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  • The Shadow of What Was Lost

  • The Licanius Trilogy, Book 1
  • By: James Islington
  • Narrated by: Michael Kramer
  • Length: 25 hrs and 28 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (1,420 ratings)

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The Shadow of What Was Lost

By: James Islington
Narrated by: Michael Kramer
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Publisher's Summary

It has been 20 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...

©2014 James Islington (P)2015 Podium Publishing
About the Creator - James Islington

About the Creator

James Islington was born and raised in southern Victoria, Australia. His influences growing up were the stories of Raymond E. Feist and Robert Jordan, but it wasn’t until he read Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series that he was finally inspired to write something of his own. He now is the internationally bestselling author of the Licanius Trilogy, comprising The Shadow of What Was Lost, An Echo of Things to Come, and The Light of All That Falls. Islington lives with his wife and two children on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria.

Critic Reviews

"Robert Jordan fans should check this out!" (Pop Bop, Top 500 Amazon Reviewer)

What listeners say about The Shadow of What Was Lost

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Highly Recommend

I will try to write about this book without giving any details of the actual story as everything needs to come fresh to the listener, to avoid spoiling the telling. So apologies to those who prefer a review to be more of a story summary.

There are story arcs within story arcs, just as a trilogy should be - excellent. The protagonist of the series ... maybe, looks to be a mysterious character in this book, whom we are given foreshadowing about throughout, but don't really get to know at all until the last third of the book. He may even turn out to be the series antagonist - future books will reveal more, I'm sure.

But in the meantime, the protagonist BN of this first book (who I imagine we will see a lot more of in future volumes, and may well turn it to be the series protagonist) transforms slowly, yet inexorably to a bit of a 'superhero', although he still has a lot more developing to do.

The secondary and other support characters are fleshed-out well too, sufficient for their roles, and the world-building is excellent. At no point did I feel like I was being given a 'lesson' and still I have learnt about a world completely new and fresh, with magic lore, history, geography, politics and beliefs.

I bought this audiobook at an introductory reduced price, but I recommend it so highly that the full price should not be a block. I will certainly be buying the next two at the regular price.

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3 people found this helpful

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Excellent

Story is full of twists and turns, character are engaging and likable. Excellent narration as always from Kramer.

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outstanding

this book has me hooked. I hope book 2 is as good... definitely worth a listen.

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Such a wonderful read!

This book was very easy to follow with such wonderful twists and turns. It is definitely a solid story that would suit any wheel of time fan.

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A great find

This is an excellent series and certainly reminded me of Brandon Sanderson. I thoroughly enjoyed all three books and the third book was probably the most engrossing, which I think says great things about a series. Some series tend to dwindle but this just became more intense. I absolutely recommend.

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Good story

I enjoyed listening and can't wait to start the next book in the series the narration was well done, the story occasionally jumped around but it was easy enough to pick up.

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more excellent fantasy

this book is well written and has an excellent story exclamation being the first book of the trilogy, I can't wait to read the next two exclamation

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Exceeded expectations

Story and world building more interesting than the individual characters but for sure worth the listen

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loved it!

had me hooked, couldn't put it down. And of course, the best narrator in the business, Michael Kramer, absolutely crushed it

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Great book

Plot was creative and kept surprising - Michael Kramer (narrator) was excellent as always. Will be listening to the sequel!

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