Lost Origins is set in the far flung future where Earth is just a myth to the inhabitants of the various colonies across the Milky Way Galaxy. Captain Maddy Majestic, smuggler extraordinaire, is hired to find a crystal with Earth's long lost coordinates. Despite her skepticism, Maddy sets out with her small crew, including her android partner, to find this crystal on a long dead base. But will she discover that Earth is real before being killed by a secret group trying to prevent anyone from finding humanity's homeworld?

I will attempt to review this book without diving into spoilers too much. However, much of what I have to criticize involves the structure of the plot. The first two thirds of the story progressed well and made sense within the context of the world that Kulp had built. Unfortunately the final third was a hot mess. The climax revealed a twist which had absolutely no set up and came out of left field. This twist undermined everything that the reader previously learned about both the plot and the world in a way that was so very cheap. Then the resolution to this twist was significantly rushed so that Kulp could set up the next book in the series. I liked what Kulp was originally trying to do with this story but there was no way he could execute the plot he wanted in such a short book. (And the final twist was unnecessary and should have been cut.)
And also, our female characters (including the female presenting androids) had a little too much of 'women written by men' syndrome. As a female reader, it was off putting.

That being said, Kulp does excel at writing space battles. All of the fighting scenes in space had me on my toes. And I also liked the idea of androids being able to choose their gender presentation and also being accepted as nonbinary.

Overall though I wouldn't recommend this series.

Reviews going live on Goodreads and on Tiktok with my reading wrap up at the end of the month.

Military in space
Earth is more of a myth (a legend)
This book follows our FMC Maddy who is a smuggler
Very scientifically correct and kinda goes over my head
Action packed
Ethical dilemmas

This book is a great space opera but it tries and achieves a nice balance with some more hard sci-fi elements. The characters are interesting and relatable specially Captain Majestic with her internal conflict about her relationship. The only part where personally it did not feel so strong was in the world building but it just some minor aspects that did not detract for the story and the overall mystery woven in the world more than makes for it.
Overall great space opera book.

A fast fun scifi fantasy for fans of Firefly and space pirates! Unlike a lot of scifi, this doesn't skimp on actual science, thanks to a knowledgeable author. Captain Maddy Majestic (Cap) is such a fun character in a story that could be so dark - and the lively conversation is a part of what keeps the story moving. "Any transaction we can walk away from is a good transaction." 👍 And the best part? Earth is a legend. How can you find a planet that's shrouded in mystery, more of a fantasy than a place on a map? Such a fun thought! "I don't have time for jokes. Only crackpots and school children believed the myth of Earth." And the end is out of this world.

I struggled a bit with the beginning of this book, as the space military setting isn't usually my thing. It felt a bit distant at first, and I wasn’t immediately hooked. However, as the story progressed, I found myself drawn into the world more, especially the concept of the androids with their genderless identity. While it was sometimes a bit confusing, I did appreciate the way it distinguished them from humans, making the dynamics more interesting.

The romantic relationships in the story also caught me off guard. The fluidity was something new, but it didn’t fully click for me. I can see how it might appeal to some readers, but it just didn’t resonate the way I hoped.

The ending, with its twist, felt a bit forced. I wasn’t sure it was necessary for the story, and it left me questioning whether it was believable or even the right direction for the plot. Still, I can respect the author’s decision to take the narrative where they wanted.

Overall, it was an okay read, but it didn’t fully capture me. I think it could appeal more to fans of the genre or those who enjoy unconventional plots. I'm giving this book 2 ⭐.

This was a strong start to the Majestic Chronicles series, it had that element that I was looking for and enjoyed from the genre and from the world. I thought the characters were well written and worked overall in this universe. I thought Chris Kulp wrote this perfectly and that it left me wanting to read more in this series.

The story stared a bit slow for me, but that likely was because it had a space military opening, which is not always my jam, as it were. As the tale progressed I will pulled into it. I was fascinated by the genderless status of the androids, which was confusing from time to time, but it helped differentiate between humans and non-humans. The fluidity of the romantic relationships was a bit curious to me, but that might be just me. I'm not so sure about the plausibility or necessity of the plot twist at the end, but it's not my story, so I'd rather give the author leeway to tell his story.

I would be interested to see future titles in this series.

Unfortunately, I was quite disappointed in Chris Kipp's Lost Origins. I went in expecting space opera - the cover and description leave no doubt about that. What gave me hope for a strong space opera, however, were the author's background (physics professor), the good specialty publisher, and the story of moral growth and development outlined in the description. I found the book to be very pulpy, lacking in any realism, and more like a self-published book than one from a serious publisher. A sequel is clearly telegraphed at the end but I won't be returning.