Fated [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

The thing about Fated is I was scared to read it.

I loved S.G. Browne's debut novel, Breathers, so much I wanted to savor that love forever, and was actually a little worried his new novel Fated wouldn't live up to my ridiculously high expectations.

Boy, was that stupid.

From page one of Fated, I was completely sucked into the narrative voice of Fate, known to his friends as Fabio. The thing about Fate is he's confused and tired of the same ole, same ole. I mean what can you expect from an immortal who's been guiding the fates of mankind since Jerry created Earth.

Yeah, I said Jerry. That's God's real name. I bet you didn't know that.

Fabio's lackadaisical approach to his humans takes a turn when he finds himself intervening with a beautiful woman named Sara who's not on his path. The thing about Sara is she's on the path of Destiny, and Fabio can't see her future. Unfortunately, Jerry's rule number one says the Immortals aren't supposed to get involved with humans, but Sara is everywhere and before long it's impossible for Fabio not to involve himself. He stalks her, learns everything about her and breaks another immortal rule by falling in love with her.

And breaking this rule when it comes to Sara triggers something inside Fabio that prompts him to interfere like he's never done before. Before he knows it, he's altering the future outcome of his fated charges, even sending some of them off his path and into Destiny's care.

Imagine, if you will, all those things that make human life what it is... Humor, Laughter, Anger, Resentment, Honesty, Secrecy, Karma, Gluttony, Sloth, War, Luck, Chance, Aggression, Mediocrity, Justice, Death...now picture them all personified and walking around the world with quirks not unlike the humans they look after. Secrecy is paranoid. Sloth is a narcoleptic. Death a necrophobic. Irony is all over this book, and it's a beautiful thing.

Fabio's compelling voice leads you into this every day world chock full of cynicism, sarcasm and truth, painting a modern portrait of self-absorbed mankind placating his mediocrity with materialism and rampant sexuality.

While the narrative is similar in style to the main character in Breathers, it is unique in that the voice defines Fabio perfectly. He's both relative and intangible, and the characters he interacts with provide a great deal of food for thought.

The thing about Fated is it's not just satire; it's literature. It's a classic waiting to be assigned to the reading list in college courses like American Lit 101.

And I can't believe I was afraid to read it. I'm actually a little bit ashamed because the amazing narrative of Breathers itself was indication that S.G. Browne is an author to be reckoned with, a voice from the void of humanity that begs to be heard. So listen, and read. You won't be disappointed.

I read this book from an io9 recommendation and I thought it had an interesting premise. So first I want to start out with the things I loved about the book. It had a great plot, good writing, a pretty interesting mystery and a few decent characters. That being said, there were alot more things not to like.

The biggest problem is that the book revolves around a romance, but the love interest a practically the definition of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, which in a nutshell means she was a female character with weird quirks but whose sole motivation is to bring life and meaning to a bored or depressed protagonists life. You can google it for a more detailed description. It's a boring, lazy and cliched stereotype and I expected way more from a book so highly rated. What was also frustrating is the female lead was "On the path of destiny" which it turns out was incredibly predictable and even a little bit offensive. I'll say this, her destiny is not tied into what she does AT ALL, and I wish I could go into it more without spoilers. Just in a nutshell, it felt like the love interests worth was only judged by what was between her legs, and it was a HUGE turn off.

The "mystery" was somewhat interesting, but it felt like Browne just gave up on that subplot and tossed some vague sentences about it in the end and called it a day, which was incredibly unsatisfying and anticlimactic.

What was also frustrating is the book is about the forces of God/Jerry in action on Earth, yet somehow Fate, Destiny, Death and all the other characters only seemed concerned with first world problems. Fate/Fabio contemplates that "people" only care about possessions and short term goals, as if third world countries don't even exist. It was written with an incredibly narrow worldview and Browne's exclusion of such a large portion of earth's population felt incredibly lazy and short sighted.

Finally the ending. The ending was unsettling, and not unsettling in a "this shook my worldview" way but unsettling because it felt like it was opening to a world of creepy sexual fetishes.

Almost the entire time I was reading this book I was asking myself, "Why am I reading this book?" But, I have to give it credit. I have no problem stopping my reading of a book if I don't like it, and something about this book compelled me to finish it. Maybe it was just curiosity to see where the plot was headed or maybe it was the tone of voice of the narrator which is consistently repetitive but also a bit funny. Or maybe it was the idea that the book might surprise me as the narrator changed because he was in love. In any case, I did finish it, and ultimately I don't think I got much out of it.

Plot is kind of love story, kind of religious allegory, kind of depressing homily to humanity that inevitably disappoints. And the book disappoints too because it does not provide a hopeful vision for humanity (even with God in charge) and its dystopian take is not convincing. I can't decide if we're supposed to be hopeful (spoiler alert!!!!!is a suicide committing messiah a hopeful message?) or if this is ultimately a depressing reflection of humanity's chances to improve ourselves.

Quick synopsis: Fate, one of many angels made by God (including others like destiny (Fate's main competitor if you will), Dennis (the devil), Truth, slough, etc.) is bored and tired with watching humans inevitably destroy themselves, with only a few fulfilling any promise (and these are guided by the slutty, malicious destiny; more evidence that the novel is ultimately depressing). He decides to intervene and change the fate of some of his humans and help them have a better life. These attempts are mostly unrealistic. No one I've ever met would change their path because someone whispered in their ear, "you are going to have sex with a bird if you don't straighten up", which is what fate does (is this supposed to be funny?). In the process of trying to help, however (and with a little help from destiny), he actually ends up destroying them. So much for trying to help people out. Meanwhile, he's fallen in love with Sara, a human, a definite no-no but love doesn't follow any rules. Ultimately, God takes issue with him breaking the rules and he is punished. I won't say how or what happens after that because it would give the ending away. And, really if you knew the ending, would you read the novel?

What made the book not work for me was that Sara, the "star", the one everyone lights up when she enters the room, Fate's lover, is kind of an unpleasant and simplistic person that I expected more from (further proof, I guess, that Browne believes humans inevitably disappoint). I don't know if Browne intentionally made her disappointing or if it just my expectations for the good character is someone a bit more complex, empathetic and thoughtful. Another thing that didn't work is there is just no way to get your head around the plot devices used to people the book with "Angels" that embody human values, virtues and sins. It just doesn't work. Why would God (or Jerry as he's called in the book) make so many despicable "Angels" to guide humanity through their lives? Even the good guys, like Karma, are drunk, loud mouth louts. I tried to suspend disbelief as Fate meets with Destiny for some no-contact sex in the mall but I kept thinking how are they guiding their people to their ends if they are hanging out in the mall? And why does the path of fate lead inevitably to doom and the path to destiny lead to good things? And other questions like these that kept me from sitting back and enjoying the show.

The thing I liked best about the novel and why I ended up giving it three stars was that there were moments when I did stop and think about the issues Browne was raising about why/how do people fall in love. How difficult is it to change where we're headed and what happens when we do? I think I did take the book too seriously, and maybe it's better if you approach it from a lighter perspective.