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  • An Echo of Things to Come

  • The Licanius Trilogy, Book 2
  • By: James Islington
  • Narrated by: Michael Kramer
  • Length: 26 hrs and 28 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (1,696 ratings)
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An Echo of Things to Come

By: James Islington
Narrated by: Michael Kramer
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Summary

The second book in the acclaimed Licanius Trilogy by James Islington.

In the wake of a devastating attack, an amnesty has been declared for all Augurs - finally allowing them to emerge from hiding and openly oppose the dark forces massing against the land of Andarra. As the Augur Davian and his new allies hurry north toward the ever-weakening Boundary, however, fresh horrors along their path suggest that their reprieve may have come far too late.

His ally in the Capital, the new Northwarden, contends with assassins and politicians and uncovers a dangerous political secret. Meanwhile, their compatriot Asha begins a secret investigation into the disappearance of the Shadows.

And Caeden races against time to fulfill his treacherous bargain with the Lyth, but as more and more of his memories return, he begins to realize that the two sides in this ancient war may not be as clear-cut as they first seemed....

©2017 James Islington (P)2017 Podium Publishing

What listeners say about An Echo of Things to Come

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    4 out of 5 stars

A Genuinely Weighty Tome

With The Shadow of What Was Lost James Islington delivered a superb story set in a carefully constructed world of detail and colour. Most of all he gave us an engaging set of characters which for Audiobook listeners were brought to life by Michael Kramer’s excellent narration. In doing all of this he set himself the daunting task of doing it all justice with the remainder of the trilogy. The good news is that with An Echo of Things to Come he has done just that! This really is an excellent effort but to my mind at least it does come with a couple of minor caveats and health warnings.

The book has a different feel to it. The exuberance of youth is now largely stripped from these characters and they have been aged considerably by their experiences. They seem possibly a little too mature too quickly in some ways. This second book also has a more multi-layered and complex feel to it. For those like me without the greatest of memories a refresher of the story before you start is highly recommended. You can of course re-read the first book but if you haven’t already seen it check out audfans where one of their give-aways is a twenty minute synopsis of the story up until the start of this book read by Michael Kramer. There is also a very useful glossary and map on the author’s website.

Even with that there is an awful lot to keep track of in this one. So many characters have multiple names which are swapped in and out regularly. Some characters take over other characters and Caeden rebuilds his memories with the story frequently and abruptly flashing between the current time and those memories plus of course with the augurs occasional visions of the future. Producing such a story is a very impressive achievement but, and it may of course just be me, there was a little too much of that complexity going on. I suspect a second reading will tease out a lot of nuances that I missed despite regular rewinds during my first navigation of this book.

It is genuinely epic fantasy with depth, action and a thorough authenticity. It took maybe more effort from me to get the most out of it than books even in this genre tend to but the investment was most definitely worth it.

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14 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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  • CC
  • 28-09-19

Became an endurance test!

Quite enjoyed the first of this trilogy, even though I felt is was a little slow and drawn out in places. Hence my purchase of this the second in the trilogy. I SHALL NOT be buying the third, I have given up on what happens to the various characters be they heroes or villains. It is so slow, chapters go on for ages with very little happening. Then there are the 'jumps' into memory, too many and too confusing. (I can't say too much here without using spoilers.) I made myself finish the book because I had already invested so much time to them. Such a shame because the story base is good, just not 3 books good!! The only real positive for me in these 'fantasy' books is that it isn't all swords and battles ....although there are a few of those too.

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4 people found this helpful

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Excellent -but you need to concentrate

After the first hour or so, I started to doubt this book. The lighter tone of the previous book had been left behind, and we seemed to be spending an awful lot of time in flashbacks to Caeden's clearly complex, and not entirely pleasant, past - with only brief moments with Davian and the rest of the team. I needn't have worried - the book gathers momentum, and this complex fantasy continues to deliver as hoped for.

There is so much more going on now, and the characters are all going their own ways, only circling back to each other periodically. They've matured significantly since the first instalment, and I found myself wondering if I'd assumed their ages incorrectly? There is no "padding" in this second instalment: once you get your head around the flashbacks of Caeden's memories, and the timeline challenges that presents, then this story unfolds cleverly, layer upon intricate layer. Lots of complexity for those who like a properly constructed epic fantasy. So much has fallen into place by the end of book 2, but there is clearly so much more to come. A huge final chapter/epilogue - that I was not expecting, and left me reeling a little - it ties a few things up cleverly but leaves all the double ribbon ends hanging out ready for book 3!

I admit to really struggling with names and keeping track of who was who (despite listening to these books in quick succession) There is an enormous cast of characters, who can be known by multiple alias's.....(like I really needed even more complexity after the other-worldliness of their names in the first place!)...... Searching on Licanius and wiki took me to the Fandom website, which has some Licanius pages, including a character page. Joy! (as an audiobook fan, I often have an "ah-huh moment" when I see the names actually spelled out). SPOILER ALERT: be careful what you read on these pages - some serious spoilers included. Makes for good post listen review though.

This is an excellent series to date - here's hoping book 3 completes in the same style.

Narration is Michael Kramer - no more need be said.

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4 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Great Traditional Epic Fantasy

If you could sum up An Echo of Things to Come in three words, what would they be?

Super engaging read!

Who was your favorite character and why?

It was close between Caeden and Davian but I think Caeden just managed to edge it. Davian is likeable and easy to root for but Caeden is a real enigma and all his POV segments are great.

Which character – as performed by Michael Kramer – was your favourite?

It is Michael Kramer! He was great with all the characters!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Definitely. James Islington knows how to write an engaging story.

Any additional comments?

I'd recommend this series for fans of Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan, and X-Men. It has stuff that reminds me of all of those but Islington still manages to keep the world fresh and his story exciting.

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3 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

completely lost.

The narration is superb. you know you are in for a treat when Michael Kramer is involved and I think this is the reason I stuck with this book. I found myself completely lost about half way through and it didn't get any clearer. having an evil character called Siilyarse detracted from the gravitas! So many of the characters have back stories that do not relate directly to the story. overcomplicated for it's own sake. will not be buying the sequel

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Great book can see this working well on the screen

Good story line hooks you in and makes you feel. For each of the characters

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2 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Brilliantly read, decent story, poorly written

I really wanted to like these books. The narration is excellent, and probably the main reason I made it to the end of book 2. And there are some nice ideas and plotting. But his writing style is poor (seriously, could his editor not have taken him to one side and politely pointed out that he uses 'grim' and 'grimace' in every other sentence...) I could maybe have stuck it out if the story hadn't turned so painfully derivative towards the end.

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1 person found this helpful

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brilliant book a great listen can't wait for the n

brilliant book a great listen can't wait for the next book to be made audio.

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another great

wow another great Story by both author and narrator
can not wait for the next book.

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Epic Story and Epic Reader!

I really great Reed, classic fantasy novel looking forward to reading more of the stuff

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