Book Review: "Champion of Fate" by Kendare Blake
*Spoiler alert!*
Champion
of Fate is the
first in a new YA fantasy series by Kendare Blake. Aside from a few nitpicks of
mine—which I will explain in a bit—I largely enjoyed the premise of immortal
women warriors leading heroes to victory in service of their goddess of glory,
Kleia Gloria. They are figures of legend themselves, known as Aristene.
Our heroine,
Reed, is taken under the wings of the order of the Aristene when she is just
eight years old. Recently orphaned when her village is massacred by raiders,
Reed jumps at the opportunity to train to be an Aristene, to gain a new family
and a sense of belonging.
Champion
of Fate picks up
eight years later, when Reed is preparing to undergo her initiation to the
order, known as the Hero Trial, alongside her friends Lyonene and Gretchen. To
lead their heroes to victory and join the order, initiates will be given a
taste of Aristene magic to help in their quest.
“You and I are warriors, Reed. We were made for bloodshed. Made to charge at the sword and see if we can spin away in time.”
Reed is somewhat spoiled by the Aristene order, known as the “foundling,”
which means she gets some favorable treatment over the others, including an
advance glimpse at the hero which she must guide to victory. The thing is, she
saw him accidentally when she was eight years old, a serious prince named
Hestion.
When she meets Hestion for her trial, she begins to have some
jitters about joining the order. Their romance develops fairly fast, per YA
tradition, and when she learns that to succeed in her Hero Trial, she must
sacrifice him, this puts her in quite a bind. For the Aristene elders wish her
to become their powerful new weapon against a rising threat to the order, and
there’s no magic quite like that gained by a valorous death in battle. It’s the
ultimate tribute to Kleia Gloria and the power to be gained is tantalizing.
The price for Reed though is that all the heroes she’ll guide
will die, and she’s not sure she wants to pay that price. (Anyone who reads
fantasy knows that all magic comes with some sort of price.)
“Because glory is glory...but not all glory is equal.”
Of course,
the story is not perfect and the worldbuilding is just beginning, but I wanted
to see more of the other areas of specialization in the Aristene, like military
strategy, geography, and the like, aside from mere fighting prowess. (Perhaps I’m
being impatient, but I want to see more of this world.)
This made
the battlefield scenes chaotic, with no apparent master strategy, and maybe
that’s the point, that Reed is new to all of this—compared to the other
immortal members of the order who have vast wells of experience to draw upon—and
is trying to find her way while she figures out a middle ground between her
heart and duty. (Not to mention the elders aren’t allowed to interfere in the
Hero Trial.)
Having read Blakes’ previous trilogy, “Three Dark Crowns,” I was intrigued to read another novel set in that universe—Fennbirn, the island of the three queens, is included in the map in the beginning of the book—and I largely am looking forward to the next entry in the series. Because, for a YA novel, it hit all the YA fantasy beats I expected, and then veered away from them.
Happy
reading!
--BookOwl
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