Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Witch King by Martha Wells

42 reviews

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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geekmom's review

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challenging dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

I liked this, and also had a hard time keeping all the characters and political factions straight.  Having said that, Martha Wells’s complex and original world building is very much in evidence here and made me curious to experience more stories about the people and places in Witch King.
The ending suggests there could be a sequel, which I would definitely enjoy.
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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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atompomb's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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gabrielle_reads_a_lot's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious

5.0

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silea's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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chris_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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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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madscientistcat's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense 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? No

4.75

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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? It's complicated

5.0

THE WITCH KING is excellent and I had a great time reading it. The worldbuilding is nuanced and well-developed, with factions and history in a way that implies much more going on, but not getting bogged down in little details that don’t matter to this particular story. It deals with colonization and empire from the perspective of a quasi-immortal character (Kai) who has not been around forever, but has been around long enough that things which are part of his culture and history are now details that would fascinate only historians. The narrative shifts between two time periods in his life. This means that some events are mentioned before they were actually shown, but it was generally in a way that made the whole thing easier to follow. The two timelines are connected, as the main characters are trying to figure out whether the plan they were working on when they were betrayed is still salvageable. 

I like the friendship between the two main characters, with zero hints of any romance. Kai is trying to figure out their next moves, piecing together what changed in the years since they were shut away. They’re stalwart companions in a way that is frustratingly rare in an opposite gender pairing of protagonists, but is very good here. I love the worldbuilding and characterization, and especially how those are intertwined in the person of the Witch King. He explains things in a way that inform the current plot points without slowing down the story. Kai's method of quasi-immortality is a neat bit of worldbuilding, one of several kinds of magic which are practiced by different groups. There's the feeling that they're all part of one world but are following different culturally-specific pathways to magic. Kai's work-around for accessing magic which should be off-limits to him helps to bolster this initial impression. I want there to be more in this world, I want more time with these characters. The story is very self-contained and, narratively speaking, doesn’t need a sequel, so I just have to read some of this author's earlier fantasy books to get what I’m looking for. 
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