The Shadow of What Was Lost
-
-
4.4 • 915 Ratings
-
-
- $6.99
-
- $6.99
Publisher Description
A young man with forbidden magic finds himself drawn into an ancient war against a dangerous enemy in book one of the Licanius Trilogy, the series that fans are heralding as the next Wheel of Time.
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.
"Storytelling assurance rare for a debut . . . Fans of Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson will find much to admire."" -- Guardian
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
An ancient evil's reawakening threatens a fantasy land where magic has been proscribed in Islington's epic fantasy debut. Fifteen-year-old Davian of Andarra is one of the Gifted, able to tap into magical essence. Unfortunately, Davian was born after the civil war that destroyed the powerful Augurs, and now the Gifted are bound by laws that prevent them from using their powers freely. As a mysterious figure threatens the protective boundary wall in the north, Davian learns he is the last of the Augurs, and it's up to him to help repair the wall before it's too late. Davian is joined in his quest by friends Wirr and Asha, who prove to be more than they seem. They'll need all the luck they can muster, as various political and magical forces are trying to use them for their own purposes. Islington has built a world with all the right genre elements: complex magic, terrifying threats out of legend, political intrigue, and a large cast of characters whose motivations are seldom clear. Fans of doorstop epic fantasy will not be disappointed.
Customer Reviews
Reasonably entertaining
If you’re in between a great series this will suffice. You can tell the author was heavily influenced by The Wheel Of Time. The story telling is a bit choppy, but all and all, entertaining.
‘’ imma write a scathing review” lol
The book so far is amazing hence 4 stars but if you plan on reading whilst listening to Audible… don’t… the narrator is either reading from a different copy or is choosing to make his own sentences up/leaving sentences out completely… very disappointing…
I'm surprised at the negative reviews.
For the first 30 or so pages, I kept thinking, "dang, this is so formulaic, I'm not going to like it," and then I was sucked in and utterly absorbed for the whole rest of the book. It's well-written, engrossing, and just a lot of fun to read.
If I had one *minor* nitpick, I'd say that too many characters had similar-looking names, and sometimes I struggled to keep track. That's probably just my own brain, though, and it certainly didn't detract from the overall book.
I think if you like fantasy and/or sci-fi, you'll enjoy this one!