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A review by its_kievan
The Kingdom of Liars by Nick Martell
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
1.5
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.