Reviews

Witch King by Martha Wells

ms_morri1's review against another edition

3.0

I really wanted to give this book a higher rating. I love the overall concept of this story, as well as Kia and Ziede, but I think that what most people are saying about the books are accurate. Besides the main characters, you struggle to care as much about the other people, which makes it difficult to care overall. I do want to read this book again, as I’m not sure that I agree with people saying that you only get a surface look at the world. I think there’s a lot of information and it can be a lot to take in. I want to read this book again to see if I feel the same after a second read.

romyql's review against another edition

5.0

unexpected favorite, i shall be expecting a sequel in the near future (please, please, please)

but actually, i will literally beg on my knees for another book :)))

katmindae's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

3.75

I hate when there’s hamfisted exposition but then you plonk a fantasy book like this in front of me and I’m begging for a crumb of exposition 😭😭 I think this is another nail in the coffin for me for realizing I’m not the fantasy kid I used to be. I still could not tell you what an Immortal Blessed is. 

I agree with some other reviews I saw that this reads more like a sequel. The time changes made it even harder to fall into the world. Once I got it, I was invested… and Wells has such a talent for making super lovable characters.  But if this were not Wells and I didn’t have faith I would have given up.

I felt some final plot points were dropped so suddenly and I wasn’t super ready for the end after all the buildup. The “mystery” did not seem to unravel in a beautiful slow sequence like Murderbot and I hate to compare but if it’s gonna be a book about an OP main character digging up a conspiracy, it’s hard not to draw comparisons.

Takeaways:
- there was a great quote about how the powerful people who sucked up to the hierarchs thought that they might get special treatment - but in reality they would just get crushed like everyone else. Colonialism amirite
- I need. help reading fantasy
- beautiful ties to culture and symbiosis and fear of foreigners and the unknown
- FOUND FAMILY

dozens's review against another edition

3.0

## WHY I PICKED IT UP ##

I wanted to read some Martha Wells!

## WHAT I LIKED ABOUT IT ##

An absurd amount of background and world building and politics, that is just straight up not explained. You're dropped right into the middle of it all and are expected to keep up. This honestly felt like it was at least the second book in a series.

## WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE ABOUT IT ##

Kai felt a little invincible. As far as I can tell, there are 3 different kinds of magic or power in this world, and for some reason Kai has access to all three: he's a demon witch sorcerer. Which is okay I guess. This isn't really an Adventure story. Even though there's plenty of action. It's more mystery and intrigue. That is to say, his being overpowered didn't detract too much from the story because his physical, magical prowess isn't really the point of the story.

All the political factions and city-states were kind of hard to keep up with.

## WHO I'D RECOMMEND IT TO ##

Anybody who likes intrigue and mystery and politics, and in depth world building. If you liked Dune or Game of Thrones, you might like this.

starlitlullaby's review

5.0

4.something stars rounding up

oshepard314's review against another edition

5.0

I couldn’t put this down. I thought both the past and present storylines were equally interesting and I couldn’t wait to see how it played out. I could read like 10 more books from this world. 

ergative's review against another edition

2.0

I've noticed that Martha Wells' non-murderbot fantasy books tend to skew heavy on plot and backstory, sometimes almost to the detriment of the overall effect. In this case, there was no 'almost' about it. There were so many characters that I had absolutely no emotional connection to any of them, which was fine because the wordcount had to be split so thinly that none of them had any real character arc anyway. There was so much plot squeezed into the two timelines of narrative that it leaked out the sides of what could be contained in the book. The main antagonist in the present-day timeline wasn't even present! He was just referred to in discussions about the court politics conspiracy that he was undoubtedly engaged in, and the final climax of the conspiracy shenanigans ended up happening off page anyway: 'oh, I took care of that five years ago when I did [thing] in preparation for this exact moment.' So after trying to figure out in good faith what was going on; who were the political actors in this whole kerfuffle; and why they were taking the acts that they took as the plot unfolded, I was slapped in the face with 'yeah, none of that actually mattered; there were no stakes at stake because the stakeholders all made their decisions five years ago!' Argh!

Also, what did the title even mean? Our main character is a demon, not a witch, and he's not a king but a Fourth Prince. Like, wut? I dunno, maybe it will be clarified in the sequels, but this book is the one with this title. Anyway, I don't care, and I won't read them.

snickies's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.25

midnight_sass's review against another edition

Soft DNF

gardenofgay's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5