The Shadow of What Was Lost

i can def see why the WoT comparisons have been made. it kind of felt like a more modern take on a similar type of adventure. although i liked what i felt was the quick pace, it did make it so that events seem to come and go really quickly, before we got a chance to really connect with a setting or character. the many characters with their fantasy names could be hard to keep track of, and even the main ones were a bit flat. 

I am amazed that this is a debut novel. I loved it!

People are comparing this to Robert Jordan (Wheel of Time) and Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn) and this might as well be the case. I didn't like those books, and this one follows the very same format.

For me this style of writing is a thorn in the side of fantasy. It starts with an exciting prologue completely unrelated to the plot, some obscure dialogue and a lithany of weird sounding names. Then it dials down from 100 to 0 and the real book begins, and the plot is very slowly presented, because the author is busy explaining the many characters, places, magic system, etc.

These aspects are even that strong in this book, but the book itself isn't that good to begin with. The story really starts, ignoring that useless prologue, depicting the very boring life of the protagonist, who is of course a student in a school of magic, and hist best friend Sam Wyr, and they journey to Mount Doom a rebel camp for special wizards.

In the way they are hunted by the Black Riders cleverly named Hunters because magic is forbidden and being a magic user is punishable by death in some places of the kingdom.

The book is not overtly bad, just uninteresting. There is a small twist which might be cool latter, the Shadow, magic users stripped of their magic powers. Magic users are bellow regular humans in the food chain, and Shadows are even lower. They have no right and absolutely no power whatsoever.

This begs to the dramatic side too much for me, but again, the book isn't even that good for me to complain about that.

Read 4:05 / 25:29 16%

The Shadow of What Was Lost takes a little bit to get going, and for me at least, it took awhile for me to actually care about the characters. But once things start moving, you get thrown onto a wild fucking ride. I'm a sucker for plots full of mysteries like this one. I love having a bunch of questions and just KNOWING the answers are going to blow my mind. This book doesn't answer everything right away, but one of the biggest answers is given to you within the last 50 pages, and man is it a doozy.

The whole world is a typical fantasy – no real ‘technology' other than the stuff that's run on magic. To me, it felt like a normal ‘medieval' sort of world, similar to something you'd find in WOT or LOTR but done through the lens of the modern eye. The way the ruling class is set up a little differently than normal, but that just makes things interesting. There are the ‘Gifted' - the people who have magic, then the ‘Administrators' who are NON-magical people who control the Gifted, and then there's Augurs who are magic-users of a different kind. They can see the future, and have other powers and are...kind of over powered just a little. (BUT THERE'S A REASON FOR THAT.) Then there's, of course, regular people, but who cares about those, amirite?

The writing isn't the best, a little clunky when it comes to prose. It feels like the author is just getting onto his feet. I can promise you it gets better in the second book, and once you get there, you settle into the whole story in a magnificent way.

I enjoyed it enough to download the next book, though if I'm honest it's mostly because I'm still trying to figure out who is who in this tale of time travel and wiped memories.

Full Review on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz1WuEg0lIo

Overall, a good book with some potential for a great series. The premise of the book is interesting but there was a little too much mystery for my taste. Had some pacing issues with the book feeling a bit sow in the middle and the climax of the book was mediocre. Character work was pretty good with Caeden being my favorite by far.

Very occasionally a book comes along that makes you drop everything and just immerse yourself in it wholeheartedly in its story, taking you into a cocoon of the world in which it is set. It's been a little while since I had a book that captured me so completely that I literally lost a whole day to it, never moving from my reading chair until I'd absorbed every last bit of it. The Shadow Of What Was Lost is the only book that in 2019 has so far grabbed my attention so singly.

This is an amazing debut novel by James Islington, an epic fantasy that forms the first in the Licanius Trilogy. Initially it doesn't give you much information, you put yourself wholly in the hands of the author as he spins the tale of Davian and his best friend Wirr who are told that because of Davian's special powers as an Augur he should flee his school and make a perilous journey to find those who can help him understand his powers. As he and Wirr head out on their strange quest their friend Asha wakes up at the school to find everyone has been murdered and that her own magical powers are to be removed from her by the very person who sent Davian and Wirr on their quest.

This is a hugely complex novel, there's a whole magic system of Gifted people who can use magic called Essence but are restricted in how they can use it by tenants that mean they are unable to use it to harm any non-gifted people even in self-defence. Alongside this we learn about Agur's who in the past were able to see visions of the future but their visions stopped being reliable and they were all slaughtered and they are now seen as the enemy. We also learn of a boundary behind which the evil of the world is being held but in which cracks are now being found forewarning that the great evil trapped their thousands of years before could be about to escape.

Much of this information is relayed through multiple viewpoints including Wirr, Davian, Asha and a stranger Davian and Wirr meet whose memories have been lost called Caeden. There's also a little bit of time jumping going on in this book which means we have information that is coming back to us from the past and potentially the future meaning we are drip fed lots and lots of information about what could be about to happen of has happened which make us question everyone and everything around our characters.

This means it's a greatly complex fantasy novel but there are so many twists and turns and information about the world that mean you are literally hanging on the edge of every single word. There is great political maneuvering going on as the city from which Wirr and Davian are from fight to defeat a mysterious army known as the Blind, where the King seems unwilling to use the gifts available to him through magic to help him defeat the oncoming threat.

I fell in love with this story wholeheartedly, the characters are ones you really fall in love with, you are behind them 100% and even although there are some questions around their potential future actions you want them to be good guys. There is some real cliff-hangers at the end that ensure you are fully invested in Book 2 of the series and it is one I will absolutely be picking up in the very near future, maybe not too soon though as Book 3 hasn't been released yet and is due to be in December of this year so I don't want to read Book 2 too quickly and then spend the rest of this year just anticipating the release of the end of the series.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough to those who love high fantasy and are fans of the Nevernight series of Brandon Sandersons' Cosmere. I have started Mistborn this year and whilst I've loved it I have to say that The Shadow of What Was Lost has eclipsed it so far as my favourite book of 2019 so far.

One of the Best of Fantasy

To those who will know, this is easily Sanderson and Jordan tier. you can see the inspiration from the very first chapter, but somehow it feels entirely unique. I highly suggest that you buy and love the book.

4.5 stars officially

That was bananas! This book was recommended to me as being better than Patrick Rothfuss, George R. R. Martin, and Robert Jordan...so, I had to read it. I'm not sure I can agree with my friend outright but my apprehension in doing so is steeped in ignorance.

Fantasy stories aren't what I deem “my wheelhouse.” However, given my last few excursions into the genre I have considered seriously reconsidering my taste preferences. And I can safely say this book was the final straw in my transformation. I'm officially a nerd, thank you James Islington.

Good grief this story was awesome. Great characters. compelling sub plots. Nearly flawless development woven almost seamlessly with solid pacing. There were a few (very few) times I felt myself wandering. My interest didn't wane but I was wishing I didn't need the critical details I was gathering...which I always ended up needing...so I re-read some things to make sure Islington hadn't cut some corner. In each case, he didn't skip stuff, I simply missed it.

The crown jewel of this book, though, was the writing. Spellbinding and smooth. Hints were dropped, strong visuals throughout, and an emphasis on dialogue over exposition through prose conquered all.

Do not stop. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. DO NOT WAIT TO READ THIS BOOK!

What I liked: Who's the good guy? Who's the bad guy? What the hell is going on here?

What I'm mixed on: The magic system. Essence is meh, but Kan seems pretty cool. Shadows are cool, but the reasons they become shadows kind of sucks. And why do the people seem to hate the people that can't do magic so much more than they seem to hate the people that can do the magic they hate? I don't want to spoil things for you, but when one character meets Malshash, interesting times begin. It's very mixed because some stuff worked for me, but some explanations did not.

What I didn't like: Arbitrary, poorly thought-out limitations on magic users. The entire general setting of the world grated on me.

DNF.

Oooh Yeah in the words of Randy Savage! Finally something that break the 4 star mark and delivers a brilliant start to what promises to be a great journey. And if you are a fan of WOT this is right up your alley my friend. The story picks up quickly and is told through multiple POV's and the magic system is simple but effective. The different landscapes are well painted and while the battle scenes are not brilliant they do the job. But its the characters that are so vivid that you cant help but be empathetic. All in all I wait with trepidation for the next chapter. Wait on!

It is an okay story. I do not agree with the rave reviews. The story moves along okay but the characters and scenes are two dimensional. I specifically do not like when people you have never heard of arrive in one chapter and change the entire direction of the story. This happened a few times in this book.

False advertising

If you, like me, were taken in by the alleged claim that lovers of Robert Jordan will enjoy this book... run. It lacks the complexity and logical background... the understandable reasoning for actions taken by individuals or groups. Avoid it.

I want to say that this is just another magic wielding boy, world in peril adventure (it is).

That does it no justice. It was a great epic tale, and I can't wait until the next installment! I'd love to extol it's virtues, but I can't think of how to do that without spoilers. Enjoy! Read!