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maralyne 's review for:
A Song of Legends Lost
by M.H. Ayinde
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A Song of Legends Lost starts a new epic fantasy that I can best describe as Horizon: Zero Dawn meets Game of Thrones. The Nine Lands is built on the ruins of the Scathed civilization and is under constant threat from the greybloods, creatures of metal that can look unsettlingly like humans. The story weaves multiple POVs and multiple storylines with a fast pace and interesting twists. Every character has distinct motivations and only a handful of pieces of the greater puzzle, which makes piecing together the mysteries of the past a delight.
I loved the way this book builds up its world. It does a great job building up things that the reader should recognize even as the POV characters call those items something else or do not recognize it at all, which some post-apocalyptic stories can struggle with. I also loved the diversity of the Nine Lands, and the African and Asian influences on setting, which can still be hard to find in fantasy. It's not just window dressing. The ability to invoke ancestors and use them for combat has deep implications for a culture with ancestor worship that are explored in interesting ways. The characters' beliefs and behaviors all feel consistent with their personal experiences within their society. It makes each character compelling even when I do not sympathize with them.
With an ensemble cast, I usually find one or two would be my favorites and perhaps one or two that are less interesting to follow. However, in this story, I found all of them to be interesting or at least involved in something interesting to the plot. The book is split into four parts, and not every POV is in each part, which worked well. It never felt like a POV showed up just because it was their turn, even if they weren't up to anything interesting. Other readers may be thrown off by this though, especially for readers who prioritize character work. The POV characters are a good mix of ages, social classes, and backgrounds, and the contrast between each of them helps with the world-building.
As far as the plot goes, most characters start with simple goals, like protecting their family, furthering their cause, or getting revenge. None of them seem like they'll be directly related, but everyone plays a role in the bigger picture. I really enjoyed seeing these different plot threads twist around each other and even derail each other. Some of these threads are dark and gruesome, and many of these threads are violent. However, despite my Game of Thrones comparison, this book does not use sexual violence as one of those dark threads, with the mention of the Woodsmaiden capturing humans to breed for her being the most overt mention of sexual violence that I could remember. As to whether this book would be considered a grimdark fantasy, I can't make that judgement based only on this first book. There are a lot of moral grey areas, and even the greybloods, which seem like a clearly malevolent force at first, may be more complicated than that. That may be enough for some readers to consider this a dark fantasy, but unless the series ends on a hopeless and nihilistic note, I would not consider this grimdark. There is a thread of human perseverance and capacity for understanding underlying this story.
Overall, I had a great time reading this book. It was hard to put down, and I can't wait for the sequel!
I loved the way this book builds up its world. It does a great job building up things that the reader should recognize even as the POV characters call those items something else or do not recognize it at all, which some post-apocalyptic stories can struggle with. I also loved the diversity of the Nine Lands, and the African and Asian influences on setting, which can still be hard to find in fantasy. It's not just window dressing. The ability to invoke ancestors and use them for combat has deep implications for a culture with ancestor worship that are explored in interesting ways. The characters' beliefs and behaviors all feel consistent with their personal experiences within their society. It makes each character compelling even when I do not sympathize with them.
With an ensemble cast, I usually find one or two would be my favorites and perhaps one or two that are less interesting to follow. However, in this story, I found all of them to be interesting or at least involved in something interesting to the plot. The book is split into four parts, and not every POV is in each part, which worked well. It never felt like a POV showed up just because it was their turn, even if they weren't up to anything interesting. Other readers may be thrown off by this though, especially for readers who prioritize character work. The POV characters are a good mix of ages, social classes, and backgrounds, and the contrast between each of them helps with the world-building.
As far as the plot goes, most characters start with simple goals, like protecting their family, furthering their cause, or getting revenge. None of them seem like they'll be directly related, but everyone plays a role in the bigger picture. I really enjoyed seeing these different plot threads twist around each other and even derail each other. Some of these threads are dark and gruesome, and many of these threads are violent. However, despite my Game of Thrones comparison, this book does not use sexual violence as one of those dark threads, with the mention of the Woodsmaiden capturing humans to breed for her being the most overt mention of sexual violence that I could remember. As to whether this book would be considered a grimdark fantasy, I can't make that judgement based only on this first book. There are a lot of moral grey areas, and even the greybloods, which seem like a clearly malevolent force at first, may be more complicated than that. That may be enough for some readers to consider this a dark fantasy, but unless the series ends on a hopeless and nihilistic note, I would not consider this grimdark. There is a thread of human perseverance and capacity for understanding underlying this story.
Overall, I had a great time reading this book. It was hard to put down, and I can't wait for the sequel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Grief