A Song of Legends Lost (Volume 1)

“The exhilarating must-read fantasy debut of the year.” —Tasha Suri, World Fantasy Award–winning author

An unforgettable tale of revenge and rebellion unfolds when a reckless king implements an ill-fated plan to end a thousand-year war in this relentlessly gripping epic fantasy debut.

A SONG OF REBELLION. A SONG OF WAR. A SONG OF LEGENDS LOST.

The people of Nine Lands know their history. The kingdom once belonged to the Scathed people, until their greyblood servants rose up and slaughtered them. King Ahiki and his warlords laid claim to the realm by defeating the rebels and driving them out to the Feverlands.

Now, thousands of years later, attacks by the greybloods are rebuffed by the invoker clans, warriors of noble blood who summon their ancestors to fight with them in battle. But the war has gone on too long. A general draft is called to take the battle to the Feverlands and defeat the greybloods once and for all. A plan that seems doomed to fail.

When Temi, a commoner, accidentally invokes a powerful spirit, she believes it could be the key to ending the centuries-long war. But not everything that can be invoked is an ancestor, and some of the spirits that can be drawn from the ancestral realm are more dangerous than anyone can imagine.

Praise for A Song of Legends Lost:

“Ayinde is a master storyteller.” —Andrea Stewart, author of The Bone Shard Daughter

“A whirlwind debut of ferocious talent and compulsive storytelling that lifts you up from the first page and never lets go.” —Lavie Tidhar, World Fantasy Award–winning author

“A truly excellent debut.” —James Islington, author of The Will of the Many

The Invoker Trilogy
A Song of Legends Lost
A Dance of Burning Blade

M. H. Ayinde was born in London’s East End. She is a runner, a lapsed martial artist, and a screentime enthusiast. Her debut novel is A Song of Legends Lost. Her short fiction has appeared in FIYAH Literary Magazine, F&SF, Fantasy Magazine, and elsewhere, and she was the 2021 winner of the Future Worlds Prize. She lives in North London with three generations of her family and their Studio Ghibli obsession.