The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington

 The Shadow of What Was Lost (The Licanius Trilogy #1) by James Islington with Michael Kramer (Narrator), 25 hrs, 28 min. (725 pages)

"As destiny calls, a journey begins. 

It has been twenty years since the godlike Augurs were overthrown and killed. Now, those who once served them -- the Gifted -- are spared only because they have accepted the rebellion's Four Tenets, vastly limiting their powers. 

As a Gifted, Davian suffers the consequences of a war lost before he was even born. He and others like him are despised. But when Davian discovers he wields the forbidden power of the Augurs, he and his friends Wirr and Asha set into motion a chain of events that will change everything. 

 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. In the far north, an ancient enemy long thought defeated begins to stir." Provided by publisher

I picked up this first book in the series because I read a James Islington book that I absolutely loved a couple years ago (The Will of the Many) and because of narrator Michael Kramer, who I have found to have impeccable taste in fantasy novels. When diving into this book, be prepared for a lot of characters, but a core group of characters that you get attached to. There is a lot of world building and character development, as it should be in any first novel in an epic fantasy series. This is a complex world with complex characters, and I enjoyed learning how they connected. Looking forward to reading the next in the series.