4/5

For fans of: Kendare Blake, found families, coming-of-age, Xena: Warrior Princess, Amazons, warriors, Greek mythology, heroes, fate

The Big Questions:

• What genre is this in? YA fantasy

• Are there any swoon-worthy characters? Prince Hestion for sure

• Is it spicy? Some steamy makeouts and lots of pining

• Is it violent or gory? Several battle scenes, but strictly PG-13 level

• Should I buy, borrow, or pass on this book? If you are a fan of Kendare Blake’s work, buy it!

Synopsis: Behind every great hero is an Aristene.

Aristene are mythical female warriors, part of a legendary order. Though heroes might be immortalized in stories, it’s the Aristene who guide them to victory. They are the Heromakers.

Ever since she was an orphan taken in by the order, Reed has wanted to be an Aristene. Now, as an initiate, just one challenge stands in her way: she must shepherd her first hero to glory on the battlefield. Succeed, and Reed will take her place beside her sisters. Fail, and she’ll be cast from the only home she’s ever known.

Nothing is going to stop Reed--until she meets her hero. Hestion is fiery and infuriating, but what begins as an alliance becomes more, and as secrets of the order come to light Reed begins to understand what becoming an Aristene may truly cost. Battle looming, she must choose: the order and the life she had planned, or Hestion, and the one she never expected.

Review: I am still reeling from the Three Dark Crowns series, so when I was contacted to review Kendare Blake’s first book in her latest series, I jumped at the chance! Overall, Champion of Fate is a solid start to a highly anticipated and action-packed series. Kendare excels in creating strong and complex female characters with equally strong and complex relationships. Reed is a headstrong young woman with a very solid vision of her life in her head. While her story starts in horror, she eventually creates a found family for herself in her fellow initiates and the Aristene. She has a solid foundation and knows what she thinks she wants, but she is easily thrown when new people and new desires threaten to change all she planned. Her sometimes hotheaded decisions and actions have far reaching consequences and I enjoyed the fact that her journey is not cut and dry and neither are the things and people she thought she understood.

Another strength Kendare has is her world building. This new world is steeped in history and magic and we are just getting started in understanding all the systems and organizations involved. The Aristene are intriguing in their desire to bring their goddess glory yet staying as politically neutral as possible, or so it seems. The world of men and their politics seem to be separate and many are not even aware of the Aristene, but there are major hints of a growing faction that seem to want to take their power.

All these threads are setting up for a solid fantasy series. The battle scenes were excellent and well executed, which gives me hope for the rest of the series as we follow the threads left at the end of this book towards the bigger story. My only qualm of the book is pacing. I love an emotional roller coaster full of pining and angst, but some consistency with plot would help too.