The Shadow of What Was Lost (The Licanius Trilogy #1)

James Islington

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…

-Excerpt taken from Goodreads.

Check Goodreads to see the book’s ratings.

My Opinion

4.5 out of 5 stars (4.5 / 5) I was thoroughly entertained throughout this audio! I’m new to adult fantasy and sometimes I find there to be a lot of…. extra info going on. Long rants about things that I don’t feel is necessary. Don’t hate me, they’re just so long! Anyway, I did not feel that with this book. I liked the characters right off and it was interesting to follow their individual journeys.

There were many aha moments woven throughout the story. To the point where I was impressed it all came together so well. I will continue this series! On to book two, thank you Audible!

When listening, I don’t believe I heard one swear word the entire 25 hours. If there were some, they were minor and very few. There was no sex or intimacy but there was a fair amount of violence. However, the violence didn’t seem excessive in details but there were a few highly intense moments because of it. There were deaths and fighting and more but most of the details were minimal. The deaths were sometimes massacres with some details about the bodies that were the most offensive. There was torture and a possible rape but beyond that I believe most teens and adults would be OK with the details.

I highly recommend this series, thanks to my fantasy lovin cousin for recommending it! He’s always been a great supporter of my blog. Much love to you cuz!

**As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 

5 Comments

  1. I have heard that this is in the vein of Wheel of Time and Mistborn, except much more concise. It’s been on my lsit forever too. Great review!

    • I haven’t heard that! I didn’t notice any Mistborn similarities but I read those quite a few years ago.

  2. Sounds like a great read, I’ve been getting more and more into adult fantasy in recent years!

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