Fated

Nov 12, 2010 Kemper rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi, humor, sky-cake

The problem with discovering a writer you like at the beginning of their career is that you have to wait for them to write more books since they don’t have a shelf full of their stuff at the library or bookstore. I bought and finished Fated the week it released, and now I realize that I gotta wait for S.G. Browne to write a new book. I almost wish that I hadn’t read him at all until about five years or so in the future when (hopefully) he’ll have several books out that I could read in a giant fr...more The problem with discovering a writer you like at the beginning of their career is that you have to wait for them to write more books since they don’t have a shelf full of their stuff at the library or bookstore. I bought and finished Fated the week it released, and now I realize that I gotta wait for S.G. Browne to write a new book. I almost wish that I hadn’t read him at all until about five years or so in the future when (hopefully) he’ll have several books out that I could read in a giant frenzy instead of having to wait for the next one.

Immortal incarnations of various aspects of the universe and human nature walk around Earth disguised as people to carry out the jobs given to them by God, better known to his employees as Jerry. But Fate (a/k/a Fabio) is feeling disgruntled after two-hundred and fifty thousand years. He’s responsible for the 85% of the humans that aren’t on the path of Destiny, and he’s sick of watching them fail to live up to their best case scenarios through bad choices, laziness, greed, fear, etc. He’s also jealous that his co-worker Destiny gets to handle all the ‘special’ people who will do great things with their lives while he‘s stuck with the losers.

Fate spends his time hanging out with his best friends Karma, Gluttony and Sloth, having non-contact sex with Destiny and regretting an argument with best friend Death (a/k/a Dennis) that has left them not speaking for the last 500 years.

All that changes when Fate sees Sara. She’s a special person on the Path of Destiny, but when he keeps running into her, Fate finds himself falling for a human woman for the first time. But loving Sara might interfere with Jerry’s plans for her and leads to Fate breaking all the rules when it comes to his influence over humans.

S.G. Browne is like a hybrid of Christopher Moore and Chuck Palahniuk. His first supernatural comedy, Breathers, was a terrific book that put a fresh and funny spin on zombies. With Fated, he shows that he was not a one-hit wonder.

Browne’s already proved can come up with unique ideas and then use to deliver both humor and tragedy at the same time. He’s got a talent for getting laughs out of his sci-fi concepts, but still delivering touching drama at the same time.

Write faster, Mr. Browne. (less)

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Jan 21, 2011 Elisa rated it 2 of 5 stars

Recommended to Elisa by: A book club.

Shelves: humor, pop-fiction

Cute, but lame. I didn't expect anything deeply brilliant or life-changing or anything form a kitschy humor book with a cute twist on an old theme, but the execution of it all was still weak. It felt like an unfinished draft that didn't take itself seriously--even (especially?) in the humor. The seeds are there for what could have been a sophsicatedly handled comedy based on moving meaningfulness, but they were left lazily unpolished. The prose in this book reminds me of the titular character's...more

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Dec 16, 2010 Kaion rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: myth-folk

You know the little "meanwhile"s in Good Omens where the Four Hogmen of the Apopcalypse are on nigh, and it's amusing because motorcycles and Pollution has replaced Pestilence (due to the said invention of Penicillin)?

Well, strip any of the wit from that, magnify it to screechy book length, wrap it in faux-Chuck Palaniuk* style and then dip the results in a saccharine-love-story glaze, and you've pretty much got Fated by S.G. Browne.

Which is a little sad, because Browne isn't working with nothin...more

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May 16, 2011 Lindsey Lang rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

i just basically have to say, READ THIS BOOK!!! i'm not usually a big humor type of reader but this book may just change my mind, that is if i could find other ones this good!! i absolutely loved the satire mixed throughout and actually found myself laughing out load several times. i don't want to give any of those moments away and since i know i definitely can't do this book the justice it deserves in my review i'll just say once again, everyone should read this book, seriously! even if you thi...more

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Feb 01, 2012 Rachel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: reread

This was a really creative twist on Fate (pun intended...maybe). It was laugh out loud funny and I think I may have enjoyed it more than Browne's other book, Breathers. That's a toss up. I love me some Zombies. But my other love is mythology. I love the embodiments Browne gives so many of the concepts that exist in mythology. The love story between Fabio and Sarah is really sweet and realistic. The book does get dark but I think it comes out very hopeful. A highly enjoyable read.

Updated 2/1/2012...more

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Sep 17, 2011 Vincy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Fate (who calls himself Fabio) is getting bored. He's been alive hundreds of thousands of years and, quite frankly, he's getting sick of all of the mistakes the 82% of humans he's in charge of make. He's jealous of (and sometimes hot for) Destiny and her humans that are destined for great things. His best friend, Dennis (who just happens to be death) hasn't spoken to him in over 500 years since Fabio asked him to bend the rules a little and kill Columbus, so their workload would stay manageable....more

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Dec 08, 2012 Bücherplanet rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

...Schicksal hat die Nase voll.

Inhalt:

Sergio ist das Schicksal. Er teilt den Menschen ihre Schicksale zu (schon seit über 250.000 Jahren) und überwacht diese. Aber er hat die Nase gestrichen voll. Früher war die Arbeit noch einfacher. Ein paar Millionen Menschen über drei Kontinente. Jetzt sind es sieben Milliarden auf dem ganzen Planeten. Früher hatte er eine Erfüllquote (Menschen die ihr optimales Schicksal erreichten) von 63%. Jetzt sind es gerade mal noch 30. Eigentlich hätte er gerne einen...more ...Schicksal hat die Nase voll.

Inhalt:

Sergio ist das Schicksal. Er teilt den Menschen ihre Schicksale zu (schon seit über 250.000 Jahren) und überwacht diese. Aber er hat die Nase gestrichen voll. Früher war die Arbeit noch einfacher. Ein paar Millionen Menschen über drei Kontinente. Jetzt sind es sieben Milliarden auf dem ganzen Planeten. Früher hatte er eine Erfüllquote (Menschen die ihr optimales Schicksal erreichten) von 63%. Jetzt sind es gerade mal noch 30. Eigentlich hätte er gerne einen anderen Job. Vielleicht den von Frieden, der ist seit Ewigkeiten unbesetzt. Doch dann trifft er Sara. Und verliebt sich in sie. Und das bringt einige Probleme, denn Unsterbliche dürfen keine Beziehungen mit Menschen haben.

Meinung:

Das ist ein wirklich klasse Buch. Eindeutig einer meiner Favoriten. Von Anfang an total interessant, fesselnd. Und schnell wird es auch sehr lustig. Trotzdem kommt die Spannung nicht zu kurz.
Der Schreibstil ist leicht zu lesen. Mein kommt schnell in die Geschichte und hofft auf immer mehr Unsterbliche die man näher kennen lernen kann.
Sergio selbst hab ich sehr schnell sehr gern gehabt. Und ständig kam bei mir die Frage auf: Was wäre denn mein optimales Schicksal? Was muss oder kann ich tun, um sein Leben leichter zu machen? (Ja, ich bin verrückt. ;) )
Um diese Fragen mal auf ein ernsteres Niveau zu bringen: Glaube ich an Schicksal? Und wenn ja, wie ist das mit unserem freien Willen zu verbinden? Wenn ich ein Schicksal habe, erfülle ich es automatisch, sind alle meine Entscheidungen schon vorprogrammiert oder wird mein Schicksal angepasst, wenn ich eine andere Entscheidung treffe?
Dieses Buch gibt durchaus einige Denkansätze, lässt die Unterhaltung aber bei Weitem nicht zu kurz kommen. Solche Bücher liebe ich besonders.
Obwohl ich zugeben muss, dass ich das Ende durchaus kurios finde. ;-)

Fazit:

Man sollte dieses Buch unbedingt lesen, wenn man sich für solche Bücher interessiert. Und ich hoffe darauf, dass der Autor noch andere seiner Unsterblichen nimmt und über sie schreibt. Vielleicht Teddy (Tod) mit seiner Nekrophobie? Oder Glück mit ihrem Aufmerksamkeitsdefizitsyndrom?

Merlinsdaughter von Mexxbooks(less)

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Oct 24, 2012 Cora rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

Fate, also known as Fabio, is bored with his job. It seems like humans always make decisions that change their path for the worse and all he can do is observe over and over again as people destroy their life. But then he starts to break the rules. First, he falls in love with a mortal then after accidentally influencing the outcome of a human's path he decides that rules or no rules, he needs to make a difference in his humans lives. But he is not going to be able to keep his transgressions secr...more

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Oct 17, 2012 Tom rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, literary-genre-fiction, humorous, sci-fi-fantasy

It's easier to stalk your perfect woman when you can be invisible.

That's what Fabio learns in S.G. Browne's novel "Fated."

Fabio is the alias used by Fate when he's among us mortals. He lives in a nice $3900 a month Manhattan apartment, and spends his workday assigning lifepaths to most of the million or so babies born each day, as well as keeping tabs on some of "his" charges. Fate counts 80% or so of humans on his rolls. His are the ones who lead lives of mediocrity or worse.

Fate has an ongoi...more

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Sep 26, 2011 Andrea Blythe rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, fiction, fic-fantasy, fic-literary-mainstream

The thing about Fabio is that he's Fate, and being Fate kinda sucks. Over several thousand years, he's handed out the fortunes to billions of humans (not great fortunes, mind you, as greatness lies on the path of Destiny). More often than not his humans have a habit of screwing everything up, often veering off their mediocre paths into something even more miserable, forcing Fabio to reassign their fortunes on a constant basis.
Watching this happen over and over again leaves apathetic and bored....more

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Mar 13, 2011 Cheryl rated it 3 of 5 stars

Fated is about Fate, who’s been around for more than a quarter of a million years. A quarter of a million years of watching humans who are put on his path (over 80% of us) making the wrong choices and rarely living up to their potential. He doesn’t get the Pulitzer Prize winners or the people who discover cures for diseases. Those humans are on the path of Destiny, who, it turns out, wears all red all the time, is more than a little slutty, and not very nice. After all this time, Fate, a.k.a Fab...more Fated is about Fate, who’s been around for more than a quarter of a million years. A quarter of a million years of watching humans who are put on his path (over 80% of us) making the wrong choices and rarely living up to their potential. He doesn’t get the Pulitzer Prize winners or the people who discover cures for diseases. Those humans are on the path of Destiny, who, it turns out, wears all red all the time, is more than a little slutty, and not very nice. After all this time, Fate, a.k.a Fabio, has grown tired of his job and has been phoning it in for some time, even using a computer program to manage the explosion of humans on his path. That is, until he falls in love with and meets (in that order) Sara, a mortal woman who moves into his building on Manhattan’s east side.

While immortals, and there are a lot of them: Sloth, Death, Truth, Chance, etc., are allowed to mingle with mortals, getting too involved, like, say, falling in love, is against the rules. The thing is, Sara makes Fabio want to be a better immortal, and that means caring more about his humans. So, despite a warning from the big guy himself, Fate begins to pay more attention to humans, understand them a bit better and tries to help them not screw up all the time. All the while, he’s trying to keep his love for Sara hidden from the other immortals and, especially, from God. But, since God’s kind of omniscient, that proves difficult. God’s been sending out e-mails that something big is on the horizon, though, so Fabio’s hoping that that keeps him too busy to notice his own transgressions.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to rate this book. Aside from a couple writing quirks: three lines of lists of three items per line when talking about things, starting every description of an immortal with, “The thing about insert immortal’s name here is he’s/she’s a insert trait here” were funny at first but got to be a little predictable and annoying, this was a really good book. The whole story idea, the personalities of the immortals and the back story are all really original. The author’s writing style, from Fabio’s spot-on, often sarcastically funny, insight into human behavior was great. The thing about Fated is…I hated the ending.

While I’d love to go into detail, I don’t want to give any spoilers which makes it hard to describe why I didn’t like it. Suffice it to say that, after all of the great, creative writing of the rest of the book, the ending was a real letdown. When Fabio and others were looking into the results of his interferences, something happened that I thought would send the book in one direction that I hadn’t really thought of, something that might help get him off the hook. However, the author didn’t play that up at all and, after all the complaining Fabio did about the ways humans acted, he was no better. In fact, he was worse, which was really disappointing. And the final results of his behavior…Ugh, simply ridiculous.

So, I’d give the ending half a star, but the rest of the book about three to four stars. I know that what I said in the previous paragraph might lead you to believe I'd say run, don't walk away from Fated, but that’s actually not the case. If you think it sounds interesting, give it a try (Maybe the library will have it if you don't want to buy it.). Aside from the ending, the rest of the book was so good that it’s worth a read and, who knows, you might actually find the ending to be clever. As long as you go into it knowing that it might also make you roll your eyes so far into your head that you’ll actually see your retinas.
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Feb 23, 2011 Deborah rated it 2 of 5 stars

"Fated" starts out decently enough, the premise that all attributes, sins, emotions and life paths are personified is intriguing. The story starts to break down with the introduction of the Sara character.

While it soon becomes obvious that she is "destined" for something great (by repeated mentioning from the main character), the reader can't help but wonder if there is a lot of the author in the Sara character. Or if she is meant for the reader to insert themselves in her place. She is that sh...more

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Dec 29, 2010 Jason Warden rated it 5 of 5 stars

Fated by S.G Browne
The thing about Fate(Fabio) is he’s tired of his job. After centuries of going about the business and monotony of filling quotas and filing reports to Jerry(God) about his humans, Fabio Delucci feels an irresistible pull to help his humans to make better decisions. After all, why should Destiny’s humans get to have all the fun? While hers go on to win Nobel prizes, Super bowl MVPs and more, his humans seem to always be one poor decision away from divorce, adultery, drug addict...more

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Dec 04, 2010 Elizabeth rated it 5 of 5 stars

Fabio Delucci is Fate. He is entrusted with the task to stand by and watch as most of the population ruins their lives. Destiny has the much better job of guiding those in a more positive direction, but Fate has the child molesters, drunks, and general ne'er-do-wells. Not exactly a laugh fest. His life, after about 250,000 years, has become routine and dull. He hates his job; his no-contact affair with Destiny is empty and unsatisfying; and he doesn't really have much else going for him. Until h...more Fabio Delucci is Fate. He is entrusted with the task to stand by and watch as most of the population ruins their lives. Destiny has the much better job of guiding those in a more positive direction, but Fate has the child molesters, drunks, and general ne'er-do-wells. Not exactly a laugh fest. His life, after about 250,000 years, has become routine and dull. He hates his job; his no-contact affair with Destiny is empty and unsatisfying; and he doesn't really have much else going for him. Until he runs into his neighbor Sara Griffen by chance. He stalks her for a bit and comes to the realization that he's in love. They finally meet, hit it off famously, and fall head over heels for each other. He has to hide it from Jerry (AKA Jehovah) and all the other personifications, like Gluttony, Vanity, Hope, but especially Destiny because interfering and falling in love with humans is forbidden. This new found love inspires him to help the sad, pathetic people on the path of Fate to achieve happiness and sometimes put them on the path of Destiny. Everything starts to fall apart when the fated people he helped start dying. Was it really because of his interference or is someone trying to sabotage him? How long can he keep is relationship secret in the face of these deaths?

I didn't really know what to expect before I read Fated, but I thought it would be something like Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series. Although there are some similarities, Fated is much more light hearted and ironic. Fate is an engaging and relatable narrator, despite being an ancient anthropomorphic concept. His voice is really what got me into the book because of its conversational and humorous quality. I think everyone can relate to someone with an unsatisfying job trying to make a few people's lives a little bit better. I laughed pretty much through the whole thing. I truly couldn't put it down in finished it in only a couple of days. Although the immortal falling in love with a mortal has been done throughout history just about to death, Browne has managed to breathe new life into this concept. The romance between Sara and Fabio is so adorable and quirky, they just complement each other very well. When things start to go badly for him, I sympathized with him and I was even moved to tears by the end. Even though most of the book is light and funny, there is still a core of true heart and prompts the reader to scrutinize their own lives to see which path we are on: Destiny or Fate.

Fabio is backed by a cast of memorable personifications, including, Gluttony, Vanity, Dennis, Hope, Secrecy, Honesty, and Lady Luck. They all have their little personality quirks and aren't the perfect celestial beings that we may have imagined. I liked learning about the ins and outs of their daily lives, such as their man suits that contain their true selves and the quotas they have to fill. Most of their lives aren't much better than any given human's, except for the perks, like the spa in Eden, a universal credit card, and the ability to transport anywhere instantaneously.

The thing about Fated is, it's a great novel. The ending is pretty unexpected and comes out of nowhere, but it's very satisfying. I would love to read another book starring Fabio and I look forward to what S.G. Browne will do next. I would recommend this to fans of Breathers, Browne's debut novel, and people who enjoy Christopher Moore's novels.(less)

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Sep 06, 2011 Theresa rated it 4 of 5 stars

I think I was fourteen when I discovered Piers Anthony. I don't know where he ranks among fantasy/sci-fi fans, but he had a lot to do with my adult taste in fiction. I loved his "Incarnations of Immortality" series, perhaps because of my earlier infatuation of Greek mythology, and the idea that there could be modern incarnations of Death, Time and Fate really resonated with me. So it's little wonder that Fated by S.G. Browne, which offers another take on the personification of Fate, absolutely t...more
I think I was fourteen when I discovered Piers Anthony. I don't know where he ranks among fantasy/sci-fi fans, but he had a lot to do with my adult taste in fiction. I loved his "Incarnations of Immortality" series, perhaps because of my earlier infatuation of Greek mythology, and the idea that there could be modern incarnations of Death, Time and Fate really resonated with me. So it's little wonder that Fated by S.G. Browne, which offers another take on the personification of Fate, absolutely tickled my fancy.

Fate, also known as Fabio, has been around since God (known as Jerry to all the immortals) created him in the early days of the universe's inception to help manage mankind. Fate's job isn't as fun as Destiny's. Average people have their fate laid out for them, but only the truly special people are the personal responsibility of Destiny. Fabio has gotten bored of looking after the drug addicts, sex offenders and over-consumers who end up in his care. And with a success rate of less than thirty percent of people who actually live up to their potential, who can blame him?

But when Fabio meets Sara, an exceptional human being on the path of Destiny, and falls in love, he begins to think he may have judged humanity a little harshly. So Fabio decides to take a more personal interest in his people (rather than just relying on the computer program he currently uses to assign fates) and goes from being a disinterested bystander to active participant in their lives. But Jerry reminds Fabio that he is forbidden to directly intervene in human affairs and Fabio learns the harsh lesson of unintended consequences.

"Fated" is a loopy, funny story with the same sensibility of a book by Christopher Moore. If you like irreverent humor, and it doesn't get more irreverent than calling God "Jerry" (the "oh my Jerry" moments never fail to crack me up), then you should like "Fated" quite a bit. The story has a brisk, infectious pace that make this a really quick read. The constant introduction of "new" immortals to the mix gives the book a feeling of newness that never goes away. And as you get into the flow of Browne's writing style you can't wait to see how each character is personified-- and it's not what you'd expect. It might be strangely appropriate that Justice is a sociopath, but I can't say I expected Karma to be an alcoholic.

Despite its subject matter, "Fated" isn't a deep book. If you're looking for insight into the idea of Fate, Destiny or Karma you might be disappointed as "Fated" is far too breezy to spend any time on anything too heavy. I like the way Fabio spells out the difference between Fate and Destiny, and how one might change their assigned fate, but it's not the stuff of religious epiphanies. "Fated" also isn't the kind of book that lends itself to intricate character development. Despite the fact that Fabio has been around, forever, and seen it all (literally) he's a simple immortal in a meat suit (made to order by Ingenuity). Humans largely baffle him and most of his existence has been spent entertaining himself with other immortals. Sara's character is also mostly one-dimensional. We know she's special because she's on the path of Destiny, but other specifics regarding her personality are limited to the fact that people smile when they see her and her fondness for take-out food.

But as a light diversion, "Fated" absolutely works. The pace is so skillfully done that the story never bogs down and it's one of those books that'll make you lose a day on the couch because you continually want to know what happens next. I don't know if Browne intends to spend any more time with the immortals introduced in "Fated," but if he does-- I'm in.

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Aug 13, 2011 Conor rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: senior-year, favorites

Fated
S.G. Browne
352 pages

Fated explores immortality, virtue, sin, politics, religion, fate, destiny, and karma all in less than 400 pages. S.G. Browne does it in such a subtle way that the reader may not always be aware of it. Fated is about altering destiny through the eyes of Fabio, fate himself. Fabio has an ongoing feud with Dennis, death, an on off relationship with Destiny (better in bed than Lust, Glamour and Temptation), and reports to Jerry, God himself. He occasionally has philos...more Fated
S.G. Browne
352 pages

Fated explores immortality, virtue, sin, politics, religion, fate, destiny, and karma all in less than 400 pages. S.G. Browne does it in such a subtle way that the reader may not always be aware of it. Fated is about altering destiny through the eyes of Fabio, fate himself. Fabio has an ongoing feud with Dennis, death, an on off relationship with Destiny (better in bed than Lust, Glamour and Temptation), and reports to Jerry, God himself. He occasionally has philosophical talks with Karma, and likes to spend his spare time with Gluttony and Sloth. Fabio's job is far from easy, being that 83% of humans are "predictable creatures of habit", with the remaining percent being Destiny's job. Only a few "chosen" individuals are on the path of destiny, and Fabio unfortunately falls for a mortal on that path. Coming to closer contact with the human race and mortality makes Fabio more open to the possibility of change. He begins altering individuals fate, and putting them on Destiny's path. What Fabio fails to acknowledge is that changing one person's life can effectively change hundreds.

This book, surprisingly was a bit of a spiritual experience for me. It explores those ever burning questions of human existence. It is in many ways biased politically, socially, and spiritually. There was nothing particularly special about the style of writing; even a middle schooler would not have a hard time understanding this story. Yet, I think this book requires a special kind of mindset and maturity. And, I absolutely loved it.

Though the book is 352 pages, I finished it very quickly. I would highly endorse this book for anyone wanting to explore questions of human existence. Every year in my english class this question seems to come up: Can humans alter destiny? Though I still do not have a complete answer for this, this book definitely offered me a different perspective. (less)

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Feb 25, 2011 Angela rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: bookcrossed-or-otherwise-set-free, 2011, favorites, advance-readers-edition, library-thing-early-reviewers

Did you know that various immortals watch us at every moment? They do, and they report to God, who prefers being called Jerry. But they're not supposed to interfere with us humans. In fact, Rule Number One is Don't Get Involved.

Fate, however, has broken Rule Number One. He's fallen in love.

Fate, who prefers being called Fabio, has grown tired of watching all of us screw up and wander off the paths he assigned us when we were born. This creates new work for him, assigning us each new fates, which...more

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Oct 18, 2010 Lydia Presley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, comedy, fiction

I have to admit that I laughed my way through this book. The humor was just the right kind - that kind that tickled my funny bone even though I wouldn't normally laugh at the subject matter. With that said, some of the laughter was because I couldn't believe I was reading a book (and sympathizing) with a character named "Fabio". "Fabio" is Fate. But he doesn't like being called Fate. So instead of a name like Frank ... he chose Fabio, and all I can think of when I say that name is the cover of s...more

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Mar 17, 2012 Sterlingcindysu rated it 3 of 5 stars

I think the best description for this book is, that it's a "romp." Lighthearted, funny, cute. I wasn't very pleased with the ending and there were a few too many adjectives masquarading as characters. (Ok, I can see Truth and Honesty, but Rumor? Secrecy? Subserviance?) Browne took an idea and ran with it. (copied review) From the acclaimed author of Breathers—an irreverent novel about fate, destiny, and the karmic consequences of getting involved with humans. Over the past few thousand years, Fa...more

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Jan 26, 2012 Angela rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: a-to-z-title-challenge

What do you do if you are an immortal that controls Fate? That is the question that Fate, aka Fabio in human form, faces every day. Fate is in charge of making sure humans follow their fate path to the lives they are supposed to lead. However, Fate is NEVER supposed to interfere with a human’s final path. What does that mean? Well, it means that no matter how bad of a decision a human makes (and how far off the original fate path that will put them), Fate can never help them make the correct or...more What do you do if you are an immortal that controls Fate? That is the question that Fate, aka Fabio in human form, faces every day. Fate is in charge of making sure humans follow their fate path to the lives they are supposed to lead. However, Fate is NEVER supposed to interfere with a human’s final path. What does that mean? Well, it means that no matter how bad of a decision a human makes (and how far off the original fate path that will put them), Fate can never help them make the correct or better decision. He exists purely to watch over and make sure they follow some sort of fate path, be it the one originally given to them or not. There are many immortals like Fate, such as Destiny, Death, Honesty, Lady Luck and so forth. They all have a job to watch the human go down certain paths without ever interfering. There are rules if you are in immortal like Fate, some are: never get involved and never get romantically involved with a human. Fate is sick of always watching his humans screw up and he meets a woman (human woman) who he feels drawn to, but if he is to listen to Jerry (aka God) he is not to do anything about either of these feelings.

I have never read a book like this before. The concept was just amazing to me! I really fell in love with all the characters from the very first page and just felt connected to them by reading the book. I also felt myself at times wondering if that really is how things could work. I have to say that Fate was by far my favorite character and Destiny was probably my least favorite. Fate ends up trying to feel better about his “job” by helping his humans make better choices in their lives, even if that is strictly against the rules. He figures, what harm can it do to put them on a better path? Well, Jerry is quite the stickler for rules and when he finds out about Fate’s new “activity” of helping his humans change their fate, he is none to happy and tells Fate he must stop interfering or he will face the consequences of his actions. You would think that having Jerry, aka God, tell you that you need to stop would be enough right? Does Fate think that is reason enough to not interfere any longer? Maybe. Not only is Fate messing with his humans fate paths, but he also can’t help but become romantically involved with a human woman whom he is drawn to like a magnet to a fridge. Jerry never said anything to Fate about his feelings for a human, so what Jerry doesn’t know won’t matter right? I have to say, this book never had a dull moment and with how Fate could “see” what would happen to all the humans by looking at them was very amusing to me. I found myself wishing I could have that kind of power, like an enhanced psychic power. I really got drawn into Fate’s life and caught up in what I was rooting for, for the guy. This book is full of unexpected twists that make you go…hhhmmmm. As I read I found myself laughing, getting angry with some of the characters, worrying about the characters, crying, and being surprised. This book was wonderfully written and was beyond a joy to read! S.G. Browne did a truly amazing job of making this book original in it’s plot and characters. This is a definite must read for anyone who loves a mix of some good ol’ fiction along with a romantic twist. It very possibly was my fate to read this book. :-)(less)

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Jun 24, 2011 Joshua rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm actually giving this book 3.5 stars, even though there isn't a rating for that..I love this author and his humor, and am excited to see more from him..I loved his first book Breathers, so i was interested in this book solely because his name was attached to it. The book is about a man who is immortal and is assigned to Fate, which allows him to deal out people's fate in life..Along the way you meet not just Fate aka Fabio, you meet Death, Destiny, Lust, Sloth, Chance, Truth, etc..I loved tha...more

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Feb 03, 2011 Jasmine rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: american

okay so I picked this book up because it looked terrible. yeah no really that was my justification. I finished a book at work and didn't want to read the other book I had with me, so I went to the fiction section looked at the cart and picked up the stupidest looking book (well once you edit out the genre fiction on the cart. I mean it wasn't a nora roberts kind of moment.) The back of this book just terrible. the blurb sounds retarded and like the author had no idea what he was doing. the cover...more okay so I picked this book up because it looked terrible. yeah no really that was my justification. I finished a book at work and didn't want to read the other book I had with me, so I went to the fiction section looked at the cart and picked up the stupidest looking book (well once you edit out the genre fiction on the cart. I mean it wasn't a nora roberts kind of moment.) The back of this book just terrible. the blurb sounds retarded and like the author had no idea what he was doing. the cover is stupid and cheesy (not unlike breathers in my personal opinion).

After all that you won't be surprised to hear I was shocked when the book was actually good. I thought it was well written and witty and just all kinds of awesome.

Now caris has a review of his other book that says that everything caris hates in his own writing was in the book. Now I'm bias cause I didn't hate caris' book, but I think there are some valid points that carry over to this book.

He does get a little stuck on catch phrases. I mean about a hundred pages in I was ready to throw the book across the room if he wrote "the thing about _______ is he's/she's a _______" I mean they are stupid extra words and it was funny the first well 2 times, tolerable he next 30 or so, then torture the rest of the time, except the last one, I liked that one. And just like caris says in his review (probably in reference to other matters) this feels to me like a poor imitation of palahniuk. I know I know palahniuk only writes one character, whatever people I know you aren't into it. At one point when I was reading interviews by palahniuk there was one about how to write it talked about knowing your character. This included knowing the kinds of things that your character says. So for him in the book choke he talks about code red and code blue etc. and sex things. This is even as literal as if I was a character in a book there are phrases I use all the time "Depressing." "Not really no." "I don't like points they're sharp." that I say, but here is the thing there are lots of characteristic phrases and different wordings of those phrasings I mean as a character I wouldn't say only "depressing." sometimes I'd say "Sad." or "stupid." There is variety, unless you are retard with no vocabulary. This lack of meaningful variation it's annoying.

I don't mind the characters awkwardness in this book. But I not having read the other book I would say it's still there. This is very much a book about a stupid guy and he's a stupid guy who knows he's a stupid guy. I don't mind this in my book some people do, if you are one of those people this is not the book for you.

I also thought there was a chance the personification was going a bit far I mean I don't know that it is necessary to have a personification of every fucking adjective. I do like the fact that a lot of them went by other names, and you aren't actually told who josh is for a while, although you will guess before the actual moment, unless I missed an earlier revelation.

I'm on the verge of talking myself down a star, so I'm just going to say this was one of the most enjoyable books I read all year and for a while I thought it was going to be the first 5 star book of the year. I fully intend to read breathers now even though I think he cover is stupid. (less)

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Sep 05, 2011 H R Koelling rated it 3 of 5 stars

Brilliantly executed and original novel that made me laugh out loud several times. Mr. Browne is a gifted writer who combined mythic and religious characters as modern day contemporaries living amongst us as they carry out their various duties. His coterie of characters includes Sloth, Greed, God, Destiny, Persistence, Karma, and the protagonist, Fate (who goes by the name, Fabio), among others, mostly living in New York City in expensive apartments living the lives of their job descriptions: Sl...more

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Jan 15, 2012 Jeane rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: planned-2012

The thing with reading out of your comfort zone is that you can have great suprises and bad ones. Reading about fate, destiny, eadth, ... in a fiction story isn't really for me. Just like satiric novels. But winning a book is always great, so you read it even if it doens't look great fun.
Fated, is one of the two books I won which are written by S.G. Browne. From the beginning it felt light and fast which I thought was a good thing for the kind of book I normally don't read. In case it really isn...more

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May 05, 2011 Kristin rated it 3 of 5 stars

I am torn about how to rate this book. I settled on 3 stars because without the end, it would’ve been a 4.5 star book. The ending deserves negative stars.

I purchased this book for my sister for Christmas on impulse after seeing it on the shelves at Borders (which won’t be happening again since they’re closing all of them. Thanks for sending me into the cold arms of Amazon!) and after she read it, she told me she thought the ending was so stupid, that she couldn’t believe how awful it was, but th...more I am torn about how to rate this book. I settled on 3 stars because without the end, it would’ve been a 4.5 star book. The ending deserves negative stars.

I purchased this book for my sister for Christmas on impulse after seeing it on the shelves at Borders (which won’t be happening again since they’re closing all of them. Thanks for sending me into the cold arms of Amazon!) and after she read it, she told me she thought the ending was so stupid, that she couldn’t believe how awful it was, but that I should still read it because the rest of the book was so amazing. This is something she’s never done before. Usually if she hates a book she’s ready to just turn on the stovetop and set it on fire (don’t worry, we donate them to the library). So I went into it knowing that I’d probably hate it, though she said I might find it clever.

I didn’t.

Fated is about Fabio, who, as Fate, is tasked with predetermining and ordering the course of 83% of the human population’s lives. The rest are on the path of Destiny, who, as described by Fate, quite accurately I might add, is a heartless whore who basically gets the cream of the crop of the human herd. After thousands of years of assigning fates to mostly miscreants and screw-ups, he’s pretty much had it and has taken a minimal interest in his job. Then he meets Sara, a human who is on the path of Destiny. That’s when things begin to change for Fabio. He actually starts to take an interest in his humans and after he interferes with the fates of a number of them, which is a no-no because of the idea of free will, he begins to think that he can rediscover why he used to like his job and actually starts to feel relevant once again. The remainder of the book follows him as he attempts to improve the lives of his humans and ultimately has to deal with the consequences of his actions.

Along the way, we meet Jerry (God), Dennis (Death) and other immortals who are Intangibles and Emotives, among other beings, and who all live in “man and woman suits” so that they can move around the Earth without causing mass hysteria, as their real shapes vary from, as Fabio describes it, blinding balls of white energy to nasty-looking creatures with the faces and bodies of constantly aroused boars. While getting to see Fabio in action trying to be a better, more involved Fate, we watch him interact with a variety of with humans. While these scenes are funny, the ones with the other immortals are downright hilarious. Sloth and Gluttony cracked me up, Karma is absolutely hysterical and though he was only in it for about two sentences, Hostility was gut-bustingly funny and I wish he’d been in the book more.

While I would love to complain about things that happened at the end and go off on one of the characters, who I would love to drop-kick into a black hole, I’m not going to go into any details about what happens to Fabio because I don’t want to give anything away.

At one point Love tells Fabio that love is like a good book you can’t put down and you wish would never end. I really wish this book had never ended because as much as I loved the majority of it, I hated the ending even more. However, I would still recommend this book to anyone who asked about it, because I’m still glad I read it. Fabio’s insights into humans, daily life, the stupid things we do and what makes the majority of us tick are amazingly smart, funny and, unfortunately, spot-on. I’d just give them fair warning about the ending.

And finally, normally I wouldn’t point something like this out, however, I’m so annoyed by the final chapters of the book that I’m going to. There are no steps outside the 13th Precinct, it just opens up at street level. Yes, I know I’m being petty.

The thing about Pettiness is he thought the ending sucked too.
(less)

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Nov 28, 2010 Lauren rated it 2 of 5 stars

Fate – preferred moniker, Fabio – is an immortal in charge of the life paths for 83 percent of humans. Then he meets a mortal who happens to be on the path of Destiny and, despite it being against the rules, falls in love. This book is another entry into the currently popular trend of inserting gods and myths into modern times. This book is a wonderfully weird combination of humor and intellectual commentary on the nature of human existence – with an engaging plot to boot. I had trouble putting...more

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Dec 31, 2010 Natalie Baker rated it 3 of 5 stars

Once the author finally gave up on the "humor" and found the severity of the story (which took way too long-3/4 of the book in), the book became what I thought it would be and more-a weird love story that makes you question existence and humanity.

I want to give it more stars because it was a better than good read and I couldn't put it down, (finished it in a day) but the excessive attempts at wittiness and the eurocentric textbook history irritated me and left me somewhat disappointed.

If you li...more

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Nov 26, 2010 Pauline rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: project-52-2010

I am typing this review mere minutes after finishing S.G. Browne's Fated - at past two in the morning, no less. I cannot contain myself, really, because a book hasn't made me laugh out loud as much as this one for the longest time, and this isn't something you can just sleep on and remember to write about in the morning. So here I am, way past midnight, gathering my thoughts, wondering where to begin.

Let's start with Fabio.

Ah, Fabio, more commonly known as Fate, the guy responsible for how our l...more

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Aug 08, 2011 Myrna rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was entertaining enough. The idea that all the things that make up a human life (gluttony, honesty, secrecy, luck, death, etc...) are personified and are people walking around on Earth and controlling these aspects of their assigned human's life was different and I enjoyed that, but there were two things are really didn't enjoy: the attempts at humor in the book just ween't funny. They were way too forced in a cheesy sitcom kind of way. The second thing I didn't like: the ending. It ju...more

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Jul 20, 2012 Pauline rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of good omens, looking for a humorous and/or light read

Shelves: fiction, own

This book exceeded any and all expectations that I may have had of it. In many ways it faintly reminded me of Good Omens by Gaimen and Pratchett due to the fact that we are dealing with God (or Jerry as he is called here)and otherworldly beings.

So what we have is Fate (aka Fabio) who is generally disillusioned by his job. People generally dislike him(and Fate in general) and he has no motivation for anything. Then one day, a female crosses his path and he begins to fall in love with her. Hi-jin...more

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S.G. Browne - Author: Rule #1: Don't get involved	9	20	Feb 01, 2012 02:30pm
Fate vs Destiny - FATED Book Giveaway	1	20	Oct 23, 2010 08:33am

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