THE SHADOW OF WHAT WAS LOST by James Islington - No Spoiler Review (Licanius Trilogy Book One)
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- Опубликовано: 13 мар 2023
- THE SHADOW OF WHAT WAS LOST by James Islington - No Spoiler Review (Licanius Trilogy Book One)
#fantasybooks #booktube #licanius
The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington is book one of the epic fantasy series The Licanius Trilogy. The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington is a plot driven book that does a lot to setup the story to varying degrees of success. Fans of epic fantasy like Shadowmarch, The Book of Amber and The WHeel of Time could possibly enjoy The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington. I hope you enjoy this no spoiler book review of The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington.
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I have been looking at this book for YEARS in my local bookstore. I have not picked it up yet. I think it's because I hear so many negative things, but a lot of people also really like it. I'm pretty easy on books, and I can usually look past certain issues and just enjoy it. I'm sure I'll give this a chance eventually. It's just not a priority.
Yeah this one was on the tbr forever for me
After the first volume, I was skeptical about the series. But the second and third made me a fan of the author. its one of those trilogies where book 1 is quite mediocre, but in 2-3 you suddenly realize how well the plot was structured from the beginning. This is a rare case when, starting to write a story, the author knew in detail how it would develop and how it would end which gave him the opportunity to hang a huge number of twists that fire at the right time and with maximum effect.
He does do twists very well, the end of book 2 was awesome
Yaaaaay I've been waiting for this review from you!
😁
Excellent review as always! Your honest feelings are a breathe of fresh air for sure 🎉
Glad to hear it, thanks for watching!
Loved the mixed review, and it had me very intrigued to try it out!
I think you’d like some of it for sure
Thanks for the review Jimmy! I’ve really been on the fence with this one. I hear so many mixed reviews. It won’t rocket to the top of my TBR, but one day maybe lol.
If you do I hope you enjoy it!
I think the ending is the strongest thing of this series. Just a reassurance, but still you know that it is all subjective.
I’m excited to see how it shakes out
😚👌🏻 yep!
I know many people say this series gets better, but the issue is that none of the bad parts in the first book ever get fixed in the later volumes. The only thing that gets better in quality is the plot. Might be the most plot heavy series I've ever read.
For where I am in book 3 I feel the same
I am stuck on book 2 around page 282 can keep up with the time jumps, I'll go back eventually someday
Great commentary especially the prose part. Thats exactly what I felt when reading. For me, while the plot is great, my main gripe is the character work. Caeden is a good character, but I feel like Asha, Davian and Wir don't have enough depth or distinct personalities. They feel like they came from the same mold. That and I always find it funny how the author like to mention they always chat after every reunion.
Hahah that’s true
Great discussion here! It's been a while since I read this one, but my memory is telling me my main issue with this book was it felt like every paragraph had the word "gaze" in it; the narrator was obsessed with constantly telling readers about the "gaze" of the characters over and over again.
Hahahah lots of repetition
The ending of the third book did surprise me, and most of the characters weren't particularly deep, but by the end of the third book the other main character (leaving name out to avoid spoilers) did get deep in a way that made me reflect. There reality of the world also provides opportunity to explore many themes, but the only one explored really was free will/ accountability. I did really enjoy that theme though
Yeah time travel/determinism is always fun to explore
Thank you for posting your review of the first book. I just bought this book based off of Mike’s book review’s video. I’m looking forward to seeing where I fall in the opinions. If the book is interesting enough I can do without regurgitated underlining themes that is in EVERY fantasy series that I read.
Hope you enjoy it!
I’ve been loving this book so far!! I’ve heard so many people describe it as “plain”, but I don’t feel that’s necessarily a negative thing. My adhd makes it so difficult for me to stick with reading, but the way this book is so straight forward it holds my attention really well. I’ve been trying to finish the first LOTR book, and this one is my “in-between” book whenever I need a break from Tolkien describing trees and feasts LOL!!
That’s awesome!! I definitely think there’s a large audience for this book and it undoubtedly has some great ideas in it.
I absolutely love this trilogy! I have to say, though, that thinking about it, other than Caeden none of the main characters in the trilogy are as complex or deeply written as some of my other favorite characters in fantasy. I think book 2 and especially book 3 are much better than book 1, but I love a good time travel story! :)
I definitely enjoy the time travel and am hoping book three blows my mind!
Classy Berserk Deluxe volumes in the back, an essential collection.
Thank you!
Almost as classy as Jimmy's chat/fan base 😁
Great review, you summed up pretty well how I felt about book one and what I did read of book 2. Hope you enjoy the last book and the ending.
Thanks Taylor! I’ll let ya know if it’s worth trying again down the road 😅😂
Great review, brother! This one has for some reason not really been on my radar ever. Not cause I heard anything bad about it or anything, just have never felt drawn to it. But definitely a very articulate review nonetheless, and I may try it out someday!
Hope it works for you if you get to it!
I felt almost exactly the same about this one. Fun(ish), interesting(ish) stuff going on, but nothing really setting it apart and missing the depth I’ve come to love in many other series. Also seemed like there were lots of very heavy handed mysteries, kept obscure and incomprehensible, just by never explaining anything about them. I’m having a hard time motivating myself to continue the series.
I’d say you’re probably safe to stop there tbh
As someone who thoroughly enjoyed the series, I started book 1 at like 7am and finished it at 1 am the next day, the only part where I thought it would need another book is a book 3 rafo, but even then the story felt complete to me. Some loose ends and what not that you expect, and there is room for more stories later, but I thought it was well done.
I am excited to see how I end up liking book three
I completely agree with you, but I will say that each book is more fun than the last. I’d say that the final book is just a notch below great because it wrapped up so well.
This book is popular, and for the first time in life, I get to know why the title is The Shadow of What Was Lost. Stupendous review, Jimmy. You rock!
Thank you dude!
@@thefantasynuttwork Sure.
This was a really helpful review. As someone who's a really plot driven reader, I might like this, but I feel like there's a bunch of other things I'd rather get to first.
If you check it out I hope you enjoy!
Nice review! Great job balancing positive and negative, I really enjoyed the analysis. I haven't read the book but your reviews always feel fair.
Thank you so much!
Sounds like a fun read overall, and I might pick it up when I'm looking for a break from more thematically driven fantasy. Thanks for the review, Jimmy!
Have fun!
The 25% of book that I have read reminded me of the chat you had with a critical dragon where he ran down the tavern meet-up. Contrary to my original assessment, I am not sure I will finish the book.
I finished the series in Jamuary. I saw a lot of faults in it but I still absolutely loved it. Weird I know but my mind always drifts back to that trilogy
There’s no doubt it’s extremely entertaining
I enjoyed this series quite a bit! Some times it’s nice to turn your critical thinking cap off and just sit back and be entertained! Kinda like a big summer blockbuster action movie
Definitely!!
Completely agree. Sensational, and a lack of depth for sure. But the story does have you on the edge of your seat at times.
Definitely agreed!
This series builds, and felt that by the end it was one of the more satisfying finished fantasy series ive read. Interested in your view after finishing book 3. His new series Heirarchy (Will of the Many Book 1) is his best book. Absolutely amazing.
I ended up DNFing in book 3 but I’m excited to will of the many still
@@thefantasynuttwork booo! These things happen though. Some people thing the Dark Tower series by King is a top fantasy series, and it's toilet paper to me.
@@shawnthornton454 hahah the variety of taste!
I am reading this now, it’s quite an enjoyable read imo, not the most in depth characters but still fun
Lots of fun!
Loved hearing your thoughts on this one! For the longest time, I have been saying that I probably ruined my own reading experience by taking too much time between books, but recently I've seen more and more people talk about how 'meh' they felt about the story and it honestly feels good to find some validation for my lukewarm feelings on this series, lol.
I do think the time travel aspects were a very cool concept, but by the third book I found the whole thing to have become a bit convoluted. Also, I agree that all of the characters felt very bland. Except for Caeden though, I did find him quite intriguing, he is about the only character that I vividly remember from this series, haha.
Would be very curious to see if the ending makes or breaks it for you! Happy reading 🤩
Thanks! I’m at the start of book 3 and it feels so awkward that all the momentum of book two ending is halted for these weird training montages and info dumps
@@thefantasynuttwork I think my brain just chose to put the start of book 3 in the trash, because I remember nothing from that, lol. Hope it improves for you!!
I personally loved this series (while agreeing with several of your points, Jimmy). Hope book 3 sticks the landing for you!
I hope so too!
I got halfway through and had to put it down. I was hooked within the first few chapters, but as you said with the characters, they felt pretty elementary, and that couldn’t keep my interest long when pushing towards the midpoint of a already long book. I’ll probably give it another shot. I had no idea about the time travel aspects and there’s some interesting plot twists to be done there.
Yeah the timeline stuff is really cool imo
I havent read WoT. I have read The Licanius Trilogy and I have to say I really enjoyed this. I loved the themes regarding free will that the book dealt with. Definitely not S tier BUT its definitely up there.
I think it’s a really good time, hoping book three wraps it up on a high note
I agree, the theology was fascinating.
@@thefantasynuttwork It does. :)
I was always nervous about this series cause nobody ever talks about character love in their reviews when they enjoy the book and thats a huge red flag for me cause it normally means they are not developed the way I want them to be and your review confirms my suspicions 😅
Yeah definitely not the most developed characters of all time haha
I picked it up recently just based on the amazing cover. I stopped a couple hundred pages in. It was probably a mistake starting it right after Memories of Ice.Going from erikson's writing style to islington's was jarring and it made the book feel like YA. I think I need to give it some time and then come back to it.
That would be very jarring
As a big fan of both, I can understand that. Perhaps you need a bit of a break or a 'palate cleanser' series in between. If you like Michael Kramer as a narrator, I can recommend the audio book 👍🏻
I JUST finished book 3 about a week ago or so. I really enjoyed my time with the series and thought there were some really cool things going on throughout. The ending, to me, was really, really great. You could easily tell how much the story was thought out beforehand and it helped make the ending extremely satisfying.
I only really have two complaints with the series. The first is that there ended up being a lot of terms thrown around that I was mixing up which forced me back to the glossary and took me away from the story. That might not be an issue for many people, but this series in particular made me feel like I needed to refresh my memory every few chapters. The second was definitely the writing style. It was effective enough at telling the story, and outside of the need for me to check the glossary, nothing was confusing. Which is a great thing when it comes to time travel/multiple timeline stories. However, I found myself catching some phrases repeated enough throughout the books that I had a running tally in my head how many times they were used. It's much better than I can write, that's for sure, but as a reader I wanted something more.
Yes even through the first 2 I found many repetitive statements that began to become annoying
I made a joke with a friend of mine that if you took a shot every time someone inclines their head in book 2 you would be dead before the halfway mark lmao (and this is coming from someone who's generally positive towards this trilogy)
This book (and series) is SO plot-driven. The characters (other than Caedan) and the world really feel like window dressing for the story, unfortunately. I felt it needed almost an entire additional book to breathe and flesh things out. That said - it is a really good story with an EXCELLENT ending to the final book. (Really, all three books have excellent endings). Add to that the fact that it is a debut series, and I think Islington does well. He has things to improve upon, to be sure, but I enjoyed this.
I am excited to see what he does in the future, his new book is due out this year
I think I'll just stick with Memory Sorrow & Thorn for now lol
I do own it so I'm interested but it's not a priority, plus normally you and I tend to have fairly similar taste in Fantasy so I'm not particularly enthusiastic
I had a good time but felt like there was a lot of missed potential
@@thefantasynuttwork Oof, one of the worst things you can say about a series 🤣
i just want to say that your Berserk collection looks good af.
Ayyyy thanks!
I share many of your criticisms. I still really enjoyed this series and couldn't read it fast enough. :)
I'm so glad!
I have an interesting relationship with this series 😅.
I originally DNF'd the first book around 50%. Picked it back up last year. Thought it was okay. Then I forced myself to get through book 2 and ended up DNFing book 3....maybe I'll try to finish it one day.... Great review!!
Thanks!
I liked that the author decided to not ponder on sutle details and kept it that way. I was so much into plot that I did not even care about the characters haha.
Totally valid! I’ve heard his new book is awesome so I’ll definitely give that a shot in the future
@@thefantasynuttwork Me too! Thank you for such a good review. I just saw your The Traitor Baru video. And now I am both terrified and curious to give the book a go.
@@yuvrajt hey thanks! If you read Baru, I hope you enjoy it!
I actually do think book 3 either needed to be longer or some kind of side story book needs to be written. Since its not like the worst thing. But a few characters leave the story for like 50% of the book and come back totally changed. They basically had their own epic quest. And I'm kind of bummed the whole thing happened off screen. I saw on reddit that the author agreed and said he might write a bit more on that quest after he is done with his current quest. He said he didn't since book 3 was getting to long. He also said he learned to no longer call stuff trilogies on the outset.
I’m glad he’s learning because he has potential
This series seems to have a fairly consistent assessment from most people, although I’m still tempted to check it out sometime.
The covers are amazing and always stood out to me, but it’s so weird that they don’t really bare any relation to the contents! Why do books do that?! 😂
At least they’re pretty?! Hahah
I am 20% in and so far I don’t feel like a good deal of the conversations and situations are very believable. It feels like things were made up on the fly and seem to rely on checking stereotypical fantasy boxes as a means to add content. I will finish the book but unless something changes I won’t be reading book two. I came into this with high hopes as I just finished The Will of The Many & I absolutely loved it.
I DNFed this trilogy with like 200 pages left in the last book so I don't have a very good opinion of it. However, many people I know who enjoyed his new book didn't like this trilogy so that could just simply be the case. This was his debut and also was first self published, so I imagine he's grown a lot as an author since these.
@@thefantasynuttwork From what I have seen I would agree that he has grown, considerably. As for The Shadow, I am curious as to all the great reviews, again based on the 20% that I have read so far. I guess it’s a matter of to each their own ?
I enjoyed the first book and I do see the problems that people have with it. Personally, the second and third book really solidfy my love for the trilogy. Some characters feel like stick figures and others are quite interesting. I'm hoping Islington learned from his mistakes when writing his new series, I have high hopes!
I do too!
Thanks Jimbo! This one is a pass for me but thanks for taking the time to read and review it.
My pleasure!
Hey Jimmy when are we getting the next Dudes talking manga? 🔥🔥💚💚
Possibly this weekend if my cohost is healthy
I wonder how the self pub version of this was changed when it transferred
You know i would also love to know
I had watched a similar review of this book a few years ago (from Merphy Napier) and it put me off at the time because I'm very picky with my Fantasy books.
I read Malice and Valor by John Gwynne and didn't continue on with the series. I know that it's one of your favourites, and I was wondering if you thought there was a lack of thematic depth when you read those two first books as well? Because that's why I dropped the ball: I wanted the author to make me think deeper (which makes me think of it because of what you're criticizing in this review of Islington's work). My friend did tell me what's the big plot twist at the end and how it bothered her because it wasn't fully supported by statements made in the very first book. I wonder if you found it was the case by the end of TFATF? But apart from that, in what way would say John Gwynne's style differs with Islington's? I actually really loved John Gwynne's writing style and pacing, but felt he never engaged intellectually with his readers, if that make sense. But now I wonder if I would've gotten what I was looking for later on in his series. 🥴
I enjoy John Gwynne use of the found family trope and his approach to themes of perseverance. However I would never say the Gwynne is writing extremely deep and complex works, but they’re nonetheless fun and entertaining. With this book however, there felt like a bigger effort was put into building out societal structures and complex relationships between classes only to never do much else with them. So this feels like a bit of a disappointment. I would also like to say that my FATF reviews were very early on my channel, I’ve changed A LOT as a reader since then. I don’t know if I read them today that I’d be as enamored by them, but I still think back fondly on them and have a lot of positive things to say. When we read books has a massive effect and I imagine if I read some of my older favorites now I’d have a lot more to say in the realm of criticism.
@@thefantasynuttwork That makes a lot of sense, thank you for that thoughtful answer!
@@onfaerystories my pleasure, it’s definitely a question worth asking
I had a great time with this trilogy! The plot was bananas and the strong point of the series. If the characterizations were better we would be talking about a modern classic.
I agree with you
I’ve seen a lot of positive thing about this trilogy. It’s interesting to see some other opinions.
It’s a mixed bag for me haha
Thoughts on the rest of the trilogy, Jimmy?
Not for me, DNFed book three 75% in
All of your complaints make me think I'll like it even more. 🤣 I own book 1, definitely want to read this year.
I hope you enjoy it!
The plot of this series sounds like Attack on Titan and Final Fantasy 13 mixed with a little bit of Wheel of Time and Lightbringer.
I wish I had a book with the concept of AoT
@@thefantasynuttwork Attack on Titan is so damn cool and only gets cooler with each story arc. I’m jealous that I didn’t come up with it myself 😅
I tried reading this and gave up early in. It seemed juvenile to me. Nice to here you say it too.
I could definitely see it
Michael Kramer is the audio book narrator.
Jimmy, you need to read the series and then re-evaluate it again.
I have hopes that the other two books might correct some of your gripes.
Also, the audio book is 😚👌🏻 if you like the narrator.
I home school my 3 boys and I can't wait for them to be old enough to put this in the curriculum.
As well as Malazan books!
I’m glad you love it! I’m a bit tired of Michael Kramer after listening to WoT, Dandelion and Stormlight 😅
@@thefantasynuttwork I can respect that! I found Mistborn/Sanderson (plus booktube and your channel, and a ton of fantasy that I hadn't encountered) through this series and Michael Kramer so it has a special place in my heart.
Also, fair warning, there is a glaring plot whole in the third book. It will hopefully be resolved by another series that is being written. It felt like a badly inserted Marvel teaser.
It's the only thing I really dislike about the book.
I do agree that the writing style is not as amazing as Erickson etc., and it would be hard to go back once reading other epic fantasy.
@@LadyPatienceK now you have me even more interested hahah
@@thefantasynuttwork 😅👍🏻
I read the first book years ago… can honestly barely remember it. But I basically thought, well that was fun, mindless entertainment. I liked the characters. Twas a fun time. Jimmy. Jimbo. James. I cannot express how infuriating the second book is. How tedious, poorly written, insufferable it is. Like one of the worst reading experiences of my entire life. Endless backhistory vomit for hundreds of pages. The flashback sequences were italicized and I would literally flick through the book to see how many italicized bits I still had to read because I could not stomach another boring bit about that guy who had actually been reincarnated. Like a genuine nightmare book
Oh lol I commented before I finished your video… glad you’re enjoying book 2 more than me
Book 2 felt so much more disappointing to me, and 3 is off to a weird start. The whole flow feels off since book one. Or maybe the writing just started to grate on me more lol
The thing is, this is Islington’s first novel, so that would explain the lack of polish. Book two is better.
Yeah definitely an ambitious project for a debut no doubt. I wish I had liked book 2 more
Since my name is davian I feel like this book is meant for me or something
This is one of the best reviews ever. As always.
Wow, thanks!
Yeah the first book didn't grab me so I DNF'ed it, just not much character depth and a pacing too fast for my preference. As well as issues I had with world building. Personally, I'm not a fan of the "these people with super powers are oppressed" trope since if you can create fire or detect lies and normal people can't, for society to function you would have to not use your powers. A very careful dance between the non -magical with their wealth and resources and the magical with their raw natural power would've been fascinating to me.
I see your point
did someone say...SUBVERT?!?!?
😂
Time travel is a no for me, so I may have to pass. I do like the idea of the practitioners of the magic being held accountable by the normies in a fantasy series. I've always wondered how normies feel about the magic people in books.
Time travel is the main element of this so I’d recommend steering clear tbh
@@thefantasynuttwork will do then. Not like I've been reading much lately anyway.
As an avid wheel of time fan and Brandon Sanderson fan, I read the whole trilogy! And it's kind of bland, it's not as good as Jordan or Sanderson! Just my two cents.
Totally valid!
Sometimes it's refreshing to hear an honest take about a mid book! This one sounds like its been almost too planned out so I'll probably skip.
It’s a good popcorn read!
The Gifted don't get turned into Shadows for breaking the Tenets because it's actually impossible for them to break the Tenets. The Tenets magically supersede the will of the Gifted.