witchkingreads
Fatemarked by David Estes
5.0
4.5/5
“I am human—I want what I cannot have, and I have no interest in that which is mine.”
So, there I was, minding my own business, breaking my book buying ban per usual, and I come across a self-published novel with a stunning cover. What is this? Oh, it’s free on Kindle Unlimited? Done. I download it and decide I’m going to read the first page. I won’t read the whole book. I’ve got two other books I’m in the middle of. Three days later here I am writing a review for a book that I said I wouldn’t read. This is my lot in life as a mood reader.
Fatemarked is a self-published novel by author David Estes. The novel is a multi-perspective epic on an ancient prophecy, foretelling the rise of the Fatemarked. Individuals with a mark only revealed by fire that grants them powers. In some parts of the world, they are worshiped, in others they are murdered at birth. The rulers of the land begin to die, and the people turn on one another. Magic is on the rise and those who are close to it are going to change the world.
Let’s first talk about what I most loved about this debut, the characters. Estes has an addictive way of showing the humanity in his characters. One particular perspective I latched onto is Annise, a princess living under the thumb of an abusive father and king. She isn’t your typical fantasy princess in the sense that she is a great beauty. She is described as pear-shaped, muscular, and tall, exhibiting behavior usually reserved for peasant boys. One aspect I enjoyed about her character is that because of past and current bullying, she is consistently using humor to berate herself before others can do so. As someone who has experienced and implemented this kind of self-deprecation, I loved this representation. It added layers to her character, and it was a beautiful thing to witness her grow and turn her insecurities into strengths. The secondary characters such as Gwendolyn, The Armored Knight, Gareth and Arch are all just as well rounded, with demons of their own to slay. Estes creates a beautiful and loving sibling relationship between Arch and Annise that was established with only a few pages. They spend most of the book apart, and yet Estes is able to make the reader feel the thread binding the two together through the whole novel.
Fatemarked is unexpectedly funny! These characters are so sarcastic with one another, poking jibes, and swapping insults. Estes creates some genuinely humorous interactions between the characters that had me laughing through the whole book. He uses humor as a bridge to connect the characters with each other, creating wholesome and heartfelt friendships and romances. Romance plays a part in this novel, but it’s more of a sub-plot than a main focus, which I always appreciate in my reads. I love a good romance, but I like it far more if it is used to be a brick in the journey and not the destination end.
What is most mind-blowing to me is that most of what these characters do is travel. Sure, there’s an assassination or two and a big battle at then end, but mostly these characters are just traveling from one point to another. Many of these points of view can be summed up in a few sentences, but they are packed with emotional turmoil, self-discovery, and world building. The world itself is large, but it’s not complicated. There are a lot of different cultures and people, fighting in an endless war led by tyrants and decades-long grudges. There are certain people born with Fatemarks, but according to where in the world they are they can be called Skinmarks, Tatooya, or Sinmarks. Those who have these marks have as much chance of being killed as they do of being revered depending on where they are born. There are lands riddled with disease and pox, mad dragons that grow two heads, and religious zealots implementing laws to rule with fear, as well as a forest of trees merged with ore and animals with metal claws.
As much as I would like to rant on and on about how great this book is, there are a few issues and criticisms I must address. I mostly read this through my kindle edition while listening to the audio periodically. The audiobook is fantastic! Loved the narration, however my kindle edition did contain typos. It wasn’t something that happened often, and I loved the story so much it really didn’t bother me. I understand that this is a self-published novel, and if a book that contains typos can still hold my interest, I’m not going to hold it against them. The writing isn’t what we call purple prose. There’s not much about it that I haven’t read before, but the dialogue! The dialogue shines in this book! Estes uses most of his prose to build the characters, and that is what keeps this story going. Another reason I love this book so much is the amount of autonomy these characters have over their choices. Events happen to them for sure, but they are also changing their own fates. There were some moments that the cheese was strong, but it was few and far in between. I would read a moment that made me cringe, then immediately afterwards would read the next scene, and think “This is brilliant work” Which I think can be said about any debut. I’m very much looking forward to seeing how Estes writing grows with this series.
For this last bit I would like to take a moment to talk about the short stories at the end of Fatemarked. They are titled as postludes and contain points of view from people we know from the first book. Some are alive and some are dead, giving us a secret peek into what truly happened during events that were mentioned but not fully explained in the novel. I loved these! I desperately wished they were spread throughout the book in a similar way that the Stormlight Archives has them. These stories have new perspectives that changed my perception of some of the characters I loved and/or heard about. I would’ve loved to have had that extra layer of world-building and character growth during my reading experience. I’m glad that they’re included, and I get that extra scoop of world-building ice-cream I’d been craving. I just wish they had been interludes instead of postludes, but this is my own personal opinion. Regardless of my own preferences, the short stories had the desired effect. Now I want to go back and reread Fatemarked, knowing what I know now. Whatever special spark the prose I mentioned is missing can be found in these short stories! It really solidified this book as an epic story that I can see branching out into multiple books.
If you’ve made it this far into my word vomit, I congratulate you with the most epic of virtual high fives. Read this book. It deserves to be read! It is highly addictive with a fun world, great characters, and truly epic happenings. I’m so excited to continue this series and I’m hoping that with each book I will be closer to that mind-blowing spark I know it has the potential to have!
“I am human—I want what I cannot have, and I have no interest in that which is mine.”
So, there I was, minding my own business, breaking my book buying ban per usual, and I come across a self-published novel with a stunning cover. What is this? Oh, it’s free on Kindle Unlimited? Done. I download it and decide I’m going to read the first page. I won’t read the whole book. I’ve got two other books I’m in the middle of. Three days later here I am writing a review for a book that I said I wouldn’t read. This is my lot in life as a mood reader.
Fatemarked is a self-published novel by author David Estes. The novel is a multi-perspective epic on an ancient prophecy, foretelling the rise of the Fatemarked. Individuals with a mark only revealed by fire that grants them powers. In some parts of the world, they are worshiped, in others they are murdered at birth. The rulers of the land begin to die, and the people turn on one another. Magic is on the rise and those who are close to it are going to change the world.
Let’s first talk about what I most loved about this debut, the characters. Estes has an addictive way of showing the humanity in his characters. One particular perspective I latched onto is Annise, a princess living under the thumb of an abusive father and king. She isn’t your typical fantasy princess in the sense that she is a great beauty. She is described as pear-shaped, muscular, and tall, exhibiting behavior usually reserved for peasant boys. One aspect I enjoyed about her character is that because of past and current bullying, she is consistently using humor to berate herself before others can do so. As someone who has experienced and implemented this kind of self-deprecation, I loved this representation. It added layers to her character, and it was a beautiful thing to witness her grow and turn her insecurities into strengths. The secondary characters such as Gwendolyn, The Armored Knight, Gareth and Arch are all just as well rounded, with demons of their own to slay. Estes creates a beautiful and loving sibling relationship between Arch and Annise that was established with only a few pages. They spend most of the book apart, and yet Estes is able to make the reader feel the thread binding the two together through the whole novel.
Fatemarked is unexpectedly funny! These characters are so sarcastic with one another, poking jibes, and swapping insults. Estes creates some genuinely humorous interactions between the characters that had me laughing through the whole book. He uses humor as a bridge to connect the characters with each other, creating wholesome and heartfelt friendships and romances. Romance plays a part in this novel, but it’s more of a sub-plot than a main focus, which I always appreciate in my reads. I love a good romance, but I like it far more if it is used to be a brick in the journey and not the destination end.
What is most mind-blowing to me is that most of what these characters do is travel. Sure, there’s an assassination or two and a big battle at then end, but mostly these characters are just traveling from one point to another. Many of these points of view can be summed up in a few sentences, but they are packed with emotional turmoil, self-discovery, and world building. The world itself is large, but it’s not complicated. There are a lot of different cultures and people, fighting in an endless war led by tyrants and decades-long grudges. There are certain people born with Fatemarks, but according to where in the world they are they can be called Skinmarks, Tatooya, or Sinmarks. Those who have these marks have as much chance of being killed as they do of being revered depending on where they are born. There are lands riddled with disease and pox, mad dragons that grow two heads, and religious zealots implementing laws to rule with fear, as well as a forest of trees merged with ore and animals with metal claws.
As much as I would like to rant on and on about how great this book is, there are a few issues and criticisms I must address. I mostly read this through my kindle edition while listening to the audio periodically. The audiobook is fantastic! Loved the narration, however my kindle edition did contain typos. It wasn’t something that happened often, and I loved the story so much it really didn’t bother me. I understand that this is a self-published novel, and if a book that contains typos can still hold my interest, I’m not going to hold it against them. The writing isn’t what we call purple prose. There’s not much about it that I haven’t read before, but the dialogue! The dialogue shines in this book! Estes uses most of his prose to build the characters, and that is what keeps this story going. Another reason I love this book so much is the amount of autonomy these characters have over their choices. Events happen to them for sure, but they are also changing their own fates. There were some moments that the cheese was strong, but it was few and far in between. I would read a moment that made me cringe, then immediately afterwards would read the next scene, and think “This is brilliant work” Which I think can be said about any debut. I’m very much looking forward to seeing how Estes writing grows with this series.
For this last bit I would like to take a moment to talk about the short stories at the end of Fatemarked. They are titled as postludes and contain points of view from people we know from the first book. Some are alive and some are dead, giving us a secret peek into what truly happened during events that were mentioned but not fully explained in the novel. I loved these! I desperately wished they were spread throughout the book in a similar way that the Stormlight Archives has them. These stories have new perspectives that changed my perception of some of the characters I loved and/or heard about. I would’ve loved to have had that extra layer of world-building and character growth during my reading experience. I’m glad that they’re included, and I get that extra scoop of world-building ice-cream I’d been craving. I just wish they had been interludes instead of postludes, but this is my own personal opinion. Regardless of my own preferences, the short stories had the desired effect. Now I want to go back and reread Fatemarked, knowing what I know now. Whatever special spark the prose I mentioned is missing can be found in these short stories! It really solidified this book as an epic story that I can see branching out into multiple books.
If you’ve made it this far into my word vomit, I congratulate you with the most epic of virtual high fives. Read this book. It deserves to be read! It is highly addictive with a fun world, great characters, and truly epic happenings. I’m so excited to continue this series and I’m hoping that with each book I will be closer to that mind-blowing spark I know it has the potential to have!