Intricate, compelling and vividly imagined, this is the first in a new trilogy that I am hugely excited about. Visceral battles, complex politics and fascinating world building bring Nick's words to life. The ending is both satisfying and leaves the reader craving more - mysteries are revealed around our characters, but further mysteries are introduced that will carry the narrative with excitement and aplomb into the next book.

This book was a blast. It starts fast and never lets up, at times ratcheting up the tension to the degree that you may find your heart pounding (I sure did). One might think that sounds like there is plenty of action, but that would not necessarily be true. I found most of the action was verbal, and some of the scenes were simply stellar. All of the characters were terrific, not just the leads, and the breadth of each character is vast. The author covers each event in great detail, and draws the eye to the visual cues and unspoken words that we often miss out on in the written word.

The world building was really well done, and since these lands and their people are similar to lands and people within our own world, it was easy for me to envision. All told, I really had a good time with this book.

It’s probably no surprise that The Kingdom of Liars was one of my most highly anticipated releases of 2020, with a premise that promises magic, intrigue, and adventure. Although the novel does falter slightly at times, as debuts often do, I’m pleased to report that it exceeded my expectations and I found it to be an excellent and compelling read.

The protagonist of the story is Michael Kingman, son of the most notorious traitor the Hollows has ever seen. But while David Kingman was put to death for murdering the child prince nearly a decade ago, his wife and children are still suffering for his sins, scorned and mistrusted by their noble peers. Still, how far does the apple really fall from the tree? As the novel begins, Michael is being held prisoner, awaiting his trial and execution. His purported crime? For killing the king.

The story then flashes back to recent events as Michael begins to recount the harrowing journey which led to his arrest and current situation. It all started on the eve of the Endless Waltz, a long-standing tradition among Hollow nobility to present themselves and prove their worth. But for Michael, the event becomes an opportunity to rejoin high society and restore his family name. After all, the last ten years have been difficult the Kingmans. Michael himself barely survives off the money he makes as a petty con artist, while his sister Gwen works at the asylum, caring for their mind-addled mother. So when Michael is offered a well-paying job to be a chaperone for a heavy drinking, free-wheeling high noble named Charles Domet, he is forced to accept.

The older nobleman, however, is nothing like Michael expected. A talented Fabricator and adept at using magic, Domet agrees to teach Michael to develop his own fledgling skills while also sharing a secret piece of information our protagonist had long hoped for but never dared to believe—that his father, David Kingman, had been innocent and framed for his crime.

Over the years, I’ve read a great number of books involving unreliable narrators, but this one might be one of the most intriguing ways of handling the concept that I’ve ever seen. For one thing, have you ever thought about why this novel is called The Kingdom of Liars? Well, let’s put things this way—can you really trust someone to speak the truth, if they don’t remember it? Because that’s the crux behind the whole system of magic in the world of the Hollow. To use it costs memories, which means all experienced Fabricators have a way to help them remember the important details of their lives. However, our main character Michael Kingman’s abilities are just emerging, and with no telling when or how often he’s used his abilities, all we know is there are big gaps in his memories where he can’t recall certain details or remember someone who insists they’ve met before.

Not gonna lie, at times this made Michael and incredible frustrating protagonist. He bungles his way through his life, doing certain things while knowing full well he lacks the pertinent information to make good decisions. He’s also impulsive and easily manipulated, which made it difficult to sympathize with him when he inevitable does or says something stupid to get himself in trouble. That said, there’s a significant portion of this that is clearly done by design, and once we moved into the later parts of the story, that was when I gained a better understanding and appreciation for what author Nick Martell was trying to achieve with his character development.

The technical aspects of the novel were also impressive, if a bit raw. In many ways, The Kingdom of Liars reminded me very much of the early works by Brandon Sanderson, such as Elantris or Mistborn—just a tad unpolished and slightly rough around the edges, but the story and the concepts themselves are solid. Take the world-building, for example. Several major details shine through, most notably the idea of a crumbling moon whose pieces sometimes fall to earth and wreak havoc on the Hollow, but the larger picture still needs fleshing out, such as of how the society works or more clarification on the Fabrication system. There are also minor issues with the writing such as an overreliance on epic fantasy tropes, with the obvious one being the protagonist sharing his life story in flashback. And while Martell is cognizant enough of showing not telling, he often falls back on familiar clichés to do so, like the old hand-on-the-back-of-the-head/neck action to convey embarrassment or discomfort (a very anime thing to do, which is why I took notice of the several times this cropped up in the text).

But did any of these issues seriously affect my enjoyment or overall experience? Heck no. Most of the ones I pointed out aren’t so much complaints but rather observations or minor hiccups that need to be ironed out, and I have no doubt that they will with some time and experience. Nick Martell is poised to become a promising and inspiring powerhouse in the fantasy genre, and I look forward to reading more of his work for years to come.

The Kingman family has protected the kingdom of Hollow since its inception, acting as a check on the king’s power. Then David Kingman was found holding the gun that killed Davey Hollow, the young heir to the throne. David Kingman, King Isaac’s closest friend and right-hand man, was executed. His three children were branded as traitors, and barely survived the ensuing riots. Ten years later, Michael Kingman’s obsession with his family’s legacy and his resentment of the nobility rule his life. He is sure there is more to the story than the simple version presented to the public. To make it even more difficult, the only surviving witness’ memory has been destroyed by his use of magic.

Martell has created a dynamic world in The Kingdom of Liars, with a wide cast of characters. In some cases, I felt like the cast of characters was too wide, and that the story could have been tightened up by combining some of those side plots. The book calls for a sequel, to provide resolution to the main plot line, and to make good on those side plots. I would recommend this novel to readers who enjoyed Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn or Scott Lynch’s Lies of Locke Lamora.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for an honest review.

This is probably the last time I’m going to trust Brandon Sanderson blurbs. I was about two chapters in and wondering what I’d gotten myself into when I recalled that I’ve only really liked two Brandon Sanderson books, and none of them were YA. I still have no idea if this book is meant to be YA, but the stupidity of the MC the plot relies on and the whininess of the self same MC point firmly to YA. And I don’t like YA as a rule.

I’ll admit there is something in the book and its plot. Except I had no idea what it was. There are plot threads introduced and dropped helter-skelter, characters introduced then dropped, hints of a larger world dropped (sometimes literally via pieces of a broken moon) to not much effect, and explanations given that are rescinded almost immediately. At first I had questions, and then as more questions piled up and not many got answered, I just lost interest. If that wasn’t enough, Michael made stupid choice after stupid choice all the while being faux humble about his brains.

Oh and on top of that, this world made me pull my hair out - why was there not even an effort to make it seem like a different world with different religions and gods and languages? With names like Kendra & Kai & Kayleigh we could have been talking about the Kardashians. Also it bothered me that Trey & Jamal were from the ‘East side’ and whose mother was a ‘tweeker’. Jamal is the first person that the MC fails to save. A best friend of the MC is a ‘skeleton’ sold into slavery from the skeleton coast. I don’t know if anything sordid was meant by it, benefit of doubt says probably the opposite, but it was so on the nose that I didn’t like it. It was also just there to advance the hero’s arc.

If this wasn’t a Netgalley request, I would have given up. But it was, so I slogged through this.

4.5 *
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC.
SO, you guys, this is a really amazing book. I was enjoying it the whole way through with a few little frustrations but then the end came and it was really great and so it increased my rating from 4 to 4.5 stars.
This book is about a character whose family has been incredibly affluent and powerful within the city/kingdom of Hollow. The Kingman family has stood at the right hand of the throne since Hollow was founded. Their legacy is massive but recent history may have irreparably damaged that good standing. You see 10yrs ago, David Kingman, Michael's-our protagonist-father, was executed for killing the son of the king. His three children were branded as traitors and stripped of all rank and holding. Now Michael struggles to make ends meet and so he spends his time conning nobles so that he can afford the care of his broken-minded mother who lives in an asylum. Soon after the book begins, there's an attack by rebels on a celebration and that sparks the story. Michael begins working for an incredibly powerful man who wants to use Michael to prove that David Kingman was innocent of killing the king's son. Since the two of them are aligned in wanting to clear David's name, Michael participates in something called the Endless Waltz where nobles are expected to curry favour and make political alliances. With Michael's return to noble society, an whole slew of challenges arises and Michael has to face them one by one. You see, he's on a mission to attend the final night of the Endless Waltz so that he can sneak into the king's tower and find the king's lost memories of killing David.

In this world, there are people called fabricators, who wield various forms of magic, the price however, is very high. With the use of magic comes the fading of memories. The more power you wield, the more y our mind erodes and you can forget not only your memories but also your body's memories of how to function. You can forget to see for example.

In the book we get a whole bunch of great characters. We get the three kingman children and their king foster father, we meet a terrifying mercenary and a rich immortal, we meet David's old noble friends who he seems to have forgotten due to magic's effects, and we meet a cruel and terrible prince who uses the court as his personal brothel where he plays games with his cruelty.

And beyond all that, there's the important mystery: who REALLY killed Davey Hollow. If Michael's father didn't do it, who was it that framed him and why? Can Michael find out the truth without getting himself and everyone he loves killed? Find out in this really amazing story. I'm super glad that I read it and I cannot wait for the second book. What with that sizzling ending, book two sounds like it will be a story of revenge!

Check it out.

And thank you again to NetGalley for this ARC.

Kingdom of Liars was one of the most hyped up debuts in 2020, and I believe it's partly due to Sanderson's blurb. While I'm not disputing what Sanderson said about this book, the enjoyment I derived from reading it was a whole lot more mixed than his blurb would suggest.

I'm not going to describe the book's plot as the synopsis was comprehensive enough without revealing too much. The balance of plot and characterisation was done quite well for a debut. However, it did take me almost half of the book before I felt fully engaged. This is partly because Michael Kingman, the main protagonist, was quite an aggravating character. As much as I sympathised with his plight - admittedly what happened to him and his family following his father's execution as murderer and traitor was horrible - he came across a whiny brat who was the architect of his own problems through his many stupid decisions. Fortunately, his characterisation did not stay this way throughout the entire book. Michael's development and his investigation into what really happened on the night of his father's downfall kept the story quite compelling till the very end.

At the end of the day though, I still wasn't as invested in Michael's story as I hoped to be. I found most of the characters to either be not that likeable nor memorable. The title of the book was also very appropriate because it was so hard to tell who was telling the truth. Then there was the promising worldbuilding that felt a tad half-baked at this point in time. The shattered moon and memory being the price of using magic were all fascinating ideas but not explored as much as I would like it to be. I supposed that it was fair for the author to prefer to keep the focus on Michael's character development given that this is not a stand-alone and the worldbuilding could be expanded in the later books. I do have doubts that I will continue with this series as the plot was adequately wrapped up in <i>Kingdom of Liars</i>, but I'm not sufficiently attached to the characters.. All that said, this book could work (and I've seen that it did) for other readers who may not feel as I did for the characters.

Martell’s ‘The Kingdom of Liars’ started off with a bang right away, hooking me in from the first page on. The world building was wonderful and complex. I’m not usually one for a ton of politics in a book, simply because I feel like it takes away from the character development at times. But with this novel, I found the intricate plots and politics to only add to the story and really pull the reader in. The first half of the book was slightly ‘slow’, but for me it was more of a good slow burn that really showed off the world and Micheal as a character. He’s deeply flawed as well, and honestly makes some really stupid decisions (particularly in the beginning), but there were legit reasons for those choices. Also, I have a deep appreciation in for flawed characters, particularly young ones, given that is how real life and real people act. Between a solid anti-hero and a vivid plot, I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series. I have a feeling that we will be seeing a lot more of Nick Martell.

Also. Those last couple pages. Excellent set up for the next two installments!!

Michael Kingsman is the son of an executed traitor and grew up in the shadow of his father’s notorious murder of the King’s son. He lives a hard life in the wake of that event, as do his older siblings. The world they live in has magic, paid for by memories, and the threat of gunfire is looked down upon by the royalty. Michael would love for his family name to be restored and agrees to the chance of elevating it by working with the High Nobles once again. He can’t remember the past and has forgotten far too much about it, but he’s determined to get to the truth regardless of the cost.

The worldbuilding is set up slowly as Michael and his friend scam low nobles and run around the seedier parts of the city. This also slowly introduces Fabrications, the elemental magic use that some nobles have. Michael hasn’t been a very studious or observant young man, so we learn about Hollow as he experiences it. It’s easy to feel sorry for his plight, and that of the poor that also have hardscrabble lives. As with any political structure, the ones on top rely on security, military, power plays, and jockeying for favorable positions in order to maintain their place in the fold. Part of this is the Endless Waltz, the formalized courtship rituals for High and Low Nobles that had become more of an opportunity to see and be seen, spread rumors and money, and try to increase political clout. This is where Michael tries to worm his way into the nobility, and from there into the palace itself looking for proof that the King would have hidden about his father.

Michael has multiple obstacles, some of his own making. That impulsive and unobservant side of him is at fault, though he’s also a victim of circumstances beyond his control. The family name is being used as a rallying cry for rebels against the king, mercenary guilds are moving through the city, and his friends on the streets are caught in the wake of their machinations. He constantly tries to go at it alone and fails; once he realizes there is a lot more out there than he knew, he really starts to understand more about the circumstances leading to his father’s execution and the truth about what really happened.

This very much feels like the beginning of a series of novels. There are details present which aren’t dealt with at the very end of the novel, and I would love to see them answered someday.

Kingdom of Liars had some good ideas and a wicked cool atmosphere, but the story itself lacked a bit of logical structure and flow.

The atmosphere created, with a shattered moon that periodically rained down on the city, combined well with both the contrasting lifestyles of the different casts of people and the general air of magic and mayhem. It was superb! Easily my favorite element of the story. Even during parts I wasn’t totally sure I was onboard with, I kept reading to see what the world building and society would reveal next. I can say I’ve never read anything quite like this book, and that’s a mark in its favor.

It also included an interesting magic system, but almost as an afterthought. The excerpt and title lead you to believe the characters would face a constant battle between practicing magic and losing memory, but unfortunately all of it happened on the periphery. There wasn’t even a really clear description of how it worked, save a few passing conversations, so it’s definitely the component most primed for expansion in the sequel.

But overall, if I could describe Kingdom of Liars in one word, it would be: contrived.

The second would be disjointed. Most of the reviews I’ve seen state the beginning is slow, but the second half really picks up, making the whole book worthwhile. I can see why they claim this – all of the fun “reveals” take place in the second half… but my personal experience was the opposite. I loved the atmosphere and the concept right out of the gate (and the KILLER prequel), but the longer the story went, the more I became dissatisfied with the trajectory. The plot was all over the place, jumping from event to event without a really solid through-line. I tend to prefer more structure in storytelling; a more natural-feeling flow of events. Because of the first chapter, I knew it was working towards a clear objective, but there were several conversations and tangents that felt unnecessary and didn’t seem to fit within the framework. It was very forced. And because it was forced, it made the main character make so many odd decisions that he came off erratic and impulsive. His wild decisions always defied logic!!! And yet somehow they always worked out… because they were constructed to… and that’s the problem. He never felt like a real person, he felt like a vehicle to advance plot.

Even so, the story did have a bunch of good payoffs, and I did enjoy the writing behind it. Despite my objections to the story construction, the basic writing and conveying of ideas was great, reminding me of the conversational approach Sebastien de Castell uses in his stories (minus the over-the-top flippancy). I’d love to see what this author can do off the cuff, because in this case the plot seemed so tortured and overworked that I didn’t spend as much time enjoying the writing as I would have liked.

Recommendations: Kingdom of Liars, despite having a unique atmosphere and a cool concept, was a bit too contrived for my tastes. If you don’t mind adopting a more “just go with it” attitude, it’ll definitely offer you a memorable story. I can honestly say I’ve never read anything quite like it…

Niki Hawkes - The Obsessive Bookseller

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in response for an honest review.

This definitely surprised me. After the first couple of chapters I was thinking it was not going to be very good, but after about 25% of the way through the pace really picked up and the plot became so much more interesting. It is super understandable as well because the author is having to set up a new world and magic system. And what a strange one it is. It took a bit of a learning curve to actually understand the magic of this world. Fabricators are people who are able to use a certain type of magic in exchange for their memories. I really wish this were expanded on a bit because it was definitely confusing at times. The author spent more time on plot and worldbuilding than actually explaining the magic system fully.

The characters seemed really fleshed out and that is something I really want to praise. Yes, at times Michael was annoying and I wanted to say "You're making the wrong decision," but that's how you know the author did a good job at crafting the characters. The choices seemed organic and not something forced. The only complaint I have is that the ending felt like one of those where everything just had to happen perfectly. I don't really enjoy these kinds of endings and prefer something more nitty gritty, especially in a world like this. The rest of the book was so 'no-holds-bar' and when it wrapped up the way it did, it didn't seem like what would actually happen. Overally a very good start to a series I will continue.

The book starts with the main character being sentenced to death for treason and then recounts the events that led to that point. Michael Kingman is a son of a man convicted for killing a prince and his life leads him to be convicted for killing the king. Michael is the hero of the book, so the reader can’t help hoping that the events that seem inevitably to lead him to his doom might be something else after all. With ‘kingdom of liars’ in the title, I presumed an unreliable narrator and a slow unravelling of the truth. That wasn’t what I got.

This was a good book, but also an odd one with something constantly slightly off. Even though the frame of the story, Michael’s quest to prove his father’s innocence and inevitable doom, is given at the beginning, that’s not the sole direction the book took. For the first half there was another story happening too, a rebellion against the king, which competed for attention with the main story, with not enough room given to either story-line. The latter mainly consisted of events that distracted Michael from his quest and added nothing to the main story or had an impact on it. On the latter half of the book that story-line was discarded after an annoying cop-out, which improved the plot considerably.

In addition to two plots, there were two sets of secondary characters that were identical to one another. There were two poor, mistreated boys with little brothers that Michael felt responsible for, but who didn’t seem to be friends with one another, as if Michael led two separate lives. Their actions had no impact on the plot, but they served to distract Michael, i.e. added to the word count. Then there were two women who knew Michael of old, but of whom he had no recollection. Their identities were withheld to the last moment, giving the reader a notion that they would be important for Michael’s life and the main plot, but that didn’t turn out to be the case. And then there were two women from law enforcement/military who were interchangeable too and had no meaningful impact on the plot.

I don’t know why the editor of the book allowed two parallel plots with two sets of characters to happen. Even if the rebel plot were a setting for the next book, it could’ve been handled as background noise with the focus more sharply on the main plot. There was enough going on with that one to fill a book.

Michael wasn’t a likeable character. He was selfish and childish, and he didn’t much care who he hurt with his quest for truth—until after the fact. Then he rushed in to make things better, putting the main plot on hold and/or in jeopardy. His memory was faulty due to magic, but when he did regain his memories, they didn’t offer any sort of revelation that their absence had hinted at. He wasn’t the agent of his story. He was pushed around by events outside his control; he spends the entire book trying to gain access to the king, only to be denied his goal; he required a deus ex machina salvation, and didn’t manage to achieve what he set out to do in the beginning, thus robbing the book of a proper conclusion. It was left for the next book, but with the rebellion and the sudden turn in his life orchestrated outside the plot, there would’ve been enough material even without postponing it too.

There’s a lot happening to the secondary characters behind the scenes that mainly come off as ‘what the hell’. Trey, a poor slum dweller, is auctioning himself off to become a soldier at one point and the next he is in the inner circle of the prince, only to become a rebel. How did that happen? No one even questions it. The mercenary Dark has an issue with his father, but when they finally face, they don’t even recognise one another. Was it all in Michael’s head? Michael’s older brother is being allowed to marry into the most important family in the country and no one bats an eye, even though Michael has to support himself as a thief and is constantly being harassed for his past. The princess is missing and then she’s not, but isn’t anyone important for the plot despite all the build-up, and then she’s absent again. A lot more thought should’ve gone into all these characters. Now they seem like spur-of-the-moment inventions.

The world is fairly interesting, but its special features are mainly props. The use of magic causes memory loss that accumulates, but none of the main characters suffer from it. It’s used as a plot device, as Michael sets out to find the king’s memories, i.e. his journal that might tell the truth about his father, but in the end that doesn’t happen. Every magic wielder remembers Michael even if he doesn’t remember them. And then there’s the broken moon that has pieces falling from it, but that doesn’t drive the plot either, so I wasn’t entirely sure what its point was, other than distraction.

This was a good book, but not a great one. The author clearly didn’t know what kind of book he was writing until at the end. With a sharper focus it would’ve been a much better book and a more enjoyable read. I hope the next one will fix that.

Have you ever read a book where things happen but you just don't have any feelings towards it at all? That's how I feel about this book.

The book starts off strong with the introduction of Michael Kingman, the son of king killer. It's setup to be quite interesting from the beginning and I found myself being really intrigued and wanting to not put it down. As I continued my read it just felt like things were happening but also not at all. If that makes sense.

There is definitely death and other things that follow certain characters but I never felt bad for what happened to them. They either weren't in the picture for very long or they just felt flat because there just wasn't any background there for them.

The world-building and magical system also lacked for me. I wanted more background and just more information and sentences to describe the setting. I want to be able to imagine it in my head and I just didn't get that with this.

Overall, this one just wasn't for me. There just wasn't anything that kept me pulled in to this world and the characters in it.

The Kingdom of Liars is a debut novel by Nick Martell and the beginning of his THE MERCENARY KING. As such, it shows some debut issues with character, plotting, and world-building, though it has an interesting mystery at its core.

There has “always been a Kingman in Hollow” goes the refrain, a member of the Kingman family who acts as a check on the king. But some years before the novel’s start, Michael’s father, David Kingman, killed the king’s youngest son. Following the Kingman Riots, Michaels’ father was executed by the king as a traitor, his mother placed in any asylum thanks to dementia-like issues, and his family stripped of their status and taken in by a foster father. Since then his sister Gwen and brother Lyon have found minor places in society while Michael grew up conning Low Nobles for money. The novel opens with Michael, now a young man, awaiting trial himself for killing the king, and the story that follows is one long flashback explaining how he got into this situation.

While the flashback structure is not all that original (nor is the “awaiting death” context), it works fine for the most part here. It does mean that Michael has built in reasons for not explaining certain terms or contexts as both he and his recorder are familiar with them, and while sometimes this leads to an effective slow reveal of background, at other times it leaves the reader a bit at sea. I’d say that Martell doesn’t quite find the balance between the two.

The setting is the city of Hollow, which years ago fought a difficult Gunpower War and is now embroiled in a kind of civil war, with a rebellion army outside the walls and its commander, known at The Emperor, fomenting terror attacks within the city. I say “kind of civil war” because to be honest, it was all a bit fuzzy, both the logistics and the motivations. References within the story and actual events based on the “rebellion” felt more than a little random, more in service to the needs of the author’s plotting than to any sense of a well-thought out conflict between two clear groups and two clearly differing ideologies beyond a vague “down with royalty” vibe. The city itself doesn’t really come alive in terms of culture, physical layout, or its place in a wider world context. The same holds true with the magical system, which involves pretty standard fantasy talents (the ability to throw lightning, manipulate fire, etc.) one is born with and then can hone or be taught. The most compelling aspect is that unfettered or unskilled use of them can cost the wielder memories, but this is never minded for anywhere near its rich potential. And the whole system is somewhat cloudy. World-building therefore is a definite weakness here and something one hopes Martell will improve upon in the following book.

Characterization is up and down. Michael is a tough character to write. A young man often wallowing in self-pity over his family’s situation, obsessed with his family’s legacy, and carrying a lot of anger towards the king and nobles, his dead father, his foster-father, and his family members that have moved on more with their own lives. As such, especially early on, he’s hard to root for or engage with. But personally, I’m good with giving us an unlikable, immature character who grows into themselves over the course of events and that’s mostly what Martell gives us here, with all the accordant stumbles and regressions that come with personal growth. As one character tells him, Michael makes a lot of the same mistakes and while frustrating to his companions and to the reader, it’s also pretty realistic. Other characters are a mixed bag. Some are interestingly drawn, such as an alcoholic noble who employs Michael for an illicit task or a young blind noble who befriends Michael. Others are more flat and seem more plot devices than full characters. The corrupt and cruel crown prince is pretty standard twirling mustache villain for instance. There’s also a problem with characters popping up or dropping out randomly.

The mystery at the core of the plot — was Michael’s father actually guilty of killing the king’s son and if so why and if not who was — is intriguing, as are the several complications that arise from it. Other aspects of plotting are less successful. More than once events rely on a chance meeting or an implausible action or belief. At one point I made a note that I hoped one character’s response to an event was merely a ploy because otherwise it beggared belief. At other points I simply wrote “convenient” or “c’mon!”, the latter indicating that my frustration level was growing with the implausibility. Meanwhile, many plot moves are predictable, even the twists, though a few work well and Martell mostly keeps the book moving a nice pace and with a good balance of action scenes and more personal moments. I wish more had been done, and done with more clarity, regarding the socio-economic-political events because they had some good potential. And I quite liked when Martell punctures the whole special-character-with-a-destiny concept, as when Michael “leads” a ragtag group on a dragon hunt (he’s forced into it in hopes it will kill him). Michael is not only not the smartest or most powerful or most clever character in the book; he’s not even any of those things within his small family. It’s an unusual but I think rewarding choice by the author.

Martell certainly shows potential with this debut, even if it feels like the story could have used some more time spent on it sharpening its themes, plotting, and world-building, time spent by both author and editor. I’m hoping that happens with book two, which I’ll pick it up to review, while right now advising readers to hold off to see if the sequel improves on its predecessor.

The Kingdom of Liars is the first book in The Legacy of the Mercenary Kings series and also an adult debut fantasy. The Magic system where memories are the cost of using Magic, was very intriguing and unique. It was a bit slow at times but picked up towards the end. It had a great mystery element and I didn’t see the end coming. Michael the main character is a bit arrogant and annoying at times where he makes some stupid decisions, but you get to see his character development through out the book. Would recommend to fantasy lovers. A great debut.

Thanks to the publishers, the author Nick Martell and NetGalley for approving me a copy.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Saga Press for providing me with an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review The Kingdom of liars!!!
I was really excited for this book and honestly it seemed really promising in the beginning.
But unfortunately, I am greatly disappointed.

There were a few things I did like in this book and I want to list them down first.

I loved the concept of the book,
I liked the main character and Domet

I loved that the author tried to incorporate not only different skin toned characters but he also added a disabled character, bravo for that.

Sadly thats it.

The problem I have with this book is the lack of world building, the lack of descriptions of Hollow City, of the characters and of the system upon which the city runs....
As interesting as the concept was, honestly I felt like there wasn't exactly any reason for anything that kept happening in this book. What exactly were we working toward?? To redeem the Kingman name and legacy, to know the truth about David Kingman's execution, but thats the thing the events or revelations were just not building toward a redemption. Certain events were so disconnected from the main storyline that it made you think how on earth is all this going to contribute to the grand scheme of things.
The author failed to grip me, he couldn't make me care for The Kingman Legacy or Michael's father. I felt absolutely no connection to the characters. I was curious but not curious enough. I couldn't care less about the legacy.
Michael Kingman himself didn't exactly care about the legacy, he had accepted that his father was a traitor yet there were moments where he acted as if he wants nothing more than to redeem the Kingman name.

The author had a really refreshing concept, interesting even but lacked an interesting story. It felt more like a rambling of sorts, like a first draft than an actual novel.

The story was being dragged just for the sake of it, with characters being introduced every few pages and then completely disappearing for a few chapters, events that didnt really tell you what the author is building towards. Its like he kept writing and thought he'd be able to connect everything in the end somehow, but for the time being he just wrote chaotially.

I love unpredictable plots but this was just all over the place..

Slow burn start but then it really heats up all the way to the end with an ending I did not see coming. I will really be looking forward to to seeing how this goes in the future and can't wait to get more of the Kingman. This was very well done and the character interaction and intricacy of the relationships was masterfully put together.

Ok, I am somewhat still processing how I feel about this book. I guess I'll start with what I liked. The writing is very good in the sense that I wanted to keep reading, even when I was annoyed (more on that later). There is a lot going on in this book so it is certainly never boring, there's sometimes almost too much going on. I loved the magic system and how the price of using magic is forgetting memories and how it explores how we remember things and how we perceive truth. I also really enjoyed the politics, the world-building, a lot of the characters-although we do not get to see them fleshed out much-and the mystery element.
I have to be honest and say that some of this book irritated me because the main character is pretty annoying at first. Very naïve, overly cocky and entitled, constantly went off halfcocked and made dumb choices, etc. I will say he did grow on me and towards the end I was much less irritated, so you should power through the beginning for that payoff. The end was pretty satisfying and I will continue on to the next book because I think there is a ton of potential for this to be a great series.

Ten years ago, Michael Kingman's father killed the King's son and ruined their family's legacy. Michael has let his bitterness and resentment as his childhood father stew and when he's presented the opportunity to prove his father is innocent, he jumps at it. Despite the fact that he must now mingle with the Nobels he's spurned, Michael does his best to figure out what happened that night ten years ago.

I really struggled with parts of this book. Michael was an annoying little git at times. He is really good at running away from his problems, and it solves nothing besides frustrating me. I had pretty big hopes for this story considering the fact that Brandon Sanderson blurbed this book. But that was probably a mistake.

However, this was an interesting story if not my favorite one ever. I enjoyed the world building and the history of the Royals and Kingman family. One thing I am still confused by is the fact that one of the moon's is shattered. Like how?? Also, sounds kind of dangerous to have that happen. The mystery of what happened to Davy Hollow that night was intriguing, but the way the pieces came together in the end was a bit disjointed. I wasn't quite convinced of what happened, and felt that I was missing some answers.

The last 100 pages or so were quite fun. There's a lot more action and less of Michael running away like a child. I'm curious to see what will happen in the rest of the series. Also, how old is Michael?? Sometimes he acted 16 and other times like 36. So I want to know.

I can honestly say that this is great debut fantasy novel that keep me hooked from beginning to end. The action was non-stop and the characters were realistic, flawed and interesting to get to know. The world building was decent and will obviously grow given time as the series grows. The only flaws I could find were the lack of detail on the magic system and the outside rebellion that was only touched upon but not really explained, saying that it is early days in the series and I am sure these will be improved upon given time.

Anyway this was a great book and a definite recommendation from me.

I tried so hard to like this book. The premise was really promising. A magic system that feeds on memories? That’s a fascinating concept! But the magic was barely explored or explained in any meaningful way. And while this is billed as an adult fantasy, it felt so young adult in tone that I felt suckered into reading something I hadn’t actually agreed to. The setting was vague in its description to the point that I had a hard time putting myself into the action. The supporting cast was fine, but populated with vaguely intriguing cardboard cutouts instead of tangible characters with any depth. The main character, Michael Kingman, drove me absolutely insane. I wanted to shake him for constantly repeating the same mistakes and for being so blind to (very obvious) plot twists that he was constantly being blindsided. Speaking of those twists, most of them were so glaringly transparent that I audibly groaned dozens upon dozens of times. The plot didn’t feel in any way fresh, but instead reused tropes in a way that felt like an amateur band covering popular songs, if that makes sense. I’m in no way trying to belittle the book or the author; I’m just annoyed that there was so much potential here that, in my opinion, wasn’t ever met. It wasn’t a bad book, and I’m sure plenty of readers are going to love it. It was action-packed and full or drama, and it did keep me turning pages. But regrettably, it just didn't work for me.