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A review by incipientdreamer
Witch King by Martha Wells
adventurous
slow-paced
2.5
2.5 stars
Okay, but I read the entire book and I kept waiting for someone to explain why Kai is called The Witch King when he's a demon???
Initially, when this book was announced I was very very excited about it. I'm a huge fan of Martha Wells's Murderbot Diaries, and despite the fantasy setting I was ready for something that would blow me away. After reading initial reviews by friends, however, I decided to push this down the tbr since I wasn't sure I would enjoy this. I'd just like to say that I was pretty decided on DNF-ing this at the 60% mark because the plot was so damn slow, I didn't care about any of the characters or their relationships, and the writing made me want to doze off. The frequent switching between POVs made it even harder to keep reading. If I had DNF-ed I would have mentally rated this as a 1-star book even though I don't rate DNFs on GR. But I decided to carry on, simply because I browsed through the Witch King Tumblr and was curious about what exactly all those people loved. And I'm really glad I finished this book.
The plot picks up significantly after the 60% mark, and I started to have some modicum of fun in the last few chapters. I still didn't care much about any of the characters except for Bashasa. The flashbacks ended up making me really enjoy his character and his relationship with Kai but I wanted more of their dynamic because I could sense it could have been full of potential. Similarly Kai's relationship with the human vanguard Ramad. That's my issue with this book, It gives us this huge cool new world and this huge cast of characters but there isn't enough time spent on getting to know the characters themselves. Too much of the book was spent building up the world and the history, such that there isn't much that happens in this book apart from the last 80%, which makes the pacing very very horrible to get through if you are a reader who prefers their stories with a focus on characters and interpersonal relationships rather than magic and worldbuilding.
I am still glad that I read this, but I probably won't be reading any future books set in this universe.
Okay, but I read the entire book and I kept waiting for someone to explain why Kai is called The Witch King when he's a demon???
Initially, when this book was announced I was very very excited about it. I'm a huge fan of Martha Wells's Murderbot Diaries, and despite the fantasy setting I was ready for something that would blow me away. After reading initial reviews by friends, however, I decided to push this down the tbr since I wasn't sure I would enjoy this. I'd just like to say that I was pretty decided on DNF-ing this at the 60% mark because the plot was so damn slow, I didn't care about any of the characters or their relationships, and the writing made me want to doze off. The frequent switching between POVs made it even harder to keep reading. If I had DNF-ed I would have mentally rated this as a 1-star book even though I don't rate DNFs on GR. But I decided to carry on, simply because I browsed through the Witch King Tumblr and was curious about what exactly all those people loved. And I'm really glad I finished this book.
The plot picks up significantly after the 60% mark, and I started to have some modicum of fun in the last few chapters. I still didn't care much about any of the characters except for Bashasa. The flashbacks ended up making me really enjoy his character and his relationship with Kai but I wanted more of their dynamic because I could sense it could have been full of potential. Similarly Kai's relationship with the human vanguard Ramad. That's my issue with this book, It gives us this huge cool new world and this huge cast of characters but there isn't enough time spent on getting to know the characters themselves. Too much of the book was spent building up the world and the history, such that there isn't much that happens in this book apart from the last 80%, which makes the pacing very very horrible to get through if you are a reader who prefers their stories with a focus on characters and interpersonal relationships rather than magic and worldbuilding.
I am still glad that I read this, but I probably won't be reading any future books set in this universe.