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''Fate'' is definitely Sir Francis' gig. He personally narrates the novel which is driven by his personality. It's an action packed story as many events (and people) happen to him but one accepts they wouldn't be as entertaining recounted by anyone else. This Lord Damory is a kind, generous scientist and polymath, but most of all, Ms Fredericks has blessed him with an excellent sardonic, sarcastic wit and sense of irony. There are plenty of smiles, a couple of laugh-out-loud moments and one particularly clever scene when an in-joke is shared between Lord and reader at the expense of another character present. True, the Lord does seem to bed hop his way across the world, but conquest is hinted at or passively referenced, a welcome contrast to the centre piece ''Farundell'' sex scene. Once you accept that, if a lady has a pulse and seems unrelated to Sir Francis, she's going to end up flat on her back (figuratively) the bonking doesn't get in the way. Unlike Tom Jones or Casanova the sex is incidental to the adventure and events, not the main focus.
Francis' servant, Tunnie, may be a little two dimensional, but he's a servant and this reflects the way in which Tunnie's loyalty and presence is taken for granted. Other characters do more than pad out the narrative, many highlighting the contemporary views and ideas surrounding daily life. For instance Purefoy, the overly-obsessed anatomist, demonstrates the excessive lengths that were employed in order to further biological knowledge. Francis' elder brother, Sebastian, is fond of the high life in a way that turns him into a Hogarthian grotesque. Eliza, a friend and eventual brothel owner, explains why morals are relative and only for those who can afford them. Then there's Sandro the Castrati and of course the other women... There are quite a few women in fact.
''Fate'' works well as a stand-alone novel, but by reading ''Farundell'' first, there's more to be gleaned. The mysterious Mr Pym (who seems very like Mr Benn's shopkeeper in the BBC children's cartoon) makes more fleeting appearances, we begin to realise that water is taking on significance as a purveyor of death and there's more astral travel, though less frequently applied. Also there's a hint of the purpose of Paul Asher (central character of ''Farundell'') and, most importantly, the reason why Sir Francis refuses to be labelled a ghost.
On the downside there are a couple of instances of very modern sounding expletives and one of the characters spending a couple of moments sounding like a 21st century counsellor, but blink and it goes.
I now await the release of the third novel in the series with anticipation, despite it majoring on ''Farundell's'' Paul and Alice, the sort of precocious child that maybenefit may benefit from being unseen ''and'' unheard. However, having read ''Fate'' I realise that L R Fredericks is capable of ensuring that Alice grows into a joy, so fingers are crossed.
I would like to thank the publisher for providing Bookbag with a copy of this book for review.
