J. R. R. Tolkien's The Return of the King

Ever since Man first sat around a campfire, and found that he was lonely and in need of comfort, he began to believe in a higher power. That higher power evolved into a god, or perhaps even many gods, but for the most part, that higher power became a force that could shape a man's destiny, his thoughts, his actions, for the rest of his life. His very world could be molded by this force. …

…his quest, it was he, not Fate, who chose to claim the Ring. Although Eowyn might have eventually come to love Faramir, despite his words, it was she, not Fate, who chose to bring joy back into her life. J.R.R. Tolkien recognizes the impact and difference of those choices, in the manner in which he tells their story, in his book The Return of the King. Choice, not Fate, shaped those characters' destinies.