Fates (Fates)

by Lanie Bross

[inlibrisveritas]

Fates has a very interesting and unique spin on the sisters of Fate, and while it wasn’t the strongest in execution it was quite entertaining overall.

Fates actually takes place on several worlds, which was both a surprising and welcome addition though there were moments of confusion regarding the book’s mythology. The different worlds take on more of a fantasy element rather than sci-fi, using a magical crossroads to connect the different worlds. I liked how each world was vastly different and yet they were all connected through the Fates and the somewhat absent gods called the Unseen Ones. The Fates normally stay on Pyralis where they shift through the fates and destinies of those living on the other worlds. Corinthe is an exiled Fate, and she has been working hard to get back home. But everything she’s been told by her guardian isn’t true and the worlds are in danger as the balance is thrown off. There are also a league of bad guys called Free Radicals (not the things that cause you to age), and they have immense power and one in particular is trying to throw things out of balance because of a vendetta against the Unseen Ones. If all of that seemed slightly confusing, it was. The story moves fast and some of the finer details that would have really made the difference seemed missing. I wasn’t sure if all Free Radicals were bad, we never find out really what Cortinthe did to become banished, nor did you really find out what it is the Fates are actually supposed to be doing. There were also a moment where Corinthe said that the first and only time she cried was when she arrived on Earth, and then later in the book she starts crying and says it’s the first time.

Corinthe is an almost innocent character with an oddly hardened determination to do what she needs to, to get home. Since she’s been forced to live with humans she has come to understand them a bit better but has a hard time understanding emotions to the same extent. Of course one of these emotions/feelings is love, and unfortunately she learns about it in a insta-love situation. Lucas is a typical high school boy with very untypical problems at home. His mother has left and his father checked out, so it’s up to him to keep his younger sister Jasmine out of trouble…and he’s failing at it. While I liked that he wanted to take care of his sister and that he was attempting to have a normal life, I hated how he went about things. He had a obviously crappy girlfriend that even he could tell wasn’t worth the time, and there were a few moments where his judgement seemed non-existent. The relationship that develops between Corinthe and Lucas didn’t make much sense, I did not understand the spark of attraction that kept popping up and given the amount of negative things that happen I was expecting the relationship to be extremely strained. However they insist they love each other before the book is out and I was at a loss as to why.

I really wanted to like this one more than I did. I did enjoy the different worlds and when I didn’t focus on the lack of information I did enjoy the overall story. However there was just too much that I had questions about and too many things that needed more depth. I’m curious to see how the story continues due to the rather odd ending, so I may check out the second one when it releases.