On first glance, The Shadow Of What Was Lost feels surprisingly familiar, and that's because it is. In his writing debut, author James Islington writes a tribute to classic epic fantasy, but ultimately fails to separate himself from those who came before. Paying homage is never a bad thing, but The Shadow Of What Was Lost struggles to find its own identity until about halfway through the book. To its credit, its original ideas are well executed and enjoyable to read, but its overall derisive nature is distracting.

The tone of The Shadow Of What Was Lost is confusing. Focusing on a group of 16 year olds, the tone reads extremely YA-adjacent, but multiple scenes of violence are so grisly and explicit (and perhaps some of the highlights of the book overall) that it is hard to place who this book is for. Although distracting, the tone does not subtract from the story.

The initial presentation of characters is horrible. However, about 1/3 - 1/2 of the way through the book, chapters are told from varying POV's, and allow us more insight into individual characters. The characters themselves are likable sacks of flour; physical descriptions boil down to hair color and whether or not the characters have facial scarring. Do not ask me who each character on the cover of the book is; I cannot tell you.

World building in The Shadow Of What Was Lost is massive, but frustrating. The world is large and rich in history, but that history is given in bits and pieces, and teased more than explicitly stated. The book has a unique social order that you really have to read and accept that explanations will not be given until far later into the story.

A rough but enjoyable first outing, The Shadow Of What Was Lost loses its footing and stumbles into the shadow of what could have been.