Reviews with content warning for Grief - Witch King

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Witch King by Martha Wells

21 reviews

mmmicah's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

THE CRUELEST THING ABOUT THIS BOOK IS THAT THERE ISN'T MORE. MS WELLS I NEEED MOREEEEE!!!

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saracat's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I loved so many of the ideas in this book, especially concerning demons. I have never come across demons written in this way before, though it's possible Wells drew inspiration from somewhere specific.

I really liked the main character as well, Kai. Though, there were some characters with similar names that I often got confused. And while trying to remember and keep track of so many characters that weren't in the majority of the book was hard, I didn't think you could tell a story like this without a large cast of characters.

Towards the end when things began to get resolved, revealed, and brought to a close, there were some cases where it felt like bits and pieces I remembered fell into place. But for a few, I couldn't recall even hints about certain things and it felt like completely new revelations. However, halfway through reading this book I had a lot of life stuff happen so there was a 3~4 period where I didn't make progress on the book. So it's possible I just forgot some details.

I would like to read this again and see if I pick up on more of the hints and clues throughout the book leading to the conclusions the characters come to at the end.

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wardenred's review

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adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

“Why is everyone so afraid of demons?”

It's curious how each individual aspect of this book is pretty much exactly up my alley, but the whole they form left me vaguely unsatisfied. The beginning hooked me pretty hard: a classic in media res opening that felt like starting a new tv show with the first episode of season two; a soul-sucking, body-snatching demon trying to figure out who betrayed him and where his companions went; a few cool subversions of minor fantasy tropes along the way; evocative descriptions; immersive vibes. For the first quarter of the book or so, I genuinely enjoyed how the flashback storyline intermeshed with the plot in the present time. There were plenty of interesting, fleshed out characters with a complex web of relationships between them and smart, quippy moments of dialogue.

However, the deeper I went into the story, the harder it was to sustain that immersion. The world continued to be interesting and cleverly built. The characters remained complex and compelling, in theory. In practice, I was finding harder and harder to connect to them, possibly because of the two different arcs (the past and the present) running alongside each other. I kept waiting for certain gaps between the two storylines to be filled, but they never quite went there, and there were a couple of plot threads that felt practically abandoned, even though technically, the events that needed to happen to wrap them up did happen. The emotional payoff, however, just wasn't present, as if something important was missing each time between the set-up and the conclusion.

Upon some thinking, I suspect that part of my dissatisfaction comes from not forming expectations correctly. I'm not even sure what I expected, exactly, but I just thought I'd be more engaged with Kai in the present storyline. But for the most part in the present, he's the sort of character who's already peaked and now is figuring out where to get the will to go on. It doesn't help that the present-time plot is fairly straightforward to the point that it's barely enough to sustain a novel. The depth comes from the various side characters who, by virtue of being side characters, don't get to take the center stage, and from the storyline that unfolds in the flashbacks—and has the ingrained flaw of the reader knowing how it ends before it even begins.

This is definitely the kind of story that's focused on the journey above the destination, and I'm normally all for it. But the further I read, the more disconnected I felt from that journey, and I still struggle to formulate why. So far, my best guess is that the things that would hook me the most into the characters' stories and inner worlds were glossed over or kept silent. There were some moments that really stuck with me: Ziede and Kai's moment of "how it started, how it's going" reminiscence, or that instance when Kai heard of how his relationship with Bashasa was perceived from the outside and reflected on how it truly was in that regard, or Kai's interaction with his mother. All of those exchanges were ripe with emotional weight and history that I longed to see the story properly delve into. Instead, those things that would have truly hooked me were stuck existing between the lines. In general, I just think that for my taste, too much was missing/assumed about the character and relationship development.

I did enjoy a lot of narrative threads here, and even more so the worldbuilding. In particular, I loved the themes of what happens to the world after it gets saved/rebuilt, the post-revolution instability, and the anti-imperial ideas. I also, being me, wholeheartedly appreciated how queernormative this setting is, and I found Wells's take on demons super refreshing. While the magic system and some other aspects of the worldbuilding had me confused for a long time, I felt like the key points came together quite naturally by the end and I definitely prefer this sort of organic immersion to infodumps. And I'll be definitely thinking more about the dual narrative structure here and all the ways it did and didn't work for me in the coming days.

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skudiklier's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

The only Martha Wells I've read is the Murderbot series, and in a lot of ways this was quite different from that, so I really didn't know what I was getting myself into. And honestly there was a period in the beginning where I was worried I wouldn't like the book and thought about DNFing. But I'm glad I stuck with it because in the end I really enjoyed it.

You just sort of land in the middle of things without a lot of context in the beginning, so it can be hard to follow, especially with the time jumps. But I think it all came together really well and I cared about the characters and was engaged in the story. That said, I do think if I hadn't been reading an audiobook, I would have struggled more. It probably would have taken me a lot longer to read it.

All in all I'd definitely recommend this to anyone interested, especially if you like Wells's writing or if you like fantasy more broadly. However, if you're just looking for more Murderbot, you might be disappointed. I wasn't though, and I'm glad I read it.

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julesadventurezone's review against another edition

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adventurous reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

The worldbuilding is very thick, so much so that even on a reread i haven't grasped all of it. Despite that I had a lovely time reading this book again, and found myself quite captivated, especially by the storyline set in the past. The main character Kai is so compelling and i love both his arcs.
My favourite relationship was

between Kai and Bashasa, who have this very fun desperate allies to mutual respect to tender friendship to possibly future lovers dynamic.

Kai and Ziede I didn't really care for until late in the book, when

she helped him bury his former body.

Ziede is very cool but I feel like for a main character she was a little underdeveloped.

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stephaniemcuervo's review

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adventurous challenging medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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scifi_rat's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

Plot: 4★
Prose: 4★
Pace: 3.75★
Concept/Execution: 4★/5★
Characters: 4.5★
Worldbuilding: 4★
Ending: 4.25★

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alisonvh's review

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Not sure I should have listened to this one on audio. There’s so much world building and jumping back and forth in time that I had a hard time keeping track of the plot and all the different characters.

That said, once I got into it, I really enjoyed it. It’s fast paced, action packed, smart, and had me laughing out loud throughout the book. All things at which Martha Wells excels.

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bookcheshirecat's review

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adventurous dark tense slow-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

“Mother bared her fangs. “Stop being overdramatic.” Kai would have loved to, if dramatic things would stop happening to him.”

I received a digital Arc from Netgalley and Tor in exchange for an honest review! The quotes are taken from the Arc and are subject to changes!

I was SO excited to read my first Martha Wells book outside of the Murderbot Diaries, but it gave me a lot of conflicting feelings 😔 Witch King sounded fantastic with a Demon Prince and his mysterious imprisonment, but the execution left a lot to be desired. In the end, I settled on 3 stars, as I enjoyed some of the characters and ideas but felt like the convoluted worldbuilding and slow pace took away from my reading experience. I buddy read this with Destiny @ howlinglibraries so definitely check out her Review as well! ❤️

WORLDBUILDING

✅The idea and concept held so much potential! I was immediately drawn in by the image of a Demon King who’s a bit of a black sheep of his people and has been around for centuries. A deadly betrayal resulting in Kai’s imprisonment and us finding out about it via dual timeline could have been an amazing setup. The idea and tension of the premise were so good and what made me name this as one of my most anticipated releases. I love demons in my Fantasy books in general and I liked what we saw of the Demon world and their interactions with humans via the possession of certain vessels (people who have died and are then possessed by a demon). The relationships between the demons and the humans’ attitude towards demons were such interesting aspects of the story that I would have liked to see explored more. Kai switches between bodies of various genders throughout the story and encounters different reactions to him being a demon. The angst and internal dilemmas we saw were so good, I wanted more of that!

❌ The worldbuilding was convoluted and despite its volume, very mismatched and surface-level. I feel like the author was trying to build an impressive fantasy world, but went a bit overboard. I don’t mind complex magic systems or intricate worlds, but I didn’t see a cohesive worldbuilding anywhere. We have witches, demons, sorcerers and Hierarchs, on top of multiple countries with their own cultures (some of whom don’t exist in the present anymore). The author barely explained any of her concepts and expected the reader to somehow figure it out from the avalanche of details she provided in her description (from the landscape to languages to the fashion style of every single culture, there were simply too many things to pay attention to at once). Sadly, this was the opposite of an infodump – the author didn’t explain anything. Luckily, I knew this going into the story and I actually took notes, but even they didn’t help. Some things, like the origin and true motives of the Hierarchs were still NOT explained by the very end and a lot of concepts remained very superficial because we never got a proper explanation to how they work.

“Kai groaned under his breath. He had been hoping for one dramatic masterstroke that would take down the whole bridge and maybe make him feel better about his continued existence.”

CHARACTERS

✅ Kai was one of the best things about Witch King. He’s the titular character and a powerful demon prince who has been possessing human bodies for centuries. I loved his wry humor and capacity for violence and power, though he also had compassion for others such as Sanja. I wish we had seen more of his humor though, as I feel like it would have made the book a bit lighter. Kai has a vivid past full of loss and pain, but also strong companions such as Ziede who are on his side. I loved seeing his more vulnerable moments and the struggles with what the Hierarchs did to him and his kind. His dynamic with Bashara in the past was really intriguing and the connection he forms with Ramad in the present really spoke to me. Sadly, Kai and Ramad’s dynamic kind of fades out and I was a bit disappointed that the author never properly had Kai express any romantic feelings.

✅ Kai’s friendship with Ziede and the found family vibes warmed my heart. I loved the easy banter and deep loyalty between Kai and Ziede, you can tell that they have been friends for ages. Even better that there’s nothing romantic at all between them, Ziede is dedicated to her wife, who she’s desperate to see again after being imprisoned alongside Kai. Sanja is a little girl who was freed from the sorcerer who kidnapped her and brought her as a sacrifice for Kai. I loved how she didn’t leave, even when given the chance and stuck with Kai. One of my favorite tropes is found family, so I wanted to see even more of these dynamics 🥺

❌ There were a TON of characters, but most of them didn’t get any meaningful Arcs of their own>. The fact that the book opens with a multiple-page long “Cast of Characters” index was a bit of a red flag for me from the very beginning. Especially as there are characters in the Past and Present to keep track of. Some of them, I didn’t find that relevant or interesting and after a while, I gave up trying to learn the names of the random side characters and focused on the main cast. It just made me sad that characters like Ramad, who had an interesting (almost romantic) dynamic with Kai didn’t get much development, as I saw so much potential in them!

“I’ll give you one more answer. The words Bashasa spoke to me before he died were ‘Don’t let everything we fought for be for nothing.”

PLOT & WRITING

✅ The beginning of the story had so much promise! When Kai awakened and found himself almost enslaved by a sorcerer was such a good opening with lots of tension and suspense. I was actually excited to read more as I was eager to find out who had betrayed Kai and why they had done it. After breaking out with his friend and a girl he saved from the sorcerer … it sadly all went downhill. I did love the audiobook narrator, but was only able to listen to the first two chapters that were shared by the publisher for free. I’d definitely recommend the audiobook, as I feel like it makes reading this a lot faster and more engaging! Generally, I also like Martha Wells’ writing style, there is no doubt that she’s a talented author and her Murderbot Diaries – that I love so much – definitely prove it.

❌ The plot was incredibly slow and not much happened. The first couple of chapters were great, but it all went downhill from there, as I was waiting for the action to start. If I had to sum it up, I’d say that the majority of the book is just travelling. The actual progress Kai and his team were making was so small and the fact that we had two timelines didn’t help. The Present chapters were sometimes altered with Past chapters and the latter were a chore to get through.

❌ The ending fell flat and all the work I invested in trying to understand the world didn’t pay off. That was probably the most devastating part of the book. After taking notes and trying to work through the book for days, the ending was so unimpressive. There were no great twists or shocking reveals. Even worse, there was no proper buildup for the reason Kai was imprisoned, so it felt completely fabricated. The story had such potential to lean into the political intrigue of the world, but it never did anything with it!

❌ I enjoyed the Past chapters the least and they really dragged down the story. There were too many of them IMO and I would have rather focused on the Present chapters with an occasional flashback when it was relevant. Often it felt like the chapters of Kai’s past life were like textbook entries meant to teach us about the world. Very few of them had any actual intrigue and most of them dragged so much that I was looking forward to being done with them. They didn’t offer the insight into Kai’s world and past that the author was hoping for. Instead, they added more names and concepts that were barely explained.

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ehmannky's review

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challenging emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Gorgeous, dense and intricate fantasy writing. It's definitely not as breezy and funny as Murderbot, but the same heart, found family elements, and wry wit is there. The story bounces back between Kai, an immortal demon, and his companions in the "present" day (waking up after being entombed and trying to figure out who temporarily killed them and also where his best friend's wife and her brother are) and the beginnings of a war that Kai fought against the genocidal and imperial Hierarchs that happened 70 or so years before. Despite these two disparate timelines, at no point did I find them disjointed and I never felt like either of the plotlines dragged on. It is, as I said, a dense fantasy. Like, there is no real exposition about the magic system or the history is going to be explained outside of what the characters naturally decide to share. But it's so good. And the main relationships between Kai and his family are so beautifully written and the theme that you just have to keep going to unburn a world that has been burnt are so beautiful.

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