Fate Succumbs

More reviews at: http://www.onstarshipsanddragonwings.com/2012/11/01/fate-succumbs/

In the harrowing third book of the Timer Wolves series, Blackwell tells a tale of duty, fate and love of all kinds. Fate Succumbs puts Scout through the ringer, but also shows just how many allies she has on her side.
I’ve said this before, and it’s worth saying again: Tammy Blackwell is a fantabulous author, especially considering she is an indie author. She is proof that indie authors can have well polished and riveting books. Fate Succumbs is the third book in the Timber Wolves series, so there may be spoilers for the first or second books below. Also, check out that cover! Isn’t it gorgeous??

Title: Fate Succumbs
Author: Tammy Blackwell
Pages: 296 show more (Kindle)
Genre-ish: Urban (very rural?) fantasy
Rating: ★★★★☆ - awesome plot, but not quite enough
Setting: All over? There is a cross-country escape from evil people trip that ends with the Canadian woods in winter, which proceeds to Ely, Minnesota :D. All in an alternate world where shifters (coyote and wolf) exist alongside seers (people with various powers).
Premise: Time Mends ends with Scout being pulled from a death sentence by her friendly neighborhood wolf. Fate Succumbs opens with her proceeding to travel across America in an attempt to stay under the FBI and Pack radar. All of this occurs with the company of Liam, the surly big brother from the earlier books. Scout finds unexpected allies, truths she couldn’t begin to imagine a year ago, and a destiny even though she doesn’t believe in fate.
Strengths:
We find out so much more about the shifter and seer history in Fate Succumbs and it just left me wanting to know more!
Blackwell also starts revealing much more about the other supernatural aspects of the world, including the Immortals that were hinted about in previous books. There is definitely a lot more to build on for future books.
Epic battles and horrible villains getting their just dessert ;-). So satisfying.
Liam develops a lot as a character and we find out so much more about what makes him and Alex who they are. While I wasn’t a fan of all the development that happened (see below), it definitely expanded the secondary characters, which can be hard to do with a first person narrative.
Also yey for popular boy falling in love with heavier nerdy girl!
Weaknesses:
Ick, I’m super not a fan of the romance that occurred in Fate Succumbs. Blackwell does a fair job of showing that Scout is also not super sure about who she is falling in love with, but seriously, why can’t any male-female relationship just be friends??
It seems fairly obvious that Timber Wolves is not a trilogy, because there was a whole lot left unresolved at the end of Fate Succumbs. This was a bit disappointing, since strings being cleverly tied up just makes for a much more satisfying book.
The epic battle that everything was leading up to just wasn’t all that epic…. It seemed to go by pretty fast, and I honestly don’t think it was supposed to be the climax, which seemed weird. There was a sense of something not being completed to 100% satisfaction.
Summary:
Fate Succumbs and the Timber Wolves series so far, is a really fun read. The characters are fun, the dialogue is witty, the setting is interesting. While they are lacking depth at times, and tend to give in to romantic elements a little too often, the writing of Blackwell makes them fast reads and wonderful brain candy. Also I’m completely in love with these covers! I might have to get the physical copies even though I have the Kindle editions…. I’m very much hoping that Blackwell continues the Timber Wolves series, since there is a lot left untied at the end of Fate Succumbs, and Blackwell is definitely on my insta-read list. show less

From my blog: On Starships and Dragonwings

In the harrowing third book of the Timer Wolves series, Blackwell tells a tale of duty, fate and love of all kinds. Fate Succumbs puts Scout through the ringer, but also shows just how many allies she has on her side.
I’ve said this before, and it’s worth saying again: Tammy Blackwell is a fantabulous author, especially considering she is an indie author. She is proof that indie authors can have well polished and riveting books. Fate Succumbs is the third book in the Timber Wolves series, so there may be spoilers for the first or second books below. Also, check out that cover! Isn’t it gorgeous??
Goodreads | Amazon
Title: Fate Succumbs
Author: Tammy Blackwell
Pages: 296 (Kindle)
Genre-ish: show more Urban (very rural?) fantasy
Rating: ★★★★☆ - awesome plot, but not quite enough
Setting: All over? There is a cross-country escape from evil people trip that ends with the Canadian woods in winter, which proceeds to Ely, Minnesota :D. All in an alternate world where shifters (coyote and wolf) exist alongside seers (people with various powers).
Premise: Time Mends ends with Scout being pulled from a death sentence by her friendly neighborhood wolf. Fate Succumbs opens with her proceeding to travel across America in an attempt to stay under the FBI and Pack radar. All of this occurs with the company of Liam, the surly big brother from the earlier books. Scout finds unexpected allies, truths she couldn’t begin to imagine a year ago, and a destiny even though she doesn’t believe in fate.
Strengths:
We find out so much more about the shifter and seer history in Fate Succumbs and it just left me wanting to know more!
Blackwell also starts revealing much more about the other supernatural aspects of the world, including the Immortals that were hinted about in previous books. There is definitely a lot more to build on for future books.
Epic battles and horrible villains getting their just dessert ;-). So satisfying.
Liam develops a lot as a character and we find out so much more about what makes him and Alex who they are. While I wasn’t a fan of all the development that happened (see below), it definitely expanded the secondary characters, which can be hard to do with a first person narrative.
Also yey for popular boy falling in love with heavier nerdy girl!
Weaknesses:
Ick, I’m super not a fan of the romance that occurred in Fate Succumbs. Blackwell does a fair job of showing that Scout is also not super sure about who she is falling in love with, but seriously, why can’t any male-female relationship just be friends??
It seems fairly obvious that Timber Wolves is not a trilogy, because there was a whole lot left unresolved at the end of Fate Succumbs. This was a bit disappointing, since strings being cleverly tied up just makes for a much more satisfying book.
The epic battle that everything was leading up to just wasn’t all that epic…. It seemed to go by pretty fast, and I honestly don’t think it was supposed to be the climax, which seemed weird. There was a sense of something not being completed to 100% satisfaction.
Summary:
Fate Succumbs and the Timber Wolves series so far, is a really fun read. The characters are fun, the dialogue is witty, the setting is interesting. While they are lacking depth at times, and tend to give in to romantic elements a little too often, the writing of Blackwell makes them fast reads and wonderful brain candy. Also I’m completely in love with these covers! I might have to get the physical copies even though I have the Kindle editions…. I’m very much hoping that Blackwell continues the Timber Wolves series, since there is a lot left untied at the end of Fate Succumbs, and Blackwell is definitely on my insta-read list. show less

Read the full review at Witchmag's Boekenplank

*May contain spoilers if you haven’t read the other books in the series*

First of all, isn’t the cover absolutely amazing? It seems like every new book in the series has a cover more beautiful than the previous. And I already loved the first one! Unfortunately, this story wasn’t as exciting, refreshing and mind numbing as the other ones. The new and unexpected was gone and the book went back to being predictable. Mind you, it’s still a great book to read and a fitting ending for such a good series, but this was a bit how I predicted it would go after I read the first book. Okay some things were way off, but I got some things right too. That was a bit of a let down. In the other books show more I was swept along, didn’t know what was up or down. Here I had a very decent footing and the story was unable to get me from my spot. Which I kinda missed, I hoped the ending would have had a greater impact.

As I said, there were also occasions where I was way off and Tammy Blackwell also throws some delicious new things in the mix. A prophecy? The truth that gets revealed, finally. A Liam that opens up. I loved each one of these revelations, as I did with the story. The book also show you that not everything is black or white. That while fighting a war the other side isn’t always evil incarnated. They are normal people, who fight for what they think is right, for what they have been thought. I’ve never before encountered something like this in a book. For me the antagonist where always evil. It was always their fault. I know otherwise now.

I was also very happy with the great chemistry between Liam and Scout. Why didn’t I get to experience this in the two previous books? That would have been even better! These two are so entertaining together. They squabble, they fight, squabble once again. They use the most funny ways to point out that they were right, or to add more strength to their arguments. I’ve never laughed or giggled so much while reading a book and I was a bit sad that I only got to know this much fun in the last book.

Conclusion

4 HEARTS. It has one of the most amazing covers ever. Although it became a bit predictable and less life changing as the other two books, it was still one heck of a read. It made me open my eyes for “villains” and made me laugh out loud a lot for Liam and Scout’s antics. It’s a worthy ending for a great series and I’m very curious to Tammy Blackwell’s next book! show less

I absolutely loved this series. It grabbed my attention and wouldn't let go. I really like that Scout and Liam are together in the end. I am still kind of confused about how it is possible for a dead shifter to DreamWalk. Other than that, I absolutely loved the story line and can't wait to read more about the shifter world this author has created.

Fate Succumbs is the conclusion of the Timber Wolves Trilogy.

Scout Donovan with the help of Liam (Alex’s older brother) is now on the run from the Alpha pack. They have ordered her death and she uncovers an evil plot that has been perpetrated by the Alpha female for over 2000 years. The Alpha pack is killing off all female shifters. It is blatant genocide of the female shifters due to an ancient belief and they must be stopped.

Fate Succumbs has it all …action packed, funny, deeply emotional, lots of heart ache, and rip your gut out choices.

Love Scout’s sarcasm and witty retorts and in the end she is a total bad ass. Liam is way more complex and the development between the characters is amazing. Although, I mentioned the rip your show more guts out, there is plenty of laughter to compensate. 5 stars. show less

Fate Succumbs is the conclusion of the Timber Wolves Trilogy.

Scout Donovan with the help of Liam (Alex’s older brother) is now on the run from the Alpha pack. They have ordered her death and she uncovers an evil plot that has been perpetrated by the Alpha female for over 2000 years. The Alpha pack is killing off all female shifters. It is blatant genocide of the female shifters due to an ancient belief and they must be stopped.

Fate Succumbs has it all …action packed, funny, deeply emotional, lots of heart ache, and rip your gut out choices.

Love Scout’s sarcasm and witty retorts and in the end she is a total bad ass. Liam is way more complex and the development between the characters is amazing. Although, I mentioned the rip your show more guts out, there is plenty of laughter to compensate. 5 stars. show less

I love this series! I loved the 70 year-old Rachel the librarian who is ready to kick ass even if she has to use her walker to wobble up to someone to do it. LoL! I thought Scout and Liam were going to kill each other before they ever learned to get along. Great series Tammy, I look forward to your next series Shifters and Seers.