The Shadow of What Was Lost (The Licanius Trilogy, #1) in SpecFic Buddy Reads

May 15, 2017 Niki Hawkes - The Obsessive Bookseller rated it it was amazing

2020 Reread update: [5/5 stars!] Responsible for one of my favorite reading experiences in 2017, I originally reviewed the first two books for a newspaper. I addressed the series as a whole and didn’t have the word count to really delve into specifics of each book. I also averaged my ratings of the two into a 4.5. Not a bad rating, but it didn’t accurately reflect my experience with each book. After finishing my reread in preparation to finish the series, now seems like a great time to update my ...more

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Jan 29, 2018 Bradley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: worldbuilding-sf, fantasy, 2018-shelf

This is definitely a must-have for all you epic fantasy fans. The build-up at the beginning is good and interesting and puts a lot of the focus on the intrigue and the social injustice, but once the action really begins, it's all beautiful sailing.

So much happens and I can honestly say I love every step of it. We go from the humble beginnings to a truly epic arena in time, power, and action, and we dip our toes in all the great twists of time magic, memory magic, outright masterful draining of t ...more

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Nov 05, 2020 Emma rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, epic-fantasy, fantasy

Third time’s the charm. Twice before I tried to read this and got stuck both times. I knew it was me and not the book- all my fantasy loving GR friends loved it- I’d enjoyed what I’d read even though I couldn’t continue on. Strange 🤪 anyway this time I loved it and am ready to continue on with this story, richly imagined and complex. #finally

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Jul 18, 2017 Liam || Books 'n Beards rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: bought-2017, 2017, specfic-buddy-reads, fantasy, nope

Don't see what the fuss is about unfortunately. I will give the book credit as it managed to hold my interest over nearly 700 pages, but for the last half of the book I was keeping a tally of the amount of times someone grimaced, or scowled. It read very much like a debut novel trying to be very grim and epic, but I just had very little interest in the plot. A disappointing nope on this one.

For the record, after page 351, a whopping 43 people grimaced, and 27 scowled. I wish I had been counting ...more

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Apr 30, 2016 Christina Pilkington rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the beginning of this epic fantasy series!

I really enjoyed the world building in this book. The story feels large in scope, but at the same time, the characters are developed enough that they feel real. A minor problem is the overemphasis on male characters, but hopefully that will change as the series grows.

Definitely a series that I want to continue :)

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Nov 22, 2022 Carrie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Edit: I feel my initial thoughts sound negative. The story it's self I'm interested in. I don't want to give spoilers. I liked the characters, there is potential for book 2 to be better. I've heard it is better then this.

Just because I feel a particular way about a book doesn't mean it is a bad book. The Goodreads rating has it over 4 stars average. So it clearly is a me thing. Also 3 stats is not a bad rating.

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I had such high hopes going into this. While there were things I find interestin ...more

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