Fated by S G Browne
Clever and very funny, this is the sort of book where you immediately feel in safe hands. S.G. Browne has gone to town (New York), satirising just about every aspect of modern life, and my reading was continually interrupted by bells clanging loudly in recognition in my head.
| Fated by S G Browne | |
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| Category: General Fiction | |
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Reviewer: Trish Simpson-Davis
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| Summary: Clever, funny and astute, this satire of humanity in all its shapes is a real winner. I loved it. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 312 | Date: September 2011 |
| Publisher: Piatkus | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-0749954727 | |
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In this well-constructed parallel world, there's a whole cast list of Immortals, cool dudes who personify their attributes, like Sloth who keeps falling asleep and Gluttony who eats disgustingly and continually. Fabio is a laconic observer with a Stateside voice. He has spent the last few millenia socialising with his peers and he has insider knowlege of everyone, immortal or human. Inside our hero is Fate, a selfish, thoughtless youth who initially cares little for the humans he manages. Fate shares mankind with Destiny, a good looking but thoroughly annoying bitch who creams off the most successful humans. The rest are Fabio's. The backstory is fascinating, I couldn't read enough of it!
The plot starts with a girl he meets; eventually he realises that he has fallen in love with a human, a proscribed activity for an Immortal. Despite the obvious dangers, he moves in with Sara. He creates a framework of lies to convince her he is human, rather than the ball of light hemmed into a realistic-looking skin suit that he is in reality. Sara gives Fabio such feelings of warmth towards his human flock that he soon finds himself bending the rules. The inevitable result blows his self-esteem out of the water. And that's where the genius bit of the story kicks in, for the twist in the tail is a real stunner.
I was entranced by the whole, clever and precise world created by the author. The hero wasn't a nice bloke at all, yet I loved his cleverness and humanity and wanted things to turn out well for him, even though he didn't deserve an ounce of sympathy. I read the book through in one sitting, unable to put it down; it's difficult to believe that it was over 300 pages. I just love that feeling that the author has thought out all the angles and I can relax because he really knows what he's doing. It reminded me of Aphrodite's Workshop for Reluctant Lovers by Marika Cobbold, which I also enjoyed, but this, I think, is much better. It's not til I get back to The Last Bachelor by Jay McInerney that I can really make a comparison.The only thing I didn't like about this Piatkus edition was the cover.
I'd like to thank the publishers for sending this book.
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