The Witch Roads has everything I love about Kate Elliott books and reaffirms why Kate Elliott is one of my favorite authors! Elliott’s world building really shines here with the reader transported into a world where mysterious Palls cause deadly Spores to appear that mutate and destroy any life they come into contact with. The world is rife not with just these mysterious dangers, but magic, intrigue, politics, and a depth of lore that makes the world feel very complex.

Elliott does a fantastic job quickly establishing many of the large elements of the world, while delivering a very satisfying slow-burn reveal of many other mysteries of both the world and the characters. Both the mystical and mundane are captured as lowly Deputy Courier Elen ends up guiding a powerful Prince and his entourage through dangerous territory to facilitate the Prince’s mission. The way would be fraught with danger already, but when another entity ends up taking over the Prince’s body, things get much more complicated.

The thing that stands out the most to me about this world is just how real it feels despite the obvious fantasy elements. The author has a way of capturing day to day life and very real conflicts, emotions, and cruelties both within the characters and the world around them. I definitely am a worldbuilding focused reader, and I felt greatly rewarded with what’s been set up in this first entry (with so much more that can be delved into in the next book) but the characters, especially the main character Elen also just felt so real and nuanced. You probably know or have met someone who shares a lot in common with the character and so it’s easy to be drawn into her story.

I was a bit hesitant with this one due to the premise making it sound like this might be a bit more on the YA side, but instead this very much is a triumphant return to Adult Epic Fantasy for Kate Elliott. A complex world and characters, a gripping journey, and exploration of ideas and themes that are all too real despite being part of the fantasy world set up here. Elliott manages quite a lot in not a lot of page count here (this is a duology after all) and yet still finds time for deep exploration and some truly beautiful passages. This one is definitely worth your time to check out, especially if you are someone who isn’t ready to jump into her phenomenal but much longer Crown of Stars series quite yet.

‘the witch roads’ follows Elen, whom is a courier who walks the same path keeping an eye out for the Spore (which is deadly) and necessary to stamp out. For ten years she has done this, but this time she is taking her nephew, Kem, along so he can see her route as he comes closer to his declaration day.

as they return to their home, a prince has arrived to their small town which is when the story picks up. I will admit I struggled to get to this point as the story felt slow and a bit discombobulated as I tried to understand the world building.

I don’t think this one is for me, but anyone looking for an older FMC (30’s?), a travel/quest based read, this might be for you.

THE WITCH ROADS was and excellent fantasy with great worldbuilding. Elen is a Deputy Courier who walks her circuit delivering messages and watching for spores. She is lower class in a society where one's social class is defined and immutable. On the trip that begins this story, she is walking with her nephew Kem who is just seventeen and is coming up on the day when he has to declare his life career.

As a treat, Elen takes Kem a bit off the path to look at some ancient spires. Their origins are lost in the mists of history. Since they arrive on a full moon, they have a chance that they might see the haunts that legends say inhabit The Spires. And Elen does...

A being who has inhabited one of the guarding statues for a very long time appears and asks Elen to let him take over her body so that he can accomplish a vital mission. If not hers, he'd willingly take over Kem's body. Elen refuses for both of them and the pair move on toward home.

But there is a prince of the Third Estate who comes traveling with his entourage who also has a mission. Earthquakes having covered the witch road just past Elen's home village, the prince is in need of a guide around the break and Elen is chosen. Kem is along too because he has declared to become a Warden which is a career path open to him only when he learns that he is the illegitimate son of a lord. This discovery causes friction between Elen and Kem because Elen was keeping his heritage a secret from him.

The story takes a turn when the haunt who met Elen at The Spires takes over the prince's body. Both the prince and the haunt have their own reasons for heading to the end of the world. There are adventures and villains along the way in this richly imagined fantasy. Safe paths along the witch roads keep travelers safe from the Pall that covers parts of the world like a man-eating fog and spores that turn living flesh into monsters are only a few of the perils. There is also political intrigue as princes jockey for position and allies to become the next emperor. And there are secret missions.

Fans of fantasy with engaging characters and complex worldbuilding will enjoy this story.

The Witch Roads is book one in the new fantasy series of the same name by Kate Elliott.

I used to read tons of fantasy, and have been trying to read more of it in recent years, but although I love romance I’m not interested in the romantasy trend. I was happy to read this book that had a hint of romance, but was not focused on that aspect of the story.

Elen is a courier in this world, but she has several secrets that she is hiding from those around her, and when one of them is found out, she takes a job guiding a spoiled prince and his entourage to their ultimate destination.

I was a bit confused in the beginning about what Pall and Spore were, but eventually I got the explanation I needed, and even before that, I was already invested in this world and the characters in it.

The world building here was great. The politics, the class system, the history, and the magic, it just felt so well done. And the storyline itself was full of adventure and intrigue and really kept my attention while reading.

If I had any problem with the book, it was the way the book ended….not exactly a cliffhanger, but definitely a lead in to the next book in the series. I will be looking forward to that because I'm invested in these characters now.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Tor Publishing Group provided an early galley for review.

I will admit that the cover is what caught my attention on this novel. Researching the author's work, I see that Elliott has several fantasy series under her belt with this novel being the start of a new one. I was pleased to see from her introduction that this book has reignited her love of writing. It is encouraging to an amateur writer like myself that even professional writers sometimes find themselves in a dry spell.

This story is very much one of journey and discovery. The geography and places that dot it are very much like characters themselves. It brings to mind other fantasy novels where travel is a key component of the narrative: J.R.R. Tolkien's and Stephen R. Donaldson's works from my youth. Elliott has invested a lot in the world-building here (her "about the author" note at the end states her focus in that area yields immersive results), and it comes across intricately on the page.

However, for my tastes I found that the focus on places and scenery at times pushed aside any main character interaction or dialogue. There were chapters early on where not a word was exchanged between Elen and Kem for pages on end. I found myself bored. I suspect this is because my nature tends to be about getting to the destination (and all that means) and not so much on the routes it takes me. I am like that in real life, I am like that in my writing, and I am like that in my reading.

For the right kinds of readers, this book be captivate.

A Winding Imperial Magical Fantasy
Kate Elliott, The Witch Roads (New York: Tor Publishing Group, June 10, 2025). Hardcover: $29.99; Fantasy. 448pp. ISBN: 978-1-250338-61-7.
***
“Book 1 in the Witch Roads duology, the latest epic novel. Status is hereditary, class is bestowed, trust must be earned. When an arrogant prince (and his equally arrogant entourage) gets stuck in Orledder Halt as part of brutal political intrigue, competent and sunny deputy courier Elen—once a child slave meant to shield noblemen from the poisonous Pall—is assigned to guide him through the hills to reach his destination. When she warns him not to enter the haunted Spires, the prince doesn’t heed her advice, and the man who emerges from the towers isn’t the same man who entered. The journey that follows is fraught with danger. Can a group taught to ignore and despise the lower classes survive with a mere deputy courier as their guide?”
This is the best speculative opening out of this set of reviews (so far). Chapter 1 “On Ordinary Lanes and Behind Unprotected Walls” offers some backstory about the rules and regulations of magic in this Tranquil Empire. It explains that witches were burned and sealed into roads and have since began causing trouble from the afterlife. The section ends with a humorous note that it was “censored” by the Empire. Reading this would help readers orient in this story to gain some interest in the rest of the narrative. An absolute lack of exposition at the start, and jumping right into the action tends to be poorly done, as readers do not know who to cheer for in a battle between two unknown characters, in a world that seems to be indistinguishable from our primary world.
The conclusion also includes at least some details about what happened to this secondary world during the narrative. Though many of the details are given as potential things that might be believed, instead of facts of what is. A line Is described as seeming to be “the end of the empire, the end of the inhabitable world”, when it is not really this. The rest of this conclusion is an overly stretched discussion between a mother and a son, who are telling each other cliché phrases such as the concluding note: “we’re together. For now, that is enough.” Too many novels end with such empty, re-fabricated platitudes.
While the blurb proposes to be a philosophically political, the interior’s first mention of “status” merely states that a protagonist is handed a single pair of boots that “would follow throughout” his life, while he is mostly concerned about wearing them because he has a “blister”. Since I have been wearing the same pair of sneakers for several years, this is less of a secondary-world shocking idea than the wealthy author might believe. A second mention of status appears in a section about “princes” competing for it in the “palace hierarchy”. The rest of the paragraph does not explore this further, but rather digresses into discussing “shadow wardens” and spies. The next mention notes that a “badge” marks a prince’s status, as does his jacket and other fineries. Basically, only surface matters regarding politics are explored, and not as-promised the economic or political nature of class-difference, or class-conflict.
This is a pretty good novel, with some curious, or fantastic details. But there is too much empty description, and dialogue. For example, a 10-line paragraph lives various titles of a single character: “His Highness Gevulin, Prince-Warden of the Imperial Order of Wardens…” This is a bit funny, but there are too many confusing digressions across the text. Readers who have the time to slowly read through a fantasy can attempt it.
Pennsylvania Literary Journal: Spring 2025 issue: https://anaphoraliterary.com/journals/plj/plj-excerpts/book-reviews-spring-2025

The Witch Roads is a fantasy story focused heavily on a journey and travel through this perilous landscape. Unfortunately, I didn't connect with this story as much as I had hoped and found myself struggling a lot. A lot of people seem to be enjoying this so I would still likely recommend it to fans of fantasy and travel stories, it just wasn't for me personally. I found myself confused at a lot of what was happening in the beginning that I was struggling to simply understand what was happening to the point that I couldn't enjoy the story and the journey itself. Too much brain power was going into understanding what was going on and I don't enjoy that. It is frustrating because I think there is a lot of interesting elements to this world but I simply couldn't focus on them enough.

This is my first Kate Elliott book, and I'd read more! I really enjoyed the characters and the world building. It was a little wordy at times, but good story annnd leaves you hanging a bit. Would recommend for high fantasy fans who enjoy Sanderson, Tolkien, and compelling fantasy worlds.

Thanks to NetGalley & Tor Books for this ARC!

Unfortunately I lost interest. The story just didn't capture me. I enjoyed the writing style but the pacing became slow and I started reading something else.

At about 15% I couldn’t bring myself to read until I remembered it was an ARC and j should provide feedback. Otherwise I probably would have DNFed, and if you’ve stuck around awhile you’ll know how rarely I stop with no plans of finishing.

Book one in a duology also titled The Witch Roads, book 2 releasing the same year.

“One hundred and thirty years after the Pall tore deadly rifts through the Tranquil Empire, it is still prudent to avoid walking abroad at night.” Imperial people, those with official office, get tokens and therefore protection. But ordinary folk do not. 300 years prior temple theurgists spoke out against the consolidation of power into one imperial clan, against the states monopoly on violence. These venerable were executed as witches, their bones helping to pave the imperial roads. The same blessed roads that proved impervious to the Pall and Spore.

And it’s all explained very tidy and neat, better than I summarize here, in a very short opening chapter.

Our main character is Elen, a middle aged courier working one circuit for several years (well scratch that, she’s early 30s, not really middle aged). Her sister was Aoving, but she has been dead some time. On this trip along her route she has taken Aoving’s son, Kem, to help him decide what career path he wants to declare to. It reminded me of The Boy Who Became a Jackrabbit by Charles Stanford.

They turn off to Three Spires, and trying to avoid awkwardly running into others, they do anyway.

A good start to what promises to be a good duology. Kate Elliott delivers a pretty good intro with this one.

Elen, deputy courier has been making her rounds for years in peace when lightning strikes from above. An arrogant, high ranking prince arrives only to learn his way forward is barred, and she the one who can guide him along an alternate route. Now, leading his party even as she’s barely tolerated to breath the same air he is, she finds herself spending the night in the haunted Spires left by an ancient people, and things just spiral downward from there.

Kate Elliott is an author I’ve been meaning to get to for a long time, mainly her Crown of Stars septology; I’ve only read an anthology of her short fiction so far. She’s among that class of 80’s and 90’s female epic fantasy authors whose work has just absolutely blown me out of the water, the quality of the books they were releasing back then forced to be so much better just to be able to get a seat at the proverbial table. Maybe it’s just the way she writes, but The Witch Roads has the feel of classic epic fantasy to me that still feels fresh and strikes all the right chords. Let’s talk about it.

First and foremost, and I didn’t know this going in, this is a deeply character driven story. Elen has had a complicated life, made more so when she finds herself on the bad end of court intrigue, and over the course of the novel we just become utterly absorbed with the circumstances of her story and the relationships that form and play out with the other cast members. In a society deeply stratified and hierarchical in the way social status is determined and implemented, she pretty much just wants to live a peaceful life which would really suck for us if she were allowed to. The characters who form this play are wonderfully crafted, in such a way that they feel like very real people - complicated, messy, but ultimately just living their lives to the best of their abilities.

Setting aside the deep character focus, this is fantasy and we can’t not talk about the worldbuilding and all that gooey stuff. There’s an environmental element in here that reminds me so much of the Pern books, which is probably why I keep thinking this feels almost like classic epic fantasy. The other elements for the most part aren’t anything new and different, they’re mostly classic stalwart tropes with a different coat of paint, and that’s perfectly fine because it doesn’t injure the story in anyway. The societal structure of this kingdom Elen resides in gave me an Ancient Chinese feel to it in the exorbitant, over the top way it seems to be, and other elements like the social stratification, the bureaucracy, the education.

As to the story itself, it starts slow but quickly becomes very intense when we have enough ground under us to launch from and Kate Elliott wastes no time twisting the knife. The primary characters are introduced and we get just enough time to get comfortable with them before the thumbscrews come out and she starts putting them in the wringer on us, sweeping us along in the bargain. From there, things progress in a comfortable way that isn’t slow, isn’t fast but just right, with plenty of mystery, allure and intensity thrown in to the small moments to engage us and keep us sucked in.

All in all, a very solid intro, from an author I consider a master of the genre. The sequel for this drops in November, and once that’s out of the way it’s not going to be much longer before I finally get to Crown of Stars.

NOTE: Youtube review goes public on 14th May 2025

Wait this was so good... I truly love epic fantasy with female main characters written by women - they have a permanent place in my heart. AND the mc wasn't 17.. I'm definitely looking forward to book 2

First of all, the main character is in her 30s. I love a good dark academia or young heroine as much as the next person, but it’s refreshing sometimes to deal with an actual adult hero and adult cast.

The Witch Roads has a bunch of my favorite tropes all wrapped up in a richly detailed and immersive world. We’ve got forgotten magic and ancient history, a mysterious and powerful arcane creature, political/court intrigue, rangers, and a supernatural blight. There’s also a slow burn, forbidden romance which is like catnip to me.

The adventure is balanced with emotional stakes and some really enticing hints of deep lore that definitely have me looking forward to the second book. The characters are appealing and have the kind of depth that makes me really care about seeing what happens to them next. I’m invested!

This book is over 400 pages but I wouldn’t have believed it; it was pretty fast paced and I read it in just a couple of sittings because I couldn’t put it down. I’d definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a new fantasy with an interesting world and setup, especially if you like intrigue or slow burn romance.

It’s coming out June 10, so put it on your calendar if that sounds appealing! Thank you NetGalley and Tor Books for the advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion!

Elen is a deputy courier - an odd job that is part mail man, part scout, part official. She also has a secret. A secret that can get her killed. Luckily, Elen is very good at escaping, but when the past comes back to haunt her, she takes the only path open to her - escorting a prince of the third estate on a quest through unmarked territory on a mission she doesn't know the slightest thing about. Surrounded by people who would kill her if they knew her secret, she must somehow get a group of noble servants and wardens to follow a person beneath their stations and notice. She manages by the grace of a prince who has something to hide himself. My synopsis does not do justice to this book, but if I say too much it will remove the fun of discovery. Part fantasy, part chase, part romance, part mystery - every part excellent. Eagerly awaiting book 2.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Books for the ARC! When a spoiled prince comes into the region and requests a guide through the hills, deputy courier Elen (as someone who has survived the journey) is forced into the roll. But it couldn't have come at a better time as Elen needs to flee from a figure from her past which threatens her present (as well as the present and future of her ward). But the Spires hold secrets from the past that impact the travellers. Can Elen navigate everyone to safety and what will she need to sacrifice in order to try? An engaging narrative that carries hints of longing and sorrow, The Witch Roads is a worthy read for fantasy fans and will continue in The Nameless Land coming November 2025.

Such an amazing throwback to 1980s classic fantasy paperbacks! Epic fantasy but with an updated and inclusive setting. An excellent debut into fantasy with incredible worldbuilding!

DNFing at 60% in

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to like this so much but I am just so bored. Most of the reviews for this are absolutely glowing so it's definitely a me thing. Probably shouldn't have read two quest heavy fantasies back to back. My bad.

Loved the trans rep in this though and the characters were the best part of it. Will probably return to it once it is actually published. I just can't right now.

The story is set in an Asian-influenced world of the Tranquil Empire, which has been infected by the Spore-laden Pall, which has a fatal impact to those who travel after dark outside protected areas. Travellers along the imperial Witch Roads are protected by poorly understood reasons that allow them to journey unmolested by Spore.
To start with, Elen, a deputy courier for the local intendent (mayor) of the Moonrise Hills, and her nephew Kem are on their way home after a usual circuit of delivering messages, decrees, personal letters, etc. to remote villages and hamlets when they stop for the night at the Three Spires.
There Elen meets a haunt--a being who emerges when the moon is bright--and that's when the adventures truly begin. How the relationships between Elen and the haunt, Elen and Kem, develop and merge and change makes a fascinating story that is not totally resolved even at the end of the book, since this is part one of a duology. Nevertheless, the characters are clearly drawn with enough question about their early lives to make for suspenseful reading. I loved the way it developed the story and anxiously await the next installment.

This is the first book in a duology. This part is quite good and I'm invested in reading the sequel. Deputy courier El has been tasked with guiding a crew of imperial wardens and their prince across dangerous terrain, but her job gets infinitely more complicated when the prince is possessed by an ancient spirit and El is the only one who knows. There is a general plot in this first book but it's very much a Fellowship of the Ring type situation. Lots of set up for the overarching story and less focus on ending this book with a full arc. Witch roads, mutating fungal spores, and a rigid caste system make the world come to life and several characters are set up for interesting further development so I'm hopeful that this series will be very good indeed. A great read if you're looking for a tolken-esque story with creative world-building and lore.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me this free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For the past 10 years, El has worked as a courier traveling the same route, looking for deadly spire, killing it, and creating relationships in the towns and villages she passes through. Mourning the death of her sister, El cares for her nephew who knows little of his mom and aunt’s past.

One day, unexpectedly, a Prince of the realm and his retinue of Wardens come to their halt on a secret journey that is thwarted by a rival prince. El is enlisted to guide the group to their destination as their thoroughfare has been blocked by an avalanche. On their way, the high and mighty Prince awakes from an experience a completely changed man who has his own mission to fulfill. Only El seems to notice the change and while she knows what took place, she and her nephew are caught up in imperial intrigue and mystery.

Kate Elliott carefully crafts an immersive fantasy world and lively characters. Can’t wait for the follow up.