The Kingdom of Liars by Nick Martell – a Review

Amazon / B&N / Kobo / Google Play / Apple / BAM / Book Depository

Description:
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.

Review:

The Kingdom of Liars by Nick Martell is the first book in his new fantasy series, The Legacy of the Mercenary King.  I had some mixed feelings about this book, but since this is Martell’s debut novel, and considering this is an epic fantasy, it was a well written story.

Michael Kingman is our hero in this series, though in the first half of the book, he wasn’t a good hero, being somewhat unlikeable.  Michael, whose father murdered the King’s son 10 years earlier, has lived with his family branded as traitors.  Michael works with friends to con royals to make ends meet.  Michael is determined to prove that his father was innocent and framed; he pushes his way into situations that endanger himself and his friends. The story did begin with Michael on trial for supposedly killing the King, and it then switches to the past, detailing how Michael ended up being accused of murder.

In order to get closer to the royal family, he helps a Fabricator, who is looking for evidence and in doing so becomes more visible, especially to the Corrupt Prince, who wants nothing better than to have Michael killed.  In any first book of a fantasy, I recognize the author trying to give us a lot of information of the worldbuilding.  My mixed feelings were more that the first half was a bit slow, the hero wasn’t overly likable, the secondary characters were ok, and the storyline was somewhat confusing with each chapter.  I wasn’t sure I would continue.  However, I am glad I did, as the last half of the book picked up, with a bit more clarity, and excitement and the hero becoming more focused.

We learn more later in the book about Fabricators and their magic, as well as Mercenaries.   I also did like Michael’s sister, Gwen, who was a heroine in her own right; and Naomi was another interesting character.  This is a difficult review to write, as so much is going on from the start to finish that is hard to put in writing without being spoilers. 

The Kingdom of Liars was an interesting fantasy, that became exciting and intriguing in the last half of the book.   The finale was a surprise, and did have me pushing to find out the end. Being fantasy, Nick Martell wrote a good story, especially being his debut novel, which I expect to see some improvements in the next book. 

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher