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  • Witch King

  • By: Martha Wells
  • Narrated by: Eric Mok
  • Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins
  • 3.9 out of 5 stars (313 ratings)

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Witch King  By  cover art

Witch King

By: Martha Wells
Narrated by: Eric Mok
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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

Interview: "Witch King" Is Martha Wells' Triumphant Return to Fantasy

'it's always just been me and books, basically. Books were my friend...'
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  • Witch King
  • 'it's always just been me and books, basically. Books were my friend...'

Editorial Review

A demonically enjoyable fantasy
What do a demon, a witch, a street urchin, an immortal, and a prince-heir have in common? They’ve all won me over as new favorite characters. Murderbot Diaries author Martha Wells has published her first fantasy novel in a decade with Witch King—and what a triumphant return it is. Though this is a much different story, Murderbot fans will delight in the glimpses of Wells’ wry wit and uncanny ability to balance white-knuckle tension with moments of snort-out-loud humor and surprising heart. Eric Mok makes his narration debut in this novel, and his performance is a perfect match to Wells’ clever writing. I sincerely hope we hear more from him soon. —Sam D., Audible Editor

What listeners say about Witch King

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

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.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

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!!!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Difficult to follow the story

I have really liked Martha Wells other stories and novels- but not this one. It was challenging to follow the story line and figure out who the characters were. I think there was not a clearly defined plot line and the jump back in time every other chapter just made it worse.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

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.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
  • KB
  • 11-08-23

Interesting

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

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

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!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Disappointed

As a Murderbot fan, I was really looking forward to this book. However, after completing it, I have absolutely no idea what this was about. The timeline is confusing, the names are hard to remember or differentiate, and I have very little understanding of the magic/politics/worldbuilding. I am big fan of epic fantasies, so I would like to believe it’s not just me.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Loved the magic system

I listened to this and liked the plot twist so much that I immediately relistened. The character names can be confusing but the story and magic system make this worth reading. The chapters alternate the present and the past in a way I really liked. I also liked how gender was treated by the demons and the portrayal of female characters was well done. I want more from this universe!

The narrator was fine and I would listen to other books narrated by them.

This is very different from murder bot (my one true love!) but fits in with Martha Wells other fantasy novels.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Too complex, hard to follow and don’t care about the characters by the end

I’m a huge Murderbot fan and love epic fantasy. The plot has too many characters, too many factions, too many timelines. And as result, the characters I found compelling in the first two chapters became totally uninteresting by the end. Every desperate moment is resolved by the main character just applying a bit of extra effort. Disappointing overall.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Hard to follow in audio format

I love Martha Wells and was looking forward to this book, but it was strangely hard to follow in audio. Very like Guy Gavriel Kay’s books in audio — so many names to keep track of and a lot of magic and worldbuilding. I ended up listening to it twice and liked the characters and narration but honestly had trouble tracking the plot and keeping character names straight. Might try this one in print!

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