3 out of 4 stars
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A Kingdom Forgotten; Book One of A Throne of Souls by Charles W. McDonald Jr. is a fiction story about the undoing of creation but not just for our own world. You are transported to many different worlds throughout different time periods. This is a story about love, regret, revenge, duty, honor and coming of age.
This book comes with its very own “Readers Guide”. The author himself warns you of the complexity of this story but guarantees that is you stick with it and keep up you won't be disappointed and I wasn't! He weaves a huge web of characters and situations in this book. Jumping from present day to thousands of years ago to thousands of years in the future and back again. Also taking us to different planets, the nether and everything in between.
We follow Damon, a powerful mage, as he writes spells so potent they actually begin to undo creation. He knows the consequence of his actions but is fueled by lost love and the need for revenge. He uses his bewitching looks, powers and cunningly deceptive mind to twist situations to fit his plans and make sure everything falls into place perfectly. He, as well as many other mages, travel between worlds and time using portals of their own making. His powers are strongest on worlds where magic is still used regularly and believed in. However, here on Earth technology has taken over most aspects of magic so his powers are very limited while on our world.
Radin, a young man working in his father's inn, falls in love with a beautiful new trader in town. Her name is Elise and she seems perfect for him but we find out later she's hiding a huge secret from him. While Radin is trying to deal with the matters of his heart he is thrown right into the middle of everything Damon has set into motion. Being young and naive he is unsure of who to trust but the more he learns about himself the more his confidence grows. With the help of Elise and friends they meet along the way, Radin learns he may be “The One”. They meet a man named Talemar who agrees to help Radin learn and control his magic, but soon they discover that Talemar also claims to be “The One”. There is only one way to be certain who the chosen was is so they set off to find this relic to get answers. We learn that on their world, Perion, the Crystal Throne holds no real power unless occupied by “The One”. Then they would rule all nine kingdoms on Perion.
I honestly struggled with this book. Yes, the author warns you of the complexity of this story but you can't begin to understand just how complex it really is until you start reading it! He introduces so many characters, over forty, some of which die shortly after. There is a very clear understanding of the main characters but some may appear in the first few chapters then not again till the last quarter of the book. There are other characters that you think are a big part of the story but wind up being an afterthought, however he may develop them in the upcoming books. The book appears to be edited but there are a few errors that kept recurring throughout like missing letters or words or phrases being repeated. Example; “even he could not stand in the way what was to come”, there should be an “of” between way and what; “Not like you to worry about your safety, our ours for that matter” , the word “our” should be “or”; “ he was able to push one sliding glass abreast the next abreast the next until entire flat side of the oval leading to the balcony…”, here you see where a whole phrase was repeated then further in the sentence there is a missing “the” between until and entire. Mistakes like this are present occasionally throughout the book.
Now, on a positive note, I truly loved the story. Yes, it was very confusing but once you get into it you really have a hard time putting it down. You're introduced to magic, spells, dragons, elves, angels and unique humans. As soon as you think you might hate a character because they are evil you find out just a bit more that may change your mind or make you question where your loyalties are! The author does an amazing job at making things very unique to this story. He uses Cubits as a source of measurement throughout the book. A Cubit is an ancient measure of length roughly equal to the length of your arm from the elbow to the tip of your middle finger, typically eighteen inches or forty-four centimeters. There are also very simple descriptions of modern technology, such as the light bulb, but being described by a person from the middle ages who's never seen electricity. I also loved the mention of different familiars used by the different mages like giant spiders or crows. There are also a few illustrations including world maps, but not of Earth, of the worlds that have been created for the book. There is also the occasional illustration with certain chapters, one includes a picture on Excalibur, the sword of Kings. At the end of the book you can find a glossary that includes words that may help you understand certain parts of the book so I was very excited to see that.
Overall I would rate this book a 3 out of 4 stars. I did really enjoy the story despite being confused during most of it. However, given the complexity of this book, the errors that I found were very distracting. I would also like to point out that there are a few references to sex and the female body as well as some occasional cussing. Based on all these factors I would recommend the book for older teenagers and adults.
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A Kingdom Forgotten
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