I loved how the worldbuilding was slowly spooled out as the story went along, and how entwined it was with the gradual reveals of Elen’s past. I really liked how grounded this book felt in the life of a relatively ordinary person in a fantasy setting. The Pall and the Spore are intriguing and interesting elements, and the characters were really well-drawn.
I loved Elen’s relationships with both Kem and the haunt, as well as the fact that she was a protagonist in her thirties instead of a teenager. (Nothing wrong with teenage protagonists, it’s just great to see something else for a change!). The casual queer representation and how normal it was in-universe was also amazing. This is a great book for readers looking for a slower fantasy that is engrossing but not too action packed. I’m really looking forward to seeing how the cliffhanger resolves in the sequel, and finding out more about the world as the characters do.

3.5 hearts

A story set in a world where some live in a land floating through the sky, others live on the mortal plane and then some live in darkness, in the underworld. All these worlds collide in The Floating World when, Ren, girl in hiding from those who would kill her in the Float City, uses a power she didn't realize she had to kill a demon. Sunho, a mercenary, has been sent to find her and bring her to the General's son alive. Based on the Korean legend of Celestial Maidens, the first book of The Floating World blends great imagery for world building with RPG type fights and an engaging story of family and new friends.

Ren has lived a relatively sheltered life and in many ways is innocent to the ways of the world. She has trained as an acrobat and storyteller in a traveling trope and has been loved these last ten years after being found wandering and afraid of everyone. When a demon attacks the small village she is performing in and injures her little uncle, a boy barely older that her, she saves him by releasing a power she has been holding inside of her. But his injuries are lingering and Ren is determined to go into the underworld and try and find a cure for her family.

Sunho is a mercenary by trade, hopping from team to team and never getting close to anyone. He doesn't have any memories past two years ago, but he remembers he has a brother and is desperate to find him. Sunho has a secret; there is a demon living inside of him. He keeps it at bay but it has added to his strength and healing, helping him in his current profession. Mercenaries have been sent to kill the girl who produced the light that could be seen from the underworld, the Celestial Maiden in hiding. Sunho has been hired by the son of the General to make sure he finds her and brings her in alive. In an interesting twist of fate, Ren helps Sunho when he is injured and he agrees to help take her to the underworld to find a cure for her uncle.

As they travel together, they build a friendship and bond of trust. Sunho doesn't realize she is the girl he is supposed to find and deliver and Ren knows he is hiding something about himself. They journey to try and find a way to save some of the only family Sunho has left and discover that while the mask Ren wears is real, everyone wears a mask of some kind. Both Ren and Sunho become stronger together and start to remember their pasts and the people in them.

There are some things that really worked for me in this story. I loved the worldbuilding portions of it. The descriptions of the city, the imagery of the floating city, and the underworld are really well done. I like the beginning of the story and how it set up Ren's love of the family who found her and made her their daughter and also gave us a few of the terror and damage a single demon could inflict. I enjoyed the slow build romance between Ren and Sunho as they become close to each other in their travels and slowly peel away the layers of themselves. The action and rollercoaster ride of the last thirty percent of the book with the reveals of both Sunho's and Ren's pasts were done really well.

While most of the story is devoted to Ren and Sunho, there is a small section for the General's son. He was probably the most interesting character to me since he knew Ren when they were children. There is a tie between them, a friendship from the past, but he is torn on how to proceed. His internal conflict and interactions with his cohort were some of the most interesting to me since it is unclear if he will help Ren or deliver her to his father.

The things that didn't work quite as well for me include the third person narration, which made it hard to connect to the characters in the beginning. The use of the term Little Uncle and Big Uncle also just felt weird to me, but that is probably a cultural choice the author went with. I have not read much Korean based lore so I was new to the language for some of the honorifics used in the story. I think the pacing in the middle of the book could have been worked out a little. There is a solid engaging start and then the book slows in pacing until the last thirty percent. These are minor issues to be sure and some are just my reading preferences.

Overall, this is an interesting tale that feels a bit Young Adult but has something in it for mature readers as well. I didn't know the legend of Celestial Maidens but liked the telling of it in this story and was a little surprised by the ending revels. I look forward to the next book of the series to see how our intrepid heroes manage.
He had a thought that if she couldn't control it, she might burn him. But he didn't care. He would burn for her.


Narration:

Performance: ★★★★
Character Separation: ★★★
Diction: ★★★★
Pacing/Flow: ★★★★
Sound Effects: None

Eden Jun is a new to me narrator and probably a new to everyone narrator as this seems to be her first narration. She fit the age for Ren well and has a solid narration voice. Because this was a third person narration, sometimes it could be a little difficult to tell a few of the voices apart to know who was talking. The timber of her voice or accent was pleasant and overall I think she did a great job, but with a little more time and seasoning she should get even better as a narrator.

This felt like good classic fantasy but with some really fresh twists. I love the mystery behind the history of the world and how these hidden truths of the land have led the people to live their lives. I also love the Haunt and how the role he plays with regards to the arrogant prince. I do hope to see more of the Haunt in the sequel.

If you love good worlds, an FMC in her 30s, fascinating characters, and an intriguing magic that fights back against the Pall and spores that are infesting the land, then you will want to pick this one up. The books ends on a decent cliffhanger, but fear not, because The Witch Roads #2, The Nameless Land is out in November!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thank you to @torbooks for the ARC. All thoughts are my own.

A world that feels like it has deep roots and we're only seeing a part of it? Yes! Royal hijnks that normal folk get caught up in through no fault of their own? Yep. Exploration of power imbalances? This is Kate Elliott. A subtle romance plot? Yep. A flip where instead of following the young adventurer, we instead get the adventure from the mentor's perspective? Oh yeah. There's body possession and secret plots and spoiled royals and extremely subtle flirtation that's both entertaining and heartbreaking.

I'm a sucker for a fantasy ross trip vibe novel, so I really enjoyed this one! The characters were vivid and well-constructed, and the world building was great. I'm looking forward to the next book!

I read the ARC for The Witch Roads by Kate Elliot and I enjoyed this fantasy quest.

Elen is a courier who has walked the same route each month for ten years. She survived a terrible childhood and young adulthood, escaping from danger with her sister and her nephew. Her sister is now gone, lost in an avalanche and Elen’s only family is her teenaged nephew Kem. Kem is at a transitional moment in his life, and he must declare for his profession, and Elen takes him on her route so he can see what being a courier is like. They stop overnight at a place with a mysterious reputation, it’s haunted, and a haunt reveals itself to Elen. Shortly thereafter, Elen and Kem are discovered by Kem’s father who wants to execute El and marry off his child. To escape him, Elen agrees to escorting a prince and his entourage on a dangerous journey.

I enjoyed El as our FMC – she is in her mid thirties and not a teenager. In fact, most of the characters, with the exception of Kem’s father, are multi-dimensional and interesting.
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The story is slower paced as the author builds this interesting world and I enjoyed the pace.

I read an advance reader copy of The Witch Roads from Net Galley and I need to thank Net Galley and Tor Publishing for my arc. This book releases today, June 10, 2025.

In a world where one knows exactly where they stand in a hierarchical class system Deputy Courier Elen is content. For the past ten years she has walked the same route, and has come to feel peace in the home she's made. With the love she has for her nephew Kem, and her recently deceased sister Aoving, she has all she could ever need. Up until her life is turned upside down when her past catches up with her, and she gets swept up on the adventure of a lifetime.

I truly loved this book. It's peak fantasy, with incredible world building, an intricate plot, and in-depth characters. Elen is a well established thirty something year old. She has a career she finds joy in and a little family she's nurtured from a young age. Not much rattles her and she's extremely capable. (I'm not sure why it was such a relief having a reliable narrator who can work through problems like a normal adult.)

What the The Witch Roads lacks in action, it makes up for in storytelling. It's slower paced in the sense that you're experiencing the quest in real time, learning about the world/customs as incidents come up, and immersing yourself in Elen. How she navigates interactions with people who are above and below her in station, how she feels compassion for others because of her history, how she has grown and yet stayed true to herself. She's a beautiful person inside and out, and is trying her best to navigate the world and people around her.

The book ends on a pretty significant cliffhanger and I cannot wait for the second book to come out! I'm excited to get more answers about The Pall and Spore, they're both insanely interesting antagonists.

I believe, if you're a fan of world building, artistic storytelling, and the book Graceling (Katsa and Po), you'll find a lot in this book to love.

When Elen, a mere deputy courier, is tasked with leading a Prince and his retinue along a smuggler path, she gets caught up in royal jostling and the mysterious past of the empire.

I was unsure if I would love a fantasy road trip quest, but the pacing and character growth were well done. I was always enticed to read one more chapter and get one more morsel of information.

I love that Elen is in her 30s, has never been married, and is skilled and settled in her career. Still, she deeply loves her nephew, Kem, who she helped raise and is now responsible for.

Elliot does fantastic world-building, creating an empire that is both queer-normative and with a strict social hierarchy. Plus, her characters are richly developed, so learning each little bit about them through the book was so exciting.

With that ending, I must pick up the second half of this duology ASAP.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Witch Roads is a 600-page fantasy brick. And yet—I DEVOURED IT IN THREE DAYS.

Forget clunky prose or the occasional meandering sentence. I was GLUED to this book like it was laced with magic spores (which, incidentally, also appear in the story—though they’re far less pleasant).

Elen, our heroine, is a delightfully competent, no-nonsense woman who could probably organize your life and fight demons while baking bread. She doesn’t dream big, she just gets things done, and I adored her for it. She exudes calm in a way that should be bottled and sold in pharmacies.

The plot? It’s a multi-threaded maze of secrets, politics, body possession, and talking griffins (okay, fine, maybe not talking—but still). The twists actually twist, and when the Big Reveal hit, my brain made that Windows startup sound.

Also: shoutout to Kem, Elen’s badass trans nephew, and the definitely-suspect prince-possessing entity I knew I shouldn’t love but kind of do. Sorry not sorry.

The worldbuilding is peak Elliott: no info-dumps, just vibes, panther carriages, and ancient mysteries lurking in the background like polite ghosts.

In conclusion: I regret nothing. Sleep was lost, responsibilities ignored, my partner deserves a medal, and this book is probably sorcery. One of my top reads of 2025. Go read it.

This is a great adult fantasy with a mild romantic subplot, and does what Kate Elliott does so well: has multifaced characters, intricate worldbuilding, and cool magic. I especially loved the focus on a narrative that we don't see as often as fantasy: a normal, almost mundane person: a deputy courier, rather than focusing on the prince with a mission. Although the way that story is told is quite intriguing as well! If you've never read Kate Elliott before, this would be a good entry point because the duology completes this year; if you're already a fan, I think you'll have a good time with this story!

The Witch Roads follows Elen, a deputy courier for the Empire, as she leads a prince and his entourage through the treacherous secret path toward a mysterious destination. Both El and the prince have their own secrets. When the prince's entourage ignores El's advice to not go into a haunted Spire, she has a whole new problem. The prince is a spirit from long ago who is looking for dangerous magic.

Elliott has written a very detailed world that is inhabited by well developed characters. El has a complex background and she has a very difficult time explaining the choices she and her sister made to Kem, El's nephew.

There is a sense of urgency surrounding the group as they are avoiding Spore, a fungus like magic that turns animals and people in horrible monsters. This creates an almost horror background to the emotional turmoil that the characters are going through. Somehow though, Kate Elliott also creates these quasi "cozy" moments.

The only thing that might put people off is the shear amount of description. Elliott populates this world so much that at times I found myself skimming description.

If you like S.A. Chakraborty, T. Kingfisher, Rachel Gillig, or Margaret Rogerson you will enjoy The Witch Roads. I'm very excited for book 2 to come out!

Cannot properly review this book as Netgalley has made it difficult to review anything. This is an accessibility issue now going from ASCM to LCPL.

I enjoyed this book very much. This story is high fantasy and many times I wished I had access to an audio version, because I have no idea how to pronounce the place names or character names. The story was good, though, and interesting and engaging.

This book is meant to be one of two and the story very much ends in the middle, so be prepared to be left hanging until part two releases.

The world building is intricate and detailed and it very much took me to another place, with different physics and physical properties of matter. The characters are interesting and fairly well developed. There is a good amount of palace intrigue and politics. The antagonistic characters are extremely hate-able and the conflict is satisfying.

I’m looking forward to reading the second half of this story when it releases. I’m also probably going to check this one out on audio so I can hear how all the names sound; I bet it’ll be wonderful to listen to!

This was a strong start to the Witch Roads duology series, it had that fantasy element that I was looking for and was engaged with what was happening. I enjoyed this as a opening chapter and am excited to read more in this universe, I was engaged from the start and really glad I got to read this. The characters had that overall feel that I was wanting and enjoyed the concept. Kate Elliott wrote this well and was engaged from the first page.

Elen takes her nephew on her deputy courier route, right before he must declare his career. They complete the circuit at Orledder Halt, just as an arrogant imperial prince and his entourage arrive. But the chaos of his arrival also brings an unexpect danger from the past, on that Elen has been running from and her nephew doesn't now about. To excape that fate, they both volunteer to go with the prince, guiding him through the hills. One night in, the prince ignores Elen's advice and enters into the haunted Spires. What emerges is wearing the prince's body and has its own agenda.

Why I started this book: Requested the ARC months ago, because I remember liking previous Elliott books, but I didn't pick it up until the week before publication.

Why I finished it: Took a moment to get my sea legs under me, but then this story was off to the races. So much so, that I stayed up all night to read, and immediately requested and read the second in the series which will be published in November.

Listen, I could sit here and tell you that I found the prose kind of clunky occasionally; that sometimes things are awkwardly phrased, or here and there a sentence is a few beats too long to fit the rhythm of a paragraph. I could nitpick all day.

But absolutely NONE of that matters, because The Witch Roads is deliciously, compulsively readable; it’s a book that reaches out and grabs you. When I picked this up, I was stressed to the max; I was moving house, which was all the usual kinds of stressful plus managing our very freaked-out pets; I was terribly ill; and it was the middle of winter, which where I am is Extreme and Extremely Depressing.

(We’re not gonna talk about how smart it was to pick up a nearly 600 page doorstopper in the middle of all this, ‘kay? Kay.)

And in the midst of this – all of this! – I was GLUED to the pages. Fellow readers, I devoured The Witch Roads in three days. Three days of doing everything that needed doing on fast-forward so that I could get back to Elen and the adventure she Did Not Ask For, Thanks A Lot. AND I REGRET NOTHING!

It’s really difficult for me to put my finger on what it is that makes this book so impossibly addictive. Kate Elliott has always been extremely hit or miss for me, and a big part of it is definitely mood or timing – if I’m not in the right headspace (whatever mysterious headspace is required; I can’t identify it) I bounce off her books; but when the stars align, her stories enchant me. But the stars should not have aligned for this one! Not right then! It was the worst possible moment for me to pick up a new Elliott book (again, let’s not get into wtf I was thinking; I do not remember and it’s probably better that way).

AND YET.

Unputdownable. I resented having to sleep! Witch Roads demanded priority, which was very unfortunate timing, but that just didn’t matter.

(Thank all the gods I have such an understanding partner. The things he has to put up with!)

Elen is not your typical fantasy heroine; she is extremely practical, treasures what she has and doesn’t let herself dream of more, has pride in herself but isn’t bothered by others looking down on her. Optimistic would suggest she always expects the best to happen, and she doesn’t, but she is so appreciative of the good things in her life, the small pleasures and small beauties she encounters. I really loved that about her. There is something extremely soothing about her personality; she has a very calming influence, even from beyond the page. In an emergency, she’s exactly who you’d want by your side, both because she’s very competent at anything she sets her hands to, and because she always keeps her head.

Elliott makes it quietly clear, through small asides and subtle blink-and-you’ll-miss-them revelations, that Elen – and her now-deceased sister – have a Mysterious Backstory. Brace yourself for some serious twists, because although Elliott sets you up to think you know what that backstory is, you will be completely wrong. It’s the best bait-and-switch reveal I’ve encountered in a while, and when all the pieces actually come together, it’s with a galaxy-brain moment that makes the wait for it more than worth it!

Quite a lot of the book is like that: there are a number of distinct but intertwined plotlines, taking place across wildly varied scales – and none of them are simple, or obvious, or quick to explain themselves. Elliott drip-feeds us information, and it feels like playing chess with a master. Perhaps in the hands of another storyteller, this could have been drawn-out or annoying, but there’s too much going on right in front of us at every moment – the travails of the journey Elen and the prince are on – for things to feel slow or boring. Elen is so viscerally present, both to us on the page, and in living every moment she has, for us to ever feel divorced from the story. It doesn’t hurt at all that the rest of the cast is wonderfully vibrant too: most especially Kem, Elen’s trans nephew, and the being possessing the prince, who we definitely should not trust but damn, he’s charming!

The empire Elliott has created has a very mild trace of ancient China, with all of its citizens fitted into an immense, hyper-strict hierarchy, much of which is taken up by an extensive bureaucracy. But this is a land beset by Spore, outbreaks of magical spores that horrifically mutate all living matter; where carriages bearing the imperial family are drawn by panthers; and griffin-riders carry the most urgent messages back and forth. Ancient ruins, prehistoric skeletons, and glimpsed non-humans give the setting an immense weight of history without any need to info-dump the reader. But if you’ve read anything of Kate Elliott’s, you already know she’s a top-tier worldbuilder!

If you’re at all tuned in to the marketing around this one, you’ve probably heard that Witch Roads is the book that made Elliott fall in love with writing again. I think that comes through beautifully; it’s as much fun to read as it apparently was to write, has a magic to it that is immediately enthralling. On paper, Witch Roads shouldn’t have interested me much; if I’d been told the whole of the plot, it wouldn’t have sounded like my sort of thing at all. But I’ve already told you how unbelievably and instantly hooked I was, and I challenge anyone not to be.

Easily one of the highlights of 2025!

Kate Elliott's immersive world-building skills shine in The Witch Roads, the first installment in The Witch Roads duology.

While the book has a bit of a slow start, we got sucked in fairly quickly and then couldn't stop reading.
It is important to remember this is the first half of a complete story. And there is A LOT of world-building in this first installment. But in a good way.
Elliott deftly weaves in world-building in various ways - through dialogue, through character backstories, through interludes. All the little details and the macro perspectives made the world feel real and lived in.

Aside from the world-building, the characters were well-crafted as well. Some a bit more than others. The story centers on Elen, a 30-something deputy courier who is outspoken, empathetic, and clever. She has strong survival instincts but also a caring heart. Going on the journey through Elen's eyes and experiences is a treat and quite comforting.

Overall, we really enjoyed this first book in The Witch Roads duology and look forward to finding out what happens in the second book. Pretty sure it's gonna be epic.

To hear more of our spoiler-free thoughts, check out our episode here: https://bit.ly/4klBuGw

Elen is a deputy courier, walking the same roads for a decade while delivering messages and hunting dangerous, life-destroying Spore. Elen, along with her nephew Kem, make camp at some mysterious ruins, and a haunt appears, asking to borrow her body or her nephew’s. Elen refuses, but when she and Kem find themselves back at the ruins after being unexpectedly shanghaied by a royal prince’s quest, the prince is possessed by the spirit. With Elen and the haunt’s goals temporarily aligned to getting the prince and haunt up to the north, she finds herself allied with this inscrutable but somehow awfully charming ghost.

The book is a road trip story, with all the positives and some of negatives that entails. It’s very much about the journey rather than the destination. In fact, for the reader, the destination is a mystery. Only the prince, possessed by the spirit, knows why the royal group is traveling. It makes for an unusual setup that could be frustrating in other hands, but I was busy being captivated by characters’ interactions and how their relationships shift through the journey.

And there’s so much more to love. It’s a mostly queernorm world (though there’s some plot-relevant prejudice). Elen is a competent woman in her thirties! I have a soft spot for fantasy books featuring middle-aged female protagonists, and they are very rare (Lois McMaster Bujold’s Paladin of Souls and S.A. Chakraborty’s The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi are two of my favorites).

I suppose my rating is more of a 4.5 rounded up, at least until I read the sequel, which might put these concerns to rest (coming out later this year and I can’t wait!). The touch of romance didn’t quite feel believable without more time, but maybe we’ll get it in the second book. There’s also a lengthy flashback late in the book that, while plot-relevant, seemed to throw off the pacing, but this might feel different when it’s the middle of the duology rather than the end of the book.

Short and very high level summary.

We have the Tranquil Empire who adheres to a strict cast system by hereditary status who has been wreaked by a fungal plague called the Pall or the spore that mutates its victims. Elen is a deputy courier who’s job is to guide a prince and his entourage but of course they planned road has been destroyed and they are forced to take a treacherous and dangerous detour.

Now my thoughts.

There is so much happening in this book. From the vivid world building to the detailed character development and then of course the story it’s self. One good write pages on the plot and sub plot alone but that is not what I am here to do. I am here to tell you why you should run out and buy this book as soon as it’s released.

This is not your run of the mill epic fantasy that are being cranked out right now. Our MC is in her 30’s and has chosen a life without marriage and children. That alone was refreshing. I’m so over the numerous angsty teen fantasies. Since Elen is an adult we have more emotionally mature relationships. A prominent one in the story is Elen’s relationship with her nephew Kem. Kem is trans and not just so that the author can say they have a queer dynamic in the book. Kem is a strong part of the story of both him and Elen’s emotional development throughout the story.

This fantasy has a lot to offer. Our MC has a mysterious and secretive back story, there are dark elements like the Spires (Ancient, haunted structures that hold supernatural power). The oppressive political power dynamics that include an arrogant Prince is in exile. The holystone, a substance that resists the Pall (the plague) so it is used to pave roads and build walls. This story is very complex but is written so well its easy to stay engaged. The pacing is steady with little to no slow spots. Overall this was a well written story that is truly multifaceted and intricate with its characters as well as its themes. I truly enjoyed it and look forward to the next book.

Rating: Enjoyed It, 3.5 stars

This is my first Kate Elliot novel, and I enjoyed it, but it unfortunately was not a new favorite. In the Witch Roads, we follow Deputy Courier Elen. As it opens, she is showing her nephew, Kem, what her job on the road entails. On their way back to their home, they stop at the Spires where a haunt in a statue casually requests that she let him possess her so that he may complete a quest. Elen refuses, but this isn't the last we see of the haunt. When they return home, her past catches up with them, and to escape those consequences, Kem pledges himself to the wardens, and Elen winds up as the guide to the prince's party as they must detour to avoid a rock avalanche blocking the road north. This detour leads them back across the haunt who may or may not possess the prince. Questy escapades ensue.

I thought that this was an extremely interesting world. There is a Pall that hangs over many areas of the land and Spores that will corrupt living beings, twisting them into monstrous versions of themself. The imperial, or "witch," roads repel both the Pall and the Spores, but nobody really knows why. This society is incredibly rigid in terms of class hierarchy, which makes Elen and the haunt very unlikely allies. I thought that the writing was very nice. It was very descriptive, but never got to be too overly descriptive that I would skim it.

I was very intrigued by Elen's backstory. We get pieces here and there throughout the story, and I enjoyed those discoveries. She was a good character to follow. I appreciated that she is an adult and that she has a positive outlook despite the life events she has experienced. The biggest defining characteristic about her is that she loves her people and will do anything for them. As we see her relationship with Kem over the course of the book, we come to realize that while she loves him deeply, she doesn't always love him in the way that he needs. I appreciated seeing that relationship progress.

Kem is a young trans boy whose mother, Elen's sister, has passed away, but we come to realize that she wasn't exactly accepting when he came out to her. I think it would have been interesting to get his perspective throughout as well. I feel like his would have been the more classic fantasy trope of young boy finds out he is actually of a higher birth status than he had always believed, and joins in a quest that will change the trajectory of his future.

Overall, this book is extremely slow paced, which when combined with being a quest story made it feel extremely long. I was hoping that the characterization and interpersonal relationships would outweigh the quest, but it did not. Therefore, this was never going to be my favorite book, but it kept me engaged because I wanted to know the end. This definitely leaves off on a cliffhanger of sorts. Not a bad one by my opinion, but one that leads into the next story. I think I will likely pick that one up because I am interested to see how the story ends up and how the characters fare.

Overall, this was a well-written book that had a structure that just isn't my favorite. I highly recommend if you enjoy questy fantasy adventures with ancient civilizations and forgotten magic! Thank you to Netgalley and Tor for an eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own. The Witch Roads releases on June 10, 2025.