Solid debut with some growing pains, looking forward to sequel
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.
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!
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.
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!