The Witch-king of Angmar, also known as the Lord of the Nazgûl or the Captain of the Nine, is a character in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He is the most powerful of the nine Nazgûl or Ringwraiths, who were once kings of men but were corrupted by the power of the Rings of Power given to them by the Dark Lord Sauron. The Witch-king was once a great king of men in the kingdom of Angmar, but he was seduced by Sauron and became his most loyal servant.
Kai’s having a long day in Martha Wells’ WITCH KING….
I really enjoyed the journey of getting to understand the world that Kai inhabits when he has a human body and also the Underneath, where he is from. Things kick off with the main, and titular, character who is not, by the way either a king or a witch discovering he, and a good friend, have been done very, very wrong by someone.
The Witch-king was once a great king of men in the kingdom of Angmar, but he was seduced by Sauron and became his most loyal servant. He was given a Ring of Power, which extended his life and gave him great power, but also enslaved him to Sauron's will. As the leader of the Ringwraiths, he played a key role in the war against the free peoples of Middle-earth during the events of The Lord of the Rings.
REVIEW: Witch King (x 2) by Martha Wells
“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-Enna 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.
Well, I think a lot of people are going to jump on this book after having arrived at Martha Wells’s writing through Murderbot. I have tried one or two of Wells’s fantasy books and should have remembered why I never got far in them. A good friend of mine adores Martha Wells and has been reading her fantasy books for decades. She doesn’t, however, like the Murderbot series as much. I wonder if Wells is someone who, for most people, you either like one type of her books or the other. SciFi or fantasy but not both.
Readers are dropped into the action with no information beyond the info-dump of dramatis personae before chapter one begins. Should readers have to constantly flip back to this list in order to try and remember who the heck these (many, many) people are? My answer is a resounding ‘no.’ But the first chapter is action packed and I hoped that this would finally be the Wells fantasy that worked for me.
Things kick off with the main, and titular, character (who is not, by the way either a king or a witch) discovering he, and a good friend, have been done very, very wrong by someone. But who? They don’t know and that (I think) is the driver for the plot. Who betrayed him? To find out, we’re going to be taken on a long and circuitous journey.
This book is packed with world building and yet I still often found myself completely baffled as to what was going on, who was who, and why did I need to be told in such detail what the characters were wearing. The littlest details of the settings were described but often I wondered, why do I need to know this? What difference to the plot does it make? I want to feel something for the characters and thus be invested in why it matters to discover who did them wrong. But I found that I just didn’t care. The action switches back and forth between past events and the present which served to yank me out of any reading rhythm I had built up. And since we know the outcome of the major event of the past, that negates any suspense about it in the current day sections.
So many characters read as flat to me. They mostly had long, elaborate “fantasy” names and titles and relationships and were listed as being from yet another kingdom or city-state as if this is supposed to mean something to me. Who are these people and why should I care about them?? Oh, that’s right. I don’t know who they are and I’m not being made to care. If this was the second, or even the third, book in a series, I would expect all this detail and all these characters and would, I hope, give a flip about them but that’s not the case. Yes, I suppose I could go back to the listing of characters but they all blurred into a mass without much to distinguish them. Too many times I huffed in annoyance about being told what this one or that one was wearing or what they just changed into (seriously, there is a lot of this). Actions are painstakingly told in the minutest detail but all I could mentally do was scream “Cast the spell and get on with it!”
I was about a third of the way through and it was making my head hurt. After reading for an hour or so, I would have to take a break. There is a difference between complicated and confusing and I realized I was slogging along and getting less and less interested. This book is just so bloated with description and characters that I felt as if I was frantically doggie-paddling just to keep my head above water. This is not why I read books. For many readers I can see this being their catnip but for me it was just wasn’t doing it. DNF
Martha Qells is not a known character in Tolkien's works, so it is unclear what her connection to the Witch-king may be. It is possible that she is a character from another fictional universe or a creation of the person who wrote the note. In conclusion, the Witch-king of Angmar is a powerful and feared character in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. His role as the leader of the Ringwraiths makes him a formidable enemy of the free people of Middle-earth. However, without further information, it is difficult to determine the significance of the mentioned Martha Qells in relation to the Witch-king..
Reviews for "Witch King Martha Qells: Tales from the Beyond"
- Sarah - 1 star
I was really looking forward to reading "Witch King Martha Qells" based on all the hype it received, but I couldn't help but feel disappointed. The plot was convoluted and lacked any sense of coherence. The characters were poorly developed and their motivations felt shallow. Additionally, the writing style was extremely choppy and distracting. I found myself struggling to connect with the story and lost interest halfway through. Overall, this book was a major letdown for me.
- Mark - 2 stars
I typically enjoy fantasy novels, but "Witch King Martha Qells" failed to capture my attention. The world-building was confusing and hard to follow, leaving me feeling detached from the story. The pacing was slow, and I struggled to connect with the protagonist. The plot felt repetitive and predictable, and the overall execution fell flat for me. While some may enjoy this book, it just didn't work for me personally.
- Emily - 2.5 stars
"Witch King Martha Qells" had an interesting premise, but it fell short in its execution. The writing style felt amateurish and lacked the finesse I expect from a fantasy novel. The characters were one-dimensional and lacked depth, making it difficult for me to become invested in their struggles. Additionally, there were several plot holes that left me feeling confused and unsatisfied. While there were a few redeeming moments, they were overshadowed by the overall lackluster quality of the book.