The Liar's Key (The Red Queen's War)

A Great follow up to "Prince of Fools." Lawrence has an engaging writing style and keeps his story line moving without sacrificing too much detail. This tale of a reluctant hero is interesting and refreshing.

A great book, in a great series. Its only weakness is that it's not as action packed as the Emperor of Thorns trilogy. Still filled with deep, interesting characters whose flawed nature makes the story great.

Sure, you may feel guilty, but there's pleasure in that too. He's no knight in shining armor or benevolent savior. In fact he comes right out and says he's a coward. But between Jal and his misfits, it's a great read.

I admit to being a fan of Mr Lawrene's writing style, it makes for a truely wonderful read. This second book of the Red Queen's War trilogy hooked me un & it was a great ride to the end.
I highly reccomend it

Its amazing how he can keep me reading with such an un-loveable protagonist - and yet I do. Ever hoping that he will somehow live up to potential. Grow up. Be a man. What we all hope for ourselves - to be worthy.

You know sometimes fantasy books start to blather or get lost in pointless detail?
The moment it looks even slightly possible the hero is knocked unconscious only to wake later when all the boring bits are done.

Red queens war is a completely different protagonist than thorns but it's polar opposite only makes it a new look into the broken empire keeping the world fresh and new for a entirely new adventure in this amazing post apocalyptic world.

Are you kidding all you 5 star reviewers? This series is terrible. Not even close to Prince of Thorns. There we had a great central character. Here we have two losers who I don't care at all about. A suicidal giant and an obnoxious punk prince have no appeal at all. Who cares what happens to them? There are a few fun adventures, but all in all it is a very boring and senseless series.
SPOILERS: consider this, about ten pages before the end of book 2, Mr. Lawrence tries to make sense of it all. On this one page he mentions the Dead King, the Unborn Prince, the Unborn Queen, the Lady Blue, Kelem, Chella, the Silent Sister, and more. Trying to tie them all together was impossible. I re-read the page 5 times. What a mess.
The Broken Kingdom is an interesting place, but Mr. Lawrence should have left there after finishing Prince of Thorns.

I really enjoyed the previous book, but it seems this one is merely milking the success of the first. Jalan for some reason seems to be intent on constantly reminding the reader that he is a coward. Typically "i ran towards danger, which is weird, because I usually would run the other way, because I'd usually be scared" after alot of this, it gets old... The natural feel and interaction between snorri as a typical hero and Jalan as kind of an antihero in the first book seems more or less gone in this one. The story itself is a mess of things happening that really just seems unconnected and half hearted.

Spoiler alert

And I find ending a poor book with a cliffhanger to be annoying and unnecessary.

I think Mark Lawrence is the most entertaining and creative fantasy writer that I have come across, and I read lots of fantasy. The world, characters and magic in his novels are without parallel. I look forward to every paragraph he writes. The Liar's Key, was a good second book to this series. Jalan, the main character and point of view, is annoying at times, but I am sure we will love him completely in the end. He is light and dark, like most of us, and he surprises me often, as well as Lawrence's story. The audible narration by Tim Reynolds is exceptional, and if you have the time, listen to it, instead of reading. I eagerly await the next book, and anything else Mr. Lawrence puts forth.

A great book

I loved this story, it's full of action, intrigue, consequences and small rewards. The two main characters belong together, the times they were apart I missed their interactions, to me they are like peanut butter and jelly. The gallows humor really adds a sense of humanity to the characters. Despite all they face, they have the ability to laugh, that's important when you face possible death at every turn.

I can't wait for the next book in this series and would highly recommend to anyone who asked.

This second book follows Prince Jalan and Snori on their trek back to the south.

Prince Jalan gives what you can only imagine some of the fantasy novel heroes are really truly thinking when faced with battles. How do they always seem so heroic and fearless? Well Jal puts voice to what you can only assume most would be thinking. Funny witty and charming. A coward? He proves time and again he is not, to me he seems a realist. Because who wouldn't have doubts? And not to mention the thoughts running through his mind and sometimes those thoughts he chooses to vocalize are hilarious. I laughed so often at his one liners and comments.

Snorri. Ah Snorri, he is always so calm and hard to ruffle. On a mission with Loki's key to deaths door to save his family and hopefully bring them back. Where prince Jalan has you laughing snorri has you believing. He's trusting and unshakable, one of those fearless warriors but with a heart of gold and heavy burden weighing on his soul. You know nothing is going to stop him and without a doubt he would take down Hel itself piece by piece if need be to see his beloved wife and children once more.

A couple of new characters are introduced in this installment and like with all Lawrence's books, regardless of their personalities, rather they are "good" or not you find a piece of yourself relating to them and understanding their reasons.

I enjoyed the backstory given of the Red Queen and how she came to earn her title. You learn more of who every character is and why they are the way they are.

For what is an all out action packed journey and a serious nature to the journey ahead you will find yourself laughing and smiling with the inevitable humor provided at the least expected of times.

What can I say? It is Mark Lawrence and he knows how to write a book that everyone can love. I have to say that usually second books tend to be tedious in most instances but I enjoyed The Liar's Key even more so than the first.

5 stars all the way

For me this book was kind of a mixed bag. It did contain several unexpected twists and turns. Some of those were enjoyable and some not so much but overall still a fun adventure to follow with characters you become very invested in.

Solid series The lead protagonist can be quite annoying in his childishness but as far as epic fantasy goes it's still good and kept me reading. Looking forward to seeing how it ends with the last book next month.

Took me a long time to finish this book. It was definitely better than the first book, however I am not real fond of the writing style. Very wordy. I often lose the idea because the sentence has dragged out too long. Re-read many times. Plus, anti heroes are hard for me to enjoy because they are always complaining while doing the task anyway. But, many people will enjoy this book, it is well written, great in-depth characters, a full complex world with good back stories. Just not a favorite for me

I don't know how he does it, but each book Mark Lawrence writes is better than the last. The writing is superb, Jalan and Snorri are unique and beautiful and tragic and, quite possibly, the best reluctant heroes. As expected, the second book in The Red Queen's War was an excellent read. Thank you, Mark Lawrence. Is it too soon to start bugging you for the next one?

Not as good as the original three books in this world, there is a little bit of waffling on, a few scenes that seem to be a bit unnecessary to the story line, gets a bit boring here and there. Still a good read though, entertaining and fun.

Thank god Mark Lawrence has an author's note at the beginning of The Liar's Key with the main bullet points from the first book. It's a memory refresher for those who read Prince of Fools last year when it was hot off the press. What it did not include and, for me, would have made a world of difference regarding my feelings towards Prince Jalan is found in the first two sentences of PoF:

"I am a liar and a cheat and a coward, but I will never, ever, let a friend
down. Unless of course not letting them down requires honesty, fair
play, or bravery."

Jalan warned me: he is a coward. If I had just remembered those two lines it would have saved me chapters of hating the arrogant little narcissistic prig. Pages were wasted hoping the man would grow a pair and stop hiding in moments of danger. Snorri always jumped in with his axe flailing when he smelled danger. Even Tuttugu, despite his constant fear of trolls, manned up when the occasion arose. For Jalan, the endgame was to go home, marry Lisa DeVeer, and grow old, fat and lazy as a prince of Red March. And that infuriated me.

I fell into a trap.

Mark Lawrence is a fantastic writer with a wicked sense of humor. And he never writes his main characters to be sentimental favorites. Never. How could I fall for that? I thought the title, The Liar's Key, referred only to Loki's key. Yes, it's a magical key that will open any door but that's not the only meaning to the damn title of the book. Very clever.

Lawrence has created the brilliant and highly imaginative Broken Empire, the fractured remains of our present day world after we bombed it back to the middle ages. We, known as the Builders, destroyed our planet with the "Thousand Suns" and now the world must fight with swords and use pack animals for transport. The Builders left behind their castles (formerly high rise buildings made of cement) and, my favorite, the "fones" they used to talk with God. Sometimes characters will even discover old weaponry that changes the outcome of a battle.

In this book, Snorri is in a darker frame of mind after losing his family and so his sense of humor is sorely missed. Two new characters are introduced. The witch, Kara, is resourceful and quite badass. We learn how the Red Queen earned her moniker and believe me she is really badass. The reader, along with Jalan, learns what happened to his mother. It is also at that moment that Jalan, hallelujah Jesus, finally finds a purpose that brings a fire to his eye; and alcohol is not involved.

I love the ending to this book. It lets me know the next will be much much better, probably even darker, if possible. But I am a die-hard Lawrence fan and look forward to it. And, maybe, just maybe Jalan will somehow earn, or at best, worm his way into gaining my respect.

I really enjoy Lawrence's writing, and the Liar's Key is a great read. It's fun, great characters, and an engaging plot. I wish the next book were coming out tomorrow. If a book makes me want to download and start the next one at 11:00 pm, the author has written a great book.

The fact that I'd tramp through the forest and fight the dead along side Jalan and Snorri should tell you just how captivating this story is. We're heading south where Snorri is on a suicide mission to locate and bring back his dead family (there's something seriously wrong with that sentence). With everyone having their own agenda, you don't know who to trust. The only thing we can be sure of is that Prince Jalan's first reaction will be to flee and hide and Snorri's will be to stand and fight. The book was well written and had moments that made me laugh out loud, not quite as funny as the first one but I don't think that this was the tone the book was taking. Serious business was happening here. The middle of the book kind of slowed down for me and Prince Jalan on his own was a slightly boring. All that talk of coins and debts left me a little cross eyed, but once we got the gang back together it picked right back up (for me) and ended with a BANG!! (Literally). I can't wait for the next installment, where I'm gong to go ahead and say "the ish will definitely be hitting the fan". I also love the small connections to the Prince of thorns series.. We all know what happened there (I hope you do) so to see some of that play out here, almost like a prequel is amazing!!

I love Lawrence's novel approach to Jarl-a hilarious character that wavers between acting like a hero an a coward. Couldn't put down the book and looking forward to number 3.

Let's bring Jorg and Jarl together!

I found this book a little harder to follow and stay engaged with. It just didn't seem as liner as the Broken Empire series. I found the wanderings of Prince Jalan odd in the full context of the story. The funny thing is when I finally finished it the ending made we want to jump right into the next book in the series only to find it isn't out yet.

Just can't like Jalen and that ruins everything.

There are some interesting ideas here a a bit of world-building I'd like to know more about. But i can't get past the main character, Jalen. Maybe he's supposed to be an anti-hero, I really can't tell. When the previous book ended, it seemed like his character might evolve and grow. But this book is just more of the same cheating, lying, self-centered, cowardly jerk. No forward progress. I stopped about 82% of the way through - it was just too tedious to read more and more pages of, basically, the same thing. Even skipping forward 5 or more pages at a time didn't help. Wherever I stopped, it was just more of the same.

I get it. He's a jerk. That's just not interesting to me. Maybe there is a plan for him later on. At this point I really don't care, which is terrible because I usually finish books.

If you can get past Jalen's character and it doesn't bother you, there are other parts that are really interesting.

Although I'm a big fan of Lawrence's thorns series this new series is incredibly hard to read. He had made the key character incredibly hard to tolerate much less like. All in all I'm incredibly disappointed.

I've never read an author as great as Mark but this last book fell slightly short of the greatness I've come to expect from the man who wrote the Jorg trilogy and Prince of fools. The plot felt a bit like it dragged along.

Clearly an in between book in a trilogy.

Has some fun stuff, some, not particularly good, action.

But, afetr all is said and done and one knows what this writer can do, this book is worth zilch.

You know when you spend a silly amount of time setting the mood for someone that is special to you. You experiment with the lighting to make sure it is just perfect, maybe light a candle so the room fills with the luscious scents of vanilla and coconut and then you put some music on and pour a drink and settle into your favourite chair. Sound familiar?

I did all that before sitting down to read The Liar’s Key. I know it’s a bit bonkers but that’s what you do when you’ve been anticipating something special for a long time and I wanted to do the equivalent of taking this book out for a nice meal so it got its due appreciation.

So I’m in my chair and I’ve got a mylar backing on the cover so my filthy human hands wont desecrate the wondrous pages before me and I open up my book.

Firstly, Mark has taken the wonderful, if unusual, step of including a few bullet points at the start to bring us up to speed. All the important bits and pieces are covered so that those that have read 20+ fantasy books involving men on a mission since Prince of Fools came out needn’t worry about mixing up any facts. High five.

How I missed Jalan and Snorri. There was an immediate sense of comfort stepping back into Jalan’s hilarious, self-deprecating, internal monologue. He rarely takes things too seriously or too personally, even when caught in a four-way love mess, and when he is inevitably beaned with a stool, he still traipses around with an ‘I probably should have seen that coming’ attitude. This light hearted approach is so endearing and also allows him to get away with saying and doing some incredibly dodgy stuff because the reader knows he approaches both sides of the coin in the same manner and prides himself on his ability to see the grey in all situations.

“I’m not one for murder. But if a whole bunch of my cousins fell off a cliff I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.”

This is not say he is this casual with the prospect of death all the time, especially his own. He flirts with unknown feelings of concern for someone weaker than himself then prides himself on his ability to outrun that person in a dangerous situation. You never know what you’re going to get with Jalan but I feel like I know what we’ll get in the end.

“The boy started to throw stones out into the water, as boys do…A few moments later I picked up a loose stone and lobbed it over Hannan’s head, out across the lake. The question was never if I would throw a stone, just when.”

Jalan is just a boy and sees himself as such, even when it becomes clear that he may have incredible potential whether earned or ordained. Yes he sees himself as a Prince too and believes he is entitled to almost anything he wants but he has no grand designs on taking over the world and would be quite happy with a big pile of money and women and drink to spend it on. One might say that having fairly base desires allows him to see the lighter side of life and it’s something that Snorri, having experienced so much of the darker side, needs; to keep him human.

“The breaking of day changes all things, Snorri. Nothing endures beyond the count of the sun. Pile a sufficient weight of mornings upon a thing and it will change. Even the rocks themselves will not outlast the morning.”

Mark has also given Jalan a natural affinity with horses. It’s not a necessary gift but one that bestows upon him something special. Horses are the most noble of animals and if, as a race, they seem to trust Jalan, and he them, it says an extraordinary amount about his inner character, something perhaps a beast can sense better than most men can see.

The magical link the binds Jalan and Snorri has weakened somewhat with the passing of time but not enough to allow them to completely separate and as the Viking heads out on his quest to find Death’s door and free his family from its cold embrace, Jalan is compelled to follow. Jalan is also now dealing with the machinations of Aslaug as the dark side of the force looks to corrupt him, his trust with Snorri and the objectives of their mission.

“Don’t trust the light Prince Jalan. The stars are pretty but the space between them is infinite and black with promise.”

Jalan is so vivid and completely realised I often found myself wondering how he would fair in other books and series. Whilst he’d be expelled and wind up a career money lender in the world of Rothfuss, I don’t think he could last long in the world of Abercrombie, some named man would chop his head off after about 20 seconds before he had time to go beserker. He could easily exist in the Game of Thrones and would be an interesting alternative to pretty much every other blonde in the series. The thought of Jalan, Tyrion and Bronn going on a quest of some sort would be an R rated example I think we’d all love to see, particularly because it seems they get all the best lines.

“Every fortune teller I ever met was a faker. First thing you should do to a soothsayer is poke them in the eye and say, ‘didn’t see that coming did you?”

Snorri is a bit like a slow moving freight train. There is no huge character development because Snorri has done all that. He knows who and what he is and like a force of nature moves through the world in a different way than most men. We are also introduced to Kara, witch in training and Hennen, future decent human being, who join the group on the quest to find Hell’s door. They are fun and interesting and provide Jalan with some different things to bounce off which is handy considering the brick wall of focus that Snorri is.

In terms of dialogue and exposition Lawrence has a masterful turn of phrase turning the mundane into the majestic with every paragraph littered with quotable tidbits.

“I couldn’t find it in myself to be sorry for the plight of the persecuted troll. Maybe if they were more fluffy.”

The hardest part about reading this book is that you will feel compelled to spend much of your time rereading passages simply to let the words wash over you again and again. You will laugh constantly at Jalan’s internal musings, cheekiness and irrepressible attempts at charm just as often as you will nod quietly in agreement upon hearing Snorri’s wisdom or find yourself smile softly at yet another of Tuttugu’s display of friendship and loyalty.

Flush with rich and memorable characters it is fantastic to finally see some of the guts of The Red Queen as being one of them. It’s her war after all and I don’t remember much of her in The Prince of Fools at all so seeing some of her origins and how she forged her reputation really adds a great deal of context. We also get more of Lady Blue, Jalan’s family and see a great deal of the Broken Empire itself. Perhaps it’s the difference in overall tone but I feel I absorb and take in more of the world seeing it through Jalan’s eyes as opposed to Jorg’s. It’s not quite as dark and heavy and where it approaches those limits we are invariably treated to Lawrence’s wry and wicked sharp sense of humour to keep the shadows at bay, a little more so than in the Thorns series.

Lawrence has done it again, providing his fans with a dark and inescapably fun ride. Prepare to lurch from laugh out loud hilarity to gut wrenching sadness, from casual disregard for fellow human beings to witnessing sacrifices that will break your heart as Mark gives us a perfect second book that, just like Jalan, is far more faceted that most. I’m already looking forward to starting it again.

I finished this book but I had to force myself to do so. I found Snorri boring and the protagonist is impossible to like. Plotwise it's one impossible escape after another... oh, a humongous wolf trashes a lodge full of vikings and your cowering in fear? Dont worry, it'll fall on your sword... next crisis, bring it on. Similar results guaranteed.
I liked the narrative style, but wont follow this tale any further.

I love Prince Jalan Kendeth, he's such a believable character and he hardly puts himself in harm's way unless overcome by his hereditary rage. I'm starting to like this series better than the last and it's basically the exact opposite of the other series. This is a great summer read and the pace is excellent. We learn a lot about Jalan's past and get to see some new regions of the broken empire with more cameos by characters from the previous trilogy.

If you haven't read the first book I suggest doing so now and if you haven't read the Prince of thorns trilogy I'd suggest reading that before this, though it's not mandatory. Just some light spoilers if you end up reading this trilogy first.

All in all Mark Lawrence blesses us with another great read that will keep you on the edge off your seat wondering what the Hell our unlikely fellowship will do with that troublesome key. The story ends on a pretty big cliff hanger also and will have you pretty bummed out we have to wait another year to find out what happens next. All I know is it seems like all Hell will break loose in the conclusion to this awesome trilogy!

... I was so excited after the first book of the series that I preordered liars key but it is just to much of the same over and over again. 3/4 of the book are about how cowardly and full of himself price Jalan is, while he gets everywhere in problems because he seduces half of the world .., and all that over and over again...

Today I will be reviewing The Liar’s Key (The Red Queen’s War Book 2) by Mark Lawrence .

I find it very hard to write reviews on books that I love as much as this one. How can I do this book any justice with my little review. I guess for starters I can congratulate Mr. Lawrence on yet another Fantastic book. Each book he writes continues to somehow exceed the others. I have given all his books 5/5 stars, and they all deserve them, and they all keep getting better! I guess I need to come up with a new rating system for his books. Maybe something like a 11/10 stars so he can say his books go up to 11! In any case maybe all I can do is tell Mr. Lawrence that this amazing piece of literary genius has helped me though a very tough month. It took me that long to read this book, it was not the books fault, I had a very limited amount of time to read. I was not lucky enough to get a ARC for this book, so I not so patently waited for my pre-order to arrive on June 2. I gleefully ripped open the package and began reading that night. I was hooked right away. After that everything kinda went to s***. Again, not the books fault, it was still fabulous! Not to go into all my problems but the two greatest women I have ever known have had a very rough time of late and I have done my best to be the best son and husband I can. Though the bad times I always had this little piece of awesome to turn to and help me escape, if even just for a few pages. I looked forward to my little bits of time when I could hang out with Jal and Snorri. So thank you Mr. Lawrence you have succeeded in changing someones life with your work (In a good way of course). I guess that is the best compliment I can give. Oh, did you see that there? I think that was a book blurb! “This book is life changing” – mightythorjrs. I can see it now on the back cover of The Wheel of Osheim (The Red Queen’s War #3) . Sorry, just dreaming there for a second. I will always have a bond with this book and author. There is a reason Mr. Lawrence is my favorite author, he simply is the best around right now. Of coarse this is my opinion, you are welcome to your own. Enough of all of this, my loyal blog readers want a review, (wait do I have any of those? I don’t think so.)

The Liar’s Key (The Red Queen’s War Book 2) has everything you have come to expect from Mark Lawrence books. He is a top notch writer and master storyteller. The man just has a way with words! The world he has built in his books is extraordinary. Deep and colorful, full of imagination, and a gritty undertone. His characters are wonderfully complex and easily identifiable. Jal and Snorri are the new odd couple, always playing off each others strength and weaknesses. This book has built upon the solid foundation of Prince of Fools (The Red Queen’s War Book 1) and takes this series to a new level. Well, I am not one for big long reviews full of synopsis and spoilers. So I guess what I wrote will have to due. I am spent. To be quite honest I am at a loss here. I had a emotional experience with this book. Was it the greatness of the book, or the hardships presented to me while reading it. Much of both I think. I am going to leave this review on that note, take my review for what you will. I will now NOT so patently wait for The Wheel of Osheim. Thank You!

5/5 STARS! (or in the special Mark Lawrence rating system 11/10 Stars!) - mightythorjrs

This review contains minor spoilers.

The Liar's Key is the second book in Lawrence's The Red Queen's War trilogy. I adored Prince of Fools which followed Jalan's escapades across The Broken Empire and therefore picked up this book as soon as I could.

The survivors from the quest to the Black Fort are Jalan, Snorri and their fat honorable Viking friend, Tuttugu. They have within their possession a magical key, known as Loki's Key and this can open any door, yet there is a lot more to this artifact than just that point.

Snorri, the honourable Norse warrior, is a man on a mission and will do anything to find information about where Death's Door can be found. His only aim is to rescue his dead family from beyond the grave and if he follows through with that ambition, he is setting himself up for a war against the armies of the deceased to achieve this. The Dead King and his minions are already tracking the group and the key. Jalan, however; wants to get himself back to the comforts, whores, drink and debauchery of Red March.

At the time of publication, this was the longest book that Lawrence had written. Unfortunately, because of this, slow traveling across the land segments drag on sometimes. These parts made this story not as "unputdownable" as the first. However, when a high octane action sequence comes into play, it often has been built up well and then the events blow the metaphorical doors of the hinges story wise. So in hindsight, the pacing "issues" lead to the last fifteen percent being breathtakingly well executed and a pleasure to read. The narrative is set up perfectly for the next book and it ends with a cliffhanger of sorts.

While the characters traverse the thousand or so miles of the world again, some new cool additions are introduced who play crucial parts. Examples being a young, intelligent beyond his years orphan, called Hennan, whom the cast meet whilst flirting dangerously close to the Wheel of Osheim - and Kara, an attractive young witch who they cross paths with when they are trying to find details about their destinies. Ah, yes. Jalan fancies her. A diverse fantasy fellowship of sorts is created.

We still follow Prince Jalan of Red March's monologue and it is a pleasure to be in his mind. In times of pressure or struggle his enthusiastic initiatives are great to follow. It is comically written to perfection as he is still the same wealthy coward, liar, and a scumbag. To heighten the depth of the history and the politics of the world, we are presented magically influenced flashback sections in which Jalan is able to open his locked and hidden away memories of his youth. A number of these scenes are tragic but highly insightful. Yet, some of the current day scenes also contain a fair amount of violence including descriptions of torture which I know is a faux pas in some readers eyes, but necessary to the narrative. Furthermore, following these dreamlike visions, he is slowly changing as a person with perhaps slightly different priorities now. These visions lead to him realizing who his ultimate arch enemy is. (Do people still have arch enemies these days?) In this already information brimming book, we also find out about the early days of the Red Queen, Silent Sister and Blue Lady which relates to the start of The Red Queen's War and gives insight to who is on which side of this Chess Game of potential destruction, what each master of the pieces hopes to obtain and also where the players currently find themselves.

I thought this story was great, the ending, the character building and the set up for The Wheel of Osheim are expertly composed. I do rank this slightly lower than the first because Prince of Fools was full of nonstop often comical action and it was a new approach for writing fantasy and how to present a hero. This seems deeper and I think the final tale will benefit from the direction Mark is taking. Highly recommended. Check out

Bed time stories contain a grain of truth, this is what the second book in the Red Queen's War trilogy shows. I love the way Mark Lawrence sets the stage for the action: we are told bits and pieces that in the end come together seamlessly. We have multiple such moments throughout his books, dialogues that seem unimportant, glimpses of the past that prepare the reader for the denouement, all in the best storyteller tradition. In this book, Loki's key, a powerful artefact we learned about early in the first book, becomes real and suddenly central to the fight for power between the red queen, the death king and the lady in blue. What matters is not the object, but how the players relate to it, thus giving us a glimpse into the characters' psyche.

Wow, talk about a lot of pressure going into a book. Due to delays with Canada Customs and Canada Post, I was late (really late) getting my copy of The Liar's Key. By the time I cracked the spine I was already aware of a slew of 5-star reviews, and even if I tried to avoid reading them beforehand, I still knew many readers who were calling this Mark Lawrence's best work to date.

Yeah, as if my own expectations weren't already high enough!

The thing is, early on, I will admit to a few shadows of doubt. It's a bigger book than the first, in terms of both scope and page count, and I felt like the first half of it dragged on a bit too long. I still enjoyed it, but I found it slowly losing that can't-put-down, must-read impetus I remembered from his other novels. By the time I hit the halfway mark a week later, with Jal and Snorri going their separate ways, I actually put it down for a few days.

Of course, this is Mark Lawrence, and I knew that my pause wouldn't be an extended one. Call it an intermission (if you will) or a palate cleanser (if you must), but a few days later I picked it back up . . . and blew through the second half in 2 days. Yes, even if I have to stop shy of calling it his best - Prince of Fools will hold onto that coveted spot for at least a little while longer - it was still a fantastic read that turned out to be just as good as anything in the Broken Empire trilogy. In fact, I'd go so far as to say the final 100 pages rival anything he's written before, with a climax that may not be quite as frenzied or action-packed as in the previous books, but which is infinitely more dramatic, and entirely satisfying on so many levels.

Oddly enough, for a book that I expected to be very much about Snorri and his quest to bring his family back from Hell, this is entirely Jal's story. In fact, Snorri is almost relegated to a background character here, overshadowed by the likes of Tuttugu, Kara, and Hennan. While they're all great characters, each with their own legitimate roles to play in the overall drama, they're most effective in illuminating some of the more noble (and inconvenient) aspects of Jal's character. As much as he likes to style himself "a liar and a cheat and a coward," we see him slowly evolve through those relationships, fighting against his better side every step of the way.

At the same time, his blood-fueled magical flashbacks both expose his heart and scar his spirit, revealing the truth about his mother, the Red Queen, the Silent Sister, Edris Dean, and more. Whereas Lawrence has always used flashbacks to enhance the story, here he tells a significant chunk of it through those dreams. They don't always make sense in the moment, and it's hard to see exactly where they're going, but when the pieces all fall into place, it's magnificent. The moment when Jal realizes the truth of his family legacy, and just how it plays into the Dead King's schemes, is definitely one of the strongest, most impactful scenes Lawrence has ever written.

Of course, Jal's growth does nothing to absolve him of his more selfish thoughts, and those deeper revelations do nothing to interrupt his sarcastic, self-serving, narrative voice. Simply put, he's a fun guy to listen to, especially when he's whining and complaining about his fate. Even in the first half of the book, where I felt the pacing dragged, Jal's voice was sufficient to keep me coming back. As for the climax, it's that voice, and his own internal monologue, that drive so much of the final scenes. It's powerful stuff, and really serves to strip him bare and reveal the truth of his character, even as it brings the key plotlines of this volume to a close.

One final word on The Liar's Key - that final paragraph, those last 27 words, may very well be the greatest cliffhanger I've ever read. I gasped, I laughed, and I threw my first in the air, ready for the promise of The Wheel of Osheim to come.

The Liar's Key by Mark Lawrence is a high fantasy adventure novel that will definitely appeal to men. It is the second book in a trilogy in the Red Queen series.

Prince Jalan is a bit of a rogue and renegade. He is prone to vices (drinking, women, and gambling), getting trapped in sticky situations, and a self-professed coward. Despite his rotten luck and his low self-esteem, he somehow has a penchant for good luck and getting out of scrapes, ultimately always landing on his feet and being hailed as a hero.

He teams up with the powerful Viking Snorri, a battle-honed swordsman of great wit and wisdom. Together they come into possession of Loki's Key, an artifact many will kill for and that will open any door in the kingdom. They must outsmart the Red Queen who has a malicious agenda of your own.

Plenty of fight scenes mixed with humor and wiliness. It really is a book that will appeal to men. Women will enjoy it too, despite the lack of female protaganists and romantic liaisons. I highly recommend readers read book one in the series first to get the full story, but in case you don't, the author did a fabulous job of providing a brief, entertaining summary of book one at the start! So you can easily start with book two and fall into the story.

Thank you to the author and publisher. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for visiting my blog,[...] where the greatest historical fiction is reviewed! For fascinating women of history bios and women's fiction please visit [...]

Short and sweet. The book was AMAZING. Start to finish this book is action as well as humour.

Usually second books are horrendously terrible. **cough Tower Lord** cough.

But like Joe Abercrombie, thar be magic in their words. I'm sure there is other auhors out there who have less than 20 plot characters... looking at you George call the E.R. Martin. That man George R. R. Martin is going to kick the bucket god forbis after he splits his 7th book into fourths.

meanwhile Abercrombie is pumping out books like a Grin dark rapture is coming.

Abercrombie - 3 books in a year and a half.
Lawrence - 2 books in roughly 2 years.
George material boy Martin - lets just say i read his first book for a song and ten million hopes on fire in 1991.

It would be true but also very misleading to say that part of me went to sleep while I was finishing the book two of the Red Queen's War. The part was my leg which, compressed against a plastic garden chair in an Italian campsite, went quite numb as I sat perfectly still racing through the last 10% or so of Mark Lawrence's latest masterpiece. Jalan Kendeth's continuing oddessy is an odd kind of quest, a most unconventional road movie, mainly because it is not a movie, involves a lot of sea, no cars and very few roads.

However, like "Rainman" or "Thelma and Louise" it features two contrasting characters with very different hopes and fears travelling towards an uncertain destiny on a journey where they acquire a variety of more or less permanent hangers on and adversaries.

It is Mark Lawrence's longest book to date. It is also a book where I, like many of his fans, can feel a real sense of personal contribution. This is a book title that we got to vote on! - and yes "The Liar's Key" was the one I put my mark against.

The Liar's Key continues the elements we have seen in all of Mark's work to date. There is an inventiveness that underpins everything, the writing, the characters, the plots, sub-plots and side-plots. The rich soil of the fantasy genre is a perfect ground on which to sow seeds of such imagination. Jalan carries us smoothly from tragedy to comedy and back again, describing the worlds and the peoples with such a vibrant voice that the reader has to forgive him his cowardice, his greed, his faithlessness, his immorality, his cruelty to his rivals and his utter self-centredness, .

Well it is perhaps a little unfair to suggest that Jal is completely without redeeming features (Is blond a redeeming feature?) However, blood is thicker than water and travelling alongside Jal we discover, much as and when he discovers it, that there is a buried past to him and to his family. There is a particular charm in watching him revisit the innocence of his own youth and the guilt of his grandmother's. The weaving of the past and the present timelines is deftly done and exposes the nature of The Red Queen's War, you might call it the ultimate war.

Mark's writing remains as brilliant as ever. A few deft brushstrokes of words that paint a picture more completely than many a writer might manage in several pages. And then there are the descriptions that stretch out the mundane with a poetic lyricism. What might in one book be, "The land gradually disappeared over the horizon" in Mark's hands becomes,

"I hung at the Errensa's stern, watching Norseheim diminish behind us, compressed between sea and sky into a dark and serrated line. Then just a line. Then imagination. And finally memory."

Jal has his moments of pure comedy, a sex scene rendered in evocative but not explicit prose which quickly highlights some of the perils of love in a cold climate. Then there are the many enemies who Jal so carelessly offends and whose clutches he struggles to elude leading to an abortive duel scene which reminded me of Sir Andrew Aguecheek's ineffective sword twirling in Twelfth Night.

The plot swirls and reforms around the central artefact, the liar's key, which can open any door (provided you can find the door) and which carries a curse such that even those who yearn for it, fear to steal it. Occasionally some old friends and enemies from the Broken Empire trilogy fall into the Jal's orbit, like comets sending out a brilliant tail and then flying off to be hidden in the greater darkness of Jorg's story.

There are references to the world of the builders, a world we might recognise as our own, with plasteek and fones on which bishops attempt to talk to God, though I reckon the signal strength might be less than I enjoyed on an Italian campsite. The object intended to test their faith also promised a rather extreme form of excommunication should they succumb to its temptation. I also liked the motif that even a gifted seer can either foresee the future or change it, but cannot do both. The idea appealed to the physicist in me stirring resonances with Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, or even the simple fact that so often taking a measurement changes the measurement. And having read Mark's Jorg short story "Select Mode" I was delighted to see a builder's world effect from that make its presence felt in this book.

The bond that tied Snorri and Jal together is a little looser in this book than its predecessor and so we see less of Snorri than we might. Prince of Fools in some ways resembled a story of two convicts on the run, handcuffed together by a force they could not break. In the Liar's Key they are more able to separate and spend time apart and, as Jal at times loses sight of Snorri, so do we. But Jal is an entertaining companion in his own right, finding scrapes he must extract himself from without the benefit of Snorri's muscular forearms.

With Jal so often in the driving seat of his own life you can be sure that things will run far from smoothly and certainly not like clockwork!

(Spoilers for Prince of Fools are below).

The Liar’s Key is Mark Lawrence’s best effort to date. Where most fantasy authors seem to struggle with writing second installments, Lawrence does everything you’re supposed to do right. Characters grow and become more complex, the stakes are raised, and the workings of the world brings new understanding to the challenges its characters will be facing. This book will not only be important to understanding the decisions the characters make within this trilogy, but it will likely explain a lot of the decisions future characters make in future stories that Lawrence decides to tell in this world.

Shortly after obtaining Loki’s Key, a key that can unlock any door, Snorri and Jalan, plus Snorri’s old friend Tuttugu are off once again. This time Snorri is looking to unlock the door to death in the hopes that he can bring his family back into the world of the living. The key is highly sought after, and the Dead King along with various other powerful beings including the Red Queen’s arch-nemesis the Blue Lady won’t stop hunting it’s carriers.

Snorri and Jalan are traveling companions again, and that is again the focus of the majority of the plot. New characters join them on this journey, and together they form a group that’s sort of like the Fellowship of the Ring, except everyone in this Fellowship has their own selfish or desperate agendas. The two new prominent characters include an orphan boy named Hennan whom Jalan teaches his messed up value system to, and how to cheat at cards; and a witch named Kara … whom of course of Jalan wants to seduce.

Jalan Kendeth – jerk that he is – continues to remain a (mostly) likeable character. His logical reasoning via internal monologues are hilarious in a “that’s so wrong,” sort of way. Stealing from friends, hitting women, insulting poor people, taking the virtue of fathers’ daughters, vandalizing property, and abandoning friends in times of dire need … that’s our protagonist, need I say more. What really amazes me, of Lawrence’s two major characters in the Broken Empire – Jorg and Jalan – Jalan is easily the most moral of the two. Despite his long list of shortcomings, Jalan becomes a lot more multidimensional. He learns about the importance of friendship, loyalty, and responsibility. The best part though is Lawrence sets limits to how much Jalan can learn, so he never starts to become altruistic in any sort of way.

The past is explored a lot more thoroughly in this book as Jalan is gifted some visions from the past that feature his grandmother, the Red Queen. You can expect to learn about how she obtained that moniker, what her relationship with Jalan’s mother was like, and how her rivalry with the Blue Lady began – all great anecdotes. As a peripheral character the Red Queen is easily one of the most fascinating in Lawrence’s world. Her limited page time has you craving more, but it understandably adds to the tension and her enigmatic aura.

It’s been mentioned before, but it’s really hard to deny now – especially with a plot where the main character is searching for their family in death – how much this reminds me of Garth Nix’s Abhorsen Trilogy. I loved that trilogy, and with the way Lawrence writes, I expect there will be some very emotionally gratifying series’ of moments about death in the future. After the cliffhanger that ends this book, I don’t see how anyone won’t be eagerly awaiting the final installment.

The one-word review: AMAZEBALLS!

The two-word review: SUPER AMAZEBALLS!

The full-length review:

This is the second book in the Red Queen trilogy. This review may contain unintentional spoilers for the first book.

By happenstance --or perhaps someone's complex machinations-- Jal and Snorri now possess Loki's key, one said to open any and all doors. Many desire this key and would stop at nothing to get it. Some want it to rule the world, some to destroy it, others for some yet unknown purpose. Snorri intends to use the key to open Death's door and get his family back. Jal wants nothing to do with the key and its inherent dangers, wanting nothing but the resumption to his largely hedonistic lifestyle. This is problematic insofar as Jal and Snorri are still supernaturally linked and Snorri's resolve is strong as iron.

The quest for Death's door leads our heroes to witches and trolls, caves and other hidden places, into doors that magically appear and disappear, even prison. But though Jal and Snorri embark on this quest of their own accord --albeit Jal less enthusiastically-- it is entirely possible that they are actually being manipulated by unseen forces. Even more dangerous is the likelihood that the door they will find opens the way to other than what they seek but rather leads to even greater peril and even destruction or, at the very least, unintended consequences. It also bears noting that the key was fashioned by Loki, trickster extraordinaire, who might be misleading everyone about its function for no reason other than his own amusement.

Jal and Snorri continue to have excellent rapport-- they complement and challenge one another, continue to be the other's foil. Their new companions, Tuttugu and Kara especially, complement the pair even further. They bring out the best –and worst—in each other. All of the characters become more self-aware because of their interaction, particularly their disagreements and differences.

More importantly, THE LIAR'S KEY reveals many events in Jal's past he has no recollection of, had forgotten or deliberately obfuscated. Jal gains new understanding of old events or knowledge where he previously had none. They will provide Jal with his own motivations to pursue the quest though he remains largely hesitant. Circumstances may yet make a hero of the lovable rascal. Or not, if leopards indeed can't change their spots. Only time will tell.

You cannot possibly ask more of a middle book in a series. In fact, I believe THE LIAR'S KEY is a tremendous book in and of itself and better in many respects than its already laudable predecessor. The humor is sharper than Snorri's axe, more beguiling than Jal's syrupy charms, more subtle and finessed than the Silent Sister's schemes. The bit of tongue in cheek with the names of people, places and things also continues to amuse. The story proceeds swiftly yet still remains largely veiled and mysterious and the same air of mystery surrounds many characters—you can never be certain about their true intent. Finally, of course, we continue to be regaled by Mark Lawrence's lyrical prose and touching insights:

On the prevalence of lies: “What if at the core, if you dug deep enough, uncovered every truth...what if at the heart of it all. .. there was a lie, like a worm at the centre of the apple, coiled like Oroborus, just as the secret of men hides coiled at the centre of each piece of you, no matter how fine you slice? Wouldn't that be a fine joke now?”

“A lie can run deeper than strength or wisdom.”

On the nature of man: “The world is shaped by mankind's desires and fears. A war of hope against dread, waged upon a substrate that man himself made malleable though he has long forgotten how. All men and all men's works stand on feet of clay, waiting to be formed and reformed, forged by fear into monsters from the dark core of each soul, waiting to rend the world asunder.”

“A man casts a million shadows, and yet you trap him within such a singular opinion. xxx The wise come into their majority out in the world, amid the muck and pain of living.”

“Throw away too much of your past and you abandon the person who walked those days. When you pare away at yourself you can reinvent, that's true enough, but such whittling always seems to reveal a lesser man, and promises to leave you nothing at the end.”

On the passage of time: “Time still heals all wounds, for now. And the scars left behind are our legacy of remembrance. But pick at it and it will fester and consume you.”

“The breaking of day changes all things, Snorri. Nothing endures beyond the game of the sun. Pile a sufficient weight of mornings upon a thing and it will change. Even the rocks themselves will not outlast the morning.”

On the pain of loss: “Sixty beats of a heart would be enough. If I could hold them. Let them know I came for them no matter what stood in my way. It would be enough. Sixty beats of a heart past that door would outweigh sixty years in this world without them.”

“Anything I had to say seemed shallow beside the depth of his grief. Words are awkward tools at best, too blunt for delicate tasks.”

I was two-thirds of the way into the book on a Sunday evening. I was bug-eyed and tired yet I pressed on beyond a reasonable hour. I finished reading THE LIAR'S KEY past two o'clock in the morning. I might have mourned the lack of sleep but I would have regretted putting the book down even more. Indeed, I might have lost sleep anyway surmising its conclusion had I stopped. This book calls out to you in those moments you are constrained to put it down. Its lines haunt you long after you have noted them. It strains your patience when you reach the final page and become only too aware that a year must pass before the last book. It is THAT good.

And that is no lie.

Well five nights and the first two books of the red queens war done. These are can't stop reading books. A buddy cop movie mixed with high fantasy with one coward of legend who stumbles and struggles but ends up a hero most of the time, paired with the ultra hero of most early fantasy.

Great characters, real motivations, interesting first person story telling with mechanisms to see the larger world. A world we have seen before sorta with post apocalyptic new magic construsts. It's a classic seen in the likes of Shanaraa but done differently.

Well worth the money.

I didn't think it was better or worse than the first book. It is still very original (you don't know what's going to happen next) and that's not easy to find. I've bought the third book and depending on how the series ends I'll decide if the series was worth it. It's entertaining, but it's not one of those books you savour every page and it doesn't matter what happens in the next book because in itself the book was amazing (like The Way of Kings or The Black Prism).

I finished The Liar's Key - brilliant, totally brilliant. I find myself totally warmed to Jal compared to Jorg. Jorg was so easily influenced even if it wasn't obvious to him but even though Jal is a total coward and with all his faults he's a smart one! The power that he and Snorri hold! Mark, you are so consistant with your characters, they flow from one book to another with ease helping the reader to do the same. I find myself having great conversations with the borrowers in my library who follow me in reading both series!

Part two of The Red Queens War, The Liars Key was such an awesome read. i thought going from Jorg to Jalan would be a disaster after reading the blurb when i preordered Price Of Fools and i was wrong.
the broken empire series is awesome and somehow got me to like a protaginist that i hated for the first two chapters, although i had to skip the scene of animal cruelty (used to punish the protagonist, jorg). i know thats odd in a book full of people being harmed in every way imaginable, but blame society. im saying, read the other series before or after and dont let these books' notoriety put you off, the violence is never corny or a cry for attention and is somehow needed to portray one of the greatest sci-fi/fantasy universes ive ever seen.
i just seem to like the red prince and snorris point of view in this well done, multiple persective series. i relate with the red prince more. jorgs side of the story is more out of control but also informative, this side of the story is a little happier, both equally good.
the author, mark lawerence, is very gifted. other authors have tried to do this type of ultra violent stuff and come off as too offensive and shock jocky (?) and its because it is a hard format to balance. on top of the slow maturing of the characters there is also a world building going on that any scifi or fantasy fan will CRAVE to learn about.
I love The Red Queens War series, and i hope to see a series from Blue Queens theater, the dead kings view of things, one from florence and kelem...i hope these books keep coming till the author dies.
thank you Mark Lawrence for making me like fantasy books again. also, thanks to a friend of mine for forcing me to give The Prince Of Thorns a shot. A little uncomfortable at first, sure, but its nice to find books that make me feel anything.

I have to confess I haven't finished the book but judging by some of the reviews on here that doesn't seem to matter. I must be a poor reader because even though I enjoy a Mark Lawrence tale I can't charge through a tomb of that size and review in a week, if I wasn't enjoying it I dare say it would take me much much longer. I am a big fan of Marks work and will add a full review of the book when I have had time to fully ingest, inhale (depends how hungery I am) the whole story, probably while I am fully in my cups ( I find I am at my most sincere at these times) loafing around the hotel pool in Tenerife next week. So far the books great, plenty yucky stuff going on and love the Jalism so far, if I had one criticism Snorri hasn't chopped nearly enough people up yet but he is going through some "issues" and it's early doors yet :)

First I am a fan of this author and this genre; that being said however, this book reminds me of a hamster stuck on his wheel, The story centers on Prince Jal and his constant "lessons" in being ??? What? A ruler? A good man? How about someone who doesn't keep on being a whiny snide idiot in every single scene - and yet - always manages to escape, not by his own lies, but usually by some one unknowingly coming to his aid. The second problem with the book is how preachy it reads. The author is talented, but Jal's predicaments are a bucket list of social mores, personal morals, and levels of responsibility all which Jal refuses to face without some type of outside force compelling him. "OHH, grandma, oh Snorri, Save me!" OK, so he is growing up, right? Not so far and not fast enough in my opinion. Maybe in the third book...

I love this series. The protagonist, Jalan, reminds me a bit of Flashman. He's a reluctant hero who would rather be drinking and wenching than saving anyone, with the exception of his own skin. This series is both exciting and funny. Very endearing characters.

I love this series, even more than The Prince of Thorns trilogy. The Broken Empire is fast becoming my favourite fantasy world. It's full of those 'magic eye poster' moments that when you get it, you want to turn to the person next to you and explain why it's so amazing (they of course just stare at you blankly like you're a raving nutter). Just starting the Wheel of Osheim and have a feeling I'll be reading it very slowly to prolong it's inevitable end. Brilliant series.

Highly recommended to those who enjoy adventure. These books flow like a movie. You don't get the full picture right away, but learn more as you read. Almost to the point where you think you've missed something along the way. But Marc never keeps you guessing for long and you find yourself learning along with the characters said if you are the main role. Even though Jalin is so vastly different from Jorg in the last series, I have lost zero interest in the world they inhabit and can't wait to start the last book.

This was brilliant. I may not have read many novels released in 2015 yet, but "The Liar's Key" is currently at the top of my list. That puts it in an excellent spot, as it somehow managed to leap over books by two of my favorite authors.

Prince Jalan is one of the most compelling, deep, and unique characters I've come across. "Outside the box" protagonists seems to be one of Lawrence's greatest strengths, and it sets him apart from most of the field. Having read books one and two in the last week, I'm now stuck waiting, waiting, and waiting for the next one.
Is it out yet?
How about now?

Damnation.

Tremendous adventure, laugh-out-loud banter, captivating magic and plot, written in Mark Lawrence’s beautiful and elegant trademark prose. I would call The Liar’s Key his lightest, funniest and most entertaining book so far. Amazing.

The first Lawrence trilogy turned me into a huge fan, and he continues to impress with each new release.
Jorg Ancrath was a stellar character but Snorri and Jalan are just a fabulous team. There's so much subtle humor in every line that you sometimes forget the deep and dark mythology, such complex and compelling conworlding going on here.
It's not just great grimdark, it's up there with the best fantasy being written today.

Great read. I love the characters and the plot. It moved fast and had lots of action. I have read all of Mark Lawrences' work and love it all. He is a talented writer who specializes in character development. Can't wait for the next installment.

Absolutely Brilliant Sequel. Mark Lawrence gets better and better.
Jarl and Snorri are the best and perhaps the most reluctant duo i have ever read about.
Well worth reading i recommend it to all.