The Fall of Chance by Terry McGowan is so great, and I’m not just saying that. Do you ever read a book without really doing much research on it so you genuinely start learning about it along the way? That’s what I did with this one, and I’m so glad I did! Being able to discover Unt’s world as we went along was so much fun, and so interesting. It’s reminiscent of dystopian novels where societies have collapsed and then had to rebuild with a whole new rule-set, which is my favorite kind of novel.
Unt’s community works like this: Everyone is meant to leave their lives up to fate– with a reasonable level of common sense nudging things in one direction or another. This means that for every big decision you make, you roll a set of dice and let the numbers decide for you which hand fate has dealt you. The trouble arrives when a handful of teenagers decide not to consult the dice for a life-altering decision, but instead start making choices based on their preferences or desires. In Unt’s community, this is grounds for trial, and the sentencing can range from death to expulsion. Do you trust four teenagers to keep a secret that big?
What I loved most about The Fall of Chance is the amount of effort put into building this world that Unt lives in. There’s a whole system for rolling the dice and the way the numbers affect decisions and a whole ceremony constructed for things like acquiring occupations and spouses, and I think that’s amazing. McGowan showed a level of commitment to telling Unt’s story that I really admire, because it can’t have been easy. On top of that, he tells a compelling tale, one that makes you wonder what’s coming, with characters who you like– and dislike!– with real flaws that indicate a real humanity. It’s the total package that way.
I don’t have any complaints about this one– I was thinking as I neared the end that I wasn’t sure where the story was going to go, how on earth it could be ending so soon and where it would be resolved, but I don’t know that that’s a bad thing. The progression of Unt’s character throughout the book was really great, and I’m glad I read it. If you like books where you can immerse yourself into a world different from your own, or where you can watch characters grow and learn and evolve, then this is the book for you.