Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Witch King by Martha Wells

22 reviews

ehmannky's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: War, Genocide, Self harm, Grief, and Blood

blacksphinx's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful slow-paced

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

4.0

This is my second Martha Wells book and I can't help but notice their endings both do the same thing - 

the linchpin of the plot occurs off screen, where no present characters see it, and the audience is told about it afterward

- and if this continues to be a pattern in her writing I don't know how many more books of hers I'm going to wind up reading. 

However... This one is so full of heart with such a unique world that I'm wrestling with the rating. I think it's a little too much, with all its rich cultures and three different magic systems (and all the various Fantasy Words used to describe them), but I can't fault her for having a big and varied world? The danmei influence upon this work is powerful and welcomed. But the actual plot is so thin. "Nothing really happened, but it was beautiful and made me feel a spark of hope" is such a hard thing to assign a number between 1 and 5 to. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Torture, War, Xenophobia, Violence, Death, Child death, Murder, Confinement, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Slavery, Grief, Genocide, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Alcohol

marsh_mall0w's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious 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? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Religious bigotry, Body horror, Slavery, Xenophobia, Murder, War, Confinement, and Violence

Moderate: Grief, Abandonment, and Genocide

hailstorm3812's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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

4.25

I was dubious about this at first since it's a big tonal leap from Murderbot and a lot of worldbuilding to get into, but I am glad I stuck it out because I really ended up liking it. I ended up really attached to the characters and wouldn't mind returning to this world. There is really something to the concept of a group of immortals being glued together by a human who's gone now, which isn't the main plot but rests just below the surface the entire time. It got to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Confinement

Moderate: Gore, Death, Colonisation, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, War, Murder, and Grief

ruthlessreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Lots of interesting things about this book but, as a whole, it didn't really stand out to me in the fantasy genre. I found the story dragging, despite my initial interest in the characters and the world that was being built. I didn't fully understand what was going on until about halfway through the book. I don't normally stick around that long if I'm not feeling a story but I really like this author so I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. Overall, I did enjoy it and there were some events at the end of the story that made the narrative much more interesting but, ultimately, I wish it had been constructed differently or not been quite so long. I *would* read another book in this world but maybe I'd prefer it as a novella.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Murder, War, Confinement, Colonisation, Violence, Kidnapping, Genocide, and Death

Moderate: Classism, Child death, Grief, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture

clarabooksit's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-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? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Murder, Death, Body horror, Blood, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Grief, and Classism

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Slavery

saltycoffee's review

adventurous dark mysterious 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Grief, Religious bigotry, War, Colonisation, Classism, Kidnapping, Slavery, Torture, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Confinement, Death, Gore, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Blood

gondorgirl's review

adventurous dark hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Death, Confinement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Gore, and Slavery

lacunaboo's review

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Colonisation

Moderate: Grief, Death, Violence, and Confinement

Minor: Kidnapping

trippyotter's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

 An epic start to a genderfluid high fantasy full of rebellion uprising, betrayal, and adventure.

The Witch King takes you through the past as our present-day characters set forth to find their missing friends and discover who betrayed them.

My only wish would have been further progression in the present storyline, but with a complex world and history, I'm not sure that would have been possible. I can't wait to see what lays ahead of our characters as the story progresses. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Grief, Physical abuse, Blood, Gaslighting, Gore, Murder, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, War, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Child death