Review: A Song of Legends Lost by M. H. Ayinde

Blurb:

An unforgettable tale of revenge and rebellion unfolds when a reckless king implements an ill-fated plan to end a thousand-year war in this relentlessly gripping epic fantasy debut.

A SONG OF REBELLION. A SONG OF WAR. A SONG OF LEGENDS LOST.

The people of Nine Lands know their history. The kingdom once belonged to the Scathed people, until their greyblood servants rose up and slaughtered them. King Ahiki and his warlords laid claim to the realm by defeating the rebels and driving them out to the Feverlands.

Now, thousands of years later, attacks by the greybloods are rebuffed by the invoker clans, warriors of noble blood who summon their ancestors to fight with them in battle. But the war has gone on too long. A general draft is called to take the battle to the Feverlands and defeat the greybloods once and for all. A plan that seems doomed to fail.

When Temi, a commoner, accidentally invokes a powerful spirit, she believes it could be the key to ending the centuries-long war. But not everything that can be invoked is an ancestor, and some of the spirits that can be drawn from the ancestral realm are more dangerous than anyone can imagine.

Review:

I’ve been hearing a lot about this one on Booktube and Bookstagram. Plus, the pitch of a pre-colonial epic fantasy inspired by African cultures absolutely piqued my interest. And you know what? The prologue, with its science-fantasy elements and unique world, surprised me more than it should have.

So, did this much-anticipated epic fantasy debut live up to the hype?

Spoilers Ahead!

What I liked: 

There is a lot to like in this book, especially if you love sprawling worlds, huge casts of characters, unique cultures, and fantastical magic systems. 

Temi is the first POV you get, and hers was the most exciting, emotionally moving, and narratively satisfying of the lot. The blurb makes it feel like she is the primary protagonist, and I would vote for her if I could. Hers felt like the most personal story, given how she’s surrounded by her family. Plus, the personal touch makes the stakes feel highest for her, despite other plotlines literally dealing with continent-wide conflicts. In addition to all this, the reveal of the true nature of the spirit she’s entangled with made me want to keep reading more about Temi to see where her story is headed. My only issue with this arc was Temi’s absence in all of Part 2. 

Father Boleo was another brilliant POV. I particularly liked this one because the ‘science’ elements of the science fantasy were more blatant here than in any of the other POVs. Plus. Boleo’s arc puts him on a sort of anti-establishment path, which is always fun and thrilling. I wasn’t a fan of how the ending of his arc was kinda sidelined by a different character. However, the journey to that ending was intriguing, and I really want to see more of him in the sequels.

Lastly, I would like to mention Runt. She’s introduced fairly late in the plot, but her story was almost like a mirror to Temi’s. Another deeply personal conflict, both Temi and Runt’s powerless place in society made them formidable and compelling characters. They’re practically nobodies who end up in the middle of a continent-wide conflict that dates back millennia. Plus, their characterization really makes you root for them at every juncture of the plot.   

The world and magic system were quite imaginative. Ayinde’s writing did a fine job of immersing me into this strange science-fantasy world. Even when I could guess where the reveals were headed, I was amazed when they came to the forefront. The way these Ancestor spirits are summoned during battle, the slow and gradual reveals of what the techwork devices are, as well as learning more about the other Clans and greybloods… all of it really put into perspective the sprawling scope of this epic fantasy novel, whilst keeping me engaged with this vivid world. 

Lastly, I want to mention the ending because it was just superb. Part 4 of the book basically has all our character arcs converging (except Elari, but her plot does contribute to the finale). Part 4 was a complete, fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat ride, compensating for the pacing issues of the earlier portions. The ending dumps world-changing reveals on you, which really put things into perspective. While most of the plot points here are wrapped up, there’s a whole storm brewing in the near future, and the rumbling of those conflicts can be felt within the last few pages of the book.  

What I didn’t like: 

Right off the bat, I did not like Jinao’s POV. By the third or fourth chapter of his storyline, I had begun to skim through parts because I just couldn’t bring myself to root for him. I don’t know if the character is uninteresting or if I had some kind of bias toward his personality, but nothing about him appealed to me. In addition to that, pretty much the first half of his storyline progresses passively. What I mean by this is that other people drive the story forward; Jinao is little more than a spectator. What made this story all the more uninteresting to me was how the other POV characters had much better emotional and eventful arcs that explored the world and its cultures in more interesting ways. 

Another issue I faced was with some of the plot points. For example, in Elari’s arc, the foreigners in General Manax’s court are revealed to be secretly powerful invokers (Cloistered) who murder important folks in the court. While the concept was interesting, the way it was explored didn’t make sense to me. Why wouldn’t General Manax suspect the foreigners? If he isn’t batting an eye, wouldn’t Elari suspect his involvement and leave before things get worse? While the events are justified as we progress, I wasn’t able to wrap my head around it. Overall, I had mixed feelings about Elari as a character as well as her arc.

Also, and I have to admit this despite all my praises, I found it hard to keep up with all the names, hierarchies, and roles. The names are subjective, but the other two are not. Maybe my struggle with names made the other two more difficult than they actually were. But this was an issue for me, and it wouldn’t be fair to ignore it in my review. 

Lastly, this book is mostly a setup. Half the book progresses without really giving you enough answers, which made me almost lose interest. Even when the payoffs came in the end, they didn’t satisfy me to the same extent as I expected from the build-up, leaving me with mixed feelings. The book is as epic as promised, but the pacing and some characters do bring down its overall brilliance.

In Conclusion:

A Song of Legends Lost is a pre-colonial African-inspired epic science fantasy debut. It features a unique world, clashing clans, ancestral spirits, politics, and so much more! Yet, I have to admit to having mixed feelings after finishing the book. The world and cultures are imaginative enough to make me revisit this world. But some of the characters and some parts of the plot definitely needed improvement. 

My guess is that book 2 will be a significant upgrade to this debut, mostly because a lot of the setup has already been done in book 1. The pieces are in place, the conflicts are established, and now the world is about to witness widespread change. 

TL;DR: 

What I liked: The cultures, the science-fantasy elements, Temi, Runt and Boleo’s arcs.

What I didn’t like: Jinao, some plot points, mixed feelings regarding the overall plot