Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Witch King by Martha Wells Narrator: Eric Mok
Published by MacMillan Audio, Tor on May 30, 2023
Genres: Science Fiction Fantasy
Pages: 432
Length: 13 hours, 9 minutes
Format: Audiobook, eARC
Source: NetGalley
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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.
I didn’t know what to expect here but I love scifi and Murderbot is one of my very favorite series. However, Witch King feels more like epic fantasy. There are lots of characters and types of characters with complex abilities and magic. I think I will definitely want to read again, possibly listening while reading along in the ebook. I don’t feel like I grasped everything in the plot.
I never felt bored or like I wanted to stop reading. There was a good sense of the battles and particularly Kai’s magic. HIs found family of sorts was trying to figure out who betrayed them. So while they search for people and end up in battles in the present, there are also some sections from the past.
It’s lucky Kai has some healing abilities because he is injured repeatedly. He also makes the choice not to drain strength from others but to gather it from his own pain, so he is hurting himself sometimes.
I enjoyed this and like the characters but the world is so diverse and rich with extraordinary magic, I know I will pick up more each time I read Witch King. Somewhere I got the impression this is the start of a new series and I hope that is true.
Narration:
I was very comfortable with the narration. The primary point of view was Kai so he was most of the thoughts and a lot of the dialogue. Until I settled into the voice and to help with the complexity of the story, I started at 1.25x but was able to change to my usual 1.5x speed about half way through.
Listen to a clip: HERE
About Martha Wells
Martha Wells has written many fantasy novels, including The Books of the Raksura series (beginning with The Cloud Roads), the Ile-Rien series (including The Death of the Necromancer) as well as YA fantasy novels, short stories, media tie-ins (for Star Wars and Stargate: Atlantis), and non-fiction. Her most recent fantasy novel is The Harbors of the Sun in 2017, the final novel in The Books of the Raksura series. She has a new series of SF novellas, The Murderbot Diaries, published by Tor.com in 2017 and 2018. She was also the lead writer for the story team of Magic: the Gathering’s Dominaria expansion in 2018. She has won a Nebula Award, an ALA/YALSA Alex Award, a Locus Award, and her work has appeared on the Hugo, Nebula, and Philip K. Dick Award ballots, the USA Today Bestseller List, and the New York Times Bestseller List. Her books have been published in eleven languages.
She has had short stories in the magazines Black Gate, Realms of Fantasy, Lone Star Stories, Lightspeed Magazine, and Stargate Magazine, and in the Tsunami Relief anthology Elemental, The Other Half of the Sky, Tales of the Emerald Serpent, Mech: Age of Steel, and The Gods of Lovecraft.
She has essays in the nonfiction anthologies Farscape Forever, Mapping the World of Harry Potter, Chicks Unravel Time, and The Kobold Guide to Magic.
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 23-COYER
While this is out of my comfort zone, it is intriguing! Excellent review, Anne💜
Thank you Jonetta. It was a complex book to read and I think I would get more each time I read it.
I still need to read her Murderbot series! I’m always so far behind on my TBR list. ;D
The Murderbot series is very different, easy and funny. This is more epic fantasy with more characters and complex magic.
I think some of the more complicated plots can be hard with audio. It’s difficult to grasp every detail when listening, IMO. Yes, reading while listening would help. Glad to hear you enjoyed it!
Thank you Rachel. I’ve thought it was easier because I don’t have to figure out how to pronounce things but this one was just very complex.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this. I’ve seen mostly negative reviews, and I have a copy I need to read.
Tammy I would love to hear what you think when you read it. I think I need to read it again to understand more but I liked it.
Blodeuedd and I should read this together!
Hopefully you are smarter than me.
I like that you think you like it enough to read it again! Great review!
Thanks Lisa. It hasn’t been the most popular. But yes I think I would like to read it again and gain better understanding because the details were complex.
I’ve had my eye on this one but have seen a lot of mixed reviews so I’m glad to hear it was a good read for you.
I liked it but it is not an easy read. I’ll be rereading with both versions to try to get more the complex details.