BOOK REVIEW | A SONG OF LEGENDS LOST | M.H.AYINDE

 

BOOK REVIEW | A SONG OF LEGENDS LOST | M.H.AYINDE

ABOUT THE BOOK

A SONG OF REBELLION. A SONG OF WAR. A SONG OF LEGENDS LOST.

 In the Nine Lands, only those of noble blood can summon the spirits of their ancestors to fight in battle. But when Temi, a commoner from the slums, accidentally invokes a powerful spirit, she finds it could hold the key to ending a centuries-long war.

 But not everything that can be invoked is an ancestor. And some of the spirits that can be drawn from the ancestral realm are more dangerous than anyone can imagine.

REVIEW

M.H. Ayinde bursts onto the fantasy scene with her debut published novel A Song of Legends Lost, the first in her series The Invoker Trilogy.

Set in the Nine Lands, tradition and technology are at war. The story is a combination of different points of views from different individuals from opposing backgrounds. Firstly, there is Temi, a young girl, who after finding her family killed after a smuggling operation gone wrong finds herself imbued with powers forbidden to a person of her class. Jinao is the youngest son of a rich family. In an attempt to gain the powers of an invoker, a way of bringing the power of his dead ancestors to the living world he stows away on a campaign to fight Greybloods, a technologically advanced race that threatens the Nine Lands. Elari is the captain in the army of Clan Itahua who discovers that her missing husband has returned from the dead. Runt is a young pot worker who finds herself the guardian of a mysterious power and works for a local crime family. And finally, there is Boleo, a monk who protects the people from the technological artefacts of a lost world.

Ayinde weaves these differing storylines together to form a propulsive narrative that is vast and wide in its scope. However, be warned! Ayinde does not hold the hands of the reader, and the story relies on the ability of the reader to keep track of and maintain the various plot lines in their consciousness, which at times, some may find overwhelming.

The world building in the book is vast and complex and as the reader follows the different POV’s. She builds a vivid world that draws the reader in, but without overwhelming the reader with massive chunks of exposition. Underlying the fantasy elements of the story, there is a world that hints of an ancient history that relied on technology which has led to the dystopian world that we see now.

Coupled with this, there is an intriguing magic system which relies on the use of the spirits of ancestors, who bond with the host and imbue them with both strength and power.

A Song of Legends Lost gracefully melds science fiction and fantasy to build a complex, layered fantasy set in a rich African world that will keep readers engrossed.