The Shadow of What Was Lost - James Islington

Published by Orbit Books: Australia, 2016.
First published (self-published), 2014.
Book 1 in the 'Licanius Trilogy.' Followed by 'An Echo of Things to Come.'

James Islington wrote The Will of the Many and The Strength of the Few, the first two books in what will be a longer series, but that has not yet had the third book published. I discovered that series last year and The Will of the Many even made it onto my first end-of-the-year Top Five Books List. The Shadow of What Was Lost is James Islington's first novel, and the first in his first series - the Licanius Trilogy - that he wrote before beginning the Hierarchy series that I have previously discovered. 

Whereas his later series is set in a Roman-inspired world with complicated magic-based machinery and even a magic-based system of government, The Shadow of What Was Lost is set in a far more 'stereotypical' fantasy world, populated with castles, princesses, chosen ones, and a 'dark lord.' Our main point-of-view character, Davian, even started life as an orphan working in a castle, although by the time we meet him he has already begun training to become a 'Gifted.' He is not, however, doing very well in his training, and there is a high chance that instead of passing the test, he will be sentenced to become a 'Shadow,' having his powers drained horrifically. A series of circumstances intervenes, and Davian finds himself on the run with a slowly growing group of individuals, including a close friend with a secret identity, a man presumed dead who was previously convicted as a mass murderer, and another man who might also be a mass murderer but seems to legitimately have no memory of his past!

Other plots follow some of Davian's friends, including Davian's potential love interest Asha, and get more into politics and espionage. I would talk more about these plots but they have a slight spoiler-ish element to them that I enjoyed not knowing about in advance, and I would prefer to let my readers also discover them for themselves!

The book has a number of twists and turns, a long section of training that reminds me of Luke taking his side-quest to train under Yoda in Dagobah, characters who seem untrustworthy and turn out trustworthy (or vice versa) and a build up to an epic show-down between good and evil. It is all (in some ways) fairly cliche, but it is told well (despite some moments where pacing or sudden turns make the debut-ness of it all a bit more apparent) and it sets up well for a sequel.

I'll be hunting Book 2 out soon.

Completed 25 September 2026.



(Licanius Trilogy)

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