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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
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
witcheep's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The plot progresses quite slowly, and the present narration is frequently interrupted by chapters where we are told about Kai's past. Both the past and the present begin to slowly intertwine with each other, showing us possible motives and suspects for the betrayal. They also show the reader the different aspects of the worldbuilding, at times in a somewhat infodump-feeling way but often through plot-related action. This slow story progression requires some patience from the reader, but if you enjoy vivid descriptions of worldbuilding and slowly building relationships between characters, you'll enjoy the book.
The main characters of the book are all multidimensional, and even the side characters are shown to have more than just one trait. All of the multiple characters are introduced in a character list in the beginning of the book by their titles, but you'll get to progressively know more about them throughout the plot. The most multidimensional character is unsurprisingly the main character Kai. On one hand, Kai is immortal, and besides that a very powerful magic user. Kai thinks he has been forced by circumstances to become a powerful, violent thing, and this doesn't sit well with him: "Most of the time Kai felt like he was made of razors, bleeding from the inside."
"I'd tell you to be careful, but..."
Kai looked at her through the black film of the veil. "You could say 'be violent' instead."
Tahren, who Kai was beginning to suspect had a very dry sense of humor, patted his shoulder and said, "Be violent."
On the other hand, though, Kai is quite vulnerable in his personality. He yearns to live a peaceful life with the people he cares about. To achieve that, Kai has helped to start a revolution in the past and in the present exerts to stop another one, both motivated by his will to make the world a better place or "unburn the world" as his dear friend once told him. Kai sympathises with the oppressed and has a drive to free any and every enslaved being. During his endeavors to live a peaceful life, Kai has been badly betrayed many times, but he still chooses not to give up on trusting people. In his opinion, the only way to know if a person is trustworthy is to trust them and "then wait for the knife in the back". This makes Kai a very hopeful person in the end.
The worldbuilding is what captivated me the most in the Witch King. There are multiple ethnicities, cultures, and languages around. There are also different magic systems for different kinds of magic users (Expositors, the Blessed, Witches, and Demons), which adds to the depth of the worldbuilding.
Expositors didn't draw power from pain in their own body, like Kai did, or by forming relationships with the spirits inherent in the different levels of the world, both living and otherwise, like Witches. Expositors drew their power from life: new life, stolen life, life on the point of death. It was why they were so dangerous, why greed was their driving force. It was why their power was so susceptible to a true demon's ability to steal life from anything living or once living.
Ziede said, "Sanja, if you're going to swear, don't do it in Old Imperial. If you use their curses, you'll take on their beliefs."
Sanja blinked, distracted by that thought. "That's the only language I know," she pointed out.
Kai told her the Saredi word that meant "go into the wetland and eat shit-mud."
Sanja repeated it twice, trying to get the vowels right.
Curses are used when you want someone to suffer, or need a way to express extreme emotions. So, in those situations you need impactful language, and it comes from beliefs (what holds power in one's culture). So, Ziede's comment is actually very deep and meaningful, not just a quick way to chide a cursing child.
The different groups of people have some disagreements and interests of their own, which provide interesting challenges to the interaction between them. The plotline of the past shows that most of the differences can be put aside when there is a great common enemy threathening all the groups: the Hierarchs came to conquer the world, killing everyone on their way, which required all the other people to unite against them. On a side note, no one knows where the Hierarchs once came from and if there are more of them, so finding out about the potential threat of Hierarchs' reappearance could make a premise for a sequel. The aftermath of the conqueror Hierarchs and the other people battling each other isn't pretty; it doesn't end in a happy ever after. When enough time passes, the battles and hardships become only legends and the once united people start to scheming against each other to gain power over each other.
"There aren't many people there. Most of them died." Kai looked down at her, watched her tremble on the edge of a terrible understanding. "The world used to be a much bigger place, with so many more people in it."
The underlying message of the Witch King seems to be that there will always be hardships and battles to fight, but trying to prevent them or –if unavoidable– going through them is always worth it for the people you trust and love and for creating lasting peace. I would love to read more about Kai and his friends, or in some other form return to the world of the Witch King.
Review written 5.3.2024
Graphic: Kidnapping and Blood
Moderate: War, Genocide, Violence, Murder, Torture, Slavery, Body horror, and Racism
jessica_thelen'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
Graphic: Body horror, War, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Kidnapping, Torture, Slavery, Genocide, and Death
lanid'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
4.5
Moderate: Death, Gore, Murder, Blood, Colonisation, Torture, Body horror, Violence, and Confinement
maryellen'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
4.75
Graphic: Genocide, Body horror, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Colonisation, Self harm, Confinement, and Death
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
kkulhannie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Death, Forced institutionalization, and War
Moderate: Trafficking, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Confinement, Genocide, Violence, Slavery, Panic attacks/disorders, and Medical content
grinchem's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Body horror
Body horror: there are creatures that come up several times that are made of components of other creatures, often both human and animal.briely's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Blood, Death, Slavery, Violence, and War
Moderate: Genocide
Minor: Body horror and Confinement
julesadventurezone'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
3.75
Graphic: Colonisation, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Kidnapping, Child abuse, Genocide, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence
Minor: Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, and Self harm