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A review by tagoreketabkhane31
The Kingdom of Liars by Nick Martell
5.0
I have to agree with Sanderson about Nick Martell - this was a fantastic debut in the fantasy realm for 2020. It was truly different from many of the fantasy debuts of 2020, and indeed from previous entries. I think one of the things about The Kingdom of Liars that I liked was that Martell was able to strike was that while the world building was intricate, Martell did not reveal everything about the world all at once to the reader. As Michael relates his story to someone, Martell gives enough that the reader is able to understand enough in the moment, especially to understand the power players in the context of his story.
From the Hollow as a nation state, the surrounding cities, the various institutions that hold power, to the Endless Waltz as their "Selection" for the next generation of nobility and alliances, Michael was an interesting narrator, at times shifting between being a reliable and unreliable narrator because of the holes in his memories, and because he wasn't focused on his surroundings as much since he hated the nobility and the lifestyle that they lived.
Martell does a great job weaving a captivating story (even within a first person POV which I normally can't stand in fantasy) and also leaves the reader guessing for many of the mysteries in the first book (any author that can keep me guessing for most of the book is doing a good job) and I highly recommend this to fantasy fans! Even the diversity among the main characters and side characters (both ethnicity and sexuality wise) was better compared to other fantasy novels, and its not surprising seeing that its from Saga Press.
From the Hollow as a nation state, the surrounding cities, the various institutions that hold power, to the Endless Waltz as their "Selection" for the next generation of nobility and alliances, Michael was an interesting narrator, at times shifting between being a reliable and unreliable narrator because of the holes in his memories, and because he wasn't focused on his surroundings as much since he hated the nobility and the lifestyle that they lived.
Martell does a great job weaving a captivating story (even within a first person POV which I normally can't stand in fantasy) and also leaves the reader guessing for many of the mysteries in the first book (any author that can keep me guessing for most of the book is doing a good job) and I highly recommend this to fantasy fans! Even the diversity among the main characters and side characters (both ethnicity and sexuality wise) was better compared to other fantasy novels, and its not surprising seeing that its from Saga Press.