Review: The Kingdom of Liars

The Kingdom of Liars by Nick Martell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I got this one on the basis of Brandon Sanderson’s recommendation, and especially after seeing Martell himself getting his own table at this year’s Dragonsteel convention in Utah. Mad jelly I am of Mr. Martell getting to go there, and I really, really hope I could get a table of my own there in a future year. Maybe in 2024 or whichever year happens to be the year of Stormlight 5…but I digress.

As for this book, though, it’s a very interesting and auspicious little debut, already reaching for some epic heights in the genre. It’s a peculiar blend of magic and science, with guns being quite killer against Fabricators of many elements, whose magic comes at the very interesting cost of memory. The book also explores some relevant and timely themes, with protagonist Michael struggling to overcome the sins of the father and no way to conclusively prove the truth when no one remembers it anyway, and also some subtle exploration of racism as characters with darker skin struggle against entrenched prejudice (again making me think of Stormlight Archive and its darkeyes and lighteyes divide.)

If there’s a flaw in this book, it’s that there’s no map to help keep track of the numerous cities and states and the complex in-universe politics. Hopefully any and all sequels will correct that. I should find out soon, though, as I’ve got Book 2 on order already…

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