The Shadow of What Was Lost
by James Islington
Author's Description:
“As destiny calls, a journey begins.
It has been twenty years since the godlike Augurs were overthrown and killed. Now, those who once served them -- the Gifted -- are spared only because they have accepted the rebellion's Four Tenets, vastly limiting their powers.
As a Gifted, Davian suffers the consequences of a war lost before he was even born. He and others like him are despised. But when Davian discovers he wields the forbidden power of the Augurs, he and his friends Wirr and Asha set into motion a chain of events that will change everything.
To the west, a young man whose fate is intertwined with Davian's wakes up in the forest, covered in blood and with no memory of who he is. . .
And in the far north, an ancient enemy long thought defeated begins to stir.
The Licanius Trilogy is a series readers will have a hard time putting down -- a relentless coming-of-age epic from the very first page.”
It has been twenty years since the godlike Augurs were overthrown and killed. Now, those who once served them -- the Gifted -- are spared only because they have accepted the rebellion's Four Tenets, vastly limiting their powers.
As a Gifted, Davian suffers the consequences of a war lost before he was even born. He and others like him are despised. But when Davian discovers he wields the forbidden power of the Augurs, he and his friends Wirr and Asha set into motion a chain of events that will change everything.
To the west, a young man whose fate is intertwined with Davian's wakes up in the forest, covered in blood and with no memory of who he is. . .
And in the far north, an ancient enemy long thought defeated begins to stir.
The Licanius Trilogy is a series readers will have a hard time putting down -- a relentless coming-of-age epic from the very first page.”
My Review - Rating - 8/10
Islington’s Licanius Trilogy has its flaws, but also introduces exceptional concepts and unique plotlines that not only salvage the book but make it genuinely good. I don’t have a whole lot to say about my personal experience with the book. It wasn’t boring, but I wasn’t excited by the series. I was engaged enough that I didn’t stop reading it or even take a significant pause, but the series didn’t fully draw me in. After a bit of reflection, it was pretty easy to figure out why. The entire book is expansive but lacks depth. There’s multiple protagonists, antagonists, and morally gray characters, none of which are clearly badly written, but none of which are unique or sympathetic. Islington just didn’t spend enough time developing them or their identities for me to care about them. Just like the wide but shallow characters, the world also lacks depth - there’s certainly a lot of different areas, groups, and nations involved in the story, but few of them are really built up or properly understood by the reader, so it always feels to come out of nowhere when one of them interacts with the story. I think that a proper view of the world and its inhabitants needs to be set up, either piece by piece as Davain encounters them, or all at once in the introduction. Neither happened though. A cursory overview of each group is given as they come up, but it’s never enough to make the reader understand them or their goals. There’s a little bit of background or buildup for when another nation enters or re-enters the story, but never enough to make the reader feel like it’s a natural or logical action. Additionally, there’s a decent amount of repetition and bland language throughout the book. I obviously didn’t write the book and I don’t know what the author went through in the writing process, but the book definitely needs more editing and polish to really live up to its potential. And yes, it definitely has potential. The book’s magic system - two distinct types of magic, one rare and one rarer, that intertwine in the book’s combat - is interesting and pretty original. The way the author plays with time and the timeline is excellent, and I can’t remember any other book doing anything similar so effectively. Additionally I like the moral ambiguity and multiple goals and perspectives that are present in the book’s many factions and characters. I think it makes it far more interesting and complex and is the main thing that pushes the book over from Young Adult fantasy to Adult fantasy, at least for me. These advantages would make the book incredible if the writing, characters, and world were better developed, but as is, they make a bad book into a good one - not great, not even particularly good, but at least good. I’d recommend first reading Eragon instead if you’re looking for a coming-of-age type fantasy book, or Mistborn if your looking for decent politics, and existential antagonist, and a unique magic system, but if you’ve gone through all the better fantasy books, this might be a good pick for a veteran fantasy reader - just don’t have too high expectations.
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