Fantasy Book Club Series discussion

Have you finished The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington, book 1 in the Licanius Trilogy? Let us know what you thought!

*Spoilers Allowed*

Just finished it. I found it to be a good intro book to the series and it definitely left me with a WTF feeling at the end...

I enjoyed the read. Enough that I have also read the 2nd book in the series.

Katy wrote: "I enjoyed the read. Enough that I have also read the 2nd book in the series."

Good! Please join in next month when we discuss book 2!

I liked this book more than I though and I don't know what to expect next book. The plot was enjoyable and I think the characters are good
Had some vibes of WoT in some parts.
Also, I have so many conflicted thoughs and emotions about Davian...

Pretty good debut effort. Some random thoughts.

-- Not sure what to make of Caeden's retrieved memories. He's Aarkein Devaed? Then who is running the show back on the other side of the boundary? Also, IIRC, in the prologue Tal'Kamar says he's going where Aarkein Devaed cannot follow. Then he jumps into the Waters of Renewal. That's a bit ambiguous. Is he referring to Devaed as a separate person or as himself metaphorically -- his past self, the one he is escaping? The Waters give him a second chance?

-- Who is Malshash? There is the shapeshifting that both Malshash and Tal'Kamar can do. They both mention the same shapeshifting creature. Is Tal'Kamar also Malshash? If so, then my, my but Caeden is one busy young man, playing a complicated game of . . . what? . . . I'm not sure. One heck of an interesting character.

-- Some good plot twists. The truth about Elocien (sp?) stunned me.

-- Am not sure how I feel about Davian. That Davian thinks how he wasn't as disturbed by what Malshash did at his wedding as he should have been might be a bit or portending.

-- Liked the character building, although more time could have been spent at the beginning detailing the relationships between Wirr, Davian, and Asha.

-- Davian asks the librarian for books on Aarkein Devaed and he's led to a book of fairy tales. That got a good laugh out of me.

-- Free Will versus Determinism -- There's tension between the two throughout. Wondering where that will lead? There are the Augurs' visions and the fairy tale. Shocked at the death and misery the one king finds in the kingdom of the other, he asks the other king why he doesn't do something about it. The answer he receives from the other king is he has seen the future and knows he can't change anything.

-- Would like to see some world building on the other side of the boundary in the next two volumes.

-- Who are the Darecians? Want to know more about them?

-- Critics and reviewers point out similarities between this series and Wheel of Time (and a couple of other epic fantasies). I find that surprising because I DNF'd Eye of the World not once but twice, yet gobbled this up. But on second thought it shouldn't be surprising. Each story is told by a different writer in his or her own way. I am attracted to one way and not to the other.

-- All reasons why I'll be reading book #2.

Xan Shadowflutter wrote: "Pretty good debut effort. Some random thoughts.

-- Not sure what to make of Caeden's retrieved memories. He's Aarkein Devaed? Then who is running the show back on the other side of the boundary? A..."

Well, I agree with most of your thoughs. I just want to say:

-About Caeden, it is said in one point near the ending that he hated what he had become as Aarkein Devaed, so is most likely he wanted to leave all he did as that person behind and get away from people who knew him as Aarkein Devaed.

-Malshash...lol, I didn't note the same mention, but it is interesting your theory. I hope the second book has the answers, because plot twists in this first one were insane. Yep, Caeden is too complex (he's my favorite).

-About Davian...yes! He disturbs me for his decisions in the last third of the story. I think he's indifferent to the fact that he killed someone with his power because he, maybe, was inexperienced when he Read the memory of Malshash's wedding and his emotions and feelings like "united" with what Malshash was feeling at that momento and maybe that left more than an impression in Davian's mind. It's the only reason I can think of.

-I read the first book of WoF, and I liked it (plan to read the rest soon), but in my case the similarities between these two series are more for the cliché of protagonists with bigger destinies "set on stone" and the "travel" to some other big city from a small place, but that is more like a common base -I think-, because I liked The shadow of what was lost much more and they haven't a continuous parallelism. I agree with you, we like what we like.

I just finished this and I also felt like Caedan and Malshash might be the same person. I also feel much more attached to Caedan's journey than I do Davian's journey as he feels much more incomplete as a character.

I think the connection Fer made was really interesting when she talked about how perhaps Malshash made more of an impression on Davian's mind than the book let on about. We also know that Malshash was controlling Davian and we know that when the Augur Erran was controlling Elocien, there was definite bleed through.

I aslo think it's interesting that none of the comments here really talked about Ashalia Chaedris or the Shadraehin, two powerful female characters. I am really curious about the ramifications of Ashalia's choice and what role the Shadraehin is going to play in future books.

There was also a part of the book that I was very curious about when Caeden was talking to the Guardian, Garadis ru Dagen, and he said "The question is, how did you get in this time? Did the Traveler bring you? Did the Keeper take pity on you? Or perhaps you finally plucked up the courage...." (p. 562).

We also know from the beginning of the book that the Keeper was at the Wells of Mor Aruil (p. 2). And in the epilogue we learned that the Keeper is Tae'shadon, Asar Shenelac (p. 590). He gives Caeden back the memory of the village.

Taeris uses traveling stones. Is he the Traveler? Davian went through the rift. Is he the Traveler? Someone else?

When Davian was talking to Ilseth in the beginning, Ilseth also mentioned Builders but I took that to mean an ancient race or something.

I'm really interested to see these roles solidify.

I don't think the series is any more similar to WoT than any other fantasy series (and I've read the whole thing multiple times). Many fantasy books follow the same path and have similar details. This is just another one. It's like comparing a fantasy book to Tolkein because they both have elves.

I forgot to add that I also felt like the first 2/3 of the book was rather uninteresting and very trope-y, but as I got to the last 1/3, it got more interesting. It's also a super fast read with pretty simplistic language.

Darecians are builders and an ancient race, but I don't know if Ilseth means them.

A lot of people are lying and using other people in book 1, which is why I consider the possibility that Cadaen's returned memory of the village has been modified in some way.

Asha has grown the most of the three. By the end of the book the school girl is gone, replaced by a much wiser woman.

Davian still acts like a foolish school boy at times. I thought it foolish and ungrateful and wrong of Davian to try and steal Cadaen's Essence from him. I'm not sure how much I trust him.

Wirr, well Wirr was always more grown up than he let on.

I will join you in reading Echo.

PS: I like the titles of these books.

I usually dont care for the whole : young kid finds out he is the destiny of the world and must go on an extensive quest' trope, but I found this book, with its unique magic system and the way the characters show growth as they experience various issues....pleasant surprise all along!

I am on the fence about this series. I read the first book with mixed reviews. I do agree it was a bit sluggish through big portion on the book. I hope things pick up in book 2.