What do you think?
Rate this book
King of the World
The year is 2022, and time is running out.
The Earth is heating up at an alarming rate. Governments are corrupt and terrorism abounds. More nations are on the brink of war than at any other time in history, and fear riddles the planet. The Group of Five are fed up, and they’re doing something about it. In their quest to usher in a new way, the Group of Five is seeking to elect a true king, one who can restore balance to the world. Will they find a suitable king in time, or will political corruption and the Earth’s imminent destruction win out?
KOTW is available at Amazon, Apple iBooks & www.themoonabove.com.
The Earth is heating up at an alarming rate. Governments are corrupt and terrorism abounds. More nations are on the brink of war than at any other time in history, and fear riddles the planet. The Group of Five are fed up, and they’re doing something about it. In their quest to usher in a new way, the Group of Five is seeking to elect a true king, one who can restore balance to the world. Will they find a suitable king in time, or will political corruption and the Earth’s imminent destruction win out?
KOTW is available at Amazon, Apple iBooks & www.themoonabove.com.
- GenresScience Fiction
552 pages, Paperback
First published February 15, 2015
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 16, 2015
This book is set in the near future with realistic world turmoil and conflicts. A king of the world will be chosen to fix all the world's problems. I found this concept a little strange. The pacing was slow and I had a hard time getting immersed in the story. I wasn't finding the characters that sympathetic. I thought the writing was good but I was getting bogged down by all the expository details. 3 stars.
November 28, 2020
I wasn’t able to finish this. After the only female candidate was dismissed from consideration for prioritizing gender equality, and the sole candidate left suggested terrorists could be stopped by the media calling them “cowardly murderers”, I just couldn’t go on anymore.
November 25, 2019
Love the premise of the book. Sadly the author had no idea what to do with it. One part plot, 2 parts political ramblings, 2 parts repetitive political ramblings. This should have been a short story (a very short story). The same ideas are presented over and over and over again. Don't bother.
March 23, 2015
Against a long lists of Dystopias (like Hunger Games and Insurgent) Coleman has written a Utopian look at the future. Based on the ending of the book this is a projected series, but the length is probably based on the reaction to the first book. It is a successor to such late nineteenth century novels “Erewhon” and “Looking Backwards” and the twentieth century novels of Ursula K LeGuin. The hardest part of writing a Utopian novel is the cynicism of the twenty-first century, so that it doesn’t read as a satire.
Everything begins with the formation of a philanthropic group set-up by five of the richest people in the world, who become known as the “Group of Five” (always referred to in italics). They are the ultimate do-gooders who combine their resources to put together projects to combat hunger, poverty and illiteracy. But they want to make a much bigger impact on the world, then just a hodge-podge of programs.
They come up with the idea of electing a “King of the World” who will help to channel the resources spent on the world’s militaries, into massive programs to create desalinization plants to provide ‘clean’ water to everyone, programs to eradicate disease, and free education for everyone through University. In some ways it mimics the positive side of Robert Heinlein’s “A Stranger in a Strange Land”. Using the internet they plan to present three candidates to the world but settle on one amazing man by the name of Emmet Comanche Constitution Madison Taylor.
With the amazing amount of resources the GO5 buy a piece of Mongolia and set-up their own city-state of Augusta. They use the best and the brightest to build and run their city plus a small army to protect their state. Of course there have to be bad guys who want to stop this vote for KOTW, and they are China, Russia, USA, Britain, Venezuela and others. The pro- countries are India (which now has a veto in the Security Council), Sweden and Thailand. Strangely, African is hardly ever mentioned.
Once there is the announcement of the campaign, the bad guys plan all kinds of ways to prevent the vote from happening and to assassinate Emmett. This is where it bogs down into polemics about the problems of the world and some radical solutions. (India and Pakistan will play a cricket match every ten years to determine who controls Kashmir.) On many occasions the rhetoric gets into some flights of fantasy that would make Alice, Dorothy and Polyanna seem like depressives. The end of the book states “The Beginning”.
NOTE: KOTW is published by “The Moon Above, Pte Ltd” based in Singapore. The company is owned by Randall Coleman.
Zeb Kantrowitz zworstblog.blogspot.com
Everything begins with the formation of a philanthropic group set-up by five of the richest people in the world, who become known as the “Group of Five” (always referred to in italics). They are the ultimate do-gooders who combine their resources to put together projects to combat hunger, poverty and illiteracy. But they want to make a much bigger impact on the world, then just a hodge-podge of programs.
They come up with the idea of electing a “King of the World” who will help to channel the resources spent on the world’s militaries, into massive programs to create desalinization plants to provide ‘clean’ water to everyone, programs to eradicate disease, and free education for everyone through University. In some ways it mimics the positive side of Robert Heinlein’s “A Stranger in a Strange Land”. Using the internet they plan to present three candidates to the world but settle on one amazing man by the name of Emmet Comanche Constitution Madison Taylor.
With the amazing amount of resources the GO5 buy a piece of Mongolia and set-up their own city-state of Augusta. They use the best and the brightest to build and run their city plus a small army to protect their state. Of course there have to be bad guys who want to stop this vote for KOTW, and they are China, Russia, USA, Britain, Venezuela and others. The pro- countries are India (which now has a veto in the Security Council), Sweden and Thailand. Strangely, African is hardly ever mentioned.
Once there is the announcement of the campaign, the bad guys plan all kinds of ways to prevent the vote from happening and to assassinate Emmett. This is where it bogs down into polemics about the problems of the world and some radical solutions. (India and Pakistan will play a cricket match every ten years to determine who controls Kashmir.) On many occasions the rhetoric gets into some flights of fantasy that would make Alice, Dorothy and Polyanna seem like depressives. The end of the book states “The Beginning”.
NOTE: KOTW is published by “The Moon Above, Pte Ltd” based in Singapore. The company is owned by Randall Coleman.
Zeb Kantrowitz zworstblog.blogspot.com
March 29, 2015
Thank you to NetGalley and Greenleaf Book Group for giving me a copy of this book to read and give my honest review.
When I first started the book, this group of five were talking about a one King World...only one leader. My first thought was "Is the illuminati trying to brainwash us?" The first 50% of the book seemed to repeat the same things over and over again (hence the 4 of 5). People were complaining that they couldn't get into it. Mr. Coleman really hits his stride with the second half of the book. It gets white knuckle, the writing is more confident, I couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen next, and I HAD to find out what happened at the end.
There are 5 people in the book who each had a horrendous experience in their early lives. Individually, each invests wisely and become philanthropists jho come together to try to make the world a better place. They searched for years and years trying to find 3 candidates who would make a good king for the people of the world to vote for. They only find one: perfect boy next door, can speak most of the major world languages, and can charm the pants off of a scarecrow. They all go around the world in 60 days promoting the idea of each person ages 15 and over to vote: for a one king, utopian world; or keep their world leaders who are corrupt and untrustworthy. That makes for some pretty angry presidents, prime ministers, and other high ranking officials who obsess over one thing: to retaliate.
That is the story given to us. However, Mr. Coleman certainly meant to shine a light on us, right now. We allowed the governments of the world tell us what our rights are, take away our liberties, our say; and we have become complacent. In the book it says "they just watch T.V.!" It is a call to arms: take back our country as it is ours! I tell you, this book really makes you ponder "what if.."
"What if this........then what are the consequences". Mr. Coleman means for us to get the message: enough is enough already! He practically spells it out for all of us to stop being so uninvolved that we all just don't care anymore. I can't stop thinking about this book and its' blatant, in your face message. I love it! I will read it again, that is for sure!
When I first started the book, this group of five were talking about a one King World...only one leader. My first thought was "Is the illuminati trying to brainwash us?" The first 50% of the book seemed to repeat the same things over and over again (hence the 4 of 5). People were complaining that they couldn't get into it. Mr. Coleman really hits his stride with the second half of the book. It gets white knuckle, the writing is more confident, I couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen next, and I HAD to find out what happened at the end.
There are 5 people in the book who each had a horrendous experience in their early lives. Individually, each invests wisely and become philanthropists jho come together to try to make the world a better place. They searched for years and years trying to find 3 candidates who would make a good king for the people of the world to vote for. They only find one: perfect boy next door, can speak most of the major world languages, and can charm the pants off of a scarecrow. They all go around the world in 60 days promoting the idea of each person ages 15 and over to vote: for a one king, utopian world; or keep their world leaders who are corrupt and untrustworthy. That makes for some pretty angry presidents, prime ministers, and other high ranking officials who obsess over one thing: to retaliate.
That is the story given to us. However, Mr. Coleman certainly meant to shine a light on us, right now. We allowed the governments of the world tell us what our rights are, take away our liberties, our say; and we have become complacent. In the book it says "they just watch T.V.!" It is a call to arms: take back our country as it is ours! I tell you, this book really makes you ponder "what if.."
"What if this........then what are the consequences". Mr. Coleman means for us to get the message: enough is enough already! He practically spells it out for all of us to stop being so uninvolved that we all just don't care anymore. I can't stop thinking about this book and its' blatant, in your face message. I love it! I will read it again, that is for sure!
April 5, 2015
In the near future, there is a group of very rich people who want to change the world in a good way. They are a committee that decides a king of the world would be the way to end all the problems of the world such as terrorism, famine, etc. how? The king would be elected by the citizens of the earth. They interview several candidates as they want two for the election, but end up with only one. It is also decided that they must have their own country that the king can safely live in. What characteristics and qualities must the king have? Will the king be able to turn the world into an utopia?
The novel is fascinating to read. It has interesting thought and ideas of how to improve the peoples lives. The novel is fantastical science fiction in that it is in the future and what does happen in this novel. I am glad that I had the chance to read it.
Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book free from the author/publisher from Netgalley. I was not obliged to write a favorable review, or even any review at all. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
The novel is fascinating to read. It has interesting thought and ideas of how to improve the peoples lives. The novel is fantastical science fiction in that it is in the future and what does happen in this novel. I am glad that I had the chance to read it.
Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book free from the author/publisher from Netgalley. I was not obliged to write a favorable review, or even any review at all. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
June 2, 2015
I won this on Good Reads.
King of the World has got to be one of the best books I’ve ever read! I am absolutely blown away. Randal Coleman absolutely nails how political/world leaders would react if there is a serious threat to their power and control. King of the World is the story of “The Group of Five”; a very, very rich group of philanthropists who have been trying to solve hunger, poverty, education, and equality issues for many years. Finding their efforts to help around the world blocked or hindered to some extent they decide that no government is strong and uncorrupt enough to actually make significant changes. Their solution is to elect a king to rule the whole world and that all countries will have to function under the oversight of the king. This is the story from the conception of the idea to the election for king. Randal Coleman illustrates just how far the corrupt and powerful will go to stay on top. Five big stars for this book.
King of the World has got to be one of the best books I’ve ever read! I am absolutely blown away. Randal Coleman absolutely nails how political/world leaders would react if there is a serious threat to their power and control. King of the World is the story of “The Group of Five”; a very, very rich group of philanthropists who have been trying to solve hunger, poverty, education, and equality issues for many years. Finding their efforts to help around the world blocked or hindered to some extent they decide that no government is strong and uncorrupt enough to actually make significant changes. Their solution is to elect a king to rule the whole world and that all countries will have to function under the oversight of the king. This is the story from the conception of the idea to the election for king. Randal Coleman illustrates just how far the corrupt and powerful will go to stay on top. Five big stars for this book.
April 8, 2015
The Earth is nearing destruction,governments are corrupt and terrorism abounds. Many nations are on the brink of war and fear riddles the planet. The Group of Five are fed up, and they’re doing something about it by seeking the election of a true king to restore balance. I thought the premise was unique and loved the idea of everyone being involved in decisions that impact the world through common vote. I also liked the king chosen and thought the characters were interesting. On the flip side there was to much description early on in the book and I found myself skipping sections to get to the action and the ending more quickly. I think it would have been stronger with less details and more actions but liked the unique story line. It is not a book I would read again but it is unique.
April 22, 2015
This was good. It had a lot of interesting ideas. Basically, a corporation of sorts (maybe a holding company is a better description) decides to elect a king of the world in order to solve all of the problems of the world. Obviously, the current governments and all of the corresponding politicians aren't terribly keen on the idea. So they do a tour of the world and various governments attempt to assassinate the proposed future king. If you aren't too keen on the way the world is run currently, this is the book for you.
March 26, 2015
When I started this book I was actually grinning as I read it. The ideas in the book, more so than the story, just made me think if only. The title pretty much is the story, a group of very intelligent rich group of five people decides the world needs a king with all good intentions. They find their candidate and the campaigning begin. You have to read it to know more, it's worth it. Towards the end it got a little preachy but exciting ending and you can tell there will be more.
June 8, 2015
Very cool concept. Part political essay part spy movie. It was a doozy to read and I, like others, felt like he spent a lot of time reiterating how the concept would work, which is important to a point, but it became redundant. I really wanted to know what happened, so it became a big page turner. Smart and original ideas.
May 22, 2015
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. I really liked the idea behind this book, I mean who wouldn't want free health care, college education and no personal taxes? The writing was great, and it was a good book, but it just seemed too long and drawn out to me. I felt like it was a couple hundred pages too long. That being said, it was a good read and I liked the message.
June 9, 2015
Received a free copy from NetGalley
I must say I loved this book! The characters were well written and had great suspense until the very end. It was impossible for me to put down. I would suggest this as a great read to everyone. I vote Emmet Thomas.
I must say I loved this book! The characters were well written and had great suspense until the very end. It was impossible for me to put down. I would suggest this as a great read to everyone. I vote Emmet Thomas.
May 28, 2015
The Earth is headed for Disaster and Destruction. The Group of Five must choose a King and stop the chaos before its too late. Riveting and Suspensful. A GOOD READ. THANK YOU GOODREADS FOR THIS FREE BOOK
Want to read
October 28, 2016I received this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways. It is autographed.
March 31, 2015
Here is my review http://www.amazon.com/review/R2VCBPIT...
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews