"Fate of the Fallen" by Kel Kade is a refreshing spin on classic fantasy tropes. Kade crafts a world where the destined hero meets an unexpected fate, thrusting unlikely individuals into roles of great responsibility. With impeccable character development and unexpected twists, the narrative challenges traditional notions of destiny and heroism. Engaging from start to finish, this novel is a testament to Kade's storytelling prowess. A captivating read for fantasy aficionados.

Hey there, fellow bookworms! 📚 Let me share my thoughts on "Fate of the Fallen" by Kel Kade. I'm giving it 3 out of 5 stars, and here's why:

First off, the concept was intriguing. The idea of fate and destiny being absolute, and the protagonist, Matthias, being the only one exempt from it, added a unique twist to the typical fantasy narrative. 🌌 The story had a solid foundation to build upon.

The writing style was smooth and easy to get into, which made for a pleasant reading experience. Kel Kade's descriptive skills brought the world to life, and I could visualize the settings and characters vividly.

However, I have to admit, the pacing was a bit uneven. The beginning grabbed my attention with a burst of action, but it dragged a bit in the middle, and I found myself getting impatient for more significant developments. ⏳

Speaking of characters, Matthias was a relatable protagonist. His journey from an ordinary guy to someone facing extraordinary circumstances was compelling. The friendship between him and Aaslo was heartwarming and brought some much-needed warmth to the story.

On the downside, some secondary characters lacked depth, which left me feeling disconnected from their fates. It would've been great to see more development in this area.

While the plot had its moments, I felt it lacked some originality. It followed familiar fantasy tropes, and I was hoping for more surprises or unique elements to keep me fully engaged.

All in all, "Fate of the Fallen" is a decent fantasy read. The concept and writing were enjoyable, and I appreciated the character-driven focus. If you're a fan of destiny-defying tales and friendship-themed adventures, you might want to give this one a shot. 🌟 Happy reading!

"Doesn't matter your position. You're a man, and a man can choose to make things more difficult, or he can choose to help. In the choosing, he decides what kind of man he wants to be."

I found the first half of the book to be kind of slow for me, but the second half definitely got better. I may read the second book because I love the gods' story line and some of the characters. It is a decent high fantasy book if you want a new world to explore! 4/5 stars

One of the top reads of 2020 for me, and with good reason! Forget everything you knew about chosen ones and destined heroes – Aaslo is here to show you how saving a world is really done. Either that, or he’ll die trying…

Aaslo is not the chosen one in this tale, you see. The world is facing a possible apocalypse, the gods are displeased with the humans – well, some of them, others are just playing sick games – and Aaslo knows that Mathias, his best friend, will save everyone. He’s the hero of the prophecy, after all… until he’s not. Not only a hero, but alive as well. With the fated hero of humankind dead, Aaslo will have to find someone willing to replace Mathias – and if not, he might as well take the mantle himself. World’s already ending, what can go even more wrong than that?

Honestly, I loved this book so much! I don’t have anything against the cliché of heroes chosen by destiny and ancient prophecies, but the concept of this story was unique and served as a great tale of inspiration. Aaslo was no hero. He didn’t want to be, he didn’t know how to be, and, all things considered, he really just wanted to be left alone with his trees and nature’s peace. But he’s a good friend, above all, and cares too much. And he was stubborn. So he had to change – not only himself, but also those around him, in order to survive.

Because when you have no hero to rely on, you learn to fight for yourself. That was the main theme of the book, and it was brilliant in delivering the message.

The pace was a bit slow, and there were so many things to take in about the world, but the characters and the pockets of action made up for it. The loyal thieves, the grumpy healer, the lonely and constantly watching reaper, they were all so vivid in color and personalities and character depth. Not to mention Mathias – that head was a delight! Dead or not, he had me cracking all the time! I don’t care if he was really talking only to Aaslo, or he was just a figment of Aaslo’s imagination, perhaps his conscience, he was still an integral part of the book and a breath of fresh air in an otherwise dark universe, where everything is going wrong and is about to end.

By the way, this book takes a bit too long to get you hyped, but don’t give up on it. You’ll see it’s worth it. I mean, chapters 23 and 24 had me screaming like a crazed fangirl. The man managed to do the unthinkable through sheer willpower and against the will of the gods themselves! And the ending! What a cliffhanger! Kel Kade knows how to do things right in this particular genre, and this book proves it. I want the next book, like, yesterday!

***I was given an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinion stated in this review is solely mine, and no compensation was given or taken to alter it.***

Review: 4 Stars

I received an unsolicited ARC of this book and I thought it looked pretty interesting but I didn’t wind up reading it before publication and wasn’t planning on reading it until I saw my friend Susan’s review. After reading the high praise she gave this book I knew that I needed to give this quest fantasy a chance. Her review got me so hyped for this book that I had to pick it up right away. Fate of the Fallen was full of dark humor and I loved every minute of it.

I expected the plot to be like a normal quest fantasy wit a prophecy of a chosen one, but this book had some GIANT unexpected twists that kept me on my toes. The journey that Mathias and Aaslo went on was quite the adventure. It was filled with magic, fighting, royalty and thieves. I love a classic fantasy quest, but it was the humor that really made this book shine. I was laughing and smirking throughout this entire story, it was pure entertainment and I can’t believe that I wasn’t going to read this humorous gem.

The camaraderie between Aaslo and Mathias was so much fun to read. Their mutual teasing and banter really made their friendship feel authentic and brought these characters to life. Kel Kade did a fantastic job filling this book with witty remarks and dark humor. I think that the dialogue was done especially well. It helped show each character’s personality and the sarcasm kept me entertained throughout the entire novel. This was just a fun book to read and exactly the kind of comedy that I love. I would read a thousand fantasy novels like this one because it just brought me so much joy.

I was a little disappointed in the ending because I felt like the climax just didn’t have enough build up to it or as much of an impact as I felt it should have. I was shocked when I got to the end and realized that this story wasn’t a standalone, but I was excited when I learned that there would be a sequel. This humorous fantasy read is one that I will highly recommend to my friends. It also reminded me of Kill the Farm Boy, so if you enjoyed this book I recommend that you check out that one.

Good book for some readers, but not for me. I could tell it was trying to go for something edgier than the normal chosen one troupe, but I'm not sure it achieved it. The character's felt disconnected to me as they were in adult fantasy situations but acted immature and underdeveloped. I just wasn't able to connect with them, and the random pacing and plot didn't help the situation. This is aiming to be a light hearted fantasy, but comes off as poorly developed to me. I think some who like those kind of books will still enjoy it, but I wasn't one of them unfortunately.

from Goodreads:
Boy destined to save the world - it is .. but its not. Big flip.
Slow start but picks up nicely as it goes. The innocence and naivety of our main character is a sheer joy.
Interesting world building and character development of our hero and his 'gang' looks promising for rest of series.
Well worth a read.
Look forward to next

This was...fine? The main character was a bit dull, but I don't know what else to say really. The author tried to subvert the whole chosen one trope but the book as a whole just didn't leave me with strong feelings one way or the other. Also, I would really love to get my hands on a standalone fantasy novel so I was a bit disappointed that this looks like it's supposed to be yet another fantasy series. That would have been a point to include in the description! Definitely a personal problem, but the prospect of this being a series did not interest me.

This is a very targeted review, but for a good reason. Just roll with me on this.

Once upon a time, when I was but a wee lil lad in graduate school, I had to read this great big honkin’ book of essays on The Hero’s Journey. It’s a tried-and-true method of story-telling, centering around the protagonist – our Hero – and how his path is basically fated to happen, and how it changes him despite his search for a way to maintain the status quo and fix the world. It’s cyclical in nature, meaning the same hero could go on a thousand journeys and even with the same formula, it could all work and be cohesive.

It’s a basic formula, of course. It’s the fro-yo to the personalized and specialized mixin’s from each particular author that adopts the formula for their writing.


And boy howdy, did we see a fantastic version of it in FATE OF THE FALLEN by Kel Kade!

Aaslo, our protagonist, is an archetypal Hero – he has a status quo, he has a life that he loves and he doesn’t want to leave it. He’s literally called to the adventure by his brother-in-arms, and he bucks the traditional Journey with every step of the story. He accrues a following – a gang, if you will, almost reminiscent of the Gaang if that analogy helps illustrate the point a bit better) – which follows the formula but is entirely against his will. And in his journey, in his search for a way to maintain the status quo, he changes so incredibly, and in a way that we, as the reader, least expect it.

But it’s also so goddamn delicious in execution that it keeps me up at night because I’m never going to write something as good.

Like, the goddamn irony of this boy whose whole role in the world is to preserve life. That’s what his job is! He cultivates the forest to keep it alive so that others can still get food, firewood, and lumber for houses. He’s so in tune with nature that it causes him literal pain to be away from it.

And he leaves his forest.

And he gets a kickass dragon arm transplant, learns magic, and gains the ability to raise the dead.

Just like, sit and soak in that delicious symbolism for a moment. Literal signs of him losing himself as he gets further and further from home, all in the name of saving humanity from gods in their petty squabbles.

God. God. Sorry I’m not more verbose here, but this sort of writing has me clawing my face off while shoving this book in the face of everyone I know. If you read one fantasy this year, make it FATE OF THE FALLEN.

LoD, out.
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Don't forget to check out the podcast review, THE HERO'S JOURNEY HAS FALLEN, out now on your favorite podcatcher!

A twist on the Chosen One trope.

In the world of 'Fate of the Fallen' there's a prophecy that says that a great hero will come and save the world - or everything will end.
We know how the stories go, right? It must work out for the Hero, right? Right??

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Mathias and Aaslo have grown up best friends, brothers in everything but blood. When they learn that Mathias is the subject of a prophecy that only he can save the world, he is excited to get the quest started. Naturally, Aaslo won't let him go on his own. They set out from their village to fulfill the prophecy.

Sounds like dozens of other fantasy stories, right? But what happens if the script gets flipped, and things don't go according to plan. I don't want to give away exactly what happens, but I loved this book! I need the next one in my hands right now, please!!

What attracted me to this book was the premise. The twist on the chosen one trope was very intriguing and I wanted to read more. But unfortunately it didn’t quite live ipto my expectations. The characters failed to leave their mark on me and the humor sounded silly and failed to get even one smile out of me. So unfortunately this book didn’t work for men

El comienzo de Fate of the Fallen no puede ser más convencional. La localización es el clásico pueblo apartado de la civilización, del que prácticamente nadie ha salido a viajar y que vive una existencia idílica. La principal tarea de Mathias es estudiar y decidir a cuál de las chicas del pueblo va a llevar al baile.

Creemos que la novela toma un camino trillado cuando se revela la condición de Elegido (música de fanfarrias) de Mathias, destinado a salvar el mundo como tantos y tantos otros protagonistas de novelas de fantasía. Pero, en un brusco giro de los acontecimientos, Mathias perece nada más salir del pueblo.
En este sentido recuerda un poco al cambio de enfoque de los típicos tropos fantásticos con los que tanto nos agradó Adrian Tchaikovsky con su Redemption’s Blade.
En ese libro se presenta un mundo que ya ha vencido al Lord Oscuro y en el que los héroes se tienen que replantear su condición (¿cómo puedes ser un héroe si ya no hay un villano?). En Fate of the Fallen los personajes se enfrentan a una profecía que ya no puede cumplirse y a un final en el que inevitablemente la luz acabará pereciendo. ¿Cómo puedes seguir luchando con esperanza de victoria cuando el único con posibilidades de vencer al mal ya no está entre nosotros?
Y sin embargo, la tenacidad de Aaslo, el mejor amigo del Elegido (música de fanfarrias) y verdadero protagonista del libro, sirve como guía e inspiración al resto de personajes secundarios que aparecen a lo largo de los capítulos.
Kade combina la narración habitual de fantasía con una segunda trama, complementaria, que utiliza para revelar el funcionamiento del mundo donde se desarrolla la acción, desde el punto de vista de un reaper, una especie de valkyria encargada de recoger las almas de los muertos. Es la parte narrada por este personaje la más sorprendente, llena de buenas ideas y frescura. También aprovecha para presentarnos un panteón poco original pero que tendrá un papel destacado en el desarrollo de la novela.
Fate of the Fallen es un clara primera entrega de una saga más larga: presenta muchos elementos, resuelve algunas cuestiones (aunque deja muchas más sin contestar) pero no acaba para nada en este primer volumen.
Es importante destacar el humor del que hace gala la autora. A pesar de la inevitabilidad de los hechos que presenciamos, seremos testigos de algunos diálogos (o soliloquios) que nos harán sonreír más de una vez. Los malentendidos y quizá el descenso a la locura de Aaslo estará endulzado por estos momentos.
La mezcla de humor y fatalidad está bien combinada y ayuda a evitar que el libro deprima al lector.
Es de alabar también que el ocasional deus ex machina tenga una explicación coherente, dando a la novela una sensación más redonda y justificando el interés de ciertas deidades en el desarrollo de los acontecimientos.
El desarrollo de la narración va tomando un cariz más oscuro conforme vamos conociendo más el trasfondo de la historia. Y el final es un cliffhanger de manual, de esos que hacen que tengas que esperar con ansia la siguiente entrega, que según Kel Kade saldrá este mismo 2020. Sin embargo Shroud of Prophecy tendrá varias entregas y no se sabe si será trilogía o una serie más larga.
Creo importante resaltar que hemos leído el libro en distintos formatos, así que como apostilla final me gustaría decir que el narrador del audiolibro, Nick Podehl, rezuma optimismo y diversión, parece que ha disfrutado mucho con su trabajo y cambia la percepción del oyente del tono del libro.

A small-town boy from a remote village learns that he is the Chosen One, destined to fulfill The Prophecy and save the world from encroaching evil. But what happens if the prophecy fails? What happens when the Chosen One dies?

Kade writes with a very flowing prose that breathes life into each new environment visited by the reader and the main character. Kade purposely lulls the reader into a false sense of ease before yanking the rug out from under them.

Aaslo is a good protagonist but very Mary Sue/Gary Stu-ish, with few interesting flaws-- what he had were very ordinary flaws: too gentlemanly so that it got him into trouble, naive, only fights when necessary. However, the book itself doesn't fully live up to its premise. There's a lot of occurrences that don't help the progression of the story, either. It lacks a sense of build-up and climax-- plateauing, a big event, then more plateauing. It felt a lot like cruising along.

Kade's Fate of the Fallen starts with the hero dying and how life goes on. The book was hilarious and probably the best fantasy novel I read in past 12 months. Kade sets up world-building on a scale that could see many other books in the series. Can't wait for sequel!

Fate of the Fallen is the first book in a new series by Kel Kade. Released 5th Nov 2019 by Macmillan on their Tor imprint, it's 352 pages and available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook formats.

I thought this was going to be a standard epic quest 'chosen' one series. It's emphatically not that. I loved that the author basically took a large axe to the standard narrative trope within the first few chapters and the rest of the book was an interesting exploration of what happens when the 'one true prophecy' is lost?

The author has a strong and readable voice in her narrative. The plotting and tension arc are impressive. The characters are well drawn and the technical aspects of the writing are very well controlled. The author can certainly write. This book has been difficult to review because I don't write spoilers into my reviews (even with spoiler warnings) which means even a general precis is out of the question. I'll just say that I enjoyed the heck out of this one, I fully intend to search out the following book(s), and in fact, I intend to search out some of the author's other books.

Four stars. Strong story and engaging characters, creepy antagonists and monsters, and even a touch of humor.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

According to the Aldrea Prophecies, there is one, and only one, thread of fate where the Chosen One will rise up and defeat a great evil and save the land.  All other threads lead to death.  Mathias has just learned he's the Chosen One, and together with his best friend Aaslo and his mage guardian, they leave their quiet hamlet to complete his destiny.  But when things start going awry and parts of the prophecy fail, kings, mages, and commoners start preparing for the end.  After all, only one thread led to salvation, and if they aren't on that thread anymore, why keep fighting?  But our heroes aren't ready to let prophecies decide the fate of the world, and they will travel the entire length of the realm to find the power they need to succeed.

FATE OF THE FALLEN is a book that has a lot of great elements: twists you don't see coming, dry humor, action-packed set pieces.  Unfortunately, the moment-to-moment plotting just didn't quite hold up for me, leaving me a little lukewarm on the book overall.  It's shame because when the book lands, it does so in a spectacular fashion.  One twist early on left my jaw on the floor.   The final battle, when pieces of a prophecy click into place, was an exciting conclusion with stunning visuals and reveals that left me on a high that I wish had been sustained throughout the story.

The characters themselves are largely enjoyable.  Mathias might be the Chosen One, but it's Aaslo who holds the story together, the Samwise Gamgee who is steadfast in his commitment to Doing the Right Thing.  He's baffled that the majority of people seem content to just lay down and let the world burn down around them without putting up any kind of a fight.  Teza, a mage-in-training who joins the story part way through the book, was an energetic kick the book needed, and I welcomed her addition to the team. And of course, a delightful horse named Dolt who steals the scene (and several hats) every time he's on the page. There are still others who join the party over the course of Mathias's and Aaslo's adventure, and its the kind of "assemble the adventure party" trope where you look forward to seeing the united group move forward into the next book.

But even with all those positive elements, I sometimes found myself struggling to stay engaged with FATE OF THE FALLEN.  Some of that was due to what felt like a meandering structure.  There's a lot of travel time in this book, sometimes without clear destination or goals, especially in moments where our heroes go "Well that didn't turn out as expected...now what?"  These sections are occasionally broken up by a viewpoint character named Myropa, a reaper who can cross between the world of Aldrea and the world of the gods.  There's a whole pantheon here (though we largely focus on four gods), each with their own agenda for Aldrea as they vie to increase their own power.  While I like Myropa and the perspective she brought to the book, it sometimes felt like we were spending a little too much time in the divine realms, grinding the plot to a halt.

There was one feature in this book that particularly hampered my enjoyment.  As the journey progresses, Aaslo starts hearing a voice that comments on situations and ridicules both Aaslo and the people he's interacting with.  Aaslo frequently talks back to the voice in full view of other people - other people who assume he is talking to them and misinterpret his remarks.  What started out as an amusing moment quickly devolved into a grating, repetitive device; even when Aaslo "whispers" or "mutters" his response, someone always assumes he's talking to them.  Your mileage my vary on how you fare with this particular aspect, but it was a joke I wish had been dispensed with.

FATE OF THE FALLEN is a book one where I'm not quite sure if I want to continue with the series.  As I mentioned, when this book lands, it's a great read, and I did find myself speeding through chunks with surprising ease.  And having laid out the groundwork and made a few reveals, there's a chance that a sequel will only improve upon what was laid out here.  But our heroes are on a quest with no clear goal, and that showed in the lack of a real pressure clock on the plot.  FATE OF THE FALLEN ends with the world of Aldrea in a precarious and intriguing state, but it remains to be seen if that's enough to save the overall series from my DNF pile.

This was a very interesting fantasy novel that upends the common "chosen one" trope -- really solid work!

I received a copy of this from Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge in exchange for my open and honest review.

If you would like to read more of my reviews or various other bookish things please come by my blog
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Kel Kade's book, Fate of the Fallen, is a book of tropes turned on their head and flipped all around. For example, how many books have you read about a small-town farming boy and his trusty best friend that learns that he has a magical destiny and is fated to either destroy or save the world? How about that farming boy that was raised by a wise old man who happens to be a wizard. And that wizard has kept it a secret all these years. These tropes are here, sort of.

Here is where this story gets good...

Kade has taken these time old formulas and flipped them all around. Instead of the small-town boy fulfilling the prophecy, he dies in the second chapter. His best friend has to take his head and do all he can do to help save his friends and family. Imagine if Frodo died, and Samwise Gamgee had to take over his quest alone while carrying Frodo's magically bespelled. The old male father figure wizard trope is instead replaced by a female who is a witch. It entirely changes the tone of the story, for the better. And the prophecy is going to come true no matter what. No matter what.

I can't tell you much more about the plot because this is a story that even merely alluding to events in the story that will ruin it. Just know that hackneyed tropes are thrown out the window for fresh and bright storytelling that is enthralling and heartbreaking at the same time. There was more than one time during this story, where I had to put the book down and say out loud, "Damn."

The side characters are just as exciting as the main protagonist, and I enjoyed the interactions and reactions that Kade has written. The dialog and prose of the story flow from moment to moment but is not jam-packed with so much action and detail that the reader gets tired. It is just enough to keep you only slightly breathless, but always wanting more. Another thing is this story is funny as hell. It had me guffawing and howling a couple of times. Kade really taps into the snark on this one.

Fate of the Fallen is a story that I just loved. It is everything a reader wants out of a fantasy romp. It has great characters, exciting twists, funny dialog, and a protagonist that you want to know more about. Definitely one of the best books I have read this year and I can't wait to read more from Kade.

Out of my comfort zone and I think I would enjoy this storyline more after the holidays, I may give it a re-read then. While it’s not my usual type of book the story kept me entertained and I enjoyed the friendship theme. While I didn’t love it - I think it’s more of a timing thing. Will review on Instagram after a re-read in the dead of winter!