Witch King

By: Martha Wells

Narrated by: Eric Mok

Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

"Narrator Eric Mok makes this wonderfully inventive and diverse fantasy eminently accessible... Mok's Kai is appealing and relatable--he sounds simultaneously young and resigned, weary of death and pain and betrayal and yet still hopeful for something better. Listeners will hope we get more of this fascinating world."- AudioFile

From the breakout SFF superstar author of Murderbot comes a remarkable story of power and friendship, of trust and betrayal, and of the families we choose.

"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.

WITCH KING is Martha Wells’s first new fantasy in over a decade, drawing together her signature ability to create characters we adore and identify with, alongside breathtaking action and adventure, and the wit and charm we’ve come to expect from one of the leading writers of her generation.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor.com.

©2023 Martha Wells (P)2023 Macmillan Audio

Story confusing, overly complicated and boring

loved murderbot. this book is not very good. strangely complicated but ultimately boring. confusing twin plot lines. Didn’t care about anything including the demon protagonist.

Narrator seemed like he couldn't speak fast enough

The lore was very fun, especially for a little one shot, but the narrator read the sentences so quickly and with little.inflection, it was frustrating to listen at times. You don't need to read slowly, but it would have been better had he not been racing to get every sentence out of his mouth.

World building was very fun!

Interesting

Interesting story but needs more character development. Took a lot of concentration to follow. Worth reading

Enjoyed the story and narration

Counterpoints to the negative reviews: This narrator reads at a more normal speaking pace, rather than the slower reading pace of some narrators. The narrator is clearly understandable, expressive, and keeps an even pace throughout. Due to brain issues I have to listen to most audiobooks at 1.2x speed to comprehend them, but this book was already at the perfect speed for me.

For those complaining this is not like The Murderbot Diaries, Witch King is in the fantasy genre, is novel length, and is written in third-person POV, so it's going to be different. If you like Martha Wells's other fantasy books, you'll probably like this one too. The worldbuilding is fascinating, and once you understand the Past chapters are flashback interludes, it's not too difficult to follow. I usually struggle to keep track of characters in an audiobook, but I was able to keep them mostly straight except for Bashasa and Bashat, though I figured it out eventually. (I think Bashat may be Bashasa's descendent?) The narrator uses different voices for the characters, which helped a lot with keeping them straight. The characters are three-dimensional and likeable, and I only wish there was a sequel so I could spend more time with them! All in all, Witch King is a creative story that kept me intrigued, gradually revealing Kai's earlier past while he's on a quest to solve the mysteries of the recent past and the present.

Amazing story and superb reading!

This story is absolutely amazing and so well written! The reading only adds to the magic! I highly recommend this book!!!

DNF

DNF. Just not keeping my attention at all. Characters are bland. Not following the story. I suspect it's the narrator. It was very hard to keep up with who was speaking. This doesn't have any of the depth of the Murderbot diaries.

Great entry to a complex and vivid world

A rich new setting that challenges common depictions of witches, demons and holy crusaders. Wells leverages the early confusion of the characters situation to pair nicely with the reader's unfamiliarity of the setting setting. filling in pieces along the way, resulting in a clear picture that wants for further exploration of what lays beyond the edges. I look forward to seeing what is next for these characters and this world.

Ditto disappointed.

I loved The Murderbot Diaries, and had great expectations for this book. However, I never kept all the characters straight even though I persisted and listened to the end. The main character was always tense and stressed and had zero sense of humor. I kept hoping it would come together but I should have just abandoned it and moved on to some other book.

Martha Wells Strikes Again

Honestly thought this was an amazing book and performance. I really needed a stand-alone high fantasy by a great author.

Good story, but narrator doesn't sell it

The narrator has a pleasant voice, but doesn't seem to view it as his role to act dialogue or enliven narration with emotion and tension--or at any rate his approach to doing either is far too restrained for my taste. I enjoyed the book nonetheless. It's an original fantasy setting with an engaging found family at the heart of the action.