Jorie's Reviews > Witch King

Have you been playing a lot of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom lately? Is Ganon making your 2023 reading goals suffer? Do you want a break from screentime, but can't seem to find a book as vivid and exciting as Link's latest adventure?

Dive into the world of Martha Wells' Witch King!

Follow Kai, the titular Witch King, through two interweaving adventures - one in his past, the other his present.

Formerly, he joined a revolutionary effort rife with intrigue, heists, and jailbreaks - up until he was betrayed. In the present, he's on a mission to find out Whodunnit, bringing new friends and old with him along the way.

Because, despite being a soul-sucking, body-hopping demon, Kai is a soft boy 👼

His world is seen in two phases: the first, in his past, is ruled over by a class of evil angelic beings known as the Hierarchs who run the mortal world with an oppressive, MLM-like structure. In the present day, it is a world rebuilding, much like Breath of the Wild's Hyrule. Cultures have been displaced and taken root in new places; some languages died, others became dominant. And peace remains uncertain.

Both worlds, past and present, are ones of exploration and puzzle-solving. Whispers in one timeline hint at what's to become or has been in the other. The characters are tasked with navigating such places as forgotten ruins and underwater grottos, all in search of ancient mysteries. The vibes are very reminiscent to me of the heart of The Legend of Zelda, the lantern-guided cave crawls Shigeru Miyamoto did as a kid that inspired his later work.

What makes these investigations and locations most compelling, however, is the company Kai keeps. The small found family he builds is so sweet, and his relationship with each member is unique. He has a wry back-and-forth with master sorceress Ziede, time and patience for neurodivergent Dahin, and charged banter with both Ramad (present) and Bashara (past). And everyone develops their own relationship with each other separate from Kai; I especially loved the bond formed between plucky young street urchin Sanja and rescued witch Tenes 💕

Be warned, though, Witch King is a challenging book. Like being dropped into an open-world game with no clothes, sword, or shield, the action starts immediately with characters, places, powers, and species all being introduced in a whirlwind. This doesn't happen just once, but once in both timelines. And the pace never lets up — never throws any bones — just expects the reader to retain info and keep up. It makes the book a dynamic and brisk read, but one that demands your full attention.

For this reason, I got to page 348 on my first reading attempt — right at the story's climax! — and had to admit to myself I hadn't a clue what was going on. So, I went right back to the beginning to start all over again, and found myself much rewarded for it.

I better have been after completing a total of 182% of this book! 😅

If you are ready to engage fully with this fantasy world, to immerse yourself in it like Link making the leap from the sky above to Hyrule Field down below, I can't recommend enough that you go for it. Have so much fun!