Witch King (2023) by Martha Wells - Book Review

Witch King (2023) by Martha Wells

Published by Tordotcom

- Book Review -

Martha Wells is a force to be reckoned with. I think many readers would recognize her name first from the wildly popular Murderbot Diaries, which was my introduction to this wonderful author (and I am sure I will be writing about Murderbot soon enough, especially with a new book on the horizon). But others may know her from her previous works such as City of Bones (getting an updated and revised edition this year), or maybe Element of Fire and Death of the Necromancer (also getting an updated and revised edition this year titled, The Book of Ile-Rien), or maybe it was from... You get the picture. Martha Wells has been here. But it's never too late to try a book, and Ms. Wells has so many to choose from.

Witch King is Martha Well's first new fantasy in over a decade, and the only other title from her that I have read outside of the Murderbot Diaries. Wells delivers a brand new adventure following Kaiisteron, the Witch King, as he wakes up in a tomb without any memory of how he got there, or who may have been involved in putting him there.

Told in alternating timelines, Martha Wells drops the reader into a rich world and does not hold the reader's hand as they navigate it. There are times you may feel like you are drowning, as I certainly did, but continue to push through. Continue to swim. The world begins to unveil itself with each chapter,  giving the reader small glimpses into the greater story as we alternate between Kaiisteron in the present, bent on finding out who the conspirators were for his entombment, and Kai in the past, a "young" demon fighting against the imperialistic Hierarchs.

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