I enjoyed this fantasy novel by Martha Wells. The dual timelines were done well but at times could be a bit jarring. She slowly revealed the past of Kai and the other characters. I particularly enjoyed Dahrin's storyline; I would read another novel about him. It had some of the wit/elements of Murderbot in Kai's internal commentary.

This was an interesting fantasy story. I loved Kai as our main character and going through this journey alongside him, figuring things out as he experiences them. An unusual demon, with a family, friends, and fears, he was surprisingly likeable, as were his close companions. We cover a lot of ground in this world, encountering various groups with a lot of history. With a complex world and a number of characters, I would have liked there to be a little more time spent on the worldbuilding and characterization to distinguish between all the places and people.

The various magic systems and unusual animals were cool to see. I liked how the past and present came to parallel one another as everything unfolded. Starting off with minimal information and piecing things together fit well with Kai awakening with no idea where he was and remembering things as he goes from place to place. Overall, I had a good time going along for this ride with Kai and his companions.

What I liked about the book:

The world-building in Witch King is one of the strongest aspects of the book. Wells does a great job of creating a rich and detailed world with its own unique cultures, magic systems, and history.
The characters in Witch King are also well-developed and interesting. Kai, the protagonist, is a complex and sympathetic character who is easy to root for. The supporting cast is also full of memorable characters, such as Ziede, the powerful mage who becomes Kai's friend and mentor.
The plot of Witch King is engaging and full of twists and turns. There is plenty of action and adventure, but there is also time for character development and exploration of the world.
What didn't work for me:

The pacing of Witch King is a bit slow at times. The book is over 400 pages long, and there are a few sections that could have been tightened up.
The writing style in Witch King is a bit dry and academic. This is in contrast to Wells's other work, such as the Murderbot Diaries, which is known for its witty and engaging prose.
The ending of Witch King felt a bit rushed. There were a few loose ends that were never tied up, and I was left feeling a bit unsatisfied.
Overall, I enjoyed Witch King, but it wasn't my favorite book by Martha Wells. The world-building and characters were strong, but the pacing and writing style were a bit of a letdown. I would give the book a 3/5 star rating.

Here are some additional thoughts on the book:

I think the slow pacing would have been less of an issue if the writing style had been more engaging. As it is, the dry prose made the book feel even longer than it actually is.
I was disappointed that the ending was so rushed. There were a few plot threads that were never resolved, and I felt like the book could have used another 50-100 pages to tie things up more neatly.
Despite my misgivings, I still think Witch King is a worthwhile read. The world-building and characters are strong, and there is plenty of action and adventure. If you're a fan of Martha Wells's other work, I would recommend giving Witch King a try. Just be prepared for a slower-paced and more academic read than you might be used to.

This is not a good review, I had a hard time putting my frustration into words. I liked the story at first, but got impatient with the lack of world building, flat characters, plotholes and lack of meaningful progress. There is a good story underneath all the talking, I am sure. And Kai seems to be a nice guy, apart from being a life-sucking demon. But it‘s taking too long, with too little depth, I can‘t be bothered to wait for the story to become truly interesting. DNF in Chapter 6 at 30% and 100+ pages.

What is it about?
We start right in, without explanations. In alternating chapters we are told Kai‘s present—waking up in a tomb with his own corpse—and his past, telling us how he got to his present day predicament. Presumably Kai and we, the readers, figure out along the way who betrayed him and why. Thrown into the mix are some conquerors and a revolution, I guess. I checked out of the narrative before I really figured it out.

It started well. Very slim on world building, intentionally leaving the reader to work it all out on the way. Not necessarily bad, it can be a neat trick to build up suspense. But the plotholes did not make me enjoy this. It was too vague. And I kept loosing track of which timeline I was in, the past or the present. It was all too much the same in tone.

The other character besides Kai were all too flat and interchangeable, they had very little personality.

The book blurb sounded great. Funny, maybe mischievous, with an entertaining gang of characters, found family, etc. That was not the book I got.

I have a hard time believing that this is from the same author who wrote the very entertaining Murderbot novellas, full of great action sequences and dry wit. Granted, the novella length Murderbot was not a winner for me either.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own and I was not required to give a positive review. Sorry, this didn‘t work for me.

Witch King is an epic fantasy with complexity that extends throughout the world building, characters, types of magic used and the use of alternating time lines. Initially it can be a bit confusing if not a little shallow on the background information but as the story progresses it all begins to take form. In my opinion, this is well achieved through the use of the alternate time line and where the chapters of the "Past" are interwoven throughout the novel, giving background and context. One strong positive of the novel is "Kai" the main character, who is wonderfully complex and yet so endearing.

Martha Wells certainly writes fantasy worth reading! I loved Kai and was completely invested in his character journey. Add to that, a good writing style and entertaining character dialogue throughout. I had a lot of questions at the beginning and many unanswered at the end but it lands firmly as one of my favourite reads of the year.

Witch King is a high fantasy thrill ride where Wells dumps the reader in the deep end and expects them to swim (hopefully better than Kai ever has been able to). The world building is super dense and the characters are very compelling. Wells created to groups of characters that span two different timelines, with a few notable commonalities. One of them is Kai, the Witch King, and protagonist of this story. As a demon from the under earth he has powers, healing abilities, can drain the life force from people who oppose him, and can jump into new bodies if needed.
Overall, I enjoyed Witch King, but it took me until about 50% into the book to feel like I had any understanding of the structure of the characters and the world they live in. There is action from page one to pull you in and in the last half of the book you start to understand and get the payoff for the dual timelines in the book.
While this feels like it could definitely be a standalone, I’d love to see this story continued, if only so I could feel more connected to the story earlier on due to prior knowledge of the world the novel takes place in.

A daring, transcendent adventure with a unique cast of characters set in a magical world entirely of Martha Wells' imagination. Everything about this novel screams uniqueness: the title, which challenges the traditional belief that only women are witches (and therefore immediately drawing in potential readers); the premise of having the main character slowly regain his memories (for once the side characters in a book know more information than the audience reading the book); and Wells' bold choice to jump headfirst into the plot (it feels like starting a book in the middle of a conversation). I enjoyed this new experience of having a story start with the impressive hero's resurgence - and subsequently the other characters' shock at him doing so. Usually in fantasy novels there's the big buildup of the reader learning about the main character/hero, developing an attachment to them, and then if the character dies and comes back to life it feels even more worthwhile. However, Wells taking the risk of bringing a character back from the dead that the audience doesn't care about yet is both audacious and startling. This is a fantasy story that truly stands on its own.

Martha Wells just writes the most interesting main characters. I fell in love with this author's other series (Murderbot) so I was stoked to read a fantasy novel by her. Kai is a wonderful, slightly horrifying, extremely charismatic demon, and it was so much fun reading about him.

This isn't necessarily the easiest book to read because so much happens, but it is so worth the effort! I would highly recommend to fans of epic fantasy or Martha Wells' previous works!

I enjoyed Witch King. This was the first book of Martha’s that I read and I am looking forward to reading more.

I rarely give three star ratings, but this book was not what I was expecting. Having read All Systems Red by Martha Wells, I was excited to read a fantasy book by her. Fantasy is one of my top favorite genres and I know that high fantasy can be more involved and detailed. Which is definitely the case with this book. My problem is that I felt like I started the series with book two instead of book one.

The story starts out with the main character Kai, waking up and having to stop an enemy trying to enslave his consciousness. Kai is a demon prince and can possess bodies of the recently deceased. After freeing himself and his friend Ziede and rescuing a young girl named Sanja, they embark on a quest to see who had imprisoned them.

The book alternates between the past and the present. I feel like the past could have been the focus of the first book and then the present could have been book two. I found myself enjoying the past storyline much better.

For all the negative I’ve said about this book, I did enjoy the main characters. Kai was an entertaining character that feels deeply for his friends and family. I might try book two in this series, but it won’t be a book that I’ll be dying to read.

Okay this was good?? But it wasn't too mind-blowing, but also I wanted more??

I loved the world-building, and I loved the action. But because this is such a plot-driven novel, I feel like the characterization lacked for me? And that's a bit of waste because the characters are awesome and I loved reading about them. Sanja?? Dahin?? Tahren and Zeide?? And the tension or whatever between Bashasa and Kai?? Would have loved to read more about those 😆

Still, this is a solid book, a complex and rich SFF novel. For sure I need to read more from Martha Wells.

Is anyone surprised that Martha Wells has published another winner? Fans of the Murderbot Diaries might at first be confused by this complex fantasy story following a demon, a witch, and their friends as they try to find out who tried to sideline them before an important political gathering, but I hope they stick with it, because she delivers! I first fell in love with Wells' found family theme in the Murderbot books, then the Raksura series, and am happy to say she continues to build strong friend groups in this novel. At this point I will read literally anything she ever publishes.

Included as a top pick in weekly May New Releases post, which highlights and promotes upcoming releases of the month (link attached)

My only experience of this author was the first Murderbot book so I was interested to see their take on fantasy. Well I can say that this book is fabulous, hooking you in from the start with a mystery, escape, action and an intertwining of the past and present.
Demon prince Kai-Enna finds himself in a watery grave the only way to trap a demon. However the grave has been disturbed and this wakes Kai, confused but able to function and he searches for his friend the witch Ziede Daiayahah who he finds have been put in an enchanted sleep with him in the same tower. Obviously betrayed, Kai wakes Ziede, fights the mages attempting to steal his power and saves a slave girl called Sanja.
Kai had led a revolution with Bashasa who had rescued him from entrapment by a conquering race called the Hierarchs. The Hierachs had overrun the worlds main races, Immortal Blessed, Witches, Saredi but Kai and Bashasa were able to turn the tide and bring the coalition of the Rising Worlds to prominence.
The story is told from two timelines, this can be tedious but certainly not in this case. Both storylines are compelling and they add richness to each other so both journeys mirror each other. We learn that Kai's magic is based in pain, however pain created in his body and that he can siphon the life force from other races.
Kai and Ziede not only want to find out who has betrayed them but also find Ziede's lost spouse Tahren and their sibling Dahin which leads them on a quest to the Summer palace, where their story started, and beyond.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am looking forward to a sequel! My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for access to this ARC, all views are my own.

I am always blown away by Martha Wells and her story telling. This was everything I wanted it to be and more. I loved the world building and how Wells really doesn’t hold back at all. I even really enjoyed the time jumping. Wells has a way of creating morally grey characters that we just can’t help but adore. I can’t wait to read what she does next.

Thank you to NetGalley for the e-arc

I was super excited for this book but sadly I was disappointed.

I hate giving reviews to books I don’t end up liking. Because writers give a lot of their time and love into writing their book. Sitting here and saying how much you hate it feels wrong. So I will give some positive points before the bad.

•The resume is captivating to me. It made me really want to read this book.

•The cover is beautiful!

•The plot of this book was an interesting concept.

•The characters names were original and beautiful. Tho I had no clue who was who and I could not keep up.

•I had heard about a whale being in this book and it really interested me. I was curious to see what part it played in this novel. It was very original.

Sadly the concept of this story was not enough to make me enjoy this book. I had absolutely no freaking idea what was happening half the time.
Here are some reasons why.

•Again, the names of characters were extremely confusing to keep up with.

•The characters just felt like they were popping up. I had no clue where they came from, who they were and what they were doing.

•The places, the groups/factions (i guess you could call them that?) we’re not easy to remember. Neither were they explained very well. I couldn’t keep track of anything.

•The time skips to the past??? It took me a few chapters to realize that every other chapter was about the past. I was so utterly confused. Like it isn’t really clear. There is no time stamp or date at the beginning on the chapter. It just jumps right in. it disorientates you.

•The body switching concept with Kai confused the hell out of me.

It really truly felt like I was reading a book in a different language.

I did DNF this book around the last 100 pages. I just couldn’t anymore. I am still counting it as read cuz I think the headache a suffered reading this gives me the right to consider it so.

I will maybe give this book I try again one day. But for many reasons this boom will be given a 3 stars.

Tho there were a lot of negative for me I will congratulate the other for putting lots of time and dedication into this book. I think no matter what others say, she should be proud. I am just one of many who will read this book. I know other people will enjoy this novel. Putting time and effort into something, whether you fail or succeed is something to be extremely proud of. Because at least you tried.

Oh my soul is broken. Okay it wasn’t that bad, it’s like a 2.5 out of 5 stars for me. Like there's a morsel of enjoyment there, kinda. I just found this book to be as dry as the Sahara desert. The story itself was the best part. So Two different timelines, one at the height of the main character's power and then another, set after his betrayal by an unknown ally. but the way it was written, I don’t know, I couldn’t enjoy it at it’s max. This book reminds me why I really hated The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons because there's also a double timeline here moving back and forth between past and present, which only adds another level of confusion and no, it’s not like I can’t read double timelines, but it has to be coherent and it didn’t feel like that here. I had problems remembering and deciphering between characters, locations, lore. The names never stuck and I read the opening introduction multiple times.  For all the time that I'd spent reading this whole book with these characters, I had no idea what they were going to do what to think of there choices because I didn't feel I had a good grasp on the world at all, or whether they were still in danger, or...anything. I was left pretty confused by this book, wondering what I was supposed to get out of it. Yeah, maybe martha wells is too smart for the world because it felt like I read a book that was written by an ancient alien language and then transcoded into English..

Kai wakes in a tomb, where a foolish expositor thinks he can make the demon known as the Witch King into a familiar. Killing the man and freeing himself, a child named Sanja, and Kai's friend, Zeide, the three leave to figure out who imprisoned them for the better part of a year and Zeidie's missing wife, Tahren, before it's too late.

The narrative shifts back and forth between Kai's present and past, when he was a young demon with the Saredi clan who was attacked by the Hierarchs, a warlike people who descended from the south and took over much of the world. The stories fit together beautifully, but the ride is a complicated one, as the past and present both have a lot of political maneuvering and characters to keep track of (the Dramatis Personae at the beginning is only minor help, as it doesn't touch on every named character). I loved the depth of world-building and found the ending completely satisfying. This is one that would reward rereading.

Very mixed feelings on this book. I was really excited as I read and enjoyed Murderbot 1 and heard many amazing things about that series. The world is very interesting and complex but feels rather under-explained. Similarly, the politics are convoluted and I’m not sure I understand what exactly happened in the book. I found the past storyline more interesting than the present, but I do think the mix was executed well. The diversity in terms of gender expressions, roles etc. was great and fascinating part of the book.

Overall, I’d be interested in continuing but getting through this was a bit tedious since it’s dense.

Thanks so much to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with this e-Arc! I have a planned review of this on my Instagram and will also review on Goodreads once I get to this read. This is one of my most anticipated reads of this year! Until then, I am giving a star rating as a placeholder on Netgalley. Stay tuned for my in depth review on all my social media platforms!