When Kai wakes after his murder he harnesses his magic to find another body and search for the person who thought they could imprison him. Who would be stupid enough to think they could keep THE demon confined?

Martha Wells is a master storyteller and this is a sweeping high fantasy steeped in world-building. Beautifully narrated by Eric Mok, this epic adventure is riveting, but sometimes hard to follow on audio with such a robust cast of characters. Definitely worth the listen though.

Like so many readers, I picked up this new release after reading the Murderbot Diaries. I knew this work would be unrelated and tried to separate my expectations accordingly.

Without comparison, I found The Witch King to be a solid, well written start to a new fantasy. The writing and character work is good.

However knowing this author is capable of such innovative storytelling, I couldn't help by being slightly underwhelmed by this good, but safe, epic fantasy.

Personally I don't feel that anyone's enjoyment of Murderbot will predict their enjoyment of this novel. Instead I would specifically recommend this one to readers who are looking for new fantasy series to start.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

My inability to read anywhere pass the 10% mark for this novel is likely more due to my misreading of the premise - which I thought would spend more time building up a relationship between the possessed character and the demon king character - than what the book may have set to achieve.

What an outstanding novel by Martha Wells, she hit the ball out of the park. The pacing was great, the character development was amazing, and the world building was so immersive. The narrator did a fantastic job bringing the audiobook to life. It was completely different from Wells' Murderbot series in the best way. I would highly recommend this book for fans of Robin Hobb and John Gwynne.

I received the audio from NetGalley for review. I’ve heard nothing but good things about The Murderbot Diaries, so I was excited to get into this.

First, I would just like to say that I technically gave this book 1.27x chances. I tweeted about having no idea what was going on at 27% and how I was afraid it was just me or how fast I was listening. I completely restarted, with a slower speed, and it did not help.

Second, I have written several rave reviews about books that drop you right into the deep end from the jump, but this one just never recovers. It more so drops you right off a cliff…into a bottomless pit. I had problems remembering and deciphering between characters, locations, lore. The names never stuck, and remember, I listened to the opening twice! There are different beings called witches and demons and other things, but our main character seems to be referred to them all by the end as if they are interchangeable. To be honest, I’m still really not sure what this is about or even what happened during it, and let me tell you that is such a strange feeling because I WAS paying attention.

Third, and maybe this is just me and the style really didn’t work for me or something, but there is not really any climax? We’re just going going going, end. The action scene towards the end didn’t feel impactful, I didn’t feel the build, and maybe that’s why it didn’t read as climactic to me? Also afterward it literally launches like directly back into dialogue and travel and then END.

Personally, and sadly a 2/5* for me. Not a fan. The snippets of lore that struck me as great were just too few and far between.

The opening of Witch King is both a bang and a whimper as Kai wakes up dead (really, truly, sorta/kinda) and has to literally pull himself and the pieces together as he goes. We – and he as it turns out – are plunged into the middle of a story where neither knows quite how we got here – or is fully cognizant of what it is going to take to get out.

It’s also more than a bit of a “how it started/how it’s going” story, with both parts told in parallel as it goes along. Kai doesn’t know how he ended up entombed underwater as the story begins, so he’s trying to figure out how he and his friend and ally Ziede Daiyahah arrived in this most insalubrious location and circumstance.

They are also both desperate to learn what happened to the other members of their family during what they presume was a sudden disappearance from the world’s stage – just as they were about to step onto that stage for a critical negotiation.

But their immediate problem, once they dispose of the rogue agents who planned to assassinate them on the spot – only to provide a path for their escape instead – is to figure out what happened while they were gone. Beginning with locating – and rescuing if necessary – Ziede’s rather formidable wife, Tahren Stargard, along with Tahren’s occasionally hapless and always preoccupied younger brother Dahin.

In that process of chasing clues from pillar to post and all around the territory of the Rising World Coalition of which Kai, Ziede and Tahren are founders tasked with guarding the balance between the more, let’s call them human and mortal, factions, the trail leads through all the light and dark – all too frequently dark – places they fled through on their way to the founding of said coalition. Forcing Kai to walk through memories that he hoped to never revisit no matter how long his nearly immortal life might turn out to be.

Someone is leading them on a not-so-merry-chase. Someone, or several someones, is about to discover just how swiftly the tables can be turned – or perhaps just how long ago those tables were upended..

Escape Rating A-: Witch King is a book that really, truly, seriously rewards a second reading. I’m saying this so emphatically because I read it back in December for a Library Journal review, and at the time I liked it but didn’t love it. I listened to it this month and on the second go around I found it so compelling that I listened to the final quarter in a single go. (I played a lot of mindless solitaire that afternoon!)

I think there were several reasons why it worked so much better for me that second time around, and I think those reasons cannot all be laid at the feet of the narrator even though he was quite good and a terrific choice to serve as Kai’s first-person voice.

I believe that just how much anyone will like Witch King depends on what you were expecting from it. If you’re looking for more Murderbot, these are not the droids – or the SecUnits – you are looking for. (Those are in System Collapse coming out in November.)

If you’re looking for epic fantasy, this isn’t quite that either. Well, the setting feels like epic fantasy, but there’s not enough worldbuilding, or perhaps that not enough explication of the worldbuilding – particularly the wildly exploitative magic system – for this to qualify. Putting it another way, the worldbuilding is very densely packed, the reader is dropped in the middle of it, and there’s not nearly enough book for the reader to get up to speed on how this place is supposed to work before it seems to be falling apart around Kai’s and Ziede’s ears.

And if that title, Witch King, has you expecting anything like what is usually referenced by the term “witch”, well, this definitely isn’t that. Kai isn’t actually a witch at all, either by his definition or ours – and that has nothing to do with the gendered term witch and everything to do with what Kai really is. He’s a demon. Just not exactly what we think of as a demon, either. In other words, in spite of the genres that Goodreads has put this in, Witch King is not remotely paranormal as that’s usually defined.

And not that certain factions in his world haven’t taken all of the monstrous implications of the word demon and used them to apply to Kai’s people, who may come from the “Underearth” but not from any location that corresponds in any way to anything like Hell.

And not that there isn’t evil in Kai’s world, because there certainly is. It’s just the usual evils of power – and the desire for it – corrupting, and absolute power corrupting absolutely.

What Witch King really is, IMHO, is the story of not just one but two profound, life altering friendships, one of which, sadly, can only be honored in memory. And is, to the last full measure, leaving the reader with just a touch of heartbreak in its glorious end.

I hope someday the author returns to this world, because it’s beautiful and FUBAR-ed and fascinating in the way that all the best high fantasies are. And I’d love to find out what happened in the years between how it started and how it has, at least so far, ended.

Solid audiobook adaptation of a solid fantasy novel. I'd like to see more of this world, as described in my review of the book as a whole.

I always been a fan of Martha Well's fantasy book so I was excited for this. I find myself getting lulled by the narrator and then tuning out the story. I love the world that is created despite taking a bit to understand what is fully happening. I found myself losing interest to pick it back up.

***3.0 Stars***

Overall,
This was a bit of a hard one for me. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I was reading the physical book, not the audiobook. The first chapter lists characters and affiliations which is difficult enough to remember while reading but with the audiobook there is no easy way to go back to those for reference. I found myself getting lost and confused quite often throughout the book which took me out of the story. That is not to say that I didn't enjoy the overall story which in the grand scheme of things is a small story in an epic world. I just think if you are going to pick this book up, read a physcal or ebook form so that you can go back and reference things as they come up.

Ok, so I didn't finish this one. My brain just could not follow it at this time. I did get about half way through though and I think there are going to be a lot of people who really like it. It was very good. I may even try to revisit it when I have more brain power to devote to it.
Eric Mok was super easy to listen to and did a great job narrating.

Witch King
by Martha Wells
The audible version is remarkable as the reader adds interest and intrigue to the events of the book.
At the time of the renewal of the packed of the empire the loss of those leaders that started it may cause a change in the politics. The internal fighting of the empire is multi-layered and very maze like. The book shows the time of the renewal and the time of the beginning of the treaty. The people owe their freedom to a Witch, Demon Prince. He started the alliance attempting to save his people. His mission was to save the treaty because of his "family" those who helped him form the allegiance.

I love Martha Wells writing and this book did not disappoint. This world is fascinating to learn about. The different demon capabilities, the politics surrounding the present and the past, and how its all weaved together made it very interesting and enjoyable. The narrator was very well articulated as well. Great read. Will definiely get this for our library system.

I have mixed feelings on this book.

On the one hand, the characters were excellent and I thought the magic system was interesting and unique. Wells is a great writer, and I have no problems with the technical craft here. She was able to deliver a rich, detailed world in a short amount of time, and I found the story itself to be fairly intriguing. I especially love the friendship between Kai and Ziede.

On the other hand, I found the split timeline to be a hindrance to the flow of the book. I love a frame story where a narrator is telling a story about the past, but a straight up split timeline that alternates each chapter with past and present isn't my favorite (I had the exact same issue with Book of Night by Holly Black). It was too easy to put the book down because I would get invested in one storyline, and then it would abruptly change to the other storyline and I had to start all over again. I could never get enough momentum to really get into it.

I think this would have actually been a great duology. I would have loved to have read the entire story in chronological order rather than skipping around, and it would have been great to spend more time in the Underearth and the Saredi and explore that culture more. I would have also loved to have seen Kai and Bashasa dealing with the aftermath of everything and working together to rebuild their world.

Overall, I think I'm a bit disappointed not because it wasn't good, but because I would have liked more.

Kai wakes up imprisoned. He's been murdered and has no idea who did it, but good news! His consciousness is in a new body now, so he's got that advantage in trying to puzzle together what the heck happened to him. He's got his trusty bestie Zeide by his side to help him through all this though and a whole dramatis personae to go with.

I'm trying real hard to find nice things to say about this book. I've read a lot of reviews that said they came to Witch King because of Murderbot, which is far and away Wells's best. But there are no similarities between the two. In fact, it's almost as if they were written by two different people. To begin with the wold building in this book is convoluted in a good chapter. There are so many characters it was hard to find one that stood out. Most of them fail to become spectacular. I think a lot of people will say Kai is the best, but even he lacked spirit through most of the book. If there was one character I did actually like it was street rat Sanja. At least she had a great personality. To make matters worse, the ending was so abrupt that I didn't believe it was over. What was that even? One thing I do love about this book is its sexy cover art. Nice.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ALC. Eric Mok was a fine narrator.

Reading this book, or in this case listening, is like getting thrown in to the deep end of a very dark, very deep pool. Wells' has presented us with a world that's absolutely complete and without the traditional "primer". For myself, I got about 24% in and started the book over again because at that point, I had some understanding of what was happening.

Having said that- I did enjoy it. I guess I have to give the usual disclaimer that this isn't remotely in the Murderbot world but that's okay. Yes, I came to Martha Wells via Murderbot but Murderbot isn't my usual cup of tea and I didn't expect to enjoy it. In fact, if I saw the 2 sitting on a shelf together, I'd be far likelier to come home with The Witch King. Something I've found, is that I enjoy the experience of having both read and listened to a book. It adds a lot to the story for me and I am looking forward to reading this one because I think I will gain an even better understanding of the story when it's not being interpreted in a somewhat strident tone for the first half by our narrator. Don't give up on him though- he really does justice to the second half of the story.
So all together, would I read it again? Yes, but I'm still going to ding it one star because it really is a commitment.

This review is based on an advance copy that I received for free.

“A story of power and friendship, of trust and betrayal, and of the families we choose.“

Whoa. This story was…just…whoa.

Martha Wells has been a favourite of mine, since I picked up the first of the MurderBot Diaries. She’s funny, and smart, and can tell an extraordinary story like nobody’s business.

This story was funny…and smart…and extraordinary.

The world building was fantastic. The history and political structures and magical realms, oh my!

I loved the characters. They were all sorts complicated and deep.

The story was intense. The plot was fast moving and dynamic and the dual timelines kept me guessing.

It was also just a little…much.

It was TOO fantastic.
And there were TOO MANY complex characters.
And there was TOO MUCH going on in too many different places with too much political/historical detail.

I was overwhelmed.

Part of the problem, I think, was that I listened to a good portion of this in audio.

While the narrator was excellent, I felt like I needed to chart out all the characters and backstories and timelines.

It was rather exhausting.

I haven’t given up on the author, or even more in this series, should there be any.

I just need to read with my eyeballs, with zero distractions.

6/10

Thanks to NetGalley, Tor Publishing, and Macmillan Audio for this complex ARC.

WITCH KING by Martha Wells (Network Effect and others in the Murderbot series) is the introduction to a new world featuring the title character, a legendary demon named Kai, and his companion, Zeide, who is a witch searching for her missing wife. Politics and conflict abound. I honestly found this novel a bit difficult to follow – not only are there many characters, the rather lengthy (432 pages) book also jumps around in time between the current action and past events involving the same characters. However, Amal El-Mohtar, reviewing for The New York Times, found this temporal aspect to be a plus, writing, "timelines play off each other wonderfully: Elements introduced in a dizzying rush of world building become welcome context for the flashbacks, which in turn escalate tension in the present" and chose WITCH KING as one of just five science fiction and fantasy titles to suggest as Summer Reads. Wells' many fans should (and will!) certainly give this book a try. WITCH KING appeared as a LibraryReads selection for May 2023 and Wells is a prolific, outstanding author in this genre – she has won four Hugo Awards, two Nebula Awards, and three Locus Awards.

I can’t believe this was my first Martha Wells book. I enjoyed the narrator. I’m just not sure the audiobook format was the best to consume this book. There are many different characters and things happening, which made it challenging to listen.. I found myself returning to re-listen to certain parts to make sure that I remembered what happened. I really loved the premise of the Witch King, and I’m excited to read the book

dnf @15%

I was so excited to get the chance to listen to this book. I have tried really hard to get a grasp on the world but I am finding it very confusing. I do think that the narrator has done a fantastic job with this novel but this seems to be a book that would work best for me in print. I have put in a request for this book at my local library and hope to give it another try very soon.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Full review to be posted soon.

Witch King is the latest novel by award-winning author Martha Wells, which brings the reader/listener into a magical secondary world that includes her take on many of the common tropes of an epic fantasy world and story including interesting magical world building and intrigue between factions. For many listeners/readers who may be approaching Witch King because of a love for The Murderbot Diaries, I encourage you to enter the story with the expectation and understanding that this is an epic fantasy novel with a different tone and characters than that beloved series. The world has complex worldbuilding with some interesting elements. Though the story took me a bit to get into, Kai grew on me as a character beginning with his initial release for a magical imprisonment.

Eric Mok’s narration of the audiobook is well done and I would gladly seek out his narration in the future; however, the production decision to go with a more conventional and frequently formal sounding epic fantasy production may have missed an opportunity to accentuate some of the more unique narrative and stylistic elements of the story. Overall, Witch King will appeal most to those that go into the novel expecting epic fantasy and are ready to do the work to learn the magical elements and political intrigue of this secondary world.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing an advance audio review copy of Witch King. Full review and discussion on episode #206 of Narrated podcast: https://narratedpodcast.com/206