Review by Beatrice_Greenwald -- A Kingdom Forgotten
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Beatrice_Greenwald
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Review by Beatrice_Greenwald -- A Kingdom Forgotten
[Following is a volunteer review of "A Kingdom Forgotten" by Charles W. McDonald Jr..]
3 out of 4 stars
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A Kingdom Forgotten, Book 1 of The Throne of Souls series, written by Charles W. M. McDonald Jr. is a cacophony of genres, fitting neatly between that of science fiction and fantasy, catering to both sides of the geek world. A medley of steamy romantic scenes and well-described action sequences burst the mind of the reader in less than 500 pages, which most writers cannot normally successfully achieve within an entire series of novels.
A Kingdom Forgotten, written as a series of subplots intertwined together with different perspectives of the same scenes, follow the masterful, yet very mysterious plan of Damon Day, an ultra-powerful sorcerer, who is intent on creating an entirely new uninhabitable planet. Alongside this story, Radin (a young man) meets the love of his life, Elise, who hides her past which connects to something very regal. Goddesses, slaves, sorcerers and beasts from a myriad of planets and worlds all band together to annihilate a grand monster called Eldrac and it takes a lot of practice, aid, destruction and planning to assemble a huge army to defeat him. Not only are people and beings of different worlds presented in this novel, but also of different incarnations of the same person in different times, which mystifies and often clarifies events or actions that make the reader go "Oh, so that is why he or she did that, this is their motivation."
The divisions in the story follow a very understandable pattern, and the reader’s note at the beginning of the novel explains the scene cuts with patterns indicating a certain amount of time or progression of time. Each division starts with a description of the place, planet/realm and the time frame, which makes it easy for even an amateur fantasy reader to be unbaffled by the sheer magnitude of plots. One flaw that I have found, and it does pain me to point it out, is the fact that everything is steeped in mystery (which is a good thing, what the novel was aiming for, and which is a joy to read in itself), so much so that certain parts of the plot are never alluded to, as if the reader had already been notified of the event or plan which is unfolding in the scene. Some of the planning of an attack simply skip over crucial bits which were not explained to the reader, but this in itself does not weaken or water down the magnificently well-organised plot.
Personally, as an avid reader of fantasy books in my youth but having less time to do so in adulthood, this novel has rekindled the mania that accompanies the reader of this genre. I made extra time for this novel, as I could not put it down, spending every spare second ensconced in this new world created by Charles W.M. McDonald Jr. The descriptions were very well-detailed and I have never seen such an array of adjectives put into a single paragraph before, which must take a lot of skill. Each division of the story made it possible to read a single piece from end to end and leave it for a few hours, without wondering what would or should happen, as the mystery enclosed in that one division is settled in a satisfying way. This enables the reader to think about the novel’s progression without neglecting daily activiies in the process, which can often happen.
I rate this novel 3 out of 4. I would have given it 4 out of 4, but there were punctuation and grammar mistakes on (average) every second page. I recommend this book to hardcore fans of science fiction and especially fantasy, as the structure of the novel may be a bit overwhelming to the novice fan. The mystery of this novel will undoubtedly urge me to read the second novel in The Throne of Souls series. This stroke of genius needs to be more famous and I believe that with the continuation of this book series, Charles W.M. McDonald Jr. may become a household name.
******
A Kingdom Forgotten
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3 out of 4 stars
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A Kingdom Forgotten, Book 1 of The Throne of Souls series, written by Charles W. M. McDonald Jr. is a cacophony of genres, fitting neatly between that of science fiction and fantasy, catering to both sides of the geek world. A medley of steamy romantic scenes and well-described action sequences burst the mind of the reader in less than 500 pages, which most writers cannot normally successfully achieve within an entire series of novels.
A Kingdom Forgotten, written as a series of subplots intertwined together with different perspectives of the same scenes, follow the masterful, yet very mysterious plan of Damon Day, an ultra-powerful sorcerer, who is intent on creating an entirely new uninhabitable planet. Alongside this story, Radin (a young man) meets the love of his life, Elise, who hides her past which connects to something very regal. Goddesses, slaves, sorcerers and beasts from a myriad of planets and worlds all band together to annihilate a grand monster called Eldrac and it takes a lot of practice, aid, destruction and planning to assemble a huge army to defeat him. Not only are people and beings of different worlds presented in this novel, but also of different incarnations of the same person in different times, which mystifies and often clarifies events or actions that make the reader go "Oh, so that is why he or she did that, this is their motivation."
The divisions in the story follow a very understandable pattern, and the reader’s note at the beginning of the novel explains the scene cuts with patterns indicating a certain amount of time or progression of time. Each division starts with a description of the place, planet/realm and the time frame, which makes it easy for even an amateur fantasy reader to be unbaffled by the sheer magnitude of plots. One flaw that I have found, and it does pain me to point it out, is the fact that everything is steeped in mystery (which is a good thing, what the novel was aiming for, and which is a joy to read in itself), so much so that certain parts of the plot are never alluded to, as if the reader had already been notified of the event or plan which is unfolding in the scene. Some of the planning of an attack simply skip over crucial bits which were not explained to the reader, but this in itself does not weaken or water down the magnificently well-organised plot.
Personally, as an avid reader of fantasy books in my youth but having less time to do so in adulthood, this novel has rekindled the mania that accompanies the reader of this genre. I made extra time for this novel, as I could not put it down, spending every spare second ensconced in this new world created by Charles W.M. McDonald Jr. The descriptions were very well-detailed and I have never seen such an array of adjectives put into a single paragraph before, which must take a lot of skill. Each division of the story made it possible to read a single piece from end to end and leave it for a few hours, without wondering what would or should happen, as the mystery enclosed in that one division is settled in a satisfying way. This enables the reader to think about the novel’s progression without neglecting daily activiies in the process, which can often happen.
I rate this novel 3 out of 4. I would have given it 4 out of 4, but there were punctuation and grammar mistakes on (average) every second page. I recommend this book to hardcore fans of science fiction and especially fantasy, as the structure of the novel may be a bit overwhelming to the novice fan. The mystery of this novel will undoubtedly urge me to read the second novel in The Throne of Souls series. This stroke of genius needs to be more famous and I believe that with the continuation of this book series, Charles W.M. McDonald Jr. may become a household name.
******
A Kingdom Forgotten
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords
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Latest Review: Belas Rift by Stephan von Clinkerhoffen
