#WyrdandWonder Book Review: Witch King by Martha Wells
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
Mogsy’s Rating: 2 of 5 stars
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: Tor.com (May 30, 2023)
Length: 432 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Taking a break from her sci-fi Murderbot Diaries series, Martha Wells makes a return to the fantasy genre with Witch King, following the titular demon prince Kaiisteron. A powerful being capable of taking on the forms of deceased mortals, Kai begins this tale by awakening from a long imprisonment, disoriented and separated from his body—his murdered body, now resting in its watery grave. Severely weakened and unable to remember much from before, all he can be certain of is that he was betrayed.
Upon freeing himself, Kai sets out to solve the mystery of his own death in a narrative told in two branches. One follows our protagonist in the present as he emerges into a changed world looking for allies and learning the new status quo, while the other sees him trying to retrace the pathways back into the past. Along the way, he receives the aid of several traveling companions, most with motivations and quests of their own. As revelations of a greater conflict come to light, Kai won’t hesitate to use his destructive magic if it means finding out the answers and keeping his friends safe.
As much as I enjoy her Murderbot adventures, I first began reading Martha Wells with her Books of the Raksura so you can imagine my excitement at the idea of reading her fantasy again. Unfortunately though, I ended up being somewhat disappointed with Witch King. On the surface, the novel had everything I wanted: fully fleshed characters with drive, check. An elaborate secondary world, check. A multi-layered plotline with grand conflicts, check. Yet sometimes you can have a book that is extremely well put together but which still fails to provide an enjoyable experience.
The problem here wasn’t the content of the package, but its delivery which was completely devoid of any charm. The author’s prose, which ironically came across so much more alive and vibrant when she was writing about a robot, felt flat and sterile here, presented with all the charisma of a technical manual. The story also suffers from poor pacing and an unnecessarily huge cast list, full of characters for whom I felt little to nothing. Even Kai himself was a snooze to read about, and as a result, I never truly felt engaged in his quest.
And that’s a real shame, because underneath the blah there’s actually a good story, but sadly the distance I felt between myself and what’s happening on the page was something that consistently stayed with me to the very end. This indifference also went on to affect my feelings on pretty much all other aspects of this book, including world-building which felt muted and unrealized. Still, speaking as a reader who prioritizes character development and relationships, I think my lack of emotional connection to Kai was the biggest letdown of all because Wells is usually so much better in this area.
Bottom line, if you’re coming from the Murderbot Diaries hoping for more of the same kind of quirky character-building and dry wit from Witch King, you’ll likely be disappointed. The only dryness you’ll get is in the writing, which made reading this one a struggle as I frequently found myself losing focus or just plain bored. Being a fan of Martha Wells, it hurts not being able to recommend this, but she’s written books that are much better.
The BiblioSanctum 
Ooof. I knew you were struggling and it’d be bad, but that’s not exactly a glowing endorsement. That said… I’ve never finished a non-Murderbot book by Wells, so I guess this isn’t exactly a surprise. Sorry it didn’t work for you! But hopefully System Collapse will help mend some bridges when it comes out 😁
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Oh I am looking for the next Murderbot more than ever! She also has another fantasy coming out in a few months that’s on my reading list too, but I believe it’s a re-issue of one of her earliest books. So that will be interesting!
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…or it’ll suck lol
Hope it’s good?
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Oh too bad. I kind of liked the murderbot stories, but only up to a point
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I enjoy Murderbot a lot, love her writing style for those books. Which was why I was shocked this one was so sterile
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Such a shame when a book by a favourite author is disappointing. This is the second review that I’ve read that’s been a bit negative so you’re not alone.
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Yes, I saw a lot of DNFs on Goodreads too. For me it never got to the point where I wanted to throw in the towel, but I was also relieved to see I wasn’t alone in struggling,
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I am glad I skipped the bookbox with that one. I saw other very negative reviews from fans of her and that discouraged me to read that one.
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Yeah, I had glimpsed some of the DNFs on Goodreads before picking it up, which worried me. I really wanted to like this 😦
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Oh too bad. I had high hopes for this one😬
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Maybe you’ll like it more than me!
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Aww that’s disappointing this isn’t so good. The premise sounds interesting.
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I did like the premise, and the story was pretty good too! Unfortunately I just couldn’t get over the flat, sterile writing style
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I’m not sure I’ve seen anyone NOT disappointed with this 😦
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Great
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“”all the charisma of a technical manual””
OUCH
This is very disappointing…
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Grrrr….. ah well. With so many older books I don’t have to worry about running out of Martha Wells books to try anytime soon, even if I skip this one (for a while, anyway).
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I requested this one but haven’t heard back from the publisher yet… Now I’m not sure if I really want to read it! 😉
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Oh dear! This is a shocker:((. I’m listening to her steampunk fantasy adventure series and absolutely loving it, so I’m sorry the prose is so very flat. Maybe she’s struggling with stuff in her life, or perhaps a tad burnt out… These days there is so much pressure on authors to continue producing books, which is tough on those whose creative locker currently doesn’t have the goods.
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Omg noooo, I really wanted this one, and now I am worried
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