Witch King

I really wanted to like this more, given how much I just love the Murderbot series. But for me it started confusing, got more confusing, and then resolved in a way that was slightly less confusing but I still don't really understand what happened. The world-building is rich but also extremely complicated, and the book regularly shifts between long past, middle past, and the present. There are several different kinds of people/entities and across and between them there are shifting alliances that change depending on where you are in the timeline. I usually love a really complex book but I just could not get a handle on this one.

“I'm so angry, I could burn the world." "Unfortunately, someone else has already burned it. We need to unburn it."

Martha Wells remains undefeated .

I adored how wide the world felt and how much was hinted at by the various, subtly interacting magic systems at play. I feel like there are so many nooks and crannies to be explored around the main storyline of this book that it feels like a nearly inexhaustible mine. More, please!

The narrative structure jumps from the present to the past, each giving context to the other and its people -- literally showing you why the characters act the way they do, showing how the current situation came to be, giving you a real sense of time and consequence. I loved it.

And, as I've come to expect from Martha Wells, her depictions of trauma responses feel on-point and real. How everyone reacts to their own ghastly experiences and how it drives them are on full display and are very sympathetic.

So: great world-building. Fun characters and relationships. A complex, political story with very "human" characters. It drops you in to a rushing river and expects you to swim, which I love.

That said, I feel like the characters besides Kai, the main POV, are a little flat. There's a chance that they feel that way because of how much Kai is struggling with their own inner demons (heh heh); maybe Kai's inward focus makes them somewhat blind to others' personalities and the narrative reflects that?