An Echo of Things to Come was definitely a thrilling follow-up to The Shadow of What Was Lost. Even though I did not absolutely love it as much as its predecessor, I think that’s mostly up to my personal preferences and tastes and not any failing on James Islington’s part. In fact, I will admit that this is a much more ambitious and detailed book. Islington either introduces and/or fleshes out an impressive number of characters and the worldbuilding and mythology evolve in such a way that the events of the first book feel quaint by comparison.
As with the first book, I found myself tearing through this book, often reading about 100 pages a day. However, Islington definitely slows the pace down here. Whereas The Shadow of What Was Lost was an unrelenting rollercoaster of plot and fantasy questing, there are far more chapters in An Echo of Things to Come where the narrative comes to a halt – and sometimes even goes backward. This was particularly true for Caeden’s storyline, where a significant portion of his perspective is devoted to flashbacks and memories. These asides are crucial to the story and his character, but these also tended to be the scenes where Islington lost me a bit and I found myself very grateful for the glossary at the back of the book (particularly in the first half of the book, before things really begin to click).
Another subjective downside for me here is one that is very typical in fantasy and science fiction storytelling. Many trilogies, Licanius included, choose to separate main characters during the middle chapter, and it’s not always my favorite storytelling device. I understand that it creates narrative tension and allows characters to grow as individuals and cover more ground before a satisfying reunion, but the relationships that Asha, Caeden, Davian, and Wirr have with the side characters in their respective plots are not nearly as endearing as those they have with one another. I particularly felt the absence of Davian and Wirr’s friendship in this entry.
Of the four main point-of-view characters, Asha and Wirr definitely had the standout storylines in this book, and Davian’s (particularly the subplot with Rohin the Augur at Tol Shen) was by far the least consequential. Asha’s journey in the dark tailing the Echo child through the Sanctuary tunnels was incredibly creepy and thrilling, and I really enjoyed how grounded Wirr’s story was, even if his mother was a bit over the top.
Much like the first book, An Echo of Things to Come is packed with plot twists and surprise reveals that will make you want to keep going. That said, I think Islington could maybe slow down a bit on the number of characters who are time-travelling shape-shifters with multiple names and identities. After just two books, it’s starting to make J.K. Rowling’s addiction to Polyjuice Potion after seven books and an expanded universe seem mild by comparison.
Once again, Islington is a very impressive writer in many ways. His ability to describe monsters and really creepy elements of the world is fantastic, and despite the density of the mythology and world-building, things still mostly click immediately. I still have some critiques of how overstated and repetitive some of the prose and expressions are at times. For example, many characters in this book will, at one point or several, release a breath they didn’t know they had been holding, and almost every young adult character is described as being “roughly Davian/Wirr/Asha’s age.” But these are minor nit-picks in what is overall a really well-conceived, ambitious, and fun fantasy epic.
I am very excited to see how this trilogy wraps up. I have so many different theories and unresolved questions that I am looking forward to letting Islington take me on one more crazy journey in this world. At this point, very few things would surprise me, but in this case, that’s a very welcome feeling.
The Once and Future Lit 