Book Review: Witch King by Martha Wells

Witch King starts off with a bang that really draws you in. We immediately meet the Witch King, Kai, a demon who is able to switch his consciousness into other bodies. He wakes after being murdered, imprisoned in an underwater trap with his friend Ziede. Neither of them know what happened to leave them trapped, so we follow them as they try to find the other members of their group and puzzle out what happened. The story is told in two timelines, one in the present and one from Kai’s past.

The world building is intricate and lovely, but it is dense. There’s a lot to parse through and remember as you read. Wells definitely does not spoon-feed the lore to her readers, and it can be confusing at points. There is a listing of all the people in the story at the front, but I think this book might have also benefitted from a quick explanation of the different places/groups, as I found those much more difficult to keep track of.

The characters are all very lovable in my opinion, but Kai and Ziede are my favorites. Their humor and banter is great and I found myself laughing out loud at a few of Ziede’s lines.

I really hope this is the start of a series, as there are still many unanswered questions and characters to be explored. I’d like to read more about all of the character’s pasts in general. If it is going to be a series, I will definitely continue reading more from this world!

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Rating: 4 stars

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