“Witch King” by Martha Wells
Main Index / Reviews Index / Fiction Reviews Index / 2024 Reviews Index
Rating: 3/5 Stars
A curious fantasy story (apparently the start of a series) where demons, witches and other beings (both supernatural and mortal) mix together in a world that has seen devastation after an invasion, but whose future is yet to be determined.
The story is set both in the present and the past. In the present, the demon Kai and his witch friend, Ziede, wake up in a prison. They escape and discover that time has passed during their imprisonment and their friends are also missing, probably detained as part of a conspiracy to prevent them from attending a meeting of allies to determine the future of their coalition. We follow them as they pick up clues to find their friends, and we learn more of their world, which is still recovering after an invasion by people called the Hierarchs.
In the past, we see a younger Kai, sent from the underworld to inhabit the body of a newly dead mortal as part of an alliance agreement. Here, we see the beginning of the Hierarchs invasion, and the devastating power they use to overcome demons, witches and mortals resisting the invasion. Kai is captured, but later escapes with the help of rebels who want the world to rise up and fight back against the Hierarchs.
Both parts of the story intertwine via common characters, places and events that occur in both parts. As the story progresses, we also learn more about the world and the powers that demons, witches, Hierarchs and others posses and how they are wielded.
The ending, and the conspiracy that imprisoned them, would eventually turn out to be rather anti-climatic. Hopefully, this, and other unanswered questions raised, can be addressed in later books in the series.
Book read from 2025/01/11 to 2025/01/16