Chris Kennedy's Reunion (Kingdom Lost Book 1)
The Final Day of Jimbo's Annual Memorial Day Weekend Event!
Welcome to the Final Day of Jimbo’s Memorial Day Weekend Extravaganza! Today we’re featuring Chris Kennedy. Mr. Kennedy is a former Naval Aviator. He flew the A-6E Intruder bomber off of carriers as well as the EP-3E reconaissance aircraft. He flew during the Kosovo conflict and during Desert Shield and Storm. He retired after 20 years as a Commander. Commander Kennedy was also one of the first authors I ever featured as part of one of these and he taught me a lot about what questions to ask when interviewing authors for the little blurbs for these so if you enjoy learning about our veterans, say thanks to him in the comments.
And yes, I’m aware that Memorial Day isn’t about veterans. It’s about members of the Armed Services that were lost in the line of duty. I don’t know of any Science Fiction and Fantasy books written by a person who was Killed In Action though, so I’m giving back to our fallen by honoring their buddies who made it home. Sometimes the best you can do is the best you can do.
Oh, and as far as the book goes:
Ummm…
Wow.
I mean, I just…
Yeah.
I’m not sure exactly what I expected out of Chris Kennedy’s Reunion: Book One of Kingdom Lost but I got more than that. That’s honestly saying a lot because I’ve been a fan of Kennedy, both as an author and a publisher, for quite awhile now. I’ve reviewed several of his works. I’m a big fan of The Four Horsemen Universe that he and co-creator Mark Wandrey started. But from the second I “cracked the spine” (as much as I could on an ebook, anyway) I was immersed in this one.
Reunion starts off with more of a zoom than a bang, but it starts off quickly. It also left me a bit confused, but in a good way. Look at that cover (seriously, it’s awesome) and then read the first couple chapters and tell me they look like they come from the same book. That’s not to say that they weren’t good chapters. I loved them. It’s not to say that they didn’t set the rest of the story up well. They did. It’s just that they weren’t quite what I was expecting, even if they were well written and action packed. That’s okay though, things shifted to a different point of view and before long everything started fitting together properly. My sense of propriety was fulfilled and we all know that I have a strong sense of propriety.
Or sumfin’
And it’s not like I didn’t like it. It’s just that the cover gives Reunion a heavy combat feel (which it fulfills in later chapters) and it was starting to feel like an underground/mafia related story. I actually liked that angle. Somebody needs to do a space mafia story. I’d buy that. I’d review that. I’d write that except for the fact that I have too much going on already. But somebody take my money. Actually, if Kennedy ever decides to take a break from Military Science Fiction he could do it based on what I’ve seen in Reunion. I like it when he writes the military stuff though, so maybe I’ll shut up.
Huh?
Yes, I am capable of remaining quiet. I did so for almost a full minute once when I was on a car ride as a kid. I was even conscious at the time.
Speaking of point of view changes, those are something that Kennedy does with aplomb. (Two points for Jimbo for using “aplomb” in a sentence! YAY!) There are multiple point of view characters acting at various points during the story. I love that about it. We get to see more that way. When the point of view shifts, we don’t have to rely on one character to witness everything. We’re all over the place seeing all the things. And, let’s face it, reading fiction of any type is really just about seeing the things happen. What kind of fiction it is may depend on what the things are, but the principle remains the same.
Kennedy has a technique he uses when he’s rapidly switching between points of view. I wrote about it here. He’ll insert a radio call into the normal course of the story. Things happen. Then he’ll write the radio call into the story again when he switches points of view again and you’re instantly transported back to the moment when you read it the first time. It really gives a sense of multiple things happening at once instead of being a straight sequential narrative. This makes sense because he primarily uses it in combat situations and things are chaotic. Things happen quickly and among several different places on a battlefield at once. I really feel like only a guy who has been there and done that can come up with this technique, but I might steal it for my own writing at some point.
It feels weird saying that Kennedy writes amazing action sequences. I’ve done it too many times and I don’t want to continuously say the same stuff over and over again. It’s true though, and there may (hopefully) be someone out there reading this who hasn’t read all of the other reviews I’ve written about Kennedy’s work. Things are fast paced, believable and exciting. Reading a fight scene written by Chris Kennedy was like watching the Saving Private Ryan at the movie theater with the sound blaring and the seat shaking. I got so into the story that I forgot that I wasn’t there. And honestly, I’m glad that wasn’t my back, but that’s a separate issue.
The story itself is about the scions of a royal family seeking to survive at first, and later to take back the throne that was stolen from their father before he was murdered. None of them know the location of their siblings, but three of the four end up getting put together accidentally fairly quickly and more through coincidence than by design. Honestly, my only complaint about Reunion might be that it seems a little too contrived but, then again, it’s necessary for these people to all come together and it’s at least plausible.
Keep your head on a swivel while reading Reunion.
Speaking as the guy with the history degree, it’s actually nice to see someone who actually gets dynastic politics. Things get nasty when we’re dealing with a line of succession. Kennedy gets that. The previous king, who totally has a name in the book but I forgot what it was, knew that his end was coming and that his children were in danger so he got rid of them. He sent them out where he couldn’t be found. A still living (potential) heir to the throne is a threat to the life and the rule of the person who took over. Of course the new guy is going to try to eliminate anyone with ties to the old regime. It’s the new guys only chance at survival. This goes back in history to people like Qin Shihuang the first Chinese emperor. It’s why the Communists murdered the Romanovs. A conqueror has to remove those with claims to the throne or perish. But I’ll get off my soapbox now.
Seriously, just buy the book and thank me.
Bottom Line: 5.0 out of 5 Spider Mechs
Reunion: Book One of Kingdom Lost
Chris Kennedy
Theogony Books, 2025
Reunion: Book One of Kingdom Lost is available for purchase at the following link. If you click the link and buy literally anything from Amazon, I get a small percentage at no additional cost to you.