A Song of Legends Lost is a bold and refreshingly original debut that blends epic fantasy with sci-fi elements in a world inspired by Middle Eastern and Asian cultures. M. H. Ayinde delivers intricate worldbuilding, a unique magic system rooted in ancestral power, and the fascinating addition of “techwork”—a forbidden, otherworldly technology that adds a compelling twist to the genre.

Told through multiple POVs, the story follows nobles, outcasts, and rebels alike as they navigate a fractured world at war with the monstrous greybloods. The cast is impressively diverse, featuring strong female characters, LGBTQ+ representation, and protagonists of all ages and backgrounds. While the shifting perspectives and sprawling plot require close attention, each storyline is distinct and rewarding.

This is a fast-paced, richly detailed book that sets up a trilogy full of promise. It may leave you with more questions than answers, but it’s a journey worth taking—and one that marks Ayinde as a major new voice in fantasy.

This is an epic, multi-POV debut fantasy set in middle east & Asia inspired world.

The World is ruled by the royal Adiki, and all are at war with the greybloods, a ruthless, blood-thirsty, non-human enemy who use forbidden techwork.

The lands are divided and ruled by noble Clans, of which some nobles have the ability to involve the powers of their ancestors.

BUT not all the clans agree with the royal rule, they tire of the war with the greybloods, there is rumours of non-nobles invoking great powers, and something evil seems to be working it's way through the world...

Wowowow, this book was such a refreshing and phenomenal read.

There are a lot of characters to follow and wonderful representation across them all - strong females, lesbian relationships (not that romance is at all featured in this book), mental health rep, strong older characters - there really is someone for everyone to route for.

The magic system is super unique. I love the invoking of the ancestors. 'Techwork' is unlike anything I've read about in an epic fantasy and seems to blend sci-fi into the classic fantasy we are all used to. Such a modern twist that I'm fascinated to learn more about in coming books.

It's super fast paced with a huge world to explore, lots of twists and turns, lots of subplots but isn't too complex to follow - it can be a bit challenging sometimes to keep up with all the characters, but they all have such different storylines that you sink back into each pretty quickly.

I adored this and I don't know how I'm going to cope waiting for the next installment 🤣

"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." - When I've seen this fragment of a blurb for A Song of Legends Lost, I was intrigued. The book didn't end up working perfectly for me, but I still admire a lot of things about it.

The thing that was definitely really impressive was the worldbuilding. The book is inspired by different pre-colonial cultures and mixes tradition and technology in a very unique way. We have Invokers, people who are able to summon their ancestors to aid them. There are also relics surrounded in a lot of myth. The world definitely reminded me of A Rage of Dragons and was a really strong point of the story.

I also loved the inclusivity of the story when it comes to queer characters, as well as it having a portrayal of trauma, alcoholism etc that seemed to be really thought through.

Where the story lost me a bit was its multiple POVs. I feel like I'm a mostly character driven reader, but here because of the structure of the book I didn't truly get the chance to get to know the characters a lot. I've enjoyed how the perspectives started to merge in the end but I've unfortunately felt quite disconnected for a lot of the story.

My overall rating for this book was 3✨ but I absolutely don't think it's bad! I just feel like it wasn't a perfect fit for me, but other people might enjoy it a lot. It was definitely extremely impressive for a debut.

This one was disappointing, sadly. I absolutely adored the world building and the magic system - an epic fantasy book that totally decenters european sff and centers not only on one mythology or place, but on several different societies and cultures of the global majority? Amazing! The magic system around invoking ancestors in combination with a tech-work / slight sci-fi element also was intricate and original.

I also didn't get along with the writing and structure. The character cast is vast, but the chapters are many, short and relatively linear. I liked some PoVs, some felt like a slog though - also I wished for more character work, especially in terms of relations between characters; it left me quite unemotional sadly. Some chapters also felt pointlessly convoluted, but pointless - I wished for a more streamlined editing to fit the plot-driven pace.

To be fair though - I think this epic fantasy works for readers who are drawn to plot-driven books!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.

My thanks to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group for a free DRC of "A Song of Legends Lost" by M. H Ayinde.
This was my most anticipated Adult Fantasy Debut of 2025.
The African inspired setting and the ability to summon the ancestors in battle were fascinating.
I decided to give it another try in physical format now that I am in a better headspace.
The blend of Epic Fantasy with some SF elements is refreshing.
So glad I decided to purchase a copy and give it a second try. I am taking my time and enjoying the experience. Once I'll finish I'll return and addthe links to my reviews.

EPIC fantasy meets ancestral spirit magic in this ambitious, high-stakes debut. If you loved The Rage of Dragons, The Bone Shard Daughter, or Stormlight Archive, but wanted it in the style of The Poppy War, this book is for you.

A SONG OF LEGENDS LOST is a multi-POV epic set in the Nine Lands, where only nobles are allowed to summon the spirits of their ancestors—until Temi, a slum-born girl, does it by accident and is pulled into a violent war. Temi is clever, stubborn, and loyal, but every POV is great and adds to the overall world.

Meticulously constructed magic system and world building! It’s absolutely brilliant, and no one wonder considering M. H. spent about 10 years developing this world.

The drive of the story is the rebellion, survival, and shifting power. The world-building is rich, the action is fast, and the magic system is one of the most original I’ve read in a while—blending sci-fi relics with ancestral myth. But seriously, the monsters are the best part.

Extremely behind on my reviews, to the point where I'm currently just starting to post about books that I read over Christmas/New Year. Oh well.

The basic premise of A Song of Legends Lost, which is the first book of a trilogy, is that it's set within a very hierarchical system where people from certain clans can summon the spirits of their ancestor to fight for them. This is supposed to be an ability only certain people can do but things start to fall apart when a number of ordinary people start to develop those powers as well. If you're looking for explanations of what and why, or for tidily-wrapped up storylines, please remember this is book 1 of a trilogy and guess what happens...

In general, I enjoyed this book though I found it started to drag towards the back half and I ended up skimming the last couple of chapters. I was also struggling to care about some of the characters whose points of view carry the storyline on, with a degree of flat characterisation for some that meant I wasn't particularly engaged with them - there are a couple of the main characters who either keep making the same mistakes or seem desperately naive compared to what we're told of their back ground. The world-building as a whole was good, with an unusual magic system rather than the same old, same old. Not sure I'll bother with books 2 and 3, to be honest.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, via Netgalley. This is my honest review of the book in question.

I really enjoyed Song of Legends Lost. I liked how ancestors are part of magic system. It's a cool way to introduce magic into the belief.

Pace of the book is good, though I wish it ended a bit more wrapped out. Some characters plot lines were stopped too abruptly, while some other's were wrapped up nicely for a small conclusion to current chapter of their story.

I liked most of mayor characters. Not all get much development, but I found that not to be the issue.

The world is interesting and I really look forward to learn more of it. Early in the book I predicted some developments we see near end of the book and I can't wait to learn more about it.

I can't wait for the next book!

I wasn’t completely caught up in this book straight away, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. I think I should have tried to speculate more on some of the plot points, because it was while things were coming together that I really started to get engaged. So if you’re thinking of reading this, speculate, try to guess what’s going to happen, and think about some of the mysteries involved.

I’m intrigued by the ancient society that left all the technology behind. I loved how the book blended sci fi and fantasy, showing the truth of the old Arthur C. Clarke quote of how advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. I’m looking forward to finding out more about their society.

I think I will be reading on with this series, because it had such interesting ideas. I wonder if I’d read it at another time, when I was more in the mood to try and puzzle things out, whether it would have been more engaging.

A groundbreaking trilogy for the patient reader
—
In a world where power is held only by those of noble families, able to call their powerful ancestors to return to battle the scourge of monsters and horrors beyond the borders of the Nine Lands, seemingly unimportant citizens — a baker, a pot washer, a rebellious priest, an abandoned prince, a mourning soldier — get drawn into a plot that is deeper and vaster than any of them alone or together might fathom, and which will turn the world upside down.

Excellent world-building and truly engaging characters in a plot that hurtles along, full of colour, sensations, and details, the only thing this book suffers from is being the first part of a trilogy. It doesn’t actually end, with very few of the mysteries revealed on the last page, and with even more mysteries lying in wait for the patient reader. Running through five points of view, and inconsistently, there are swathes of story left behind in the run to get so much plot, so many characters and cultures into the first of three books that I can’t see how Ayinde will do it. I’m willing to invest my time in the rest of this groundbreaking trilogy and I suggest that you do too!

Four and a half stars

A thrilling debut novel, A Song of Legends Lost is an epic fantasy-sci-fi about revenge, oppression, rebellion, and the traumas of war. I was invested from the start by the high quality writing, unique worldbuilding, engaging characters, and the deep mysteries surrounding the magic and/or technological systems in play. It's hard to believe this is a first novel.

In the Nine Lands, the noble Nine Families can summon the spirit of their ancestors to continue fighting the cybernetic "Greybloods" who constantly invade and terrorise their lands. "Lowbloods" - everyone not part of the Nine Families - are fodder in the wars between these powerful summoners and the monstrous mechanical enemies. Technology is forbidden due to its ties to the Greyblood enemy forces, and only the secretive nuns and priests can safely wield a few small tech relics from the long-dead Scathed race who once lived in technological splendor. The rules surrounding relics and summoning are set in stone... until Temi, a Lowblood young woman, is implanted with an unknown spirit against her will. The spirit plans to spark a rebellion--and he's not the only one.

In the tradition of epic fantasy, there is a large cast to follow but some appear quite late and some early characters drop out for large sections of the novel. I enjoyed all the point-of-view characters (and many of the side characters, of course), though it was harder to emotionally engage with characters who only appeared past the 50% mark of the book. It's hard for me to tell if that's because one of them is clearly an antagonist (even if they don't know it), or because I had limited care to give and it was already taken by the other characters who'd appeared earlier--even by the end, I couldn't tell the reason for why I disliked this particular character. Their chapters gave necessary information, so I didn't hate their chapters, but I never wanted them to succeed and wouldn't mind if they weren't a POV character again (though I'm sure they will be).

If there's any criticism on the characters, it's that some of them come off as too lacking in intelligence. One POV character who stays throughout the entire novel keeps repeating the same mistakes over and over and over... it starts to defy reason that they never learn or change. Another character seems far too naive for their background to not realise what horrible things are happening around them, and that they themselves are causing. Of course not every character (especially in a story with a huge cast like this) is going to be highly intelligent. But it shouldn't be getting to the point where even a child would have learned or realised certain things by now, but these adults keep failing. I am also still mad that Temi disappears for too much of the book--absent from ch13 until ch42, when she's one of the most engaging and interesting POVs. Naturally Temi is a favourite of mine, as was Elari, and to my surprise I came to care for Jinao and Boleo more than I originally thought I would. I hope Lyela is a main POV character in the next book, though I won't be terribly surprised if she remains more a mystery in-the-background character either.

The worldbuilding is amazing. I'm really into the juxtaposition of African cultures with out-of-control advanced cybertech enemies, the dance-summon magic versus brain implants to talk to the gods/ancestors... There's a lot of sci-fi elements with the technology, but the genre of the book is definitely fantasy. Not only because the people of the Nine Lands view the technology as magic, but in the structure of the world and the plot. The author also doesn't dumb down the worldbuilding and overexplain things that the full audience might not be familiar with. They throw out the native, original words for various items like clothing, decorations, weapons, etc. and you go Google that term if you don't know what it is. I'm completely fine with that because white fantasy writers have been doing it with the precise/exact European words for armour, clothing, food, etc. for decades and readers have never had a problem with it.

Like any good epic fantasy, the plot rockets along with many moving parts and many disjointed threads that slowly start to weave together to form the bigger overall picture. Mostly the novel does well on this front--I was always engaged and eager to know more, and it was exciting when a tiny snippet would drop and I could put the pieces together myself before the author confirmed things on the page. My only complaint for plot would be that by the end of this novel (the first of a trilogy, so 33.33% through the full story) many of the human plans are starting to form into the bigger picture, but the spirit/ancestor side is still very much not. Also, the motivation of the king declaring an invasion that leaves his lands unprotected is an absolute mystery that makes no sense. I will absolutely be buying the next book, but this much confusion left at the end of the first novel frustrates me--I had hoped to see more of the bigger picture by this point.

Overall I enjoyed this immensely. One of the more engaging epic fantasies I've read in a long time with so many unique aspects that leave A Song Of Legends Lost feeling fresh and exciting. I will absolutely be picking up this series. A few minor frustrations keep me from giving it a full 5 stars, but this is so close: a 9 out of 10, or 4.5 stars. If only Goodreads would let us use half-marks.


Rating: 4.5 stars, rounding down as always -- Engaging and unique fantasy with African cultures, summoning spirits to fight for you like your favourite JRPG, and mysterious cybertech including a bedraggled No-Cat companion that follows someone home and refuses to leave (peak cat behaviour).

This has so many story elements I love: a fantasy world steeped in ancient tech, spirit-bonding/possession, and an expansive culture-filled world. The characters were strong-spirited and distinct enough in their beliefs that by the end of it, I found that I wasn’t sure who I wanted to come out on top. I was cheering every single one of them on.

And while I loved the second half of this book, I must admit that I found the beginning a bit of a slog to get through. Maybe it was just the wrong time for me to pick this one up, but it took me until the halfway point to become truly invested.

The world-building was amazing though, so I will definitely be keeping an eye on Ayinde’s future books.

Great book with a unique magic system and it's almost bordering on horror, but not quite there. Great first and debut novel by the author. Strongly recommend.

Oh how much I loved this one. I pretty much went into <i>A Song of Legends Lost</i>, the debut novel (and first in a trilogy) by M.H. Ayinde, completely blind. I liked the cover, the blurb sounded amazing and I was craving some quality new high fantasy in the overwhelming sea of copy-paste trope-obsessed romantasy the publishing industry is sadly feeding us nowadays. And I was honestly blown away by it. This is epic fantasy at its best, and it's so full of creativity and writing skill that I already cannot wait to read more of this author.

It's beautifully written, full of fascinating world building expertly woven into the narrative that made me want more, more, more. The world and the ideas are genuinely unique. The story is being told from five different perspectives, and all of them are intriguing. Some of them take a backseat at times when it makes sense for the story just to resurface in spectacular fashion later on. It's just really well done, the structuring and pacing are amazing and I could barely put the book down. This truly is epic fantasy in its scope and depth.

The characters themselves are complex and completely different from each other, and all of them show different facettes of the society they live in. Their stories are often separate from each other just to then connect in fascinating ways, with some of their experiences having an impact on another character's storyline without them ever meeting. I genuinely enjoyed all of them, though I do have a very soft spot for Temi and Jinao personally. I think the only character I felt I didn't connect with as much is Elari, and even her story I followed with great interest. Boleo and Runt are both incredibly fascinating too, and I'm especially excited to see where the latter's storyline will go.

All in all I was simply amazed by this book. Great writing, lush world-building, creative and unique ideas, intriguing characters - just a joy from first to last page. Absolutely recommend this for anyone who loves epic fantasy.

I had been hearing about ‘A Song of Legends Lost’ for a long time, and the breathtaking cover finally tipped the scales - I had to read this book.. In the year 2025, anepic fantasy novel without a romance focus? I was in immediately! I love my little romances in my epic books, but I also love those without ;)

The story takes place in the Nine Lands, a world where only nobles are allowed to summon the spirits of their ancestors. But Temi, a young woman from the slums, inadvertently breaks this rule when she conjures up a powerful spirit - and unintentionally becomes a key figure in a major conflict.
As befits epic fantasy, we experience the action from several perspectives - in this case five. The book deals with central themes such as family, revenge, social classes, cultural identity and the legacy of past generations. The narrative style is rather calm and character-focussed. Temi plays a central role at the beginning, but disappears for long stretches of the plot, which made it a little difficult for me to establish a lasting connection with her.

I was particularly impressed by the worldbuilding: the world is non-Western inspired, with cultural echoes: Ancient technologies, mysterious glyphs and a sophisticated magic system centred around spirit summoning make the world vibrant and unique. The battle scenes are exciting and very vividly written - a real highlight of the novel.

All in all, "A Song of Legends Lost" is a successful debut that is particularly impressive due to its unusual setting and dense atmosphere. The characters are diverse and believable, even if not all of them take centre stage to the same extent. A clear recommendation for anyone looking for a multi-layered, non-Western-inspired epic fantasy with several narrative strands.

An amazing epic story with intricate world building and multi-layered characters.
This is a story that will be remembered for times to come and I cannot wait for the next books!

This was an absolutely brilliant debut novel.
The characters, the world building, the plot ! These were all brilliant and I loved the unique magic system.

Sadly, this book was not for me. I did manage to finish but I found myself having to push through. However, it is well written and I am certain there will be a market for it who will very much enjoy it.

Thank you to Netgalley and littlebrownbooks uk for the ARC. All opinions are my own and I am leaving a review voluntarily.

I trust this book packs fantastic ideas and I like following several different POVs, but I didn't realize this story would include technology in a fantasy setting. That is simply not for me.

A Song of Legends Lost was completely enthralling! From the very first chapter I was completely lost in the story in the story and the many different characters were were introduced to! I loved how diverse the range of points of views were, from Nobility all the way down to a commoner. I really enjoyed how the strong weaved in and out of the different characters perspectives, giving us a glimpse into their own view but also how the other characters viewed and interacted with each other.

I found the entire premise for the story quite refreshing, Nobility calling on their ancestors for help was a breath of fresh air in the Fantasy world.

The world building was intense in the very best way! This really was the EPIC FANTASY adventure that I have been craving. A debut novel and first in a series - well done!!! I can't wait to see how this story continues!! I loved it!