This was a slow burn for me. In most of my notes I took during the reading process, I lamented the fact that I just didn’t connect enough with any of these characters. They were certainly interesting, or in interesting situations, but I didn’t feel invested. One such note mentioned being at the 76% mark where a character was introduced and only present for 1.5 pages and I felt more for him than any of the characters currently (aside from Runt) that I’ve spent hundreds of pages with. Thankfully, I did grow a little closer to our POV characters after that point, but not to the extent I would have hoped for after spending 600+ pages with them.

This is an epic fantasy world that feels fresh while still drawing on some classic influences. There are things that definitely paint the author as a lover of the genre and she put just enough of a spin on things to make it her own. We have ancient technology that is all the more mysterious as we see it through the limited lens of our characters. Ancestral spirits and powers from beyond the veil that only the select can harness. Propaganda and a hidden history. Plots within plots. Also a cat that is not a cat.

I heard this compared to Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure which is a guaranteed way to get my attention. (If that didn’t get me, the gorgeous cover would have! Gosh it’s a good cover.) While I can see where that comparison came from, particularly in the case of Jinao’s “training arc” (surely the author watched/read Battle Tendency, right? Right??), it lacked the excitement since I wasn’t invested to the extent as I would expect that far into the book. The more obvious comparison has to be between the Stands in Jojo and the invoked spirits used for battle. When you start to get a feel for the limits of their power and the possibilities, we suddenly get a wrench thrown into the works and all bets are off. Things start to happen that both us and the characters did not know were possible. I have so many questions about the potential and limits of these powers and it's going to keep me interested in reading further to find out.

In part one I was only interested in one character. In part two they dropped that character to follow the other one along with a few new ones. While I understand that narratively this made perfect sense, I was a little put off for a while. Readers can be a difficult bunch sometimes, I know. In part two there was a tendency to switch characters anytime something interesting happened. I know this is a common way authors tackle the switching viewpoints, but it got to the point where literally every character POV change happened on a cliffhanger. At first it felt like ‘Ok! The plot is rolling let’s goooo!’ and then eventually it felt unnecessarily frustrating. It kills the tension when we are switching so often. The story was getting dicey and I wanted to feel every bit of the tension that was warranted! There are a couple things that took me out of the story briefly. One was the modern day swearing. Swearing is always tricky in fantasy and can come off cheesy if not done properly. I did get used to it, but the first couple times I did a double take, because this world felt very different than ours. Another thing was the use of neopronouns which really felt too current-timesy.

When things eventually came to a head, it got better about the POV switching. I was definitely reading the last few chapters with increased speed. This story is clearly building into something much bigger and I’m glad that we got to see some of the connections come together in this volume. The author could have easily made us wait for the second book, but I was grateful she didn’t. Having some answers leads to more curiosity in this case. I have so many new questions just based on those last couple chapters — and those epilogues!! I definitely want to read the next book. Also I can’t wait to see what that next cover looks like. The author has some character art on her instagram and I recommend checking that out before you read so you can get a feel for the aesthetic and enhance your experience.

Thank you to Netgalley and Saga Press for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

A Song of Legends Lost is an epic-scale fantasy full of ancient techno-magic, battles, and monsters. The book is apparently inspired by Final Fantasy X. Much of the story is driven by a unique kind of summoning magic in which a select group of nobles can call on the spirit of their ancestor to fight for them in battle. But a young peasant woman finds herself tied to a mysterious spirit who seems just as dangerous as one of these ancestors…

There’s a lot to enjoy here, especially the non-Western inspired fantasy setting, the unique ancestor magic and the lingering influence of an ancient civilization. The writing flows nicely, and I think this is a really impressive debut novel.

Appropriate to the scope of the book, there’s a large cast of characters centralized on 5 POVs. Temí, the “lowblood” peasant who finds herself bonded to a spirit, was probably my favorite character. Unfortunately, I found some of the other characters, especially Jinao, far less interesting and he takes up a substantial portion of the book. His basic set-up – a young nobleman unable to access his family’s ancestral magic– is a fairly compelling one at the start, but his relative passivity and something else just didn’t grab me. Consequently, I was not invested in the reveal about his past near the end of the book (no spoilers) because it lacked emotional impact.

On a related note, all of the reviews I’ve read also tout the book’s utter lack of romance as a plus in this age of romantasy. I think it’s great to encounter a book that doesn’t make romance a focal point, but for a book to really come to life for me, I want compelling interstitial connections between characters. This isn’t necessarily romance, but the human elements that motivate a person to take action. I wonder if Temí is my favorite character because we see some of the close bonds with her family and her interactions with her antagonist and how both motivate her desperate actions that impact the plot of the book. The balance of characters makes this a 3.5 star read for me, rounded up to 4.

A Song of Legends Lost is a sweeping epic fantasy with fantastic ideas. It’s a book that simply cannot be concisely summarized for a simple review: everything from the political structure to the magic to the major threats of the book would require too long of an explanation. The book feels like glimpse into a living, breathing world; so full of life and characters and things happening behind the scenes. As a reader, you get the feeling that the world is so much bigger than what you are seeing. While I did struggle a bit with the execution of this book, particularly in the sheer breadth of stories being told, I believe that this book will be perfect for fans of epic fantasy.

A Song of Legends Lost explores a broad cast of characters, each of whom has a unique perspective on rising unrest within the Nine Lands. The overarching threat that all are facing comes twofold; first, from the greybloods, hostile creatures built of flesh and tech who attack the humans of the Nine Lands, and an increasing political unrest as the leading clan gathers individuals from every family to partake in a doomed attack on the greybloods’ homeland. There are five main perspective characters as well. Jinao is the black sheep of his family: they are highbloods, possessing the power to invoke avatars of their ancestors to fight alongside them, but Jinao never developed the connection to invoke. When a powerful greyblood seeks him out and he finds his connection to the ancestors suddenly changed, he must reckon with the responsibility of his newfound power. Temi is a young lowblood woman who finds herself able to invoke a mysterious ancestor—a power lowbloods are not supposed to have—at the same time as her family is under threat of a more powerful gang-like family. Monks are supposed to neutralize the strange technology that lies around the Nine Lands, but Boleo instead collects it; he finds himself caught in something much larger than himself when a boat carrying forbidden tech and two bodies appears on his watch. Elari is advisor to a dead invoker, but finds out that his death was far more mysterious than she ever could have imagined. Runt is a lowblood, desperate for money to heal her brother; her only asset is the strange pendant her father left for her and the voices inside of it. The book is long, but across these five perspectives, it has a lot to cover. There are an endless array of names, places, factions, political groups, and words to describe the magic of the world.

There is a lot to love about this book. I was fascinated by the worldbuilding: somewhere, I read that it was reminiscent of Horizon: Zero Dawn, which is my favorite game of all time. I can totally see where that comparison came from, but even then I could not possibly predict the sheer depths of the world, nor the many twists it would make. In terms of building a complicated and sweeping fantasy world, this book is an unquestionable achievement. The use of different perspective characters was a wonderful way to see so much of the world: they are diverse in their goals and ties to the story, and it was fascinating to see the world and its conflict develop from so many different angles. I especially enjoyed Jinao and Temi’s perspectives as they were very compelling across the book.

Where I struggled from the book also derives from it sheer breadth. There is so much here—the book starts with a list of all of the clans and factions, each with all sorts of information about its location, symbolic weapons, sacred animals, leaders, and a long list of people. I’m glad it has a list for reference, because the quantity of named characters was overwhelming. The five perspectives not given equally throughout the book; we don’t meet Runt until quite late, and Temi is gone for a large portion of the book. The fact that each perspective has its own giant cast and each perspective might be sporadic across the book means that it is very difficult to keep track of who is who. The reference list is nice, but it’s basically just names, family relationships, and jobs. It doesn’t capture loyalties, who knows what, personalities, or anything else. This meant that, even late in the book, there were characters that I just couldn’t keep track of. Especially given how long of a book this is, it was an overwhelming amount of information. I’m sure that I forgot important information about characters along the way. Given the slow accumulation of information is such a key part of this book, I felt that my reading experience suffered because I just couldn’t keep track of it all.

The magic and worldbuilding suffer from similar problems. I’m more than willing to give the book that benefit of the doubt that a lot of my questions are explored in this book because they will be in a sequel. That being said—man, there was so much here that I just didn’t understand. Some fantasy words were used so unfrequently and never contextually defined, so each time they appeared on the page just ended up being confusing. There are numerous factions, especially in Jinao’s perspective, that are present for such a short time and do things that make no sense (either in the overall plot or in context—some of them would make a decision one day and then do the opposite the next). The glimpse we are given into the magic and worldbuilding is expansive across the book, but I also feel like I understand very little. Again, some of this is undoubtedly due to it being the first book in the series, and I expect I will understand more as I read on. However, right now, I just found it left me somewhat unsatisfied as I don’t feel like I read a complete story.

In the end, I am rating this book 3.5, rounded up to a 4. I definitely think that some of my issues with the plot and character list being overwhelming is a skill issue on my end, but I also think that future books in the series would benefit hugely from a summary of the previous books and careful contextualization of the characters and ideas of the first book. I enjoyed this a ton and am excited to read more—I just hope that, by the time the next book comes out, I remember enough of this one to enjoy it!

Thank you to Saga Press for providing a free eARC of the book in exchange for an honest review!

Many thanks to Saga Press and NetGalley for the preview. All opinions are my own.

Wow wow wow! This book is incredible. It's complex, it's mind-blowing, it's unique. I've been wracking my brain trying to come up with a comp for it, but it's impossible. It's got a tiny bit Rage of Dragons, a pinch of The Final Strife, and a splash of The Stormlight Archive, but it's also none of those things because it's wholly its own.

The world and cast of characters are large with many clans and Families, and "lowbloods." There's ancestor-invoking war magic, "tech" from the ancients, and yet even more things lurking. There's an endless war against "greybloods," and a king that's detached from his people. BUT, is anything really the way it seems? The last 25% of the book had my mouth hanging open constantly at the new reveals. The way Ayinde linked everything together for an absolutely jaw-dropping finale had me gasping. I suspected some of it, but there's still much we don't know.

What I do know is that I'm already eager for the sequel. I'm already begging for a recap of this book to be included at the beginning of the next, because there is NO WAY I will be able to remember all of this. And do not be intimidated by the extensive character list at the beginning! Just go with it, and refer back as needed.

Highly recommended!

This was definitely an exciting and new epic fantasy. I loved the way science and magic were combined in this, and I found the world so compelling and interesting. I definitely look forward to seeing where things go next!

I foresee this series becoming one of my top favorites. This is exactly the type of epic fantasy I have been craving! I can't believe this is her first novel, it did not read like a debut. One of my top reads for 2025 so far, and it is going to be hard to beat.

I went into this pretty blind, which is my favorite way to start a new book. Part 1 starts out following Temi, a lowblood who's family runs a bakery with a side business selling forbidden techwork, and Jinao, a highblood who comes from a family of invokers, connected to their powerful ancestor warriors to fight the greybloods attacking their people. As the book progresses, more POVs are introduced, including a Holy Father, a hardened warrior, and a young dishwasher. I love an interconnected storyline, and the gradual addition of characters really worked for me as the story expanded and more of the world was introduced. The techwork and greybloods are such an interesting spin on your typical fantasy with their sci-fi elements mixed in.

I can't wait to see where this series goes. I have a feeling that each book in The Invoker Trilogy is going to be just as epic as A Song of Legends Lost!

Thank you, NetGalley and Saga Press, for an early copy in exchange for this honest review!

🔥 𝔸 𝕊𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕗 𝕃𝕖𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕤 𝕃𝕠𝕤𝕥 🔥

In the Nine Lands, where magic and machinery collide, only nobles 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 uncovers a force that could end a centuries-long war—or unleash something far worse. As ancient legends resurface and kingdoms vie for control, buried secrets begin to stir, and not everything that can be invoked is an ancestor. Some spirits are older, darker, and more dangerous than anyone dares to imagine.

It took me a few chapters to get fully invested, but once I was in, I didn’t want to leave this world. A Song of Legends Lost is an epic fantasy full of action, political maneuvering, and a deeply thought-out system of both magic and technology. I especially loved the world building—the story draws clear inspiration from African, South American, and other pre-colonial histories and mythologies that created a world that feels both fresh and familiar.

There’s no shortage of action or political intrigue, but what really stood out to me was the depth of the characters. Told through multiple viewpoints, the cast is complex, the stakes are high, and the character growth is real. Everyone is carrying something heavy, and watching those layers unravel was so satisfying. I truly appreciated that no one is painted as fully heroic or villainous—each character is doing what they can to survive and protect their people, which makes their choices hit even harder.

There’s more telling than showing in the prose, which might not work for every reader, but it didn’t take away from the emotional weight for me. If anything, it gave the story a mythic, oral-tradition feel that fit the themes perfectly. I closed the final chapter with more questions than answers—and I’m already counting down the days until book two. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Pub Date: June 3, 2025

Thank you Saga Press for my gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

Extremely impressed by this debut novel. Is it fantasy? Is it Science fiction? A combination of both? The story is very different from most genre fiction, but the world featured here is complex and full of political intrigue, which is refreshing compared to many simplistic sword and sorcery narratives that are so common in the fantasy genre. Already waiting for book 2!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this eARC with me!

First and foremost - amazing world building and magic system in this one. I felt transported into this story, with rich and immersive descriptions. This book is Multi-POV, and I think it really helped break up the story and assisted with its pacing. That said, I felt myself hoping to stay within the POV of some characters more than others. Also, because there are so many POVs, there are a lot of different plot lines laced throughout the story. This can be a bit jarring in the first half of the book, but I think they are all woven together pretty well by the end.

Lovers of epic fantasy will be pleased with the attention to detail and complex story telling. I will definitely be continuing this series.

A Song of Legends Lost was such a great debut epic fantasy. It had everything I would want - intertwined POVs that are not obvious until the end, a strong and unique magic system, and a diverse set of characters. I also appreciated that this story had zero romance, as it is certainly not needed.

The 5 POVs were all well done and I never felt irritated or lost when storylines were switched. I can see where others will not enjoy that, but I thought it worked here. I also thought the world building was awesome. The world that Ayinde created was very lush and fresh. The idea of ancestral magic is what interested me and it delivered! This is definitely one that makes you pay attention and is not a "quick and easy" read.

The only reason I didn't rate this 5 stars is because there was a few instances I had to go back and re-read something to fully catch what was happening. However, that is probably a me problem. There's a lot happening here!

I think those who like epic fantasy will certainly enjoy this one! I'm really excited to continue on in the series.

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

VERY ambitious and quite dramatically written. so many characters, a very cool system of magic, and some great plot points and plot twists! 5 stars. tysm for the arc!

The world, magic, characters are all interesting and unique with sci-fi elements to the magic and also summoning ancestors to fight your battles like monsters in FFX.

The cast and Lore is *HUGE*. Bookmark the dossier at the front, it's extremely helpful! I loved that for each POV you cheer for them and also gasp as they make questionable choices. There is no single hero here and it was fun to watch their developments unfold. Also loved that it was a queer normative world!

The pacing was a little hard to get into at the start. Theres a lot of information, backgrounds, and character motives that wanted to be established. It felt like a checklist at some points, and I wanted more time with the characters to discover things.

The pacing picked up at the middle as POVs begin crossing and stories interacting--the quick pace works well here with the heightened action and suspense. Plot twists were clever and unexpected.

This book felt like it was setting the board for Book Two with all the players and factions, magic and history. So if you love character development, you'll like this one. Definitely looking forward to the second book!

Everyone knows that only those of noble blood can invoke the ancestors, can call their spirits back to the mortal plane to fight in the wars against the greybloods. Or at least, that's what everyone thinks. But when a young woman in the slums summons a spirit, it sets off a chain reaction of events that will shift the Nine Lands forever. As families fight to determine the fate of the kingdom, one little detail slips through the cracks: not every spirit summoned is an ancestor.

A Song of Legends Lost is a truly unique science-fantasy story that will engross you as it keeps you guessing. It will be tempting for many of you to start this story and within a few chapters proclaim, "I know what's going on!" I certainly did that and I'm here to assure you that, like me, you will be wrong. This blend of magic and technology still has me (pleasantly) confused as to how it all ties together, as we only get a peek behind the curtain by the end of this first book.

The story immediately jumps into some bad situations with multiple characters, plunging you into the middle of things as you meet them. While a few POV characters stay the length of the book, some only stick around for chunks at a time, with the cast of POV characters changing as the story switches from Part 2 to Part 3, etc. This gives us a fairly wide view of the events that are playing out across the kingdom. The author does a good job overall of investing you in the characters, but given how much you jump around, I did occasionally find myself emotionally distanced from some characters more than others.

This is also a story that is working on two levels. On the surface you have the very real, sometimes deadly, political posturing between the monarchy, the powerful religious monks, and the noble families. But there is also a whole second layer of characters pulling strings for completely different reasons. To most, this is about protecting their power and protecting the Nine Lands from the dangerous graybloods. But to others, these power struggles are masking a completely different game. We don't know fully what's going on by the end of things, just that we are still in the dark about quite a lot.

That's where this story may be a bit frustrating for some. We only have a tantalizing glimpse of what's truly going on, with much mystery still to be unpacked in the subsequent sequels. Personally, there is plenty of adventure and growth to be found just in this book alone, but I did plead a little bit at the end to please give me just a liiiittle more detail of what's really going on? Please?

But in the end, that's while I'll be back for the sequel to A Song of Legends Lost. The author is clearly just getting started and I am ready to go along for the ride (especially after one especially juicy POV in the epilogue). If you're looking for something fresh and original to dive into, I wholly recommend checking out this story.

While the story of this one seemed really appealing to me, I have recently learned that I like a lot more romance in my books than this provides. That's a me thing and doesn't have anything to do with the actual book. I hope this one gets lots of love from people who aren't super into romance and that it does really well. It just wasnt for me personally.

Thank you to Saga Press Books for the advanced copy!

A Song of Legends Lost is truly an epic story on so many levels. Following a diverse cast of characters, M.H. Ayinde set the foundation for an epic and brutal series to come. An ambitious debut that hit the mark on so many levels but is also not without its faults.

The central enemy are known as Greybloods: creatures created by and then wiped out the species known as the Scathed. When Greyblood attacks continue to increase, King Ahiki calls for a draft to take back what the Greybloods have taken. The story then follows a large cast of characters as some fight, some follow mysterious quests, and some discover that their history is not all that it seems.

The story is broken down into four parts, where new characters are slowly introduced. It felt like Game of Thrones, in the sense that you see these spread out characters, who are all on their own journeys. Eventually, storylines cross and missing pieces finally fall into place, making for an interesting read and for jaw-dropping “wtf” moments.
Following a range of characters, I found that I loved some povs more than others but found my favorites. There’s a huge range of characters, each with their own strengths. You’ve got Jinao: a highblooded warrior who chases after a powerful and mysterious Greyblood who killed his mother. And then you have lowblooded nobodies like Runt, who is simply trying to save her brother and make a living in the slums.

The world building is intense in the beginning, and I found myself feeling lost at several points due to the influx of information. I definitely recommend consulting the glossary of sorts that is in the front of the book, as it names houses and their significance. I found myself forgetting who certain people were at various points simply because we have so many characters within these multiple povs—some of which, you don’t hear from again until several parts later. That being said, once the story progresses, I found myself fully immersed in the world.

The magic system was done so well, and I am sure many of my questions will be answered later on in the next book. Following a system where individuals call their ancestors, in what felt similar to The Poppy War’s Patheon, our characters can invoke. When invoking, ancestors come into the human realm and fight in tandem with their descendant.

The pacing was ok, a little slow at points, but things really picked up at the 60 percent mark, which might be too far in for some readers. That being said though, if you can push through then it will be worth it! I’m definitely looking forward to seeing where this series goes next. I have a lot of questions! It’s such a complex world, and those epilogues have me questioning everything.

This book quickly went from a burgeoning interest to a blinding obsession. The way Ayinde blends technology, African mythology, family expectation, societal pressures, obedience to the gods, and class dynamics is amazing. The beginning battles felt reminiscent of those in Rage of Dragons, but this story definitely stands on its own and makes a statement that is unique and lasting. I suppose it’s too soon to expect book 2?! I can’t wait to dive back in!

Wow, this is the fantasy that I have been waiting for. I enjoyed it from start to finish. The world building was amazing. The action was packed. I cannot wait to read any follow ups. I believe this is a trilogy and I can't wait.

Was a fun fantasy with a lot of potential. Unfortunately it was just too long for me and that makes me not want to continue the series.

This was such an interesting debut fantasy novel! 4.5 stars!

Thank you to Netgalley for this advance copy.

This is a fascinating fantasy that has roots in indigenous cultures with a magic system based on an ancestral connection. This is many layered with a large cast of characters. The world building is fascinating and this is an exciting start to a series.

The cast of characters are large and I did get stalled a bit in the middle of the book when a bunch of new characters were introduced (with multiple POV) but the action is so constant that I got sucked back in. I still would love to know where this story is going and the story is so much larger than it seems in the beginning.

Great debut and a very unique story and magic system. This is not like anything else I have read and that is wonderful to see!

This book is a captivating and immersive read from start to finish. The writing is engaging, the pacing well-balanced, and the characters are richly developed with relatable emotions and motivations. The story unfolds in a way that keeps the reader hooked, offering just the right mix of tension, heart, and thought-provoking themes.