Book Review: Witch King by Martha Wells

I've several books of Martha Wells, but all of them have been about Murderbot and featured a science fiction setting. I saw plenty of advertisements about this book and figured I'd give it a try. I like to vary between science fiction and fantasy and if this is as good as the Murderbot Diaries then this one should be quite fun. Here's the Goodreads blurb:

"I didn't know you were a... demon."

"You idiot. I'm the demon."

Kai's having a long day in Martha Wells' WITCH KING....

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.

Read on for my spoiler free review.

Overall Impression

This is not a Murderbot book. My expectations, unreasonable as they were, of the demon Kai being like Murderbot were shattered pretty quickly. I probably should have come this on a blank slate rather than expecting to find similarities between them. Particularly since the setting is intriguing. The premise is pretty straightforward- a search for answers and missing friends and the characters are good but not as outstanding as I expected (again, probably my comparison with Murderbot).

Plot

The story is told in two alternating phases. We generally are in the present, with Kai and company travelling the land and searching for answers. Periodically, they encounter something strange that reminds them of what things where back in the past. At that point, we generally switch to the Past and have some moments where Kai in his younger self is struggling through the war that took place 60 or so years ago. The back and forth, though, is pretty smooth and its an interesting way of having a character that knows a lot (Kai-present) also be someone who is learning things for the same time (Kai-past). The ending feels a little abrupt, but it's because I started expecting a little bit more given all the hints of other things going on. The stage is certainly set for more potential stories in this world.

Characters

There's a small cast of characters centered around Kaiisteron (aka Kai), the demon prince. He is quite talented, but it's hard to tell what he can do since he starts the book seemingly powerful. We learn more about him in the Past segments than in the Present, though most of the action is in the Present. He is joined by others like Ziede, Tahren, Dahin, Sanja, Tenes, Ramad, Bashasa, and others. Some are in the Past, some are in the Present. Some are human, others are demons, witches, or Immortal Blessed. Of these, probably Ziede, Dahin, and Bashasa feel the most developed, though the focus is very much on Kai for the whole book.

Setting / World Building

This is an interesting setting with some curious magical elements around. First of all is the obvious fact that Kai is some form of demon and that it's not unusual, though rare these days, for them to be around possessing a body in the moral world. What abilities and limitations he has are a bit cryptic, but slowly get revealed throughout the story, up to a point at least. There are also witches and expositors, which both use magic but in different ways. And there are other people like the Hierarchs and Immortal Blessed. The former are big enemies of the Past and very little is revealed. The later appear to be somewhat technologically advanced (though powered by magic) and give the impression of being angels. However, it's never clear the nature or origin of that title.

An odd aspect of this world is how magic is powered via wells of power. There is frequent mention of the Well of Thosaren, which powers many Immortal Blessed artifacts; the Well of the Hierarchs, which powers other things; and Kai's own well, which, as is alluded to in the blurb, is powered by his own pain. Though tapping these wells, characters can do magical feats like cantrips or intentions, though the difference between these two terms is not very clear. Overall, the system is promising, but hindered by the fact that Kai already has all the answers and is not the type of character that needs to learn about them so we are left a little in the dark.

As for the political structure of the world, that is also interesting. In the Present, we have a coalition that formed after the end of a bloody war with the Hierarchs. The nature of the war is something we slowly discover and the fragility of the coalition is commented about several times. There's plenty of mystery left to explore in the world and I was curious about many things hinted at.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this was a decent book, though I approached it with expectations that were unreasonably high. On it's own, it's an interesting story and sets the stage for an interesting setting that could lead to further adventures. It does feel like you're coming in right in between the action so I felt a little lost as to what was possible and who the characters were, which I think is my biggest problem with the book- there is a lot to absorb, but we're only given tidbits in the interest of keeping the plot moving.