Book One of the Licanius Trilogy - The Shadow of What Was Lost

With this first book, James Islington shows he has learned much from reading the works of Robert Jordan and other fantasy greats. The story is original enough to be distinctive from other works, the pace of the plot moves quickly but unhurriedly, and the characters are ones the reader cares about early in the story. The good guys are realistically flawed and the evil ones are complex and conflicted. It is a tale worth reading and a series worth waiting for development. Highly recommended!

This author is an exciting find for readers who had despaired of finding world-class epic fantasy in the style of Robert Jordan's stunning world-building. Definitely solid gold for fans of Tolkien, Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. Meticulous character building and geography.

when people start throwing around the names of Sanderson, Jordan, and rothfuss in book reviews.... I have to dig deeper and see if it's for real. I read the negatives and positives and agree with both. this is the start of and amazing epic fantasy series (idk how many there will be) that belongs in my library alongside mistborn, WOT, kingkiller, and many others. some of the dialogue sucks, sure I agree. overly polite? yea but who cares, I read indie authors all the time with a ton more flaws. plotlines, character development, prose, atmosphere, all that is what is I'm interested in. sounds like this is this guy's first book, not as good as rothfuss but still an amazing epic. buy it, read it, enjoy it

This book was extremely well thought out and well written. The use of foreshadowing is ever present in this book, making you pay close attention to the details, whether that be the color of someones hair, or the sound of a persons voice. (It was extremely satisfying when all the pieces fell into place) A very entertaining storyline that kept me reading long into the night.

I've read some much trash recently... that this was a damn fine example of what books can and should be at these days.

It read as an epic adventure and I personally can never have enough of those. It was a bit of myth mixed with legend, mixed with Lord of the Rings and some of our more recent authors like George R.R. Martin and Jordan.

Pick it up if you like longer books, and a great story.

One of the best audible books! Excellent narration by Michael Kramer. Author James Islington deserves a good a55 whopping for making me wait so damn long! I really want to know what happens next.

I don't want to give spoilers away... so I won't. But if you want a plot that is thought out to provoke you to think about how a situation is going to work itself, this book is for you.

It deals with a school and young students, but it goes onto deal with interactions with older characters. The most interesting premise that runs throughout the book is that none of the characters have the answers to every scenario they are thrown into head first! They are real human characters.

I have read some of the reviews that say it's formulated. To those people, I say it's all been done before so relax and enjoy the ride. Because it is quite a ride!

I was so wrapped up in the audible book and loss Bluetooth connection at a critical point that I actually cursed a blue streak! I was in the epilogue and thought that the author left it at that point. I plotted to hunt him down and hurt his feelings for leaving me at that point.

Needless to say I did finish the book and I still want to hurt his feelings for making wait for the next book!

Read this. WoT, sanderson fans... read this book. The magic system isn't as unique as Sanderson's many different approaches but this book and the telling of the story and its characters are exceptional.

Islington found a way to get my attention and keep it throughout the story. I am a fan and if you like magic and swords you will be too!! Tiny spoiler, I love the time travel effects and all the open questions answered and even more towards the end! My one negative critique is that the author used this line a lot "he moved faster then thought possible". This does nothing for my imagination. Other than this its fast paced and a great story!

Everything felt rushed. No real depth to the characters and the brief background stories that are provided are barely enough to keep it interesting. After reading the whole story I feel like I should read the next one to get more depth and feeling for the characters but I probably won't. I was hoping for one or two standout hero/villain types but they all seem kind of irrelevant.

Islington found a way to get my attention and keep it throughout the story. I am a fan and if you like magic and swords you will be too!! Tiny spoiler, I love the time travel effects and all the open questions answered and even more towards the end! My one negative critique is that the author used this line a lot "he moved faster then thought possible". This does nothing for my imagination. Other than this its fast paced and a great story!

Everything felt rushed. No real depth to the characters and the brief background stories that are provided are barely enough to keep it interesting. After reading the whole story I feel like I should read the next one to get more depth and feeling for the characters but I probably won't. I was hoping for one or two standout hero/villain types but they all seem kind of irrelevant.

More please! This novel was well written and edited. The storyline was easy to follow and didn't have unnecessary conflict. Everything made sense and flowed smoothly. If not for the fact that another reviewer said that this was an indie book, I would have assumed that this was a seasoned sci-fi/fantasy author. I can't wait to read the next book in the series!

You can tell that he had been thinking about ideas for his plot for a long time, because he tried to jam every plot idea that he had ever had into this one book. Many of the ideas were very very cool, i just sometimes felt like it was a little ridiculous...That said, I did enjoy it very much

This is a compelling story with interesting characters and creative conflict development. The author, however, needed to flesh out the narrative a bit more to make the story flow more smoothly. Dialogue and newly appearing characters are not adequately introduced. The author's narrative assumes the reader knows the characters and their history better than they do, making for choppy transitions and gaps in reader understanding. Still, all the characters are approachable and the conflicts are easy to relate to. Nice that there are male and female heroes for readers to identify with.

This book is full of twists and turns. Every time I thought I had it figured out, I was at least partly wrong. A lot of twists and turns in this book. I'm trying to be more conservative in my ratings. But I really liked this book. I can't wait for the next. I really hope the author can keep it going.

Good pacing and good characters. It didn't get bogged down as other large fantasy books tend to do. It kept me guessing but rewarded my patience.

I highly recommend.

I highly recommend.

This book popped up to the top of my recommendations and I'm glad I read it. I went straight through. This book is a familiar story of a young orphan coming of age with special powers to save the world. That being said the characters were interesting and engaging. The story familiar but fresh.

The first book of this trilogy captured my attention with its non stop action and surprises in both the characters and the plot. After reading this first book I still am not sure who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. I'm also dying to find out what happens next. Yep, I'm hooked.

very good first novel. engaging story line, good worldbuilding. room to grow, of course, but i was drawn to the characters and the plot was complex enough and the pacing adequate to keep the story moving. PLUS, the book is clean without sex or excessive violence. very promising series and author.

This will leave you begging for more. The characters are well developed and the reader will bond with each one. The characters are all heroes in their own way. I have more questions than answers after reading this first tale! Excellent reading!

I enjoyed this book. I like the characters, and there are a lot of good surprises. I do wish there was a bit more action, but overall enjoyable read. The "magic" system is cool and unique and the world building is solid.

This book could use an editor, but other than that, it is a good book. The characters are engaging and likable. Good plot twists even if some of them are predictable. While some of the elements in the story are similar to other books, they are put together in an interesting way.

This book could use an editor, but other than that, it is a good book. The characters are engaging and likable. Good plot twists even if some of them are predictable. While some of the elements in the story are similar to other books, they are put together in an interesting way.

Simply said, this is a fantastic offering by an Indie author. Before I dive into a brief review, it bears mentioning that this book does not suffer the common problems of indie authors. There is character development, there are difficulties, and the writing style is more than acceptable. There is even evidence of editing (!). It all boils down to make a book that is very readable.

On to some words about the actual book itself.

The story starts off, creating a vivid world that really highlights the struggle and difficulties that are plaguing the world. The protagonist, Davian, goes through round after round of turmoil. As we learn about difficulties during childhood, followed into being the laggard of adolescents. It isn't till much later in the book that the classic 'chosen-one' trope begins to shine through. However, at this point, we've suffered with Davian for so long that it feels utterly triumphant, as opposed to tired.

Davian's is accompanied by a strong cast of friends for his journey, with Wirr, Asha and eventually Caeden all being quite likeable characters. The author does a simply fantastic job of setting Davian as the protagonist, working these others into Davian's story, and then splintering off their own side-stories, once we have developed a strong bond with each character. It's marvelous that we are not force-fed characters. It's a vary natural progression whereby we are introduced to a new character, see their interactions with current characters, watch as some character depth progresses and then enjoy a new character arc that slowly develops. The end result of this, is that although the books first half is nearly a single-person story, by the end of the book there are numerous narrative threads being woven together. This natural progression serves to beautifully marry a 'coming-of-age' adventure, with a more 'epic' styled fantasy.

Some other brief tidbits of good news. The magic system seems well thought out, if not a little cliché. Character interactions seem genuine, and the world appears to be huge, suggesting the possibility for numerous story settings. There are some common themes as well, that immediately make you feel familiar with the world, including: A mysterious boundary, an ancient evil, oppression by the un-enlightened, etc.

As the 5 star rating indicates, I had very few qualms with this book. There are several minor annoyances, that do highlight areas that the author could improve upon. Like many fantasy books, new characters are introduced often, and as the naming style is of typical Tolkein styled fantasy, these names can be hard to remember. When we meet an Aelric in on page, and three other Ael.... names elsewhere, its a bit overwhelming. The author has a penchant to throw numerous new characters in (each having 1-3 names he goes by, eg: Caeden= Tal'Kamar=+one other), and have them play vital roles, leaving you scrambling trying to figure out exactly who this person is, and why they are so vital to the plot.

Finally, my only complaint is that the villain is not really developed all that well. We really don't know who the villain is, despite there being an invasion. The oppression felt by 'gifted' and 'augers' is far more representative of the 'big bad' than is the actual 'big bad' Arkein Davaed/The Blind. Hopefully later books in the trilogy will bring about a larger focus on the villains, as this book does rely a little bit to much, on a slightly nonsensical hatred of gifted to drive the plot along.

To summarize, the book is a great read, and by the end of the book all characters feel vibrant and alive. We are left with more questions than answers at the end (which is great for sequels). There are some major unexpected twists (and a host of expected ones) that keep the reader guessing. Altogether, an excellent read and, at nearly 700 pages, a very worthwhile purchase.

Great book but the author seems to have fallen off the flat end of the world....If you have not read this book yet wait until another one in the series comes out first or be prepared to have totally forgotten about it by the time the next in the series comes out.

A little confusing at first, you are left wondering where all the half truths and plot twists will take you. But it kept me reading only to find out there are still more. The end of the book seems like the beginning of a great adventure.

Gosh, where to begin? Definitely not a book that's predictable.
I love how there are Gifted, and a different class of Gifted - Augars. Then there are ex-Gifted. No one is as good as they seem, or as bad as they seem. So many questions, some answered, some half-answered. How can Shadows still use Vessels? Is Caeden/ Devaed bad or good; and was he the guy at the very beginning of the book? Will Asha become gifted again? Will Wirr make a huge impact on the kingdom? And what part, in all this craziness, does Davian play? Definitely kept me reading. Going to enjoy the second book!

The character building was well done but the pace just felt a little off and required a bit more intent than I anticipated with the first chapter or so. Looking forward to the rest of the story though.