A very wide and expansive fantasy world that Well's thrusts you into. The group of characters were fun, and diverse. I was a big fan of the magic and the world and how much of it we got to see. I was left a touch confused sometimes but in general I had a great time reading.

DNF @ 45%. I really wanted to love this fantasy novel, but it just wasn't working for me and I got tired of trying to force it. Nearly halfway into any book, I expect to have a decent understanding of who the main characters are and what is driving the plot, which I did not have at all with Witch King. Maybe it's just me, but I found the story extremely confusing. Though the writing is high quality, I had to go back and re-read several times because I felt like I missed details — turns out they just weren't there. Hopeful that others will love this, but it wasn't the story for me!

In her latest novel, Witch King, Martha Wells delivers a captivating story of power, betrayal, and friendship. Wells, who has previously gained much acclaim for her Murderbot series, once again showcases her remarkable ability to create complex and compelling characters.

The story follows Kai, a powerful mage who has been imprisoned and left dormant for an unknown amount of time. When he awakens, he finds himself in the company of a lesser mage who seeks to harness Kai's magic for his own purposes. As Kai begins to uncover the truth behind his imprisonment and assassination, he must navigate a world that has drastically changed since he was last conscious.

One of the strengths of Witch King is the relationships between the characters. Kai's friendships and alliances are the driving force behind the story, and Wells expertly crafts each character to be unique and memorable. The dialogue between them is sharp and witty, adding an element of humor to the otherwise tense and action-packed plot.

Speaking of action, the fight scenes in Witch King are incredibly well-written and leave the reader on the edge of their seat. Wells has a talent for describing battles in a way that is both thrilling and easy to follow, making it easy to visualize the action as it unfolds.

Overall, Witch King is a must-read for fans of epic fantasy. It is a thrilling and engaging novel that showcases the author's exceptional character development and world-building skills.

I voluntarily listened to and reviewed an advanced audiobook of Witch King by Martha Wells. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ARC.

Kai was such a great character, and I loved reading about his journey, both in the past and present. The world-building was elaborate, and through Kai's search for the truth regarding betrayal, we take a deep dive into the politics and cultures of this universe. This is the first book I have read by Martha Wells, and I thought it was great. I give this book a solid 5/5 stars and look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

The narrator was perfect for this story and I completely enjoyed listening to him bring this story to life.

I listened to this in audio and struggled immensely to follow along. It started with a character list that did not seem to contribute to the listening experience. Though the audiobook narrator was excellent, I could not keep up with the timeline, world-building, or general story. It's possible that the reading experience might have worked better reading with my eyes rather than my ears.

I was thrilled to receive an advance audiobook copy of Witch King, a book I’d been stalking for months. Unfortunately, that excitement fizzled pretty quickly into the listening experience.

First, I have to emphasize that Eric Mok, the audiobook narrator, is fantastic. I really enjoyed listening to his voice and the way he presented the characters. My lackluster feel for the book is not related to his narration.

The story opens with a lengthy character sheet, which is a pointless endeavor with an audiobook since there’s no way to flip back and forth for reference.

Onward.

We’re immediately dumped into a fantasy world with action, magic, and an array of characters. This would have been great, had we then gotten some world building, some explanations, SOME CLUE as to what was going on.

We didn’t.

I dislike having to work at figuring out a story. I dislike feeling clueless, especially when I’m reading for pleasure. I mean, I feel clueless often enough in life as it is. But, anyway…

Initially, I was intrigued by the story, and I held out hope that all this madness would lead me to a place of understanding. But my interest continually waned, I wasn’t connecting with any of the characters, if I even remembered who they were, I didn’t get the point of it all, and my frustration won out.

DNF

A complex, high-fantasy that asks a lot of the reader.

I loved Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries, and was so excited that the first two chapters of Witch King were available through Kindle as a sneak peek. Those two chapters were fascinating. We were introduced to Kai, a demon, who is trapped in an abandoned fortress with no memory of how he got there or where he is. The rest of the book feels like a bait and switch from the character exploration and character building of the first two chapters to the sprawling political epic with a nonlinear timeline.

The book opens with a long character sheet, but that doesn't work well for audiobook listeners because I couldn't flip easily back and forth between the character sheet and my part in the chapter. I was constantly guessing which character was which, especially since the names are difficult to remember. Because of this I found the story a challenge to follow, and to connect emotionally to characters.

I like soft worldbuilding, where the author doesn't spoon-feed the reader about how and why the magic or political systems work; but here I would have benefited with a little more information. Because of the complexity of the world building and the numerous characters, the reader needs to be paying close attention. I got to 50 percent, and realized this book just wasn’t for me.

However, I am obsessed with the narrator Eric Mok. I think a big reason I stayed with the book so long was his amazing narration skills. I wished the book was written in first person from Kai's POV because his voice is exactly what I would assume Kai's voice was. I hope to hear him in many other recordings soon.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this advanced audiobook.

I ADORE the premise of this book. We open to foolhardy adventurers accidentally awakening the ancient, all-powerful Dark Lord -- the Witch King, from his tomb where he has been imprisoned. Our narrator is that Witch King. We get to follow his grumpy awakening, and and quest for the world that violently threw him out.

The disappointing thing is that none of that really turns out to be true. He is not the king of the witches, as they have no real hierarchy. He has never been the Dark Lord. He's not some Ancient Evil; he's only been imprisoned a year, and all of his friends are still active in politics. He isn't even, it turns out, Evil at all. The only true part of that premise (disappointingly) is all-powerful. He is very over-powered, to the point where he has a magic spell to solve every problem they come across.

I did enjoy our protagonist. He's bitter and fiercely loyal to his friends, and you bet I was cheering every time he vanquished an enemy. Getting his past in flashback chapters was also a delight.

This book is fine. But it fails to have an interesting plot -- most of the storyline is just traveling and side quests. It also fails to have well-realized side characters (mostly because there are so many that they kind of drown each other out). The book tries to get us to care about the politics of the kingdom, but fails to explain those politics enough.

The audiobook is well-performed. Sometimes, I struggled to understand the thick British accent combined with the new fantasy words, but that's more of a Me problem.

A video review will be on my Youtube channel in the coming weeks, @ChloeFrizzle

Thanks to Netgalley and Tordotcom for a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.

As of recently, new fan of Martha Wells, murder bought series, I was excited to try this new fantasy Witch King.

As far as fantasies go, wells creates a very developed world, full of witches, demons, and other entities in their own hierarchy. This was a very politically minded story and world.

With so many moving parts, and characters, I did find for myself, who is not a regular fantasy reader, the story, a little difficult to follow. I only listen to the audio, so I wonder if I was actually reading a paper version if I might’ve had more attachment to the character names, and their hierarchy within the story.

That said, I did really enjoy listening to this book. Did I understand what was happening the whole time? No. Was narrator Eric Moc easy to listen to, and provided a comfortable sound story to get lost in? Yes.

His narrating style was very comfortable, and really carried the emotion of the story. As a non-fantasy reader, the narration was so enjoyable to listen to that it did help me keep on with the story and continue to the end.

Overall, this was a very well done audiobook and created a very good listening experience. I think fans of the fantasy genre. Will get a lot out of this book and enjoy Martha Wells return to pure fantasy.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio for my advance listening copy.

#WitchKing #MarthaWells

I’m a big fan of Wells’ Murderbot Diaries and Books of the Raksura series so I was really eager to read Witch King. I hate to say it but I didn’t enjoy this one. This is a fairly standard anti-imperial power story with various magic using factions.

The book opens with a long character sheet. Normally I skip over those since they’re meaningless without context and you can often pick up the same information organically in the story. That wasn’t the case with this one, the story assumes you have that information and since I was listening to the audiobook, it wasn’t practical to jump between the character sheet and and my spot in the story. The narrative also follows a nonlinear timeline that I think starts jumping back and forth too early. Some of the initial flashbacks show very emotionally charged scenes in Kai’s life but since we barely know him as a character when they start it lacks any emotional punch for the reader.

The book began strong and the first chapter was engaging but I quickly lost the thread (and interest) as characters and magic systems were rapidly introduced and I was left floundering without easy access to the character sheet. For that reason I’d only suggest reading this, it doesn’t work well in audiobook form without the character sheet on hand. I never became absorbed in the story or reacted emotionally to the characters so I wasn’t invested in what was happening.

(Review has already been posted on Goodreads)

I think this book is definitely better enjoyed in text versus audiobook just because the jumps back and forth in timelines became a bit confusing and unclear. Overall the magic system is neat and the concept of body jumping is super cool. I think the book is a little long for what it is but overall is enjoyable.

If you love an epic fantasy that is heavy on the world-building and filled with fully-developed, complex characters, this is absolutely a read for you! I feel like this story accomplished in 400 pages what a lot of other similar fantasies do in 800+ pages. It's full of action, and I loved the characters. The world-building is pretty complex, and I wouldn't recommend this book for someone who's a beginner to fantasy because even as a person who loves fantasy I was confused at times, but I do think this was a fun read and totally worth it!

Thank you Netgalley for providing a digital ARC.

While I loved the fantasy aspect of this book. The actual writing came off as a text book.

I didn’t emotionally connect to any of the characters. The characters themselves are hard to keep up with as there are so many names and people to keep up with, it can be confusing. Unlike other books I’ve read, where characters pop up naturally and are easy to remember. This one felt unnatural and almost like a history lesson.

The timeline is also confusing. The reader switches back and forth from current to past without much explanation in between.

This isn’t a book to pick up and casually read, it is a book where the reader almost needs to take notes to keep up, not get distracted, and refer to the glossary of names included in the front on a consistent basis. I, unfortunately, do not have the patience to finish this book. I got to 50 percent, and realized this book just wasn’t for me.

I did get a copy from Netgalley for an honest review. All opinions stated are my own. Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for the opportunity.

I tried, I really tried to like this book, but its just not for me.

Witch King has two timelines: in the present, the infamous demon Witch King Kai wakes from an aspiration attempt to find himself and his closest friends trapped and in mortal danger. In the past, we begin to see what brought them to this point.

I usually love dual timeline books, but this one just didn't work for me. I never felt connected enough to either timeline to care a lot about what was happening, and I found myself struggling to differentiate between the two.

This is one of those fantasy books that drops you into the world with no explanation. It begins with a long cast of characters and then throws you right into the world and expects you to either figure it out or be happy being confused. I did neither.

From what I read, the characters were well-rounded and each had their own motivations. There was some entertaining banter and it's clear that these characters have a long history together.

While this book wasn't for me, if you love to be confused while reading or you like complicated worlds that don't get explained quickly (think Gideon the Ninth & The Fifth Season) you might really enjoy this book.

I really enjoyed this audiobook. I'm a fan of sci fi romance and while this isn't romance, I had heard this author was really good, so I had to try her. I will definitely check out more of her books. I will admit I had a hard time remember each side character. There was just a lot to learn in this book and I think I need to listen to it again to see what I missed, but that won't be a hardship. I felt like Kai, the main character was such an interesting character. There was so much he could do and I loved learning all about him. I also really enjoyed the narrator. His accent was very easy to listen too and he did a great job of bringing this story to life. I'm sure I will come back to this audiobook for re-listen often.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for an advanced copy of the audiobook. At this time my review will not be as comprehensive as I normally like to give. There are several compelling aspects of this book that I am still extremely excited about seeing in a print copy.

This type of story is one that often has a disconnect from its potential impact on readers when taken into audiobook form. The level of attention needed for compartmentalizing names and places and the world building is extremely difficult to only listen to. I have no doubt that should I give a review on how I felt about the audiobook it would not match how I felt about the book itself. I do not wish to disparage this work without giving it the chance of being read. I won’t be posting this to Goodreads but I fully plan to update my review and post once I can read actually read it.

As a huge fan of Martha Wells from well before her Murderbot sensation, I was excited to see her debuting a new fantasy series (although Murderbot has a hold on at least 78.8% of my heart). This is undoubtedly a Wells fantasy; it blends found friendships, magic, and a reluctant quest along with multiple unique locations. Her worldbuilding is, as always, delightful. Fans of Murderbot will miss the quippy, sarcastic voice of those works. The Witch King is far more reminiscent of her Raksura novels than of the Ile-Rien stories; although there is Well's distinctive wry humour, it is not at the forefront of the book. Readers are dropped immediately into the story, and information is provided as we go; though there is a lot of background needed it doesn't feel too burdensome or heavy, and still lets the story and characters breathe.

I really loved the writing style, plot and the characters of this book. However, I received an ARC of the audiobook, which is my literal only problem with the book that made me incapable of finishing it. Although the narration was still good, the audiobook did not clarify when the book switched between different timelines, or even that it did that at all. I tend to get a bit confused with audiobooks in general as well.
I am more than likely going to update this review in a few weeks when I end up receiving my physical copy of the book, which I will most likely understand much more, and which will probably end up being one of my favorite books of this year, if not an overall favorite, because I really do love practically everything about it that I can understand, the problem (which is partially on me) is that I can’t really understand it in full due to the formatting.

Witch King by Martha Wells book review.
⭐⭐⭐

Thank you Tor and Netgalley for an ARC of this audiobook for an honest review.

I love Martha Wells and this was not a great time to find out that I dont like epic/high fantasy.
I like our MC, Kai, and his magick abilities are unique. He starts the story entombed in water, breaks free, and sets out to find out who did it and why. He is very good at killing, and he can inhabit different mortal bodies, he can drain lifeforce.

But the plot, political intrigue, betrayal was all boring to me.

The audiobook narrator, Eric Mok, did a fantastical job!

If you like epic/high fantasy you will probably love this one more than I did.

Genre: Fantasy

Kai, Witch King and Fourth Prince of the demons, wakes up in someone else’s body. This isn’t exactly uncommon - demons can transfer to another body when the old one they inhabit dies. He’s been trapped in this new body, a body far too young for death, by a mage trying to seize his power. But Kai hasn’t lived for generations without knowing how to master his own power, drawn from reserves of his own pain. The Witch King seesaws between present and past, as Kai unravels political threats and fights against the injustice imposed by the Rising World Coalition.

Witch King is my very favorite kind of worldbuilding, where you find yourself in the middle of the story, and the middle of a character’s psyche, and yet nothing feels underdeveloped because as the storyline progresses, the relevant parts of the fantasy world are revealed. You don’t find out everything you need to know about demons all at once, but Wells reveals the information we need when we need it. This style of worldbuilding isn’t for everyone, but for those of us who grew up with the winding epics of the 90s and 00s, Wells’s writing feels like a homecoming. Just in a 400-page package with gender inclusive themes, rather than an 800-page meandering story from a colonial or male perspective.

For those who came to Martha Wells via Murderbot, this will have an entirely different flavor, which clearly demonstrates Wells’s versatility as a writer. Kai and his companion Ziede are a vibrant pair on page, bickering and adventuring… but in a very different manner from Murderbot and ART. While the past versus present timelines in Witch King can be difficult to follow, it allows us to see aspects from Kai’s past that contribute directly to his current situation. Some books have a past timeline that feels stagnant compared to the present action, but these blend smoothly, with character and plot progression happening simultaneously in both.

If you are looking for a quick hit of snark (like Murderbot), this isn’t it. It’s a meaty and compelling fantasy world that we are only getting a narrow glimpse of, and it leaves us wanting more.

Thank you to Tordotcom and MacMillan Audio for an eARC and ALC for review - it was a perfect multiformat experience for me. Witch King is out 5/30/23.