The Shadow of What Was Lost – James Islington (review)

Title: The shadow of what was lost (The Licanius trilogy #1)

Author: James Islington.

Format: Paperback.

Publisher: Orbit.

Page count: 693.

Release day: August 3^rd 2014.

Genre: Adult, fantasy.

Rating: 4 stars.

What is it about? (Summary from GoodReads)

It has been twenty years since the end of the war. The dictatorial Augurs—once thought of almost as gods—were overthrown and wiped out during the conflict, their much-feared powers mysteriously failing them. Those who had ruled under them, men and women with a lesser ability known as the Gift, avoided the Augurs’ fate only by submitting themselves to the rebellion’s Four Tenets. A representation of these laws is now written into the flesh of any who use the Gift, forcing those so marked into absolute obedience.

As a student of the Gifted, Davian suffers the consequences of a war fought—and lost—before he was born. Despised by most beyond the school walls, he and those around him are all but prisoners as they attempt to learn control of the Gift. Worse, as Davian struggles with his lessons, he knows that there is further to fall if he cannot pass his final tests.

But when Davian discovers he has the ability to wield the forbidden power of the Augurs, he sets into motion a chain of events that will change everything. To the north, an ancient enemy long thought defeated begins to stir. And 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…

Rating:
Characters: 8/10
Atmosphere: 9/10
Writing: 9/10
Plot: 7/10
Intrigue: 7/10
Logic: 7/10
Enjoyment: 7/10
Average: 7.71 (which means 4 stars!)

My thoughts:

I’m very happy I finally read this one! I have been seeing so many amazing things about this book and its sequels!

I started off absolutely loving this book, I really thought this would be a five star read! The plot immediately started, without it being too confusing! Of course we do not know anything about the world and the magic system in the beginning, but I feel like the explanation was woven into the plot so well! I didn’t feel overwhelmed from the information at the start of the book, which definitely often happens in fantasy books!

I really liked the characters we got introduced to in the beginning; Davian, Wirr and Asha. There were also more characters introduced later on in the book that I enjoyed, like Karadiel and Caeden! But there were so many that I started to get quite confused with the amount, and there were some names that I could not keep apart, so sometimes I was not sure what character was who.

I loved the plot! It was so interesting with the magic being suppressed by some people, and the different types of magic. And also not being sure about who exactly the ‘bad guys’ are. What did confuse me was where they were, I mean there was a map, but I felt like they kept talking about going places that I could not find on the map, so that made it a bit to orientate at times!
There was always something happening in the plot, but for some reason I felt like the book was a bit dragging in the middle?! But I have to be honest, I’m not sure if that was the books fault, or if I just forced myself to read even though I was quite tired..
Even when lots was happening in the plot, it all did make sense in the end!

The writing was so good! I just loved reading it, it was quite easy to fly through, even when lots was happening!

Overall I really enjoyed this book, I do think I would have liked it a bit more if I wasn’t so confused by the amount of characters! But after the things that happened at the end of the book, I really need to continue! I do think I should continue soon, before I forget all the names haha!

Happy reading!