This is where the Licanius series starts getting a hell of a lot more complicated.
Caeden was probably the character I was most interested in because the more he learns about his past, the harder it becomes to separate who he used to be from who he’s trying to become now.
That’s what I liked about his story. Remembering what you did doesn’t automatically tell you what to do next. He has to deal with the fact that some of the choices he made can’t just be undone because he regrets them now.
And I think that makes him a lot more interesting than a simple “guy with a mysterious past” character.
Davian, Asha, and Wirr are all dealing with their own responsibilities too, which helps keep the story from turning into nothing but Caeden trying to piece together his memories.
Davian is still the character who probably keeps the whole thing easiest for me to follow. There is so much happening with time, magic, history, and different versions of what people believe happened that having him there gives me somebody I can still grab onto while Islington starts messing with everything else.
Asha’s storyline gets more interesting because she has more influence now, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she has more control. I liked seeing her put into situations where having power doesn’t automatically make her safe.
Wirr has a different problem. He can recognize that something is wrong with the way the world works, but knowing something needs to change and actually convincing everyone else to change it are two very different things.
And then there’s all the time stuff.
This is where I really had to pay attention.
There are a lot of names, connections, memories, revelations, and events happening at different points in time. Sometimes I felt like I understood exactly what was happening, and then the book would give me one new piece of information and I’d have to rethink half of it.
I actually liked that, even when it made my head hurt a little.
Islington is clearly building toward something very specific, and I started getting the feeling that details I thought were small were probably going to matter later.
The downside is that there are times when the explanations get heavy enough that the characters almost disappear behind the mechanics of the story. You really do have to pay attention to this series. I wouldn’t recommend reading half of this book, putting it down for three months, and expecting to remember what the hell everybody was doing when you come back.
But the complexity is also part of what makes it work.
The question underneath a lot of it is whether people actually have a choice when so much of what’s happening seems like it has already happened—or is going to happen no matter what they do.
That’s what kept me interested more than just figuring out the time-travel puzzle.
Who I’d recommend it to: Anyone who liked the mystery and magic of The Shadow of What Was Lost and wants the series to get much deeper and more complicated.
Caution: This is definitely one to read while the first book is still fresh. There are a lot of names, timelines, and connections to keep straight.
Discussion question: Did you believe Caeden could become a different person from whoever he was before, or did you think his past was always going to catch up with him?
— Cory Lane