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James Islington

Goodreads Author

Website

http://jamesislington.com/

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IslingtonJames

Genre

Fantasy, Young Adult

Influences

Brandon Sanderson
Patrick Rothfuss
Robert Jordan
Raymond E. Feist ...more

Member Since

July 2014

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James Islington was born and raised in southern Victoria, Australia. His influences growing up were the stories of Raymond E. Feist and Robert Jordan, but it wasn't until later, when he read Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series - followed soon after by Patrick Rothfuss' Name of the Wind - that he was finally inspired to sit down and write something of his own. He now lives with his wife and two children on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria. ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

I'm fascinated by the idea that you seem to have just decided to become an author one day because you were inspired by Brandon and Patrick. Could you provide us with a bit of a background/biography? How did you find the time to do it? Did you have a writing background before starting your first novel or did you just have a natural gift for telling an amazing story?

James Islington Sure! It wasn’t *quite* as abrupt as that – I absolutely loved creative writing as a teen, and the ambition to write a novel ‘one day’ was always ther…moreSure! It wasn’t *quite* as abrupt as that – I absolutely loved creative writing as a teen, and the ambition to write a novel ‘one day’ was always there. Most of my twenties, though, was spent running a startup with a friend of mine. It was pretty successful and a major learning experience, but also an insane amount of work and stress. I barely had time to read fiction, let alone write anything.

So when I finally got around to discovering Brandon’s and Patrick’s books, it wasn’t that they necessarily created my first ‘I want to be an author’ moment – I think everyone who enjoys writing has a little bit of that in them already anyway. It was more that they rekindled my *enthusiasm* for the idea, which to me is actually a much harder thing to inspire. Those books really got me excited about the genre again, and that in turn motivated me to give my own story a go.

In terms of finding the time, when I turned thirty I basically decided to scale back my involvement in the business so that it became a not-quite-full-time endeavour - less money, of course, but it allowed me both the opportunity and head space to write while still earning a paycheck. I'd already been working from home and on my own schedule for years, so self-discipline wasn't really an issue. From there it was just a case of being diligent about getting something down on the page every day. It took a couple of years and a fair amount of patience - a lot of drafts and a lot of edits based on feedback, especially early on - but eventually 'Shadow' got to the point where I was comfortable releasing it.

I think that about sums it up. Cheers for the question!(less)

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I just started reading the book, and honestly I am very impressed. Not very many books catch my attention and hold it as this one has. One of my favorite questions to ask authors is "What is the origin of this story you are telling?" I like to keep that in mind as I read a book. Do you mind answering that one for me?

James Islington Thanks! The origins of the story are actually a little tricky to explain, as they kind of give away the ending to 'The Shadow of What Was Lost'. So I'…moreThanks! The origins of the story are actually a little tricky to explain, as they kind of give away the ending to 'The Shadow of What Was Lost'. So I'm marking below as a spoiler - I'd advise holding off reading any further here until you've finished the book....

------SPOILER------

I've always loved stories about redemption, characters with dark pasts striving to change but struggling with who they've become. So I was interested in exploring the idea of an epic fantasy bad guy - the legendary enemy who everyone 'knows' is evil - in that situation. Looking at why he was on the wrong side in the first place, and then how he'd go about trying to make up for / escape the terrible things he'd done.

That led to me thinking about memories and how much they shape who a person is - how their past experiences, decisions and knowledge influence them and make them capable of things they might not be otherwise.

I also wanted to write a story where prophecies weren't so wishy-washy and open to interpretation ("and the seven eagles shall rise on wings of fire, and the crown of iron shall be shattered, and blah blah blah"). It's not that this never works in a story, but I think it's an area of fantasy that still tends to get away with little to no explanation of why it's like that. In most cases it seems to just fall into the 'because magic' category, which I'm personally not a big fan of.

Anyway, that line of thinking ultimately resulted in the Augurs, as well as (to some extent) the inclusion of time travel in the story.

------END SPOILER------

So, I guess I had a lot of disparate ideas/inspirations rattling around in my head over the years. Then when I started reading Brandon Sanderson and Patrick Rothfuss a while back, I finally got inspired enough that I really knuckled down and gave writing a serious amount of my time. Thus, 'The Shadow of What Was Lost'.

Hope that answers your question!

Edit: Looks like spoiler tags don't work on answering questions, so I'm marking the whole thing as a spoiler.

Edit 2: Apparently I can't mark the whole thing as a spoiler after it's been submitted. I'll change the heading so it's nice and obvious instead. (less)

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James Islington’s books

Average rating: 4.34 · 170,276 ratings · 19,672 reviews · 8 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Shadow of What Was Lost (The Licanius Trilogy, #1) 4.14 avg rating — 59,845 ratings — published 2014 — 38 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Will of the Many (Hierarchy, #1) 4.62 avg rating — 51,219 ratings — published 2023 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	An Echo of Things to Come (The Licanius Trilogy, #2) 4.23 avg rating — 33,694 ratings — published 2017 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Light of All That Falls (The Licanius Trilogy, #3) 4.40 avg rating — 25,027 ratings — published 2019 — 24 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Licanius Trilogy (The Licanius Trilogy, #1-3) 4.61 avg rating — 368 ratings — published 2020 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Deep Magic - Winter 2018 by Jeff Wheeler (Goodreads Author) (Editor & Contributor), Steve DuBois (Goodreads Author), Paul R. Hardy (Goodreads Author) 4.33 avg rating — 67 ratings — published 2018	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Strength of the Few (Hierarchy, #2) 4.56 avg rating — 50 ratings — expected publication 2025	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Fantastische Aussichten: Fantasy & Science Fiction bei Knaur: Ausgewählte Leseproben von Markus Heitz, Leigh Bardugo, Maggie Stiefvater und Julia Lange u.v.m. by Markus Heitz, Diana Wynne Jones, Maggie Stiefvater (Goodreads Author) 3.50 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2018 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by James Islington…

70 posts
James Islington's Blog

The Will of the Many - Deluxe Edition Announced

Hey everyone,

A deluxe edition of The Will of the Many has officially been revealed! It has new cover art from the immensely talented Jaime Jones (that I'm absolutely thrilled with, incidentally), as well as gold sprayed edges, full colour map end pages, and a foil stamp design on the hardcover case. Plus it will come with some newly added written material...

It's out Nov 19 - if you're interested i Read more of this blog post »

69 likes · Like • 6 comments • flag

Published on August 14, 2024 21:07 • Tags: deluxe, the-will-of-the-many

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Series by James Islington

The Licanius Trilogy (3 books)
by

James Islington (Goodreads Author)

4.22 avg rating — 118,875 ratings

Hierarchy (2 books)
by

James Islington (Goodreads Author)

4.63 avg rating — 51,153 ratings

Kerine Wint (she/her) is a freelance writer, editor, and reviewer of speculative fiction for publications including FIYAH literary...

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James’s Recent Updates

James Islington is now friends with Enrico Mennella
15 minutes ago · like
James Islington voted for The Will of the Many (Hierarchy, #1) as Best Fantasy in the Opening Round of the 2023 Goodreads Choice Awards. Cast Your Vote
Nov 25, 2023 08:11PM · 9 likes · like
James Islington rated a book it was amazing Red Rising (Red Rising Saga, #1) by Pierce Brown (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Just realised I haven’t given these books a rating on here, which is crazy because this series is not only one of my absolute favourites from the past decade, but tonally a big influence on my current work. If you haven’t read them, I highly, highly ...more
May 01, 2023 11:39PM · 69 likes · like · see review
James Islington rated a book it was amazing Morning Star (Red Rising Saga, #3) by Pierce Brown (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
My brief review of the trilogy: Red Rising review ...more
May 01, 2023 11:38PM · 31 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Morning Star by Pierce Brown. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Morning Star by Pierce Brown <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
James Islington rated a book it was amazing Golden Son (Red Rising Saga, #2) by Pierce Brown (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
My brief review of the trilogy: Red Rising review ...more
May 01, 2023 11:37PM · 21 likes · like · see review
James Islington has read Golden Son (Red Rising Saga, #2) by Pierce Brown (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 01, 2023 11:37PM · like
James Islington rated a book it was amazing Morning Star (Red Rising Saga, #3) by Pierce Brown (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
My brief review of the trilogy: Red Rising review ...more
May 01, 2023 09:45PM · 31 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Morning Star by Pierce Brown. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Morning Star by Pierce Brown <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
James Islington rated a book it was amazing Golden Son (Red Rising Saga, #2) by Pierce Brown (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
My brief review of the trilogy: Red Rising review ...more
May 01, 2023 09:45PM · 21 likes · like · see review
James Islington rated a book it was amazing Red Rising (Red Rising Saga, #1) by Pierce Brown (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Just realised I haven’t given these books a rating on here, which is crazy because this series is not only one of my absolute favourites from the past decade, but tonally a big influence on my current work. If you haven’t read them, I highly, highly ...more
May 01, 2023 09:44PM · 69 likes · like · see review
James Islington rated a book it was amazing Red Rising (Red Rising Saga, #1) by Pierce Brown (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Just realised I haven’t given these books a rating on here, which is crazy because this series is not only one of my absolute favourites from the past decade, but tonally a big influence on my current work. If you haven’t read them, I highly, highly ...more
May 01, 2023 09:37PM · 69 likes · like · see review

More of James's books…

Quotes by James Islington (?)

“All that I wanted, I received
All that I dreamed, I achieved
All that I feared, I conquered
All that I hated, I destroyed
All that I loved, I saved
And so, I lay down my head weary with despair, for
All that I needed, I lost”
― James Islington, The Shadow of What Was Lost

77 likes

“Silence is a statement, Diago. Inaction picks a side. And when those lead to personal benefit, they are complicity.”
― James Islington, The Will of the Many

61 likes

“The lesser of two evils, or the greater good. Get a good man to utter either of those phrases, and there is no one more eager to begin perpetrating evil.”
― James Islington, An Echo of Things to Come

61 likes

See all James Islington's quotes »

Polls

Preliminary Poll for Next Series (Fantasy, starting 8/15/23)

Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky, 10 books starting with Empire in Black and Gold

13 votes, 28.9%

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang, 3 books starting with The Poppy War

12 votes, 26.7%

Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny, 10 books starting with Nine Princes in Amber

10 votes, 22.2%

Licanius Trilogy by James Islington, 3 books starting with The Shadow of What Was Lost

7 votes, 15.6%

Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen R. Donaldson, 10 books starting with Lord Foul's Bane

2 votes, 4.4%

Thieves’ World by Robert Lynn Asprin, 12 books starting with Thieves' World

1 vote, 2.2%

45 total votes

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SciFi and Fantasy...: The May 2015 Fantasy Open Nominations	19	110	Feb 10, 2015 12:08PM
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Grimdark Fantasy: Suggestion: 2016 Grimdark Fantasy Group Challenge	35	91	Mar 21, 2016 09:10AM
Rothfussians: Love/ hate relationship with fantasy: any authors as brilliant as Pat?	54	398	Feb 16, 2017 06:05PM
Sci-fi and Heroic...: What new SF&F Books are you Looking Forward to in 2017?	64	162	Feb 22, 2017 02:41PM

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