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cfitz13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Moderate: Death, Violence, and War
Minor: Kidnapping
deedireads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Martha Wells, author of the Murderbot books, is a legend in the sci-fi world. But she also writes fantasy, and I was excited to finally see what she’s capable of in the genre with Witch King. Plus, it’s nominated for this year’s Hugo Award for Best Novel. Unfortunately, I’m in the same camp as a lot of other readers: this book had a lot of potential, but it was missing the spark.
When I started reading, I was excited: a map AND a cast list? Bring on the world-building! I read a lot of SFF and trust me, I’m no world-building weenie. Unfortunately, this story required way too much for a standalone 400-page book, especially one with two timelines (and hence two plots). I just didn’t have time to really feel fully connected to these characters or internalize the stakes of the story enough to get invested. If this were the start of a series, or even an 800-page book, this would NOT have been a complaint, because the world was rich and interesting and the characters were deeply lovable. It was just a lot of “work” for a little bit of book!
I’m going to go back and read some of Wells’ backlist fantasy — something that has multiple books in a series — because I still think she’s an incredibly talented storyteller. This one just left me wanting more.
Graphic: Violence, Death, War, and Genocide
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Confinement
schnaucl's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
I liked the various magic systems and political alliances.
It was really interesting that Kai always seemed to make a point of identifying people as male or female based on their dress, but that demons didn't match gender when matching with a host body, only matching social rank
Moderate: Death, Confinement, Gore, Blood, Bullying, Colonisation, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Dysphoria, Xenophobia, Violence, and War
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
therainbowshelf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Grief, War, Violence, Death, Body horror, and Slavery
genorgana's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Slavery, Death, Violence, Genocide, Grief, and War
Moderate: Confinement
mmmicah's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Genocide, Death, Gore, and Grief
superstar_y2k's review against another edition
Graphic: Confinement, Blood, Violence, Cursing, Death, War, Self harm, and Murder
waterwolves's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Moderate: Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Slavery, Kidnapping, Colonisation, Confinement, Violence, and War
jennikreads's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, War, Confinement, Death, and Violence
saracat's review against another edition
- 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 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.
Moderate: Death and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Grief, Violence, Genocide, Murder, Slavery, and War