3 out of 4 stars
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A Kingdom Forgotten, by Charles W. McDonald Jr. is a saga spanning many lifetimes, thousands of years, and different worlds with different characteristics, the immortals, mortals, the Undead, advanced technology dwarfed by even more advanced magic. Added is an ominous prophecy that serves as the glue holding the disparate forces in play over thousands of years, and then bringing them to the point of reckoning in their final battle. It is an interesting but not-so-easy-to-settle-into science fiction about power, domination and the area in-between.
Damon, lamean or magic practitioner of unmatched ability has worked hard, over thousands of years, acquiring great powers, some of which are unheard of even among other practitioners. He is obsessed with acquiring new powers. Naturally, this evokes genuine suspicion and fear among other power players, even his “allies”.
As part of Damon’s Master Plan to exploit the End Times prophecy, he recruits and trains Radin, a regular guy, into a fearsome magic practitioner. Radin sees himself as the One in the prophecy.
Another skilled and feared lamean, Talemar, in another world, is also interested in the prophecy, believing he is the One.
A host of persons are ready to fight Damon’s stooge, Radin and his cohorts, to ensure that they do not trigger The End Times prophecy.
Talemar forces Damon to bring forward the launching of his Master Plan for domination of the various worlds. Damon works on a fallback position in case things do not work out as planned. Unfortunately, Radin is yet to learn all his lessons. Damon takes an action that results in China invading the United States.
In the midst of all these activities in different worlds, the need to confirm the identity of the One comes up.
Radin’s army prepares for the final confrontation. The wrong person opens a sacred scroll and reads the First Seal, triggering the prophesied events. The war starts.
Damon watches the fight from afar. As things go awry, he organizes a rescue operation across worlds as nuclear bombs detonate in the United States and elsewhere. In the new planet, Eden, the new arrivals are given a set of commandments for the place. It states Damon’s position.
I find some interesting things in the saga of A Kingdom Forgotten.
The events, especially the “supernatural” or magical abilities of the various characters are easy to dismiss as far-fetched, as some would have us believe, but we have some cultures with such abilities as part of their history. Our “modern technologies” that try to achieve similar results are only cumbersome imitations of such abilities e.g. our spy satellites, internet, electronic surveillance devices, autonomous vehicles, remote control, robots, and artificial intelligence generally. Our current space travel technology is only a crude and limited version of the possibilities depicted in A Kindom Forgotten. Perhaps Charles McDonald Jr. is actually trying to awaken us, albeit in an oblique manner, to the possibilities that man can attain.
I find it odd that with all his unmatched abilities at magic, creating offensive and defensive techniques, and knowledge gathered over thousands of years, Damon, at the crucial moment fails to accept responsibility for the effects of his actions, blaming them on God.
It is difficult to decide whether it was rectitude or ego that made Damon decide to organize the rescue. Also, it is not unlikely that the author is indirectly reminding mankind of the need to have a contingency plan to move people to other habitable planets in the event of a nuclear holocaust on earth.
Initially, A Kingdom Forgotten seems a laborious read, but a short distance into it, one gets the hang of it, especially with occasional reference to the glossary. Once you pick up the perspective of the various worlds and characters in them, it is a lot more enjoyable reading the book. Also, one needs to get used to the peculiar terms used in the book to describe some body parts, energy, offensive and defensive practices.
Overall, I found A Kingdom Forgotten interesting. I enjoyed it, though it took me some time to get used to the activities in parallel worlds, depiction of thousands of years in the past and future timelines in different worlds. I am still scratching my head over the connection between Radin, his father, and Elise on one hand and King Michael, his father, and Elise on the other. Perhaps the sequels in the series may clarify the issue. A few minor typographical errors are in the book, but they do not adversely affect the pace or enjoyment of the saga. I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. A Kingdom Forgotten would appeal to those who enjoy science fiction and also those who enjoy reading about magic that seems to be just at the very portals of the possible: believable magic.
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A Kingdom Forgotten
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