Book Review: A Song of Legends Lost (The Invoker, #1) by M.H. Ayinde
ARC provided by the publisher—Orbit—in exchange for an honest review.
Cover art by Richard Anderson
A Song of Legends Lost by M.H. Ayinde
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Series: The Invoker (Book #1 of 3)
Genre: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy
Pages: 592 pages
Word count: 189,000 words
Published: 8th April 2025 by Orbit (UK) & 3rd June 2025 by Saga Press (US)
A Song of Legends Lost is a Final Fantasy X inspired debut with magic summons reminiscent of Spirit from Shaman King or Stand from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.
Since I saw the beautiful cover art by Richard Anderson, I was instantly hooked on checking out A Song of Legends Lost by M.H. Ayinde. This interest was multiplied after hearing that this is an epic fantasy debut novel. As we all know, an epic fantasy debut without heavy romance elements is rare now in the traditionally published fantasy market. The massive success of Fourth Wing has pretty much changed the trajectory and focus of most traditional publishers to search for more romantasy success. This is totally understandable. It is where the money is. And it is very likely that a debut like A Song of Legends Lost, a fantasy debut with pretty much zero romance, won’t reach the success many romantasy books do these days. However, I do sincerely hope this book earns enough sales for it to continue. And for more traditional publishers to publish more debuts like this again. As far as my reading taste goes, A Song of Legends Lost is the kind of epic fantasy debut I like to read, and I wish there was more of it like it was before.
The story in A Song of Legends Lost takes place in the Nine Lands, where 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 as always, 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. From this official blurb, it is easy to conclude that Temi is the main character of A Song of Legends Lost. While it is true she is one of my favorite POV characters to read in the book, she is not the only main character.
Told from five main POV characters, Temi is one of the main characters, but she does not dominate the narrative. Not at all. This is a story about family, vengeance, cultures, classes, identity, and heritage. Noble versus commoners, and also survival. Ayinde uses five integral main characters of different identities, personalities, and heritage to explore these themes deeply. Temi, Jinao, Boleo, Elari, and Runt. These are the five main characters of A Song of Legends Lost, and this book is undoubtedly a slow-burn character-driven epic fantasy novel. I enjoyed reading every perspective, but even though Jinao has the most pages, Temi and Runt were the most compelling of the characters, in my opinion. Additionally, there were multiple clans and several key supporting characters. Readers who do not like reading epic fantasy with a relatively large cast of characters with zero romance might be turned off by A Song of Legends Lost, but it was the other way around for me.
Picture: Father Boleo by La Draws
This, however, brings me to my next point. If there is one thing that did not click with me as much as I hoped, it was the story structure. Readers are put into Temi and Jinao’s perspective for the entirety of Part 1. About 130 pages long. After this, for roughly 300 pages long, Temi did not have another POV chapter. She became almost non-existent in the storyline for a long time, and I wish we could’ve gotten more of her in Part 2 and Part 3 of the novel, even just a little bit. This is not to say Jinao, Boleo, and Elari’s stories were uninteresting. And thankfully, the big focus on them did influence the events of the last sections of A Song of Legends Lost. But for my enjoyment, I would have enjoyed seeing the chapters being spread out more evenly. That said, this is a minor issue in the grander scheme of things.
Picture: A Song of Legends Lost by Richard Anderson
Speaking of my enjoyment of the novel, the coolest aspect of A Song of Legends Lost was the battle, summons, and the world. Each clan has its own Ancestor and sacred weapon. Two examples. Clan Adatali has the Eight Sacred Blades, and Clan Mizito has the Staff ‘Stillness’. The actions, especially when the characters summon their respective Ancestors, were exciting. Look at the badass cover art. It is exactly like that. Think of it like how Yuna from Final Fantasy X summon her Aeon to fight for her in battle. Or like how the Spirits in Shaman King and the Stand in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure work. Everything contributed to an unputdownable climax sequence where hell broke loose.
Picture: Yoh and Amidamaru from Shaman King
One last thing I can definitely tell you what to expect from A Song of Legends Lost is scope. There is no doubt this is a sprawling epic fantasy with intricate world-building. It is set in a non-Western inspired world, and there were clear inspirations from Yoruba culture and, as I said earlier, Final Fantasy X in the world-building. Ancient civilizations, mysterious technologies, and glyphs, to name a few. These are evident elements in A Song of Legends Lost, and you will read the characters explore ruins to find the secret behind them. I liked learning about the history of the world. And I look forward to finding out how everything will unravel in the sequel.
A Song of Legends Lost is great epic fantasy debut. It is Final Fantasy X meets Shaman King. I am grateful epic fantasy debuts like this are still being published by traditional publishers. For a while now, my only options for epic fantasy books were limited to established authors or indie fantasy books. And they were undoubtedly amazing. However, it feels refreshing to have more epic fantasy options again. It also feels nostalgic to see an epic fantasy debut in this vein being traditionally published again. An author pouring their dream and every part of their soul into their first publication is always something I like to witness, and I am glad the Song of Legends Lost is sung. It is not lost. It is heard. And may it continue to be invoked.
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