3.5*

Full review to follow shortly. It's been hectic with what's going on in the world. This series has so much potential and I hope we expand beyond Hollows in the next book.

Looking for your next epic fantasy read? The Kingdom of Liars is it. With complex world-building, captivating characters, and a slow-moving but captivating plot, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Some of the magical elements were a bit confusing, but I felt that they were sufficiently explained as the book progressed.

I also appreciate how the book answered many questions, didn't end on a cliffhanger, but still adequately set up a sequel that I would want to read.

Overall the book was quite clean, minus some gratuitous swearing that could have been omitted.

Great read! Thanks Netgalley and publishers for the free e-ARC.

I had high expectations for this book. Brandon Sanderson approved, so I should too right? But it didn’t live up to my expectations. The main character is Michael Kingman, the son of a traitor, but also trying to live up to the legacy of his name (literally King’s Man). His father was executed for killing the prince and since then, Michael and his siblings have been living under that shadow. While his siblings have mostly moved on, Michael just can’t. And when he is offered a chance to figure out what really happened the day the prince died, he jumps at the chance. But there are other motives at work. I think what really got me with this book is that I didn’t like any of the characters. I found Michael tiring and slightly obnoxious. The magic system was interesting and the political maneuvering could have made it a great book, just without Michael. I won’t be picking up other books in this series.

He killed the King. At least, that's what he's on trial for. Michael Kingman, kill the King? It's not such a wild stretch of the imagination, given his father was executed for killing the King's son ten years ago. Truly, Michael didn't kill the King, and the Royals and nobles are full of schemers, liars, and charlatans. Some of this is exacerbated by the use of Fabrication, magic that devours memories as its price. Michael can't remember everything he needs to, and some of that is because he's a novice Fabricator. Will he be executed just like his father, or can he separate truth from fiction in The Kingdom of Liars?⁣
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This story took a moment to get rolling, but once it starts, wow! Rebellion against the nobility, a broken moon's pieces falling from the sky, magic with severe costs, and a tangled social order all reeled me in and kept me reading. Michael has been despised as his father's son, but as he learns more about the truth, he realizes just how much corruption is at the top, and although he's survived as a con artist for years, perhaps he's been unwittingly dragged into the center of a con by someone else. Whatever happens, Michael's going to have to stay on his toes, because nobody trusts him, and he can't trust anybody else either. The twists and turns keep coming through the final pages, and this story lives up to its name as the truth comes violently into focus.⁣
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⭐⭐⭐.75/5⁣

Wow, this book was so much more than I expected it to be!!!

It's so much bigger than what I thought going into it, the story is huge, there are so many moving pieces, and questions. I loved that it was sort of a mystery that you're trying to solve with Michael, and there are clues here and there. I figured out a few small things but there were so many things to figure out that I didn't even come close to figuring out the big questions!

There were some parts where the proverbial shit was hitting the fan, and I found myself thinking, "Wow, he makes really terrible choices." But there was always a reason, and a resolution to the situation, and it all led where it needed to lead. It was a super fun journey to be on, and I cannot wait to read the next book!!!!

Michael is the son of a traitor, and he lives basically by his wits. He also seems to lie a lot, mostly filling in gaps in his memory. Those gaps are interesting to us as the reader, because the magic system in this world is one of the things that can create them - using magic steals memories.

When Michael is recruited to find out more about his father's crime, it is of course something he is interested in.

I enjoyed this book. I had some Goodreads friends that got frustrated with the main character but he didn't bother me - maybe because I had read their reviews first :). I liked him, and I liked uncovering past and current event with him. I was intrigued the whole book , and REALLY wanted to know what was happening. It helped that events moved quickly and there was a lot of action through the whole thing.

I like fantasy books that have interesting characters with personalities. This is just another fantasy book with an interesting plot but the characters are one-dimensional and bland. If you tend to care more about plot than characters then you might like this book.

The world building in this novel was fantastic. The characters were well developed and the story was engaging. There were good relationships and growth within the characters that made them seem relatable. Right from the first you are drawn into Michael Kingman's life and slowly pick up clues as the story goes along. While at times events seemed a bit too convenient, I don't feel like it was too blatant as to take you out of the story or make it too unbelievable/outrageous. There was intrigue/mystery, adventure, and magic, all of my favorite elements. I look forward to the next story in the series. There are lot of questions I would like answered so get on with writing the next one! I highly recommend this book.

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC Copy of The Kingdom of Liars

What can I say about this book. Well for one it was one hell of a ride from start to finish. There is a lot, and I mean a LOT going on in this book. Now that is not necessarily a bad thing, but how its all executed plays a major part into how the overall story will go down.

The first 10 chapters were so overwhelming to me, there was so much of this massive world being explained and unraveled that I started to feel like there wasn't going to be much left to tell if it kept going at this rate. I actually started taking notes about what was being explained to me, just to make sure I didn't get confused. There is this old medieval, high fantasy feeling but at the same time there is this modern non fantasy feeling going on, and at first I was not feeling it. I just didn't feel like the two styles was meshing well. As the story progressed though, it started to feel like it was all coming together, but it was initially a turn off.

I'm not a fan of guns, I don't care for them so I never gravitate towards them, and at first I was taken aback that they were in this, but honestly I feel like it was handled quite well. It was used in a manner of progression and something new coming to be in a world that never had such items, The story was in no way over run with them, but it was a great plot device for creating a growing world,

The magic system was actually really intriguing to me. The system is called Fabrications, and not everyone has them. but I love that the Martell went down the path that, with magic comes consequences. Understanding the Forgottens took awhile for me, but I think that comes down to the fact that the first 10 chapters had so much information being fed to me that I just got burnt out wanting to learn something else about the world, There was so many divisions, Nobilty, Scales, Forgottens, Skeletons and so much more, that it really did become a lot to take in.

The Moon portion was the part I felt I was let down in, I wanted so much more to be done with this, since it felt so important, It was constantly mentioned in the first half of the story and then just kind of fell to the way side and I really liked that part of the worldbuilding. So hopefully it will be touched upon in later books again.

Characters!!! Wow there was so many characters and I am so angry over the twist reveal at the end, but oh it was so good!! I loved our Main man Michael, half the time I was yelling at him to stop making stupid choices, other times I was shaking my head at what he had done in the past that came back to bite him in the ass, and other times I was just laughing my ass off at him. I seriously loved him by the end of the story. Dark was another character that I absolutely adored, and I cant wait to see him some more. I will say I am very confused as to what Michael's actual age is, I don't know if its my terrible math skills, or if it just wasn't explained clearly enough, but I would like to know haha. Each character really does bring something different to the story and there are plenty of them, but it never felt like to much, but I did at one point start to mix up a few of the ladies, because they only show up when necessary.

The end does really pick up and just starts throwing blows left and right at you. Betrayals happened that I never even considered as I was trying to figure it all out, and frankly I was hurt by it. People coming and going, dying and living, information being traded left and right, just so much, but it was handled in a way that made it easy to grasp, and I think that was why the first 10 chapters really built the world so quickly and so forcefully. While in the later half of the book, everything slowly comes to realizations and then bam you get punched in the face, and the next thing you know you're laying in your bed crying over some of the revelations.

Kingdom of Liars started out rough and I honestly almost put it down, but I'm glad I decided not to, for me it was worth continuing on. I am looking forward to the next book in the series, I cant wait to see what trouble Michael causes next.

I was really excited to get my hands on this one, and I really enjoyed reading it! I think it's a very solid book one, and it definitely left me curious as to what is going to happen in the next book. I hope I don't have to wait too long! I read a lot of reviews saying that the beginning dragged a bit, but I didn't think so. I thought the beginning was interesting, and I liked seeing the world slowly come to life and learning more about it. The end was unputdownable, though! Super exciting stuff!

A great big thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free ebook in exchange for an honest review! :)

The Kingdom of Liars is the first in an adult fiction series. This novel would be enjoyed by anyone who considers themselves a fan of traditional fantasy. It reads with that familiar tone, has a complex magic system, and a hero on a mission. I loved the idea that magic must be paid for with memory. It's a brilliant premise, immediately making magic more high stakes. This novel does integrate guns into an otherwise traditional fantasy, and this was hard for me to reconcile, so that's something for potential readers to consider.

This book is a great example of the right book for the right mood. When I first picked it up in early May, I was excited but ultimately just wasn’t feeling it after about 50 pages. I read a few other books I was more interested in at that moment and picked The Kingdom of Liars back up at the end of the month. At that point, I fairly tore through it and ended up really enjoying it! Moral of the story – if you’re just feeling a little meh or like you’re in a reading slump, consider picking a book up when you’re actually in the mood for it. Sometimes obvious things like this need to be pointed out to us bloggers who are trying to write reviews by certain dates etc.

Now to the actual review!

Michael Kingman is the son of the man who murdered the prince. He and the rest of his family have been stigmatized and spat upon by most of the kingdom – commoner and noble alike – since the terrible event and he’s never quite come to terms with that. The Kingman family had been the right hand of the King for centuries and were instrumental in founding Hollow but that legacy has been tainted and the Kingman children have taken their own paths in life. Michael is a bit of a rogue and hangs out with folks who are somewhat criminally inclined or who’ve just had a hard upbringing. His eldest brother is the executioner and wants nothing but to lose his tainted last name. His sister Gwen works in a care home where their mother has also been secreted away from the public eye.

When Michael is offered a high paying job assisting a noble called Domet as he moves from the care home back into society he can’t refuse. It’s the only way of continuing the care his mother needs after she suffered terrible memory loss, which is the unfortunate side effect of having a magical gift that is overused. Domet turns out to be a brilliant drunk and encourages Michael to enter the Endless Waltz, which is basically a ritual wherein a young noble steps out into society, in order to prove that Michael’s father didn’t truly murder the prince. This is where the story begins to really take off and become a page-turner. From this point I didn’t want to put it down – the stakes and drama were high!

Overall, this ended up being a fantastic read and I’m incredibly excited for the sequel because it had one heck of an ending. The whole ending was just traumatizing and I loved it! It totally turned my expectations on their head – suddenly nothing was as I thought and just… wow!

I decided I wanted to dig into some fantasy this month. Not middle grade. Not mixed with other genres. Just some straight up fantasy. So, I got an ARC of The Kingdom of Liars by Nick Martell. To be honest, I have no idea when it was actually released. Some places say it came out on May 5th and others say it came out yesterday. Either way, it’s a recent release from Gallery Books/Saga Press. As usual, I must thank NetGalley and the publisher for giving me access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s get on with it.

The Kingdom of Liars follows Michael Kingman as he tries to find his place in a society that has marked him as a traitor due to his father’s crime. When Michael was a child, his father murdered the crown prince despite the Kingman family being protectors of the throne since its inception. Michael and his siblings have lived in the shadow of that murder ever since. But did everything go down like the king would have you believe? Even if it did, could Michael pull his family’s reputation out of the trash while somehow smiting the nobles? He has no idea, but he’s going to try.

Let’s start with the world building and plot. World building: I really like the concept of a magic system that feeds off of memories. Sure, you can use magic to do things, but is it really worth the risk? It ups the stakes in a way that most magic systems don’t have, which makes the tension much higher. I also enjoyed the shattered moon that randomly throws prophecies at the world. I’m hoping that gets more attention in future books. The plot itself is pretty standard. Some ancestor did something bad so now I must figure out what really happened and fix it. Blah blah blah. There are some twists that keep it interesting, but it’s nothing new. It’s not bad, just predictable.

The characters. If any other character had been the main focus, I probably would’ve liked the book a lot better. There’s no nice way to say this: Michael’s a whiny little bitch. All he does throughout the book is get into trouble and force other people to save his inept ass. It quickly becomes a question not of “how will he get out of this?” but instead “who’s going to save him this time?” He’s basically Frodo, but he has no Sam, so it’s down to whoever is at hand to do what needs to be done. Normally, that’s fine for me, but none of the other characters are really fleshed out enough to make up for Michael even though a couple of them could be awesome (I’m looking at you Kai and Gwen).

I also want to mention the pacing. This book starts out super slow. That’s not uncommon in fantasy, especially with newer authors. It’s really hard to explain magical systems and histories without getting infodumpy. But it can be boring at times. The pacing for the middle third speeds up to a nice quick and engaging trot (for lack of a better word). Then the last third is too fast, a little jumbled, and at times annoyingly vague (you supposedly see that emblem you’ve been trying to figure out the entire book every single day and you just now put two and two together? You are useless, Michael.) But yeah, it could’ve been a smoother ride.

The writing isn’t bad. There are a LOT of words. It’s been a long time since I’ve read something that dense that was written so recently, which probably added to the slow pacing of the first part of the book. But from a technical point of view, it wasn’t bad writing by any means.

Ultimately, I felt The Kingdom of Liars had a lot of potential. I will at least read book two when/if it comes out to see if Michael grows up any and what other prophecies the moon hurls at them. But if it doesn’t get better, I’ll probably lose interest.

Overall, I gave it three out of five stars. That’s a little generous, but I have high hopes for the sequel. If you enjoy fantasy and don’t mind unlikable main characters, pick it up. Otherwise, maybe wait and see how future books do before starting this one.

The writing isn't that great, to be honest. There are tons of grammar mistakes throughout the book, the prose itself is clumsy and rather amateur. In some spots, every movement is captured with unnecessary details that seem important but then aren't, while in others, the character coasts along one of the busiest streets through the thriving city without any details whatsoever. There are terms that are introduced early-on and then not explained until way later in the book. The world-building is very lacking, feeling very slap-dash and on-the-go without decent backstory to it. This feels more like a very first draft than a ready-for-publishing book.

The reader is consistently reminded of what exactly just occurred, as if the reader couldn’t possibly remember everything important that happened in the last ten pages. I felt like the author was treating his readers as somewhat dense-- I can't think of another way to describe it.

There was very little description in terms of the protagonist’s emotions, despite this book being written in first person; you’re told what he feels and his physical and verbal expressions of those emotions, but not in how those emotions feel within him (if that makes sense), or how they affect his facial expressions, the tone of his voice, etc. Actually, this occurs with other characters as well: Michael describes them as being in disbelief, shock, grieving, angry. But never explains how he knows aside from their physical actions, but a lot of the time that’s not even given.

The characters aren't fleshed out, and the protagonist feels somewhat dead as a character. There's few scenes that back up his numerous, constant claims of how everyone depends on him, and there's very little actual acts of friendship between them-- those little acts could easily be brushed off as 'people who have a mutual friend but don't actually know each other being nice to each other.'

There's too much kept from the reader-- more so than the "unreliable narrator" trope would warrant, as this trope can be done very well. But this definitely isn't it. He shows bright intelligence now and then-- and then acts like a brain-dead idiot at other times. There's not enough character development, not enough things happening that made sense-- a lot of it happened to move the plot forward. Main characters stop being important, and new ones that show up in the second half are suddenly far more important! The protagonist brushes off major things (like realizing a key component of his past is missing from his memory) almost as soon as he learned of them. The plot doesn't even fully kick in until just after 1/4 of the way in; the first 100 or so pages is set on set-up for a number of things & a lot happens that's just....not interesting.

This book has a few decent bones, but they don't all fit together and it's definitely not an intact skeleton.

So Kingdom of Liars by Nick Martell is definitely one of the most anticipated books on my list, for this year and having been out in the wild, for a month or so now, has been garnering a lot of good reviews across the internet, for good reasons.

An epic fantasy blurbed by Brandon Sanderson and a catchy, intriguing summary of the plot got me instantly hooked. Michael Kingman, all of eighteen years, is standing trial for the murder of the king. Ironically. he's in the exact same situation as his father was, ten years ago, who was executed for treason and being accused of having killed the prince. But Michael's memories around that night, all those years ago, is blurry and hazy around the edges. In a world, where the price of magic is the loss of memory, this is sort of expected. The only thing is, Michael doesn't exactly have a grasp of his own magical capability.

The narrative takes the form of a recounting of all those incidents that has led Michael upto this juncture in life, where he's facing execution at the hand of the Royals - the nobles families jostling for power in court, in the Kingdom of Hollow. The last ten years, post his father's execution, the Kingman family name has fallen into disrepute. Despite being the "right-hand man" for the King throughout centuries at the Hollow kingdom, for that heinous act of murdering a prince - Michael and his family face the brunt of the disgrace and humiliation of being associated to the man who had perpetrated this crime and have fallen on really hard times.

Michael, however, hasn't stopped believing in his father, a hero for the young boy. And he's determined to clear his father's name. However, it is pretty tough to do that, when you are so far outside the influence of the Royal court and you hardly have enough money to keep the upcoming winter's cold off your back and treat your mother suffering from a debilitating memory affliction in a medical asylum. His nightly con jobs are petty and sees him survive hand to mouth, every day. Michael however, gets a strange new benefactor in the drunk royal named Charles Domet, who for reasons known only to himself, chooses to 'employ' the young man as his chaperone and also is willing to teach him the nuances of "Fabrication", the magical ability manifest in a random few in the Hollow.

Michael sees this as an opportunity to get himself insinuated back into the Royals' court by participating in this tournament called the Endless Waltz, another quirk of the high borns to find themselves potential spouses and wed into the royal court. He enlists, with the help of Charles Domet and plans to use this to try and unearth the secrets of that fateful night ten years ago - to dig into the truth and clear his father's name. Only problem being, in his haste to get to the bottom of that unseemly mystery, he strikes the deal with the devil - A stranger in Hollow, a Mercenary [ sort of an independent body of freelancers, who operate outside the authority of the various kingdoms] who is blessed with an ability to use multiple Fabrications and has darker intentions of digging up secrets of his own. Naturally, things go downhill and as secrets start tumbling, mysteries get murkier and the dangerous enemies and untrustworthy allies that Michael has forged, only get him mired in deeper into this mess.

This is Nick Martell's debut and for starters, it's a pretty ambitious one in scope and execution. While the whole narrative is from the first person POV of Michael Kingman, he willingly courts trouble and so, the pacing of the book is absolutely frantic. The first half of the book is the set up and takes time to get going. The world in which the kingdom of Hollow is set, is fascinating with pieces of the moon raining down on to the earth in regular intervals, forcing people to take shelter and the braver ones to go treasure-hunting for the fallen pieces. The magic system has a price to pay - people lose their memories. And this is the main thread that makes the narrator so unreliable. Michael himself, while still discovering his abilities, doesn't have a clear memory of that night which destroyed his life. The magic itself, Fabrication - manifest in different forms like Metal, Lightning, Darkness and Light etc - are fairly interesting but disappointingly, only happens in the periphery. Even the big reveal about Michael's capability that is revealed, kind of fell flat for me.

In term of characters, while Michael is the unreliable narrator and he does a fine job of ushering us down false trails, the initial chapters were a fair bit of a chore for me to get through. Michael is impulsive, unthinking and goes looking for trouble. Despite the tremendous amount of soul-searching that he does throughout the book, he really doesn't question other people's motives, willingly falling into their schemes of deceit, thus propelling the plot forwards. Michael's sister Gwen, lady-friends like Naomi and the mysterious 'girl in red' etc are interesting side characters, who sadly don't get so much of 'screen-space'. Even Michael's best friends like Trey or Sirash didn't frankly seem too interesting, too little time spent on their motivations or actions. The most interesting person, of course is the High Noble Charles Domet with his schemes to get Michael into the King's Chambers. A functioning alcoholic, Charles with his set of secrets and wily schemes, was a fun character, the sensei to Michael's unwilling grasshopper, if you will.
The Mercenary Dark with his own strange machinations of why he is inside the Hollow kingdom, was another nicely etched out character. I am hoping to see more of him for sure!

The second half of the book is where all the reveals happen and was an absolute riot to read. I read the last 40% of the book in just one sitting. Michael is repenting his mistakes and grows a pair by then and I had come to like him a lot better. He is a lot more calculating, having learnt from his mistakes and having taken enough beatings by then I suppose, to have his brains back in place. But the mysteries start to unfold and the narrative started to really pick up speed. Which is why, by the time I breathlessly finished that masterpiece of a climax, I was ready to forgive Nick all the initial flaws in the book. Nick totally raises his game by the second half of the book and while the magic and the fabulous world-building are just great backgrounds, the courtly intrigue, the politicking and the action takes over to make the Kingdom of Liars a pretty enjoyable read.

Despite the fantasy tropes and the rough edges of the book in terms of certain under-developed characters who are there as mere props to push the plot forwards, I totally enjoyed how Nick brings the threads together in a rousing finale with multiple secrets and mysteries revealed. Nick am sure, is set to be one of the genre's talent powerhouses with more to come, in this series as we impatiently wait for Michael Kingman to further the legacy of his family. A fun romp with rousing elements of mystery, magic and action fused in, Kingdom of Liars is a great launchpad for Nick Martell's talents. Cannot wait for him to build up this series to what promises to be an exciting outing.

Excuse my French but holy shit! How did I not see that twist at the end. I just. Oh my gosh this was perfect.

I do love books that start "at the end" and then tell you the story as to how they got in that predicament

This one starting with Michael Kingman. A branded traitor of the king on trial for the murder of said king. And from the very start there is so much action as we follow Michael make his way to killing the king and finding out the truth behind the reason his father was killed and him and his siblings branded and casted out of the kings favor.

When I had seen how many pages there were I was a bit intimidated, but I absolutely enjoyed every bit of it.

This sounded so promising and unique! I loved the idea of memory being the price for magic, and having a main character who's been branded a traitor. I love when characters have to infiltrate another lifestyle (e.g. royalty) in order to get answers. Basically, this premise and synopsis was everything I wanted.

However, I really struggled to get into the story. The beginning, where Michael is in court and has been sentenced and is telling his story before he probably dies, was an awesome framing device and really compelled me to keep reading. But beyond that, too much was introduced for world-building without context behind it. I just really struggled to grasp what was happening or why, and who all these different groups of people were.

I think there's a lot of opportunity in this book and the world, and I can see so many people have enjoyed it. Unfortunately, it just isn't for me.

Debut authors need to break out of the starting gate fast. And Martell does just that.

The Kingdom of Liars is edgy and clean and has a main character that makes the reader love him and hate him at the same moment. The story moves fast; it's filled with danger and intrigue, and the ending? I wish I could tell you the ending!

What comes next? That's what I want to know..

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an advanced readers copy of this book.

Memory loss for performing magic too often? This is intriguing. I also enjoy the fact that it plays into the character development in our learning about the other characters alongside Michael.

Unfortunately, the story has loose ends that I cannot seem to string together. With risk of spoilers, I will not divulge these. They are not those that leave one questioning the story or theme, but they bugged me ever so slightly that it took me out of the book.

Good start on what looks to be a decent entry point into the genre for the author.

"In this brilliant debut fantasy, a story of secrets, rebellion, and murder are shattering the Hollows, where magic costs memory to use, and only the son of the kingdom’s despised traitor holds the truth.

Michael is branded a traitor as a child because of the murder of the king’s nine-year-old son, by his father David Kingman. Ten years later on Michael lives a hardscrabble life, with his sister Gwen, performing crimes with his friends against minor royals in a weak attempt at striking back at the world that rejects him and his family.

In a world where memory is the coin that pays for magic, Michael knows something is there in the hot white emptiness of his mind. So when the opportunity arrives to get folded back into court, via the most politically dangerous member of the kingdom’s royal council, Michael takes it, desperate to find a way back to his past. He discovers a royal family that is spiraling into a self-serving dictatorship as gun-wielding rebels clash against magically trained militia.

What the truth holds is a set of shocking revelations that will completely change the Hollows, if Michael and his friends and family can survive long enough to see it."

Memory for magic is a memorable and fascinating conceit!