jaedia's reviews
98 reviews

Now this was great! I went in with no expectations, honestly, I just knew it sounded neat when I first preordered it (I try to preorder the most intriguing fantasy/horror books throughout the year, within my budget of course) so when I requested it on NetGalley I just knew it was on my preorder list. Well anyway, allow me to offer you some quick expectations: A Song of Legends Lost is the first in a new epic fantasy trilogy by British author M.H. Ayinde. This is very West-African inspired (with a bit of a mix! I certainly noticed a little Indian culture in areas), it's a multi-POV story with four parts, and each character offers the story something different. 

This is a world with a lost people, the Scathed, wiped out millenia ago by their own creations: the greybloods. These are kind of mechanical people, made out of the cursed techwork people are told to keep away from, and humanity has been at war with them for as long as they can remember. Here in the Nine Lands, humans are ruled over by the Royal Ahiki clan, the golden clan with golden eyes painful to look upon. And within this world, only those called upon through specialised rituals within the Nine Clans can invoke their ancestors, a power used to defend against the attacking greyblood armies. Only... Temi begins hearing a voice in her mind, somebody who is not her ancestor, and the ancestors turn away from those who do not use the gifts they are given. Sounds good right? 

So we've got a kind of arcane techwork that must be "cleansed" by a Royal Monk, it is forbidden for anybody but them to touch it as it is allegedly cursed. There are ... oh there are just so many moving parts to this book I couldn't even begin to explain it to you, just trust me. Each perspective moves the story along in its own way, and by the end paints a whole picture, and the way everything comes together, man, I couldn't stop reading. I have read the most I've read all year so far over the past 3 days because of this book. It's so unique, complex in a very good and satisfying way, and I loved all the characters. I wish I could dive right into the next book! But I will have to be patient. 

I can however urge you to consider checking this one out! Especially if you're looking for queernormative epic fantasy written by an amazing black woman. It releases on the 8th April 2025, and I cannot wait to see how the rest of this trilogy pans out and yes I was naughty and went off and preordered the special edition from Goldsboro Books. Hey I may want to revisit this one, may as well do it in style, right? 

The characters were wooden, the narrator was boring, and while I was mildly intrigued by the Watchers themselves, I didn't care what was going on, why, or how. Just bored.

Great worldbuilding, magic and lore, plot, and prose sadly let down by poor execution of tension, character actions, and a couple odd writing devices.