Title: Fate of the Fallen (The Shroud of Prophecy #1)

Author: Kel Kade

Pub. Date: November 5, 2019

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Shroud of Prophecy tests fate to discover what happens when the path of good and right, the triumph of light over darkness, the only path to salvation… fails.

It turns out saving the world isn’t as easy, or exciting, as it sounds in the stories. Mathias is more than willing to place his life on the line, but Aaslo would love nothing more than to forget about all the talk of arcane bloodlines and magical fae creatures. When the going gets rough, folks start to believe their only chance for survival is to surrender to the forces of evil, which isn’t how the stories go. At all. To make matters worse Aaslo is beginning to fear that he may have lost his mind…

This will be a spoiler free review.

Dare I say that my slump is over? I don’t want to jinx it, but Fate of the Fallen is the first book I’ve read since September that has me thinking about it when I’m not actively reading it. There were moments today that I could not wait to get back to reading this book. I’m thoroughly enjoying it and I definitely want to continue with the series, and I really wish the next books were out already. Ugh, I forgot what this feeling felt like. It’s been so long.

I had really low expectations going into it. I’ve never read anything by this author and I only picked it up at ALA because someone insisted, I did and that it would be good.

They weren’t wrong.

This book was definitely different than I anticipated – though again, I had low expectations. I knew it was a fantasy and honestly, I don’t know if I ever read a full synopsis before diving into it. It’s definitely not Young Adult and definitely reads like and Adult Fantasy – the main character being in his mid-twenties.

Within the first 55 pages there was a twist that I’ve never seen in a book (that early on) and never expected and the tagline “for men to rise, heroes must fall” makes a lot more sense. The MC Aaslo is kind of amazing and I love his personality. He’s definitely my favorite character in this book and I really want to see him succeed. He’s not really a fan of people, but he seems to attract them easily – they gravitate towards him. Despite his not liking people, and because he’s a good person, he’s constantly getting in the middle of skirmishes and situations that further endear people to him. He’s just great and I really like him.

I really like the world Kade has created as well. It’s rich and interesting and the pantheon of Gods is reminiscent of Greek/Roman mythology, so it’s familiar, but new. The supporting characters are personalities and you care for them.

I think one of the reasons I really like about this book is that it reminds me of some of my favorite epic, heroes journey fantasy reads. With the kind of heroes that don’t necessarily want the burden or mantel but take it up anyways to save humanity – especially when literally no one else will. These heroes (like all heroes) are thrust into a world of danger, taken from their everyday quiet lives and tasked with saving the world before some evil ends it. Sometimes there’s a prophecy, and other times fate. Fate of the Fallen reminds me of books like Eragon, There Will Come A Darkness and Heart of the Empire. If you haven’t yet read any of these, you should, and you should definitely check out Fate of the Fallen, it’s out now!