A Song of Legends Lost by M.H. Ayinde

The people of the Nine Lands have been at war with the greybloods, techwork monsters, for thousands of years. Under the rule of the Ahiki warrior clans train their whole lives to summon the Spirits of their Ancestors to protect the people from the greybloods. Jinao is the youngest son of the most celebrated general of her time and unfortunately unable to summon his Ancestors, desperate to contribute something to helping his people he sneaks off and joins the army, only to watch his mother die and become the sole target of the greyblood the Bairneater after cutting off its arm. Unfortunately, everyone thinks his brother is the target which will have devastating consequences. 

After Temi had a run-in with a strange woman on the beach she finds that she has a voice living inside of her. As a lowblood she knows she can't invoke her Ancestors so she is confused and terrified of this presence, but after the Chedu family murders her little brother Temi discovers that whatever this voice is the key to getting vengeance upon the Chedus, the cost however may be much higher than Temi is willing to pay. 

This was absolutely amazing! Definitely a Top Ten read this year!

Normally, I'd start with the characters and I will get to that because this is very character-driven, but what made this book stand out for me is the world-building and how this story unfolds. Every new character that is introduced essentially pulls the rug out from under you, everything you thought you knew about this world is upended and you're back to square one. And while some of this world-building is things that you may have guessed at, much of it is not. By the time Runt is introduced I just stopped trying to guess. This is an extremely complicated and vast world that seems so small when you first start reading it and then as events unfold you realize it's huge with a history that's shrouded in deceptions and lies. Nothing is what it seems. With the introduction of one of the Greyblood characters at the end of the book, it's definitely only going to get bigger. But, she's also probably one of the most important characters introduced because maybe she'll be able to shed some light on the reality of this world. There is a lot of diversity here too while oddly not being. The Ahiki has brought everyone in the Nine Lands under their cultural and religious beliefs and while you still have a mixture of races, sexual preferences, and some gender diversity it's all still very uniform. Very controlled and to question the status quo is to put your life on the line. It very much feels like a story of colonization. 

The characters were all exceptionally well written and there are just too many to go into in this review so I'm just going to hit on Jinao, Temi, Boleo, and Runt. Jinao is an interesting character, he probably learns the most about the lies the Ahiki family has been peddling for thousands of years but his reaction to learning these truths is denial yes, but, more of a denial and then a reluctant acceptance, and then a "Well that's grand and all but I've got this mission." Which makes complete sense given how his mom basically uses him his whole life. Where if it had been me and I found out that the guys in charge were liars I would have been not just raging but desperate to learn more he just goes forward towards his destination. While he definitely ends on a low point (after low point, after lower point, after what seems the lowest point and it turns out that it can indeed always get worse) I think Ayinde's go some interesting plans for him in book two!

Temi is the most understandable character in all of her actions. She is exceedingly trusting and that puts her in some very bad situations, however, I think this boils down to her being a genuinely decent person in a world that seems to be highly lacking in them. It makes sense then that she'd be able to bond w/ this uber powerful "ancestor", she's probably the only person who could possibly get a tiny bit of control over him. 

Boleo is probably the most interesting character of this whole book (so far at least I have high hopes for Lucy and Lyela), he has zero morals as far as I can tell, his dedication to his family is almost scary, he is actually the smartest guy in the room in almost every room he's in and yet up until the latter part of the book he comes across as the most logical character in the whole book. If Temi's reactions are understandable, and Jinao's are just kind of weird, Boleo is the only guy who has actually thought anything through before he does something. Where all of the other characters here just seem to march off w/ no plans for various reasons Boleo has weighed the risk versus the reward before he does anything. He is simultaneously complicated and very straightforward forward and I truly enjoyed him. 

Runt is a bad guy. Maybe she won't end up being one in the end I don't know but she's one of the most selfish characters in the whole book. Her introduction is a huge turning point in the book too because this is when you realize there is so much more going on here than just this war w/ the Greybloods. The Cloister, which even though it is explained what they are (kind of because everything in this is only kind of explained which is as maddening as it is delightful) I still don't fully understand what they are or why they have chosen Runt. Well, other than Runt being a little too happy once she realizes thanks to them she can control an army of basically the undead. There is just something *wrong* w/ her, like she comes across as a narcissist almost immediately, and by the end of the book it's essentially solidified. 

Now my absolute favorite part! Almost immediately this book felt like a Final Fantasy game between the summoning of Ancestors to fight for you, the dancing rituals to send the dead, the plane where the Ancestors reside which sounds a lot like The Farplane, I could go on. So maybe 5 chapters in I flipped to the back and sure enough, Ayinde was inspired by Final Fantasy. And omg does it not only show gloriously it is a beautiful homage that is clearly influenced by but her own creation of, if that makes sense. The summoning is such a prime example of this. When it's first introduced it very much feels like the process Summoners have to go through in FFX to gain their Aeons, but as we get further into the book it seems like it is almost based on some sort of lost coding technology? You can see this influence yes but then Ayinde just turns it on its head and it's so wholly unique and like nothing I've ever read. It's not just the summoning though, its the make up of the Greybloods who seem to be some sort of cyborgs, its the fact that we seem to have two parallel stories the war against the Greybloods and whatever the hell the Cloister and Aan is, the fact that for some reason the Ahiki choose to technologically devolve the people of the Nine Lands, again I could go in. You can see these roots of an idea that are clearly influenced by the game series and then Ayinde takes them to these amazing new heights, like honestly, if I were Square I would snatch her up to write FFXVII!

I can not wait to read book two! Ayinde is definitely a new favorite author, without question and I look forward to seeing not just the rest of this series but what she puts out next. With such a stunningly done debut it can only get better from here!