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The Liar's Key  By  cover art

The Liar's Key

By: Mark Lawrence
Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds
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Publisher's summary

Prince of Fools, The Red Queen's War: Book One had all "the hallmarks of [Mark Lawrence's] storytelling and writing style which made The Broken Empire trilogy such an incredibly addictive read" (Bibliosanctum.com). Now The Liar's Key continues the story of the unusual fellowship between a rogue prince and a weary warrior....

After harrowing adventure and near-death, Prince Jalan Kendeth and the Viking Snorri ver Snagason find themselves in possession of Loki's Key, an artefact capable of opening any door and sought by the most dangerous beings in the Broken Empire - including The Dead King. Jal wants only to return home to his wine, women, and song, but Snorri has his own purpose for the key: to find the very door into death, throw it wide, and bring his family back into the land of the living. And as Snorri prepares for his quest to find death's door, Jal's grandmother, the Red Queen, continues to manipulate kings and pawns toward an endgame of her own design....

©2015 Bobalinga Ltd. (P)2015 Recorded Books

What listeners say about The Liar's Key

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Even better than the first

I laughed through the whole first book and this one is the same. Weirdly, I almost think the lead character is more anti-hero than I did on the last book. Whenever he pulls through and does something he ought to, it's by accident or some selfish reason but I still root for him every time.

There's a part in the middle without Snori that got a little boring, but it picked back up shortly and I was on the edge of my seat through the entire last third.

Very good series. It's going to be agony waiting for the next book!

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

No matter the promise, its painful

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I don't think I can recommend this book. If you take the storyline from the first and second book, and combine them....then shorten both books into a 1/4....it would be a truly unique and excellent tale. Even with the main character weaknesses, the storyline would hold. However, because this story is drawn out....over-complicated with events and trivialities that matter little to the overall tale....you just start wanting to skip chapters. When I started listening to this book, I had hopes that the first would be "cleansed" of the issues....and with Mr. Reynolds performance, even this book was entertaining to an extent....but it started to slack off again. There are key events, that make you wake up and go "holy crap, really, maybe I was wrong"....and then a few hours later, you just end up bored/frustrated. The main characters just repeat themselves, their motivations, their intentions...they don't move, progress, grow. Now, if you were to make this into something for an Anime series, targeted at 10year-olds, it would probably work. I would guess this could be a 52 episode series, and quite popular with all the sex. Its just sad. I am glad to see Mr. Reynolds is not doing the final book, because I will not be tempted to waste another credit.

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6 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Never disappoints

Very enjoyable, always kept me guessing, as to what sort of disaster he will get Into next and what sort of ridiculous predicament he will have to deal with.
All in all fantastic stuff

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6 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Best day ever!

This book cracks me up while maintaining a reasonable plot. Worth the credit and time.

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6 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The continuing adventures of a loveable coward.

Like all of Lawrence's novels, The Liar's Key maintains constant humor and wit without sacrificing the darkness, gravitas and stakes of the world. The main characters play off each other wonderfully just like last time, but in this installment we get a much welcome increase in depth and plot complexity.

This one is extremely unpredictable and really fleshed out the "Red Queen's War" that the first barely touched upon. This is also the first Lawrence novel to not be centered around a road trip, but to instead have a more inventive and interesting structure. Prince Jalan goes on an ethical journey more than a literal one, and you're never quite sure which side he'll end up on. He's a man pretending to have honor and integrity so often that he sometimes even fools the reader.

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5 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Squandering Good Characters

Mark Lawrence had the idea of squandering all the delight readers found in his fantasy odd couple by taking them on a pointless quest. Bad idea.

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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5 star listen

Easily this authors best book by far. The ending was perfect. The third book will have a lot to live up to. But I'm not too worried.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A Different Novel Then we are Use to

Mark Lawrence does it again. He writes an antihero that teeters on the brink of us as readers hating and loving him at the same time. Jal is very different from Jorgg from the thorns trilogy, but he is still not the typical hero we are use to in a fantasy novel. His antics continue in this second novel of The Red Queen's War trilogy, and if anything they are more outrageous and hilarious then before. However, this novel does not have the pace of the story in the first novel, there is more setup time and a little less action. However, the plot is intricate as always with many different forces playing for position on the game board. One must pay close attention to keep up with what is happening, and the small hints that are dropped for events to come. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, but I do believe that parts of the ending were kind of predictable and it does suffer from middle novel slowness in a trilogy. Despite these problems it does end with a bang and leaves me anxiously waiting for the final book. Also, the narrator does a spectacular job with the novel, and captures the character of Jal perfectly, making him more hilarious and reddiculous. I would definitely recommend reading this novel and I hate the fact that I have to wait another year for the next installment.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

No development. Same old same old...

What disappointed you about The Liar's Key?

There is no character development of any kind. The author found that people like this cowardly character who wiggles out of tricky situations. So he decided let's have lot more of it. Not really funny anymore. Snorri is a foil. Keira or whatsherface is a obligatory female character shoehorned in lest feminist or somebody complain. She adds no value to the plot. Some sort of sad romantic triangle to add some of the worst kind of will they wont they suspense.

What was most disappointing about Mark Lawrence’s story?

No character development. Same tired situational comedy. Unnecessary female character.

What does Tim Gerard Reynolds bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I cant read while driving.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment

Any additional comments?

Give it a read if nothing else is happening. While away a few hours.

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3 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Slow

I really enjoyed the first book and looked forward to the second. I had to force myself to keep listening. It just seemed to drag on and on and on. Finally picked up towards the end and became a good listen. Not as good as the first nor the last.

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2 people found this helpful