This was my first book by this author and I really enjoyed it. I received an advanced audio copy from the publisher through libro.fm. Opinions are my own.

This is true high fantasy complete with a diverse character list, explanations of magics used, descriptions of the world and the different factions operating to bring about events. To be honest, when the narrator started off with a lengthy list of characters and I assume terms, I was freaking out because I knew I would never remember all of that and had no print book to refer to. But in the end it did not matter and I'm so glad I did this in audio. The narrator speaking with Kai's POV was fantastic. His tones and voice were perfect and conveyed real feeling through the words. I feel I liked this one so much because I listened to it, and may have missed some of the nuances had I just been reading.

The story starts with Kai awakening after being murdered. Buy hey, he's a demon and that's how he rolls. The story takes off immediately and through a series of time jumps from present to past and back again, all the information is provided to not only allow the reader to join Kai and his friends on the journey to figure out the mystery of who betrayed them, but how they all met each other and became friends in the first place. These POV time jumps are perfectly aligned to give the reader all the necessary information at just the right moment in the story.

The story had a closed ending, but in a way that more adventures could follow. I definitely recommend this to anyone who likes a good high fantasy story

.Thank you to Macmillan Audio & NetGalley for allowing me to review this book

Chef's kiss! This book had me hooked from page one all the way until the very end! The plot, the story telling, and the setting alone were enough to interest me in the book I the beginning and keep me flipping through the pages throughout the rest of it.

Martha definitely shocked me with how much I enjoyed this book as she's not an author I typically read from! However this was a book that I could get behind and really get into! The characters were all complex, interesting, and had a good chemistry that worked in tandem with the overall plot.

Definitely a book I thoroughly enjoyed!

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I received this as an audiobook but I feel maybe print would have been better for me. It was hard for me to stay engaged with the narration at times.


The story starts out with zero to no context. You discover, as you go, that our Witch King, Kai, is a body jumping demon who is pretty badass. He was buried in a watery tomb (to stifle his powers) and no recollection of how he got there. Desperately looking for his friend. And figure out who betrayed him and tried to take him out. That’s the present. Then the story takes us back from how he started his life in the mortal world and then get to how he started his rebellion which led to the grave.

The story building is dense and at some times hard to follow but if you see it through, it’s pretty amazing. Unfortunately I had trouble staying engaged as the story went on. Again, I’m thinking I need to read this in print and not audio next time!

The characters are all lovable and powerful! And I can never get enough of found family!!

All in all it’s a 3.5 ⭐️ from me!

DNF @ 65%

A jumbled, sterile mess. It was told in a very convoluted way but didn't earn it's convolution; I couldn't be bothered to care about anything going on or when in the timeline we were or why any things were happening. All the characters were boring and the demons were sometimes different names depending on who they were inside...just dial it down, Martha.

The audiobook performance was fine, but nothing noteworthy.

3.5⭐️
This started out so interesting, the world building and characters were intriguing…but by half way through it just started to drag and I had a hard time getting through it. I felt like it was lacking in character/emotional development, it just turned into a series of things happening without much to make you actually care about the characters or their story, unfortunately. Very much a case of telling instead of showing everything that’s happening and it’s in such a like…detached, clinical way, that (for me, at least) there was just no emotional attachment to keep me engaged. This was one of my most anticipated spring releases, so, sadly I was pretty disappointed.

I will say the audiobook definitely helped though! I don’t think I would have gotten all the way through without it, so I highly recommend reading it that way!

I just couldn’t get into this one and I love everything about witches. This one just wasn’t for me. I will try to read more from this author because I did like her writing.

The fascinating opening scene is a high point that the rest of the book never quite regains.

The beginning is brilliant, letting the reader flounder with the main character Kai in trying to discover what is happening. Then past and present timelines begin to alternate, telling a story in Kai's history that started him on his present path. Old traditions mix into a story filled with invasion, massacre, subjugation, and revolution.

I have such mixed feelings about this book. The concept of demon "possession" and powers is excellent! The character interactions are engaging and the action scenes exciting, the combination being why I stayed invested. In fact, I would have loved to have much more relationship development piled into the storytelling.

But the traveling and evading and worldbuilding bored me. I would glaze over listening, and realize that I simultaneously did not know key details but could still understand the plot. Example: I can explain the plot of the book if you ask, but I am confused about nearly everything involving the grandmother.

Now high fantasy isn't exactly my go-to (though I love fantasy as a whole). I was thrilled to receive this book early, but I had to really put in effort to keep reading. Eric Mok does a fine job with the audiobook - the narrative portions feel a little dull, but he really shines when performing the characters' dialogue.

As soon as it was announced, Witch King immediately intrigued me. I loved the title and the cover and the premise, and while I’ve never read anything from Martha Wells, her Murderbot Diaries series is highly loved and lauded by those I trust. I’m much more of a fantasy reader than a sci-fi reader, so when I saw that she was writing a fantasy, I knew that I wanted to read it as soon as possible. And I’m happy to report that, in spite of those sky-high expectations, I was not disappointed. Witch King is a high-octave quest through a very original world littered with compelling characters, captivating locales, and some deeply disturbing magic and monsters. But, at its core, it is the ultimate story of found family, one of the best I’ve ever read.

Kai is a life-sucking, body-snatching demon with an ooey-gooey center. He might be nigh on impossible to kill, and he can take some seriously hard knocks without stopping until he is the last being standing. But when it comes to those he loves? He will do absolutely anything for them. Even if that means going to essentially the ends of the earth and battling hoards of opponents to reach them. Because that’s what the quest is here. Kai is not seeking gold or glory or even vengeance; he just wants to find the missing members of the family he built for himself and reunite them.

Our story begins in a tomb. Kai’s tomb. Demons are severely weakened by water, and he finds himself in an elaborate water trap, with no clue as to how he got there or how long he’s been there. After freeing himself and his best friend, a witch named Ziede, they seek to find Ziede’s wife and brother-in-law, and to learn who betrayed them and why.

The storytelling here felt incredibly unique to me. The pace is somehow both slow and propulsive, with action on nearly every page. There is no intensive world building; Wells doesn’t hold her readers’ hands, but rather reveals things organically as the story progresses. For some reason the world felt vaguely Egyptian to me in terms of setting, but that was the only similarity I can draw between this book and anything else I’ve ever read. There were so many different classes of beings, and we learn little snippets and snatches about them as that information becomes relevant to the plot.

This is a story that demands and rewards patience. While the book starts off incredibly strong with Kai’s escape from his own tomb, and there are action sequences aplenty, there’s something meandering about the plot itself as it unfolds. We flip every other chapter between Kai’s present and his past, how he came to be called the Witch King and how he built this family for himself out of the ashes of loss. I was equally invested in both timelines. The combination imbued the book with an element of mystery that really worked for me.

Wells is a marvelous crafter of character. Kai was multifaceted and somehow wholly unexpected. I fell in love with him, and was charmed by the people he loved. I could have spent endless days with him. And yet, we get very little inner monologue from any of these characters, including Kai. He still felt like a mystery to me, even though the entire story was told from his perspective. Everything I learned about his character, about his inner conflict and his love for his friends and his determination to protect them against all odds, I felt as if I learned from outside observation. When people talk about how an author should “show not tell” in their work, this could serve as an excellent example of an author doing exactly that, with great aplomb.

I thoroughly enjoyed Witch King, even when I was feeling slightly lost. Wells created something truly special with Kai, and with the world in which he lives. I would love to visit him again someday, should Wells ever decide to revisit the world. But even if she doesn’t, this was a wonderfully contained story that left me feeling content after I read the final pages. If her character writing is this good in everything she pens, I can’t wait to go back and reader her Murderbot Diaries.

DNF at about 40%
This book was not for me. Which is a shame. I was very intrigued and this was at the top of my anticipated reads this year :(

Martha Wells has officially made me a fantasy fan! The imagery. The magic! The evil! Oh my! After spending all that time with characters during the audiobook, I was truly sad to have it end.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook ARC!

I've read and listened to many of Martha Wells's books and loved them. This one I had a difficult time getting into. I can usually listen and track things pretty well, maybe I was just distracted, but I had a hard time figuring out which magical powers did what, and who was who. Who was a friend and who was a foe? I will have to try this again, or perhaps just pick up the physical book so I can refer to the names and connections at the beginning of the book.

I did enjoy the narrator and the production.

This was a fantastic listen with great narration. Martha Wells world building is very well done. I can’t wait to read more about these characters and their world.

I never want to do this when I am gifted a book or in this case audiobook, but unfortunately I had to DNF this at 22%. I even started it over in the hopes that I would find my footing in this story.

However, I simply could not understand or follow this on audio and honestly I don’t think there is enough intrigue in the setup for me to ever enjoy it in its physical form.

The overall idea for this story sounded so amazing, even re reading the description I can’t compute how different it feels reading it versus the quick synopsis.

This one really hurts and I’m said it didn’t work for me to even continue.

Giving 2 stars because if this story is not over your head I can see people having the kind of love for books like Circe and Song of Achilles.

Unfortunately, Witch King didn't work for me at all. I loved the idea it began with: epic fantasy from a demon's perspective. But even though the reader is immersed in the story right away, I couldn't get into it. I found the characters and writing style just not very interesting. I read to 30% and decided not to finish.

Witch King tells the story of Kai Ashante, a powerful necromancer who was murdered and imprisoned in a magical trap. When he wakes up, he finds that the world has changed drastically, and he must use his magic to find out what happened and why he was betrayed.

Wells does a masterful job of creating a rich and complex world in Witch King. The characters are well-developed and relatable, and the plot is full of twists and turns. The magic system is also unique and interesting, and it plays a major role in the story.

One of the things that I enjoyed most about Witch King was the relationship between Kai and his allies. Kai is a loner by nature, but he is forced to rely on others in order to survive. He forms a close bond with a group of rebels who are fighting against the oppressive regime that killed him. These relationships are some of the strongest aspects of the novel, and they help to make the story feel more personal.

Overall, Witch King is an excellent fantasy novel. It is well-written, well-paced, and full of memorable characters. I highly recommend it to fans of the genre.

I am DNFing this book at the 26% mark. It is so convoluted that I have no idea what's going on. I have tried to piece things together and when I think I have, it jumps back in time. I'm not a fan of dual time lines. I love Murderbot but this book is not doing it for me in the slightest.

I would like to thank NetGalley for my audio arc of Witch King in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved the storyline and the world building. The fact that demons aren't the bad guys here was a great way to turn that trope on its head. Kai was interesting from the moment he wake up until the end, no matter which body he is in. The magic system was great, a bit tricky to understand when most of the words aren't written in front of me so without paying 100% attention, some things are hard to understand.

My issue with this one wasn't the storyline, but the narration itself. Seeing as this is an audiobook review, I have to mention that the narrator did not do it for me. He was so monotone, putting me to sleep several times. Which is why this became 4 stars vs 4.5 for me.

Saying I am a huge fan of Maratha Wells is an understatement. Having delved into both Books of Raksura series and The Murderbot Diaries series by the queen of science fiction and fantasy, I was over the moon when I heard about Witch King and was extremely lucky to receive an advance copy.

With her compelling storytelling prowess, her staple top notch world building and charismatic character development, Maratha Wells writes an amazing tale in Witch King, of witches, demons, humans, Hierarchs and Expositors. True to her signature style, Wells does not hold the reader’s hand throughout the narrative, and Witch King follows suit. From the very beginning, you are plunged into the story without any contextual preamble, instantly engulfed in a narrative that transitions between the present and the past, imbuing the tale with an alluring layer of mystery and intrigue. Fair warning to the readers! Witch King is no mere light-hearted fantasy novel. It is a work of complexity that demands unwavering attention to every detail in order to fully grasp the expansive and complex story it presents.

One of the main things that stood out to me in Witch King was the concept of how a demon can only be killed in the Above World and if they are killed, they can jump bodies and still retain the power of taking the host’s body to the underworld if needed. This added a rather unique element to an already excellent high fantasy story.

It is no secret that Maratha Wells creates extremely lovable anti-heros so it wasn’t surprising when most of the notable characters in Witch King turned out to be extremely morally grey, including the protagonist Kai. For a life sucking, body jumping demon, Kai is extremely well crafted and managed to steal my heart. I loved how while he appeared to be all fun and games, he could be extremely crafty. The cast of supporting characters were excellent too. I really wish there was more of Ziede and Sanja because I loved both of them very much. The delightful banter between the characters and the evolving bond of friendship, portrayed in both timelines, truly captivated me with its masterful execution. Bashasa, Sanja, Tenes,Tahren, Ramad, and Saadrin, in particular, stood out vividly, leaving a lasting impression. Their personalities shone brilliantly and resonated with me on multiple levels.

In conclusion, Witch King was a fantastic and complex read filled with mystery and intrigue, that absorbed me into the story right from the start. Although the story wrapped up well and can be a stand alone, I would love nothing more if this was turned into a series.

My sincere thanks to Netgally, Macmillan Audio, Tor Books and Martha Wells for providing me this advance copy of Witch King.

Audiobook Review:
The narrator was extremely good and did a great job with the dialogs and the narrative of the story bringing the life out of Kai and the supporting cast of the characters.

Found this story hard to get into. I was looking forward to it, but just couldn't connect with the story. I feel like this may have been more me and my current reading mood. I may try reading it at another time in the future.

Audiobook 3.5-4.0 stars (great narration).
Book may be 4.5, depending on if the text makes things clearer than the audiobook.

This is an incredible new world that Martha Wells has built. I absolutely adore so many of the characters and their development, as well as the vastness and components of the world-building. It is so cool that the different species of people in this world access different sorts of powers and/or approach their “magics” (manipulation of Earthly energies) in different ways. The collection of main characters is each uniquely powerful, deeply hopeful/optimistic and incredibly fallible, especially torn apart by passed their trauma. Their “chosen family” dynamics are wonderfully represented. I also very much appreciate the representation of all kinds of different peoples (diverse genders and races and species, no assumption of heteronormativity, the need .for ongoing healing after experiencing transformative world events, etc).

Truthfully though, I needed to listen to the first 90% of this TWICE to alleviate enough of my confusion to really grasp what was going on!! This is why I am wondering if I would rate the physical book higher, depending on how much clearer things would have been could I have read it in that format.

This is one thing that I continually find in audiobooks - where a text jumps back and forth between the past and present - there seems to be little to no distinction of the jump between timeframes. Is this actually more clearly differentiated in the physical book? Because in this audio, it was only delineated about a third of the time and I found this incredibly confusing!! For example, if you are changing timeframes and not telling us, at LEAST hold a somewhat longer silence in between the two.

Further, IF any book ever comes with an accompanying PDF, those have never ever been released with ARC audios. For those of us that are not able to read physical books, and are reviewing audiobooks in advance of their release, the accompanying PDF should be provided. In this case, I would absolutely have like an accompanying PDF of this world’s maps, as well as journey maps for both the past and the present, as well as the full list of characters to refer back to.

Despite my experience reading fantasy and journeying through new worlds, I found this book incredibly confusing until I read it a second time. During my second reading, I realized that so many things had been tangentially alluded to, that I only knew what was happening in hindsight. Frankly, too many. It shouldn’t take a second read-through to actually understand and enjoy a book - only to potentially get to know it better or find a few hidden easter eggs or better understand the characters’ motivations - not to get the gist of the base plot line!

That said, I absolutely loved the vastness and detail of the world-building, so many of the characters in both the past and present, and overall tone of the writing. As always, Martha Wells’s inclusiveness and representation is refreshing (and something I continue to return to my favourite authors because of).

The second time that I listened to this book, I absolutely loved it. The narration is fantastic too and really adds to the story. I just wish that it could have been made clear enough so that I could have loved it on the first listen.

So much gratitude to the publisher, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this audiobook, in exchange for my honest review.