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.
Title: The Kingdom of Liars| Author: Nick Martell| Publisher: Gallery / Saga Press | Pub. Date: 23 June 2020| Pages:: 596| ISBN: 9781534437784| Genre: Fantasy| Language: English| Starred Review: Yes | Source: libro.fm
The Kingdom of Liars Review
The Kingdom of Liars is fantasy with a twist. With each magical act committed, you will lose a part of your memory. Imagine being faced with that choice? What would you do?
Michael Kingman is a traitor. He hasn’t actually done anything, but his dad, David, killed the king and therefore Michael and family are now branded with the name they don’t think they deserve. Michael is pretty arrogant and got on my nerves at times. I liked his sister though, she’s strong and awesome.
Magic in this book is referred to as ‘fabrications’ and not everyone has the ability to perform. Your magic could also be related to anything so it was fun to see what characters could do what throughout the story.
I really enjoyed reading this book, and on the whole I have awarded it four stars, however, that’s not to say I didn’t have my frustrations whilst reading!
Sections of this *rather long* novel felt like a tug of war. I was happily over on the left side of the sofa, engaging in current events, next thing I know, I haven’t even finished my cup of tea and I’m on the right side of the sofa, engaging with a different set of characters and another story line. By the time I’m about to start dunking biscuits I’m on the floor with tea and crumbs all around me and something new entirely is going on. It’s fine I mean I just wasn’t particularly prepared to follow that many trains of thought at once. Good thing I haven’t used any of my fabrications else I wouldn’t have had a clue what was going on. The writing was great though, and I was fully immersed in the story.
Despite this, I give this book 4 stars and will definitely be finding out what happens in the next instalment of the series!
You can purchase a copy of this book via your normal retailer, but please consider purchasing it from a local indie bookshop instead. It can be found here at IndieBound or at Bookshop. Please note the Bookshop link is an affiliate link and each purchase you make through it helps to support Sci-Fi & Scary and keep the site running.
Sian joined the Coolthulu crew in March 2019 and reviews horror and science fiction books for the site.
She’s trying hard to play it cool but she’s more excited than Lilyn’s new puppy to be part of the crew. PS we got T-shirts!
Be First to Comment