3.5 stars

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This is a good first book in a new fantasy series. The concept is interesting but the book's pacing is uneven, and at 608 pages, it needed better editing.

This is the story of Michael Kingman. He and his siblings were branded as traitors after their father killed the 9 year old son of the King. Ten years later, Michael and his sister are living a hand-to-mouth existence trying to survive and take care of their institutionalized mother. Michael's older brother Lyon has been conscripted to the King as one of the court's executioners. Michael scrapes by conning minor nobles out of money with his friends, which has the added bonus of striking back at the world that rejected him and his family.

A lot of nobles have various forms of magic. The magic system is not fully explained, but it seems that magic is fueled by the user's memories. If the user is untrained, or uses too much magic, the user loses some of their memories. Michael doesn't appear to have any magic ability, but he still has huge gaps in his memories and doesn't know why. Michael is presented with an opportunity to earn money and discover if he has magic and if so, how to use it. The opportunity comes with risks, however, and the person offering it is a dangerous and untrustworthy man. It also requires him to return to Court and mingle with the very people that rejected him and his family. Michael's life is further complicated by rebels that are plotting to overthrow the King in his dead father's name. He is accused of being a traitor and must be careful to avoid having further contact with the law.

This book is told in first person, which is not my favorite viewpoint in fantasy novels, but it's ok here. The world building is a bit uneven, and there is little to no explanation as to the society's structure, or the kingdom's standing and history with neighboring lands. Some world building information pops up at odd times in the book. Certain concepts are inserted into the story early, leaving the reader in the dark as to the meaning of the terms or characters, and only later explained closer to the end of the book. While that may work for "surprise" revelations, it doesn't really work here where the author should be providing information to the reader to understand why something may be important. Considering magic plays a huge part in the book, I thought the author would provide more background and explanation regarding it, but he doesn't. Perhaps that will be explored in later books.

Another big mystery that is never really explained is parts of the moon that randomly fall and strike the city. Nothing is explained about how or why the moon is "broken", or how parts of it can strike the city. There is one small mention that the Kingman family "broke" the moon, but it's not followed up on. I'm assuming it will be explored in later books.

The book starts slow, and drags through the first half. It's understandable in a first book because of the world building aspect, but as I stated above, the world building is uneven. The last half of the book moves at better pace and I started getting excited to find out what happened next. Overall, I liked the book and will read the next one in the series when it is released.

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

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review .

An evil king... a crooked prince ... kingsman ... legends and legacy ... fabrications (is magical powers) ... memory loss ... a murderer father ... A broken family

This book should have been so amazing, but fell so short for me. I feel like it had all the makings of a great novel (and series) but just didn’t deliver.

Final Rating: 2.75/5

Ten years ago, Michael Kingman's father was executed for murdering the Crown Prince.  Since then, Michael has grappled with dueling legacies: that of the Kingman ancestral duty to be protectors and advisors to the royal family, and that of the ruined family name that comes with being the son of a traitor. Michael has searched for years for answers as to what happened that fateful night without success.  But when he comes to work for High Noble Domet, the man becomes a surprising ally in Michael's quest for the truth.  With Domet's help, Michael joins the Endless Waltz, the annual nobility courtship events, where he hopes to gain access to information kept secret by the royal family.  As Michael delves deeper into court politics, it becomes clear that there are gaps in his memory from the time of the attack, and entire people he no longer remembers knowing.  But if his father wasn't responsible for the death of the prince, who was?

THE KINGDOM OF LIARS is a novel that has an incredibly intriguing setup that I ultimately just didn't connect with.  Let's start with the good parts.  There were many aspects of the worldbuilding I enjoyed, including the idea of a magic system where overusing your abilities could cause you to lose your memories.  This meant magic users have to take precautions to keep memories safe, from journals to tattoos.  The shattered moon that occasionally rains debris onto the city was also something I'd never seen before, and I loved the concept of the Endless Waltz, a series of events the nobility attend to arrange marriages and form political alliances.

After the broad strokes of worldbuilding, however, I found myself lost in the minutia of details that were left vague or unexplained. To name a few: How exactly (in normal times) did the Kingman family operate in their role as intermediaries between commoners and the royal family?  What exactly is a person who is a Sacrifice?  How on earth did a character who was a commoner when the book began suddenly show up as part of the Crown Prince's inner circle?  Some of these questions are answered late in the book, and it was at the point that things started being explained that I finally found myself enjoying the intrigue at hand.  The night of a fateful ball in particular was an outstanding scene, full of tension and confrontation, but also providing understanding of some key concepts that had been eluding me up to that point.

I also found myself struggling to connect with the characters.  Most of them felt only roughly sketched out. Some of this stems from the fact that, for an unknown reason, Michael can't recall certain details of his childhood, including specific faces of friends he knew for years.  But even the close friends he had in present day felt more like acquaintances than people Michael would put his life on the line for.

As for Michael himself, he's purposely written as brash and impulsive, which can sometimes make him a bit hard to read.  But he also does carry an enormous burden.  Since childhood, he's had the weight of being literally branded a traitor, reviled by everyone for his father's actions. At the same time, there's the weight of the ancestral family name - Michael comes from a long line of legends, of men and women who don't live history, they cause it.  Michael wants to uphold this legacy, not out of any sense of nobility, but because it's what he was raised to do. It's hard not to feel some sympathy with a character who is hated for something he had no control over, who is also under pressure to live up to the names of heroes.

THE KINGDOM OF LIARS was a book I unfortunately wanted to love much more than I ended up doing. Although it has some original concepts, it just didn't deliver as wholly realized a world as I hoped.  I will say that the last third of the book went much better for me than the beginning, as reveals and twists finally brought things to a head, especially as Michael uncovers what is buried in his missing memories. There were scenes where I could definitely see why this book has resonated with others (again, the scene at the ball is my favorite of the book), but overall, it fell just short of making me want to continue onward.

This quite prominent Moon on the cover has been breaking apart since forever. The parts sometimes rain down on Michael Kingman’s city “Hollow” where all of this doorstopper of a novel is situated. The Kingman family has protected the city since its founding, functioning as a check-and-balance for the king’s power. Michael’s father has been executed because he murdered the King’s son. Michael and his siblings have been branded as traitors, and they barely survived the following riots.

Ten years later, Michael hates everything that looks like nobility, and he works as a conman tricking country noble bumbkins from their money. This starts a long winded tale through saving his friends, his family including his mad mother, restoring his name, trying to remember.

It comes up quite early on, that his memories were failing – a side effect of using magic in this world. Only that Michael has never learned, which kind of magic he could wield.

He enters the “Endless Waltz”, a long tradition of Hollow nobility to present their youngsters and marry them off, in order to restore his name and prove that his father was not guilty.

On his desperate way, he meets a drunken madman, an extraordinary deadly Mercenary-sorcerer, a sexy police-girl, and old-new friends that he didn’t remember.

Up to some 40% of this novel, I had to fight the slow turning pages – I found it interesting but way too slow. Only then did it take off, starting with fantasy tropes like a huge library and a full blown, living dragon. The mystery entangled Michael ever more and went into hyperdrive for the whole second part of the novel.

I loved the closed setting and the diversity, liveness of the city Hollow, its contrast between the dark, drug-addicted slums, the shady asylum, the better situated residential homes, and the shiny nobility households. Most characters had their own motives, and played them well according to their characters – there were no damsels in mistress, but strong women driving, bribing, enchanting Michael.

I’m a sucker for unreliable narrators – and Michael fits well into this whole society of liars filling lost memories with their own versions of the truth. He is a likeable hero, because what he does is based on his main motto “Family looks after family” which he extends to friends. His complex social network with conman-friends, siblings, and new friends ground Michael’s stupid decisions and heroic actions.

As the start of a series, I give the novel some leeway in exposition, but nearly half the novel was too much, too slow for a balanced pacing, especially compared to the reckless speed in the later half.

The last one hundred pages found a lot of unexpected and excellent plot twists, and opened up the setting for further exploration in the next volume of the Legacy of the Mercenary King series. Which I will certainly read. This volume, I recommend with the caveat to be patient and endure the first half – the reward lies in the second half.

The Kingdom of Liars follows Michael Kingman, whose defining characteristics are being a Kingman and the son of a man who committed treason. While his siblings have mostly moved on, Michael has been stuck in the past and filled with anger. Michael gets involved with a mysterious noble after a rebel attack and begins to unravel secrets about the past. Our story opens with Michael on trial for killing the king and his story is revealed via flashback.

I enjoyed this book, but there were some issues that impacted my enjoyment. I really did not see Michael as a likable character and did not feel a bond with him. I thought he was self-centered and selfish. Throughout the story, there are instances where telling and not showing is in full force. It’s as if by stating something in plain language, the author is willing it to be so. I understand his intent, but it comes off as heavy-handed writing.

While the world-building and magic system are very detailed, it takes a long time for readers to understand some of the roles and names that we are expected to pick up through context alone. An easy fix to this would be to provide more introductory information or perhaps a glossary or chart to add clarity. While I can understand the author wanting to reveal this information bit by bit, it does cause confusion when basic world-building is still being established past the halfway point. The ending of the book also struggled with some deus ex machina, but I fully expected this as I’m not sure how Michael could have survived without it.

In terms of the writing itself, it was generally well done with lots of references throughout. However, I was frustrated with one of the writing choices. Michael finds himself not remembering the name of a girl who he meets. The girl realizes this and rather than introduce herself, decides that she wants to keep her name hidden. So, Michael spends over half the book calling her: “the girl in red.” It was unrealistic that someone wouldn’t slip and address her by name. Michael is a target for many as the son of a traitor. How is he not more invested in learning her name? It is eventually revealed, but her name alone adds no profound meaning to the story. Why did I spend half the book reading “the girl in red” did this, “the girl in red” did that? Just name your character.

All of that said, this book is undoubtedly something the author put a lot of thought into and I think many people will enjoy it. While this book is definitely introductory and suffered some debut growing pains, I ultimately found it to be a good book. I’ll be curious to see where the author takes characters in the sequel! The Kingdom of Liars releases on June 23, 2020. Thank you to Gallery Books and Netgalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Kingdom of Liars

DNF at 7%. (2/5⭐️) You can tell within the first two chapters of a book if you will like it. My rule is to read the first five chapters. If I’m not hooked by then, I set it asside. If nothing makes me want to come back to it later, I DNF. I’ve spent several days thinking about why I did not like this book and why I was unable to finish it. I also tried to pick it up again...nope.

My biggest problem was this: I wasn’t able to connect with the main character. He fell totally flat. As the plot evolved, I wasn’t given a handhold to grasp onto. Nothing to connect to his wants, needs, etc. I couldn’t understand why the things that were happening mattered to him. 🤷‍♀️ It could have been happening to anyone. Why was he so speical and important? Anyone could have been the son of a traitor. What makes him so unique as a character?

There’s a scene in the first chapter where he’s working with a friend to con some nobles for money. I did not find out until he had gotten the money how important the money was: to be used to pay rent for his mother in an asylum. The author could have earned my sympathy for the MC early on if he had shown the MC’s drive and need for the money. It would have increased the suspense, which is very important for keeping a reader around. It could have been something as simple as: “I really hope this con works because if I don’t get this money for my mom, she’s going to be thrown out of the asylum.” At that point, armed with that knowledge, I would have been rooting for him to earn the money from the con. Instead, I could have cared less whether the con was successful or not.

But that seems to be the style of the whole story so far. We are told nothing in advance. Everything is told as it crops up, like an after thought. Oh, let me add this now. Oh let me sprinkle that in. This creates a story lacking of suspense. Here is an analogy from Abbe Emmons: If you have two people talking at a table and there’s a bomb sitting under the table, if both parties know the bomb will go off in five minutes, we the reader sit for five minutes in suspense. If no one knows about the bomb and it simply goes off, we are given twenty seconds of suspense. The author follows the style of the latter. No hints are given throughout the plot of what is to come. Everything is just “happening” to the caracter one thing at a time. I have no understanding of why any of it matters, what he’s working towards, his goals, desires, internal struggle...nothing. He is simply a punching bag for the plot.

Moreover, I felt that the first few chapters were very dense. I was so bored. It felt like reading a text book. Dry. This was unfortunate because the premise sounded amazing! I loved the idea of magic costing memory. I wish the author would have shown this early on because it might have been enough to hook me. Oh well. On to another book. Time is short. Books are plenty. And I’ve got a lot of reading to do.

Thank you to NetGalley and Saga Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. Wish this one would have worked out but it just wasn’t for me.

In the Hollows, there has always been a Kingman as the right-hand man of the King, until ten years ago when David Kingman was found next to the body of Davey Hollow, the eldest prince, holding the gun used to kill Davey. David was executed for treason and his three children branded as traitors. The oldest two children had gotten on with their lives as best they could, but Michael Kingman, the youngest, was convinced his father was innocent, determined to prove it, and spent his time conning nobles for money to help keep his mother in the asylum where she could get care, as he tried to find a way to cure what ailed her. The book opens with Michael Kingman on trial for killing the king, with the remainder of the book explaining the events leading up to the trial. Michael finds himself with opportunities to possibly gain the information he needs to prove his father innocent, but it means attempting to re-enter high society, where he is not really welcome, and it means working with people who have their own agendas, which do not necessarily align with Michael's. He is forced to make deals that will prove to be life-altering, gets himself into serious trouble and danger at times, puts family and friends at risk, alienates friends, and finds himself having to chose between an opportunity for his family to leave the Hollows and be safe and secure elsewhere or pursue his efforts to unearth the "truth." His actions and inactions force him to confront who he really is and what is truly important to him. This book is full of action, intrigue, and adventure, with some rather surprising twists and turns. It is well worth reading and it sets up the sequel quite well.

My only real critique of the book is that it would benefit from an introductory section that identifies the major characters and sets forth the basic structure of the society, especially the different groups/organizations that protect and administer the kingdom. Early in the book there are references to the Scales, the Ravens, Forgotten, Advocators, Skeletons, Advocators, fabricators, etc., but what some of these terms refer to or represent is not well explained until later in the book.

I received a copy of the e-book via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

Thank you Netgalley and Saga Press for an advance copy of this book. I actually finished reading in early May and just realized my review wasn’t completed. This was an interesting story for me with good world building and a nice twist to its magic. Apparently using fabrication “magic” causes memory loss, which makes it easy to rewrite history in this volatile kingdom. Our main character, Michael Kingman, a young man from an infamous political family was at times quite maddening. Although well intentioned, he frequently makes questionable decisions and takes off in directions you know won’t end well. It takes awhile to discover who are the heroes and villains and that is really the best part. There is a lot more to this world than was exposed here so I’m looking forward to the continuation of the Kingman saga.

Like many reviewers have experienced, I also had a hard time with the first 40% of this book. The world building wasn't solid and the dialogue was a little clunky in spots. But since they said it got better, and I'd just DNFed another book, I trudged on. And it did! But while there were some interesting things that could have kept me riveted (like more Celona mythology exposition, immortality info, etc.), I'm not sure that this part of Michael Kingman's story was enough to make me interested in the next book.

Fun debut. The main character is the son of an executed traitor and he just wants to find out what really happened with his father. The world building is very well done and the fact that magic can make you forget is an excellent tool to let the writer bring out plot points bit by bit and keep the suspense high. I look forward to book two.

This was a great read and I really enjoyed it! The story really drew me in, and left me wanting more, and the characters were captivating and had me intrigued!

An interesting tale of family and secrets disguised as a fantasy novel of magic and memories. Reminiscent of The Princess Bride, there is revenge, love, betrayals and a quest for the truth. The final twist was unexpected and, even though revealed, sets up the start of the series nicely. Looking forward to the next installment.

There is no easy way to say this but I. Was. Sooo. Bored 🙈🙈🙈. The only reason I picked it up was because of Brandon Sanderson’s blurb but this book was just not for me. I gave up on it at about 30% because the plot had nothing new to offer in so far as I had read and the characters were so bland that I couldn’t find myself investing in them.
No rating as I think it wouldn’t be fair to rate a book I haven’t finished.

If you did a mash-up of the Mistborn Series and the Kingkiller Chronicles, you would have something similar to this book. It leans more towards Sanderson, with sprinkles of other influences throughout. No matter what I compare it to, it still felt fresh and exciting.

The prologue leads us into the story as Michael is sentenced to be executed. The book thereafter is the story about how he got into this predicament and not only is it a page turner but it's also one of the best books I've read all year. I am quick to point out things I don't like even in books I love. There's always something negative I find. Not this time. This is Nick Martell's debut novel and clearly we are all privileged to be alive while someone is putting out quality work like this.

Back to the story: Michael wants to better the life of his siblings and ailing mother, but they live condemned because their father had killed the prince and was subsequently executed. They were branded as traitors and although they come from high noble lineage, they are not treated poorly. All this turns into one of the books plot lines where Michael has to find out if his father really did commit the crime or not. We also have to find out if Michael is guilty of murdering the king as he had been accused in the prologue of. There's magic and modern weaponry (Guns). The moon itself is split seven ways and pieces of it plummet to the ground. A rebellion has threatened the kingdom in the name of Michael's father. There's a missing but not really princess and an arrogant prince we love to hate. A variety of other characters flesh out the supporting cast and I am so in love with the world that Martell has created that I am apologizing to my wallet preemptively because I will buy everything that Nick writes. He is just that good.

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.

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.

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.