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Fateless #1
Fateless: Book One
Graeme only wanted a pint.
He'd even have taken one of those horrid new strawberry-flavoured craft beers in a pinch, but it seemed Fate had other plans. Which is strange, because as it turns out, Graeme is possibly the only being in the universe unaffected by the otherwise divine and tangible force of destiny. Immune to its machinations, he is Fateless.
So, when he inadvertently disrupts his best friends summoning into another world, the Gods offer him a choice. Fix the mistake, or sentence said friend and world he's destined to save to a particularly nasty end.
Reborn into a new world in the body of Minotaur, Graeme will have to survive frozen wastes, vicious slavers, and perilous dungeons. All whilst adapting to strange game-like powers, delivered and explained to him by an overly enthusiastic voice in his head.
It's not all bad news though. Sure he might be the only Scotsman he knows with horns, but this lack of Fate seems to come with some benefits. The ability to wreak havoc with the pre-ordained plans of the Gods might just give him the edge he needs.
Guess the pint will have to wait.
He'd even have taken one of those horrid new strawberry-flavoured craft beers in a pinch, but it seemed Fate had other plans. Which is strange, because as it turns out, Graeme is possibly the only being in the universe unaffected by the otherwise divine and tangible force of destiny. Immune to its machinations, he is Fateless.
So, when he inadvertently disrupts his best friends summoning into another world, the Gods offer him a choice. Fix the mistake, or sentence said friend and world he's destined to save to a particularly nasty end.
Reborn into a new world in the body of Minotaur, Graeme will have to survive frozen wastes, vicious slavers, and perilous dungeons. All whilst adapting to strange game-like powers, delivered and explained to him by an overly enthusiastic voice in his head.
It's not all bad news though. Sure he might be the only Scotsman he knows with horns, but this lack of Fate seems to come with some benefits. The ability to wreak havoc with the pre-ordained plans of the Gods might just give him the edge he needs.
Guess the pint will have to wait.
639 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 27, 2023
137 people are currently reading
25 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 3, 2023
An awesome new entry to the genre!
Man I loved this one! Our MC is a Scottish Highlander who’s reincarnated as a ginger Minotaur! As a card carrying ginger I approve! From there we get into the meat of the system. I enjoyed the way the abilities are set up, and the sarcastic system is always a fun trope to see. At first you really don’t feel like Graeme/Brahan is growing that fast, but by the end of the book you’ve got a great idea of just how fast he’s moving! Also the dual timelines portrayed in the chapters that concern Angus are a nice counterpoint and view into the wider world and politics. I really enjoyed the characters and action, as well as the links tying in the two separate timelines. Absolutely can’t wait to see what adventures the next book brings for our Fateless hero!
Man I loved this one! Our MC is a Scottish Highlander who’s reincarnated as a ginger Minotaur! As a card carrying ginger I approve! From there we get into the meat of the system. I enjoyed the way the abilities are set up, and the sarcastic system is always a fun trope to see. At first you really don’t feel like Graeme/Brahan is growing that fast, but by the end of the book you’ve got a great idea of just how fast he’s moving! Also the dual timelines portrayed in the chapters that concern Angus are a nice counterpoint and view into the wider world and politics. I really enjoyed the characters and action, as well as the links tying in the two separate timelines. Absolutely can’t wait to see what adventures the next book brings for our Fateless hero!
April 16, 2023
Surely there is some deeper motivation to introducing a Fateless to this world…
I wanted to like this book more than I did. It was an interesting isekai idea, but I keep wondering why the other guides would allow Graeme to come to this world, or, if they didn’t know at first, why they wouldn’t immediately work on getting rid of him. Surely they would have been able to spread a warning of a plague that must be eradicated through the various oracles in the world. Unless they are all complicit in breaking the system that they epitomize.
Can Graeme even rise into the deified realms himself? Without Fate binding him, what are the limits to his growth? Is it normal for someone to seem to be able to see magic like he did while captured?
While I found this to just be ok, it was enough to whet my appetite and I do intend to read further in this series as it is published.
I wanted to like this book more than I did. It was an interesting isekai idea, but I keep wondering why the other guides would allow Graeme to come to this world, or, if they didn’t know at first, why they wouldn’t immediately work on getting rid of him. Surely they would have been able to spread a warning of a plague that must be eradicated through the various oracles in the world. Unless they are all complicit in breaking the system that they epitomize.
Can Graeme even rise into the deified realms himself? Without Fate binding him, what are the limits to his growth? Is it normal for someone to seem to be able to see magic like he did while captured?
While I found this to just be ok, it was enough to whet my appetite and I do intend to read further in this series as it is published.
May 30, 2023
I found the beginning to be a really slow starter as Martin Mckenzie has to do a lot of world and character building... Martin Mckenzie tells us of two completely different storylines, two friends, each with different POV's. The first is that of Graeme's upon entering the system he finds that he's the Fateless one, a Scott's man, clueless, placed on a time-limit, caught by slavers and stuck in the body of a minotaur. And worst of all considered an abomination by everyone. The second, is Angus, now a Fated Hero Prince placed on his own path to save the world. But also with a time-limit, counting down to his actual demise.
Why are the timeliness different? Will Graeme break through his helplessness in time to save his best friends life?
So yeah, grab the book and let Neil Hellegers tell you a story about two men...
Here's a that might give you a smile:
"With all the grace of an elephant belly dancer he leapt."
Why are the timeliness different? Will Graeme break through his helplessness in time to save his best friends life?
So yeah, grab the book and let Neil Hellegers tell you a story about two men...
Here's a that might give you a smile:
"With all the grace of an elephant belly dancer he leapt."
August 12, 2023
I got halfway through and that took me a week! I kept wanting to push through and finish but I wasn’t that interested. I enjoyed certain parts but I the writing seemed awkward. Too many repeating nouns in consecutive sentences.
Fake example:
“He found the anklet, but it was rusted. The anklet was necessary for the mission. The anklet didn’t fit”
Add this to the bar audible narration that seemed disjointed. The narrator maybe read the lines once before actually reading them out loud and kept pausing in weird spots. Maybe due to the odd grammar.
It wasn’t bad or horrible. Definitely not 1 or 2 stars. But i didn’t get hooked after 200 pages and there are too many other litRPG series in my queue.
Fake example:
“He found the anklet, but it was rusted. The anklet was necessary for the mission. The anklet didn’t fit”
Add this to the bar audible narration that seemed disjointed. The narrator maybe read the lines once before actually reading them out loud and kept pausing in weird spots. Maybe due to the odd grammar.
It wasn’t bad or horrible. Definitely not 1 or 2 stars. But i didn’t get hooked after 200 pages and there are too many other litRPG series in my queue.
March 9, 2023
Not a book for me!
First I must say I only got a third of the way into the book before I gave up on it. First the writing is OK but the storyline and plot sucks. First dump. the main character into a new world have them captured and turned into a slave, repeatedly tortured, and then by a stroke of good luck, he manages to escape. This takes up the first third of the novel. I had such high expectations for this story that I pre-ordered it now I just wish I could get my money back. I’m sure if you keep reading it the main character would turn the story around somehow, but the first part of this whole story just soured the whole novel for me.
First I must say I only got a third of the way into the book before I gave up on it. First the writing is OK but the storyline and plot sucks. First dump. the main character into a new world have them captured and turned into a slave, repeatedly tortured, and then by a stroke of good luck, he manages to escape. This takes up the first third of the novel. I had such high expectations for this story that I pre-ordered it now I just wish I could get my money back. I’m sure if you keep reading it the main character would turn the story around somehow, but the first part of this whole story just soured the whole novel for me.
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March 18, 2023Stay with it
This one seems a bit unusual but staying with it about 40% onward is well worth it. The MC and his purpose work out well and the few easter eggs and snark from the usual system makes for particular enjoyment. Overall this is worth a look and I expect based on the ending [ no spoilers] that the next books will reach 5 stars no problem as it speeds up well towards the end.
This one seems a bit unusual but staying with it about 40% onward is well worth it. The MC and his purpose work out well and the few easter eggs and snark from the usual system makes for particular enjoyment. Overall this is worth a look and I expect based on the ending [ no spoilers] that the next books will reach 5 stars no problem as it speeds up well towards the end.
March 28, 2023
In some ways this is your typical isekai-style LitRPG but it scores some novelty points with its protagonist. Our MC is a Scottish Minotaur, which is a first for me. He brings some humor, especially with his interaction with the snarky system. The first part was mired down with him being a slave. I wish that part wasn’t so long. It got a lot better when it got to some of the dungeon diving. Overall, this is a fun, fate fulfilling vs fate breaking story.
June 18, 2024
Started off good. It didn't last. It got more uninteresting and boring with with every page. MC was hard headed and refused to learn. But the worse thing the MC was, was BORING!The growth system was terrible! The MC only in Skills, and then only when it was necessary to save his life. I can not recommend this book and I could not get over a 1/3 \ of the way through the book. I highly doubt I will ever read this guy's books again.
March 4, 2023
Free will vs destiny
One of those books where the hero fights against destiny, personified by a goddess. Not my favourite theme. Your opinion may differ.
Well written, MC is fine, although the secondary main character’s point of view slows down the action.
Not bad, not great either.
One of those books where the hero fights against destiny, personified by a goddess. Not my favourite theme. Your opinion may differ.
Well written, MC is fine, although the secondary main character’s point of view slows down the action.
Not bad, not great either.
March 5, 2023
Maybe some folks are really into this, but the ham fisted slavery trope, the poorly executed multi-PoV (which I ended up mostly skipping), and completely boring MC made me give up at the 20% mark. I found myself skipping sections and then said out loud, "Why am I reading this nonsense?". Well, I'm not.
April 19, 2023
Boring and tedious.
The level of fatalism makes everyone complacent. The descriptions are lacking. The main character has no personality other than an obsessive stalker. The story is boring and the writing is tedious.
The level of fatalism makes everyone complacent. The descriptions are lacking. The main character has no personality other than an obsessive stalker. The story is boring and the writing is tedious.
March 1, 2023
Picked this up on kindle yesterday and finished it in one sitting, love the premise and love the fact stat sheets are not repeated every half chapter like a lot of the genre. Solid read.
March 16, 2023
Slow to start and I did not really like the start but the story and the characters improved so all in all still very enjoyable. I do look forward to the sequel.
May 14, 2023
Great Story
A new take on destiny and how this affects a world. Really want to see where the author goes with this.
A new take on destiny and how this affects a world. Really want to see where the author goes with this.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews