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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
3.75 but rounding up to 4.
High fantasy debut? Need I ever say more!
„The Kingdom of Liars” sparked my interest because it reminded me of Scott Lynch’s „The Lies of Locke Lamora”. Additionally the cover just screamed „high fantasy” so I had to check it out. The two books are dissimmilar in plot for the most part but Michael Kingman as presented in the synopsis had something that spoke to me and made me think of Locke.
Unlike Locke Lamora which focuses on there being an epic, multi-layered heist that the main characters have to pull off, this book begins with Michael going on trial for murder of the king of Hollows. As if following his father’s footsteps in regicide. Before he meets the same end though, he is going to tell the reader his story -- what decisions and mistakes have brought him to the executioner’s block. At that precise moment while reading it I had a flashback to Les Miserables and someone awaiting beheading just snapping their head up to start singing about revolution… Haha. Trust me, first person perspective done Michael Kingman style does weird things to my head.
Going into the book we already know his father was found guilty and beheaded for the murder of the king’s son a decade ago. That crime the Kingman children paid a steep price for since; what with being branded traitors which is no easy feat to live with. With Michael’s retracing his footsteps we journey through the Hollows where magic-wielders called Fabricators (there are many different kinds of those) risk losing memories whenever they use their various gifts and where anyone can be a rebel plotting against the royal family.
„The Kingdom of Liars” presents a Ketterdam-esqe world with complicated politics, court intrigue that can make your head spin, enigmatic personas and merceneries you would love to have in your corner but keep double-crossing (looking at you, Michael). Amid all that, there is Michael whose decisions often made me go ‘wait, WHAT?’. Upon finishing the book I can only say that it was either a stroke of genius that allowed him to survive everything that had happened to him or he had been just plain incredibly lucky. Considering there’s only so much luck one person can have I’m thinking he might have been an odd genius of sorts, too.
That part however, even for fantasy, made me think how unprobable survival of those events was. Or simply that they should have been somewhat stretched out in time. You have to understand that this book has EVERYTHING happening all at once. Michael walks down the street with every intention of visiting a library where he spends the night bent over books. The next day he goes about his business but suddenly he has to save someone’s life. Someone who is dear to him but you can’t bloody remember what their name was! A series of dramatic events later he is still alive (several almost drownings later) and finds the time to visit his mother at the asylum and eat a meal with his foster father. In the meanwhile scheming ensues, better than ever.
I think the book would have benefited a lot from greater exposure. Characters, plots and such should have been left to brew. This way the story would have been more wholesome, in my opinion.
I have to say I enjoyed this book a lot but Michael as a main character is utterly insufferable and it is despite him that I did. He is naive, idealistic and on a quest to save the Kingman’s name’s legacy which on itself gurantees cringe-worthy moments. Even more so that he is determined to save his tarnished family’s name no matter what and regardless of consequences on his friends it may bring. He is so full of himself and that was only magnified by the fact it is a first person narration book. I had to clench my teeth through this and I am quite convinced that had this book was written from a perspective of an all-knowing 3rd person, it would have been so much better. Well, alas.
Despite my issues with how it was narrated I did really like it because of how the scheming unfolded. I found the ending, as well as the journey to it, satisfactory but not in a way that would answer all the burning questions which is great because it promises a potentially great sequel (and this is supposed to be a series). There is room for improvement but a debut that’s understandable. I would recommend this to everyone who enjoys high fantasy and high stakes story.
**massive thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**
High fantasy debut? Need I ever say more!
„The Kingdom of Liars” sparked my interest because it reminded me of Scott Lynch’s „The Lies of Locke Lamora”. Additionally the cover just screamed „high fantasy” so I had to check it out. The two books are dissimmilar in plot for the most part but Michael Kingman as presented in the synopsis had something that spoke to me and made me think of Locke.
Unlike Locke Lamora which focuses on there being an epic, multi-layered heist that the main characters have to pull off, this book begins with Michael going on trial for murder of the king of Hollows. As if following his father’s footsteps in regicide. Before he meets the same end though, he is going to tell the reader his story -- what decisions and mistakes have brought him to the executioner’s block. At that precise moment while reading it I had a flashback to Les Miserables and someone awaiting beheading just snapping their head up to start singing about revolution… Haha. Trust me, first person perspective done Michael Kingman style does weird things to my head.
Going into the book we already know his father was found guilty and beheaded for the murder of the king’s son a decade ago. That crime the Kingman children paid a steep price for since; what with being branded traitors which is no easy feat to live with. With Michael’s retracing his footsteps we journey through the Hollows where magic-wielders called Fabricators (there are many different kinds of those) risk losing memories whenever they use their various gifts and where anyone can be a rebel plotting against the royal family.
„The Kingdom of Liars” presents a Ketterdam-esqe world with complicated politics, court intrigue that can make your head spin, enigmatic personas and merceneries you would love to have in your corner but keep double-crossing (looking at you, Michael). Amid all that, there is Michael whose decisions often made me go ‘wait, WHAT?’. Upon finishing the book I can only say that it was either a stroke of genius that allowed him to survive everything that had happened to him or he had been just plain incredibly lucky. Considering there’s only so much luck one person can have I’m thinking he might have been an odd genius of sorts, too.
That part however, even for fantasy, made me think how unprobable survival of those events was. Or simply that they should have been somewhat stretched out in time. You have to understand that this book has EVERYTHING happening all at once. Michael walks down the street with every intention of visiting a library where he spends the night bent over books. The next day he goes about his business but suddenly he has to save someone’s life. Someone who is dear to him but you can’t bloody remember what their name was! A series of dramatic events later he is still alive (several almost drownings later) and finds the time to visit his mother at the asylum and eat a meal with his foster father. In the meanwhile scheming ensues, better than ever.
I think the book would have benefited a lot from greater exposure. Characters, plots and such should have been left to brew. This way the story would have been more wholesome, in my opinion.
I have to say I enjoyed this book a lot but Michael as a main character is utterly insufferable and it is despite him that I did. He is naive, idealistic and on a quest to save the Kingman’s name’s legacy which on itself gurantees cringe-worthy moments. Even more so that he is determined to save his tarnished family’s name no matter what and regardless of consequences on his friends it may bring. He is so full of himself and that was only magnified by the fact it is a first person narration book. I had to clench my teeth through this and I am quite convinced that had this book was written from a perspective of an all-knowing 3rd person, it would have been so much better. Well, alas.
Despite my issues with how it was narrated I did really like it because of how the scheming unfolded. I found the ending, as well as the journey to it, satisfactory but not in a way that would answer all the burning questions which is great because it promises a potentially great sequel (and this is supposed to be a series). There is room for improvement but a debut that’s understandable. I would recommend this to everyone who enjoys high fantasy and high stakes story.
**massive thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**
2.5 stars.
I SO wanted to love this book, I bought it last year as half a cover buy and half whisperings of people who really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, the main word I can use to describe this book is potential. Potential never fully realized. The world building that IS there is extremely intriguing -I mean a shattered moon that has pieces fall to earth like asteroid? Different elemental magic that has a cost of memories??? Sounds so amazing. unfortunately, even though I've read the whole book, I don't know much more about those things than you do after reading those sentences. The elaboration just never happened so the world never really came alive to me.
One thing I will say is this book is definitely action packed. The characters almost never even sit down...they're always doing something so if you like fast paced books, I think you'd really enjoy that aspect of this. My personal taste is a bit slower where we can take time to truly get to know the world our plot is taking place in. Show me that marketplace. Those taverns. How the slums and city royalty live and breathe. I, personally, am much more likely to be sucked in if you take the time to do that.
The other main issue for me was the characters. Oh my god I hate our main character Michael so much. I think part of this is on purpose as he starts off the book as a selfish immature brat (as is pointed out my other characters in the book). He is also OBSSESSED with being a Kingman. To the point where I started tabbing every single time it was mentioned unnecessarily. I get it. Your family did some epic things in the past and you share their last name. Trust me I remember it from when you said it two pages ago. I assume the point of this is to provide a lot of space for character growth, but the problem is that the payoff took wayyyy too long for me. I had to spend about 450 pages from Michael's perspective with no growth in sight and my hatred of him just continued to deepen. And since I was experiencing all of his relationships with other characters through his perspective, I couldn't feel a connection to the other characters either. I felt no stress during fight scenes at all and that's not a good sign.
The final issue I had was there were some plot twists that seemed a bit convenient of convoluted. There's one plot point that I still don't fully think I understand. What the hell was Domet even doing the whole time? The reveals about him in the end made all of his earlier actions make no sense to me. I can't call specifics to keep this spoiler free, but I was left wanting for a lot of plot points.
The thing that was the saving grace for me in this book was the ending. The development we've been waiting for finally hits and the places the characters seem to be going in the next installment have me really interested. I feel like the next book could be everything I was hoping to get for this one. Enough that I very may well pick up the next one.
Overall, I found a quote from the book that ironically describes what I felt was missing form this story for me: "It was all about the small details in stories, the ones that no one paid attention to but made everything feel whole." I wish this book had taken on more of that energy.
I SO wanted to love this book, I bought it last year as half a cover buy and half whisperings of people who really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, the main word I can use to describe this book is potential. Potential never fully realized. The world building that IS there is extremely intriguing -I mean a shattered moon that has pieces fall to earth like asteroid? Different elemental magic that has a cost of memories??? Sounds so amazing. unfortunately, even though I've read the whole book, I don't know much more about those things than you do after reading those sentences. The elaboration just never happened so the world never really came alive to me.
One thing I will say is this book is definitely action packed. The characters almost never even sit down...they're always doing something so if you like fast paced books, I think you'd really enjoy that aspect of this. My personal taste is a bit slower where we can take time to truly get to know the world our plot is taking place in. Show me that marketplace. Those taverns. How the slums and city royalty live and breathe. I, personally, am much more likely to be sucked in if you take the time to do that.
The other main issue for me was the characters. Oh my god I hate our main character Michael so much. I think part of this is on purpose as he starts off the book as a selfish immature brat (as is pointed out my other characters in the book). He is also OBSSESSED with being a Kingman. To the point where I started tabbing every single time it was mentioned unnecessarily. I get it. Your family did some epic things in the past and you share their last name. Trust me I remember it from when you said it two pages ago. I assume the point of this is to provide a lot of space for character growth, but the problem is that the payoff took wayyyy too long for me. I had to spend about 450 pages from Michael's perspective with no growth in sight and my hatred of him just continued to deepen. And since I was experiencing all of his relationships with other characters through his perspective, I couldn't feel a connection to the other characters either. I felt no stress during fight scenes at all and that's not a good sign.
The final issue I had was there were some plot twists that seemed a bit convenient of convoluted. There's one plot point that I still don't fully think I understand. What the hell was Domet even doing the whole time? The reveals about him in the end made all of his earlier actions make no sense to me. I can't call specifics to keep this spoiler free, but I was left wanting for a lot of plot points.
The thing that was the saving grace for me in this book was the ending. The development we've been waiting for finally hits and the places the characters seem to be going in the next installment have me really interested. I feel like the next book could be everything I was hoping to get for this one. Enough that I very may well pick up the next one.
Overall, I found a quote from the book that ironically describes what I felt was missing form this story for me: "It was all about the small details in stories, the ones that no one paid attention to but made everything feel whole." I wish this book had taken on more of that energy.
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
I was originally recommended this book by Simon and Schuster editors that were working the tables at NYCC on thursday (shout out to those two ladies, you guys were amazing to chat with!). They described this book as an underrated debut that warranted more love, since it was released in 2021. Obviously I bought a copy and finally got around to finishing and reviewing it.
The first half had a lot of exposition and characters that I'm going to be honest, were too many to deal with, but the later half of the novel is when it all came together and really shined. For a debut novel, there was a lot of love put into these pages, and the world that Michael Kingman has to live and thrive in was interesting and fun. A few points in the story, like the broken moon, the rebellion even, felt pushed aside for the second half, but that might have been due to it being Michael's POV, and he is one dense young man. I was there bemoaning his mistakes but then cheering when he actually had the brains to put it together, and his loyalty saved his neck in the end (literally).
I'm interested to see where this goes from here, as there is a whole new world opening up for Michael and his people.
The first half had a lot of exposition and characters that I'm going to be honest, were too many to deal with, but the later half of the novel is when it all came together and really shined. For a debut novel, there was a lot of love put into these pages, and the world that Michael Kingman has to live and thrive in was interesting and fun. A few points in the story, like the broken moon, the rebellion even, felt pushed aside for the second half, but that might have been due to it being Michael's POV, and he is one dense young man. I was there bemoaning his mistakes but then cheering when he actually had the brains to put it together, and his loyalty saved his neck in the end (literally).
I'm interested to see where this goes from here, as there is a whole new world opening up for Michael and his people.
3.5 stars
This one was hard for me to rate. I struggled with the first half. The mc Michael was very annoying. He made countless bad decisions, and I was over constantly hearing about the Kingman legacy. I was tempted to mark it as dnf. I decided to keep going and I'm glad I did. I felt like the second half was 5 star worthy. I can't say I grew to love Michael, but I did start to feel sorry for him a little. I would have liked more world building too.
I am excited to continue on since the second half was so good.
This one was hard for me to rate. I struggled with the first half. The mc Michael was very annoying. He made countless bad decisions, and I was over constantly hearing about the Kingman legacy. I was tempted to mark it as dnf. I decided to keep going and I'm glad I did. I felt like the second half was 5 star worthy. I can't say I grew to love Michael, but I did start to feel sorry for him a little. I would have liked more world building too.
I am excited to continue on since the second half was so good.
Before I get into my review, here is a link to my relatively new booktube, where my brother and I discuss all things books. The Brothers Gwynne
Nick Martell has formed a tale of engaging political intrigue, with compelling characters, and a smooth narrative voice. I listened to this on Audible, and the story was brilliantly performed by Joe Jameson, who I will definitely be looking out for in the future.
So, overall I really enjoyed this. It is a cyclical story, so we start at the end, in which many questions are raised to keep an eye out whilst powering through the rest of the story. It got off to a good start for sure, but then I would really say that it took off beyond the halfway mark. That is where I was hooked.
“Wise men fear more than the axe”
Something I really enjoyed in The Kingdom of Liars were some of the themes that Nick Martell explored. I think we have all read about tales of vengeance and politics and ambition, and whilst these were handled well, I really enjoyed the focus on ideas such as legacy. I thought that this is something not explored enough in other works, and I think that The Kingdom of Liars offers a very interesting perspective on how legacy and duty can weigh heavily, yet simultaneously motivate and spur one to great things.
Definitely one of the strengths of this story were the characters. There is a great range of interesting male and female characters, from all backgrounds and circumstances, from high nobles, to those in a resistance. We are thrown into a city torn by strife by conflict between the Royals and the Resistance, the latter of which wishes to restore more power to the people, but loses support due to its violent, murderous approach that causes the death of many citizens.
“Are you a Kingman or a coward?”
We begin with Michael Kingman being sentenced to death for murdering the king, and then go back in time to discover how our central protagonist got into this unfavourable circumstance. He is part of a disgraced family, who used to be the ruler’s councillor and representative of the people, before Michael’s father killed the prince. Now, stuck in poverty, he takes a different approach than his siblings, and attempts to regain the family position, but does not know what he is getting himself into. In this pursuit, Michael engages with twisty-turny political interactions and intrigue and mystery that culminates in a satisfying resolution near the end of the story.
So, The Kingdom of Liars is well-constructed, solid across the board, and most definitely a book that I enjoyed. I think that some of the plotting appeared a bit clunky early on, and that the first half was pretty slow at times, but trust me, it is worth it to get to the second half. Also, if you listen to Joe Jameson’s reading on Audible, it will be a great experience throughout. I look forward to reading the sequel!
4.25/5 STARS
To purchase The Kingdom of Liars with 10% off, use the discount code TBGWYNNE7 at The Broken Binding. Link here
Nick Martell has formed a tale of engaging political intrigue, with compelling characters, and a smooth narrative voice. I listened to this on Audible, and the story was brilliantly performed by Joe Jameson, who I will definitely be looking out for in the future.
So, overall I really enjoyed this. It is a cyclical story, so we start at the end, in which many questions are raised to keep an eye out whilst powering through the rest of the story. It got off to a good start for sure, but then I would really say that it took off beyond the halfway mark. That is where I was hooked.
“Wise men fear more than the axe”
Something I really enjoyed in The Kingdom of Liars were some of the themes that Nick Martell explored. I think we have all read about tales of vengeance and politics and ambition, and whilst these were handled well, I really enjoyed the focus on ideas such as legacy. I thought that this is something not explored enough in other works, and I think that The Kingdom of Liars offers a very interesting perspective on how legacy and duty can weigh heavily, yet simultaneously motivate and spur one to great things.
Definitely one of the strengths of this story were the characters. There is a great range of interesting male and female characters, from all backgrounds and circumstances, from high nobles, to those in a resistance. We are thrown into a city torn by strife by conflict between the Royals and the Resistance, the latter of which wishes to restore more power to the people, but loses support due to its violent, murderous approach that causes the death of many citizens.
“Are you a Kingman or a coward?”
We begin with Michael Kingman being sentenced to death for murdering the king, and then go back in time to discover how our central protagonist got into this unfavourable circumstance. He is part of a disgraced family, who used to be the ruler’s councillor and representative of the people, before Michael’s father killed the prince. Now, stuck in poverty, he takes a different approach than his siblings, and attempts to regain the family position, but does not know what he is getting himself into. In this pursuit, Michael engages with twisty-turny political interactions and intrigue and mystery that culminates in a satisfying resolution near the end of the story.
So, The Kingdom of Liars is well-constructed, solid across the board, and most definitely a book that I enjoyed. I think that some of the plotting appeared a bit clunky early on, and that the first half was pretty slow at times, but trust me, it is worth it to get to the second half. Also, if you listen to Joe Jameson’s reading on Audible, it will be a great experience throughout. I look forward to reading the sequel!
4.25/5 STARS
To purchase The Kingdom of Liars with 10% off, use the discount code TBGWYNNE7 at The Broken Binding. Link here
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Brandon Sanderson called this “an excellent fantasy debut”, so that tells you everything you need to know - clunky exposition, one-dimensional characters, terrible pacing, shallow worldbuilding, chronic white room syndrome, underwhelming emotional beats, way too many Proper Nouns, overexplained yet underdeveloped magic system, and plot twists that come out of nowhere and don’t really make any sense.
However, I do always have a lot of sympathy for debut authors - writing a book is hard, and god knows I couldn’t do it. Stephen King has a line about how authors can be bad, mediocre, good, or great, and that with a lot of work a mediocre author can become good. I don’t think Nick Martell will ever be a great author (hell, I wouldn’t call Sanderson or King great authors). But despite the 1.5 star rating, he isn’t a bad author, either - just a painfully mediocre one. And I honestly believe one day he might even be a good one.
However, I do always have a lot of sympathy for debut authors - writing a book is hard, and god knows I couldn’t do it. Stephen King has a line about how authors can be bad, mediocre, good, or great, and that with a lot of work a mediocre author can become good. I don’t think Nick Martell will ever be a great author (hell, I wouldn’t call Sanderson or King great authors). But despite the 1.5 star rating, he isn’t a bad author, either - just a painfully mediocre one. And I honestly believe one day he might even be a good one.
Die Geschichte an sich war mega, allerdings gab es so viele Übersetzungs- und Rechtschreibfehler, dass ich oft mehrmals lesen musste um zu verstehen.