Witch King

Hardcover, 432 pages

Published May 30, 2023 by Tordotcom.

ISBN:
9781250826794

View on OpenLibrary

5 stars (4 reviews)

After being murdered, his consciousness dormant and unaware of the passing of time while confined in an elaborate water trap, Kai wakes to find a lesser mage attempting to harness Kai's magic to his own advantage. That was never going to go well. But why was Kai imprisoned in the first place? What has changed in the world since his assassination? And why does the Rising World Coalition appear to be growing in influence? Kai will need to pull his allies close and draw on all his pain magic if he is to answer even the least of these questions. He's not going to like the answers

2 editions

Complex, Elaborate World Building

4 stars

This was a very nice read and astonishingly complex world building for a single volume. My main issue with the book was that I needed the first half to figure out what was going on and then spent the second half to remember all the intricate details of the world Martha Wells created. I would definitely read another book from the same universe.

Densely packed, unique world building with an exciting storyline that drives the narrative more than the characters do.

No rating

I initially was a little intimidated when I opened the book and was greeted with a list of names and titles from a world I didn't understand, but the characters are all described as they're introduced, such that I didn't ever need to page back to the list, so I worried for nothing. Martha Wells does an incredible job of fitting a lot of world building into a small space, doling out lore as necessary in a way that still sparks the imagination. And what a world it is! Layers of culture, powers, politics, and history unfold in two separate timelines with a scope that feels like a big adventure. Kai is a fun mix of snarky and competent, with other characters distinct, but not given quite as much attention. Overall, characters and their arcs to take a bit of a backseat to the plot and its mysteries. While this …

avatar for roytoo@ramblingreaders.org

rated it

5 stars