A review by briggamooz
The Kingdom of Liars by Nick Martell

4.0

High Fantasy Picaresque - Three words I never would have put together, yet Nick Martell handles the task with ease.

With a whipcrack pace, Martell takes us through the districts and alleys of Hollow, pulling back the curtain inch-by-inch on the rich world and engaging mystery he's constructed. Plot points develop and resolve, only to reveal further complications that Michael Kingman must overcome. With all the roguish wit one requires in a picaresque, Michael acts as our mostly-trustworthy, although sometimes not, tour guide as he re-enters a corrupt noble society. At first as a task, then a dare, then a point of pride, Michael's successes and failures cannot help but remind one of the fortunes and adversities of Lazarillo de Tormes.

A refreshing addition to the world of high fantasy, and a series I look forward to continuing.