Fateless
Changing destiny one fateless theft at a time
First of all, I should tell you all that I was lucky enough to be in the review team for “Fateless”. So I do thank the people from HarperCollins Holland for that. However, that does not change any of my opinions on this book. Julie Kagawa is a very good author and I’ve liked her “Iron Fay” series for a while now.
Summary:
Sparrow is a young girl who grew up in the thieves’ guild. She only wants to become the best thief of the guild. In a city where everyone believes that their fate is set and they can only make the best of what they’ve got, Sparrow still holds on to ambition.
When the guild master chooses her for an assignment that only she can complete, she grabs her chance. But what starts as a personal mission becomes something bigger. With one choice, she seals not only her own fate, but the fate of Kovass.
What did I like?
The world-building
Julie Kagawa created a whole new world for this series. We start in the city Kovass where there is no water above ground because a disaster made the sea sink underground. There are also two suns that burn so hot when they are both at their highest point that you have a ‘demon hour’ each day.
Then we travel across a sand sea to discover more cities with unique people who all have a different way of handling the ‘demon hour’.
I always love discovering new worlds like this. It is so far from our reality that it is perfect for escapism. The drought is also caused by something supernatural and not by global warming, which does not make this one of the many books that critique that directly.
The character dynamics
As you can imagine, growing up in a thieves’ guild does not help with learning how to trust people. Sparrow only trusts a few people, but when she gets betrayed, it only gets worse. Luckily, she learns to balance trust and distrust by the end of the book.
This illustrates the dynamic nature of a character. It gives the reader the impression that this could be a real person. Sparrow is the deepest character in this book because most of the book is written from her perspective. However, it also becomes clear with other recurring characters.
Identity and free will
The title ‘Fateless’ gave me a sneaking suspicion that belief and religion might be a theme. Since the English word, Fate has a more religious connotation than its Dutch translation. I am not a religious person, so I wouldn’t have liked that.
However, the reference to fate is more of a mythological nature in this book. It refers to ‘the Loom of fate’ that we can also find in Greek and Norse mythology. The weaver of fate is this world’s deity.
In real life, I don’t like the concept of people believing they have only one place in this world. Because Everyone has the right to choose what they want. As a story concept, I love it. Especially because we get hints that some people can choose their fate. Do they have free will or not?
What could have been better?
Most of my frustrations lie in the Dutch translation I read. Even though that is my mother tongue, I still had to look up some words that I’ve never seen in my almost 30 years with this language. One would be happy with more vocabulary, but if you can not derive from the context what the meaning could be, it breaks the immersion.
I also had higher expectations from the challenge in the tribe by the end of the book. I feel they grazed over it a bit. I don’t want to spoil too much, but if you read it, you will know.
Furthermore, you also get the constant feeling that the story is going to turn romantic. For me, there are already enough books like that. But when it does happen, it is not with the person I expected it to be. The rest of the story also doesn’t lose importance, so I would call this a nice save.
What makes this book special?
In a time when fantasy books are increasingly drowning in smutty romantasy, Fateless stands out as a rare gem: true fantasy. No overwrought romance, but a gripping world that feels utterly unlike our own. Here, people have an entirely different view of fate — so rigid and absolute that it’s driving their world to the brink of collapse. Only the fateless can save it.
For me personally, it’s even more special because I play a D&D character that was originally based on Lila Bard from ‘A Darker Shade of Magic’. Throughout the adventures, she became someone else. Whilst reading Fateless, I got the feeling that this is the origin story of my character.
Conclusion:
Looking for a true fantasy book with a strong young woman in the lead, someone searching for her own identity in a world where fate has long been decided for you? Then Fateless is the book for you.
It’s already one of my favourites of 2025.
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