CBR15 Bingo: Violence – “Kai looked at her through the black film of the veil, “You could say ‘be violent’ instead.” Tahren, who Kai was beginning to suspect had a very dry sense of humor, patted his shoulder and said, “Be violent.” Also, the Hierarchs are bent on committing genocide on a continent wide scale.
Up to this point, my only exposure to Martha Wells was through The Murderbot Diaries. I instantly fell in love with Murderbot and Well’s excellent writing. I admire how she can tightly structure a narrative to have such impact in the few pages of the novella format. Witch King is a completely separate creation in both genre, fantasy, and format, full novel, and I love it just as much.
Kaiisteron (Kai) is Prince of the Fourth House of the underearth, a demon. Demons have the ability to leave their true bodies in the underearth and have their spirit inhabit a human body. The book opens with Kai coming to consciousness and realizing the body he had been inhabiting is dead and that he and his companion, Ziede, have been entrapped for an unknown amount of time. This is problematic for several reasons. One of which being the renewal of an important treaty they were supposed to participate in. Kai and Ziede need to uncover who entrapped them and for what reason.
Present day chapters are alternated with those of Kai’s past. Kai first inhabited the female body of a young woman named Enna. He lived with her people the Kentdessa Saredi of the Grasslands. His idyllic life is horribly interrupted when the Hierarchs use vile magic to wipe out the Saredi as part of their conquest of the continent. Kai is captured and imprisoned. Trapped by chains and perpetual rain to prevent his access to demon magic Kai is ready to give up when he’s rescued by Bashasa. Bashasa asks Kai to help him kill Hierarchs to show people that it can be done and potentially lead to a revolution.
The interweaving of past and present gives depth to the current actions of Kai and Ziede and the bond between them. The horrors of the past reflect the importance of not making new mistakes which could trap humanity in a different way. Wells has created a fantastically unique magic system. Or more accurately systems as Hierarchs, Immortal Blessed, Witches, and demons access and use magic differently.
Something I greatly appreciated about this book is it seems to be standalone, a rarity in the current fantasy genre. However, there is such richness to the world and Wells leaves many things open ended so there could be more, should she so choose. I like that both the past and present are just slices in time of Kai’s life. This book could have been much larger scope and be a sprawling multi-volume epic. However, Wells tightened the focus to these two important events and encapsulated a perfect story in one volume.
