Winner of the Locus Award!

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 USA Today Bestseller!
A Sunday Times Bestseller!
Winner of the Locus Award!
A New York Times Best Fantasy of 2023!
An NPR Best Book of 2023!
An AppleBooks Best of the Year!
A 2023 American Booksellers Pick!
A LibraryReads Pick!


“Wells is working at the height of her powers here, and it’s relaxing to be carried along for a ride in the company of such a phenomenal storyteller.” —The New York Times

“A wonderfully original world, sympathetic characters and a solid quest make Witch King the satisfying fantasy you yearn for when named swords and cursed rings begin to grow stale.” —The Wall Street Journal

“A wildly original and complex fantasy exploring how revolutions are won through trust, and destroyed through selfishness. Wells excels at brooding, powerful inhuman protagonists who just need a little kindness to be their badass best.” —N. K. Jemisin

“...The kind of novel you want to sink into, with a narrative style that hooks you in and makes it impossible to put down.” —Alex Brown for NPR

“Unlike anything I've ever read. A layered and complex novel that delivers on the promise of epic fantasy.” —Zoraida Córdova

“Fantasy readers looking for new worlds and characters to explore will be enthralled.” —Library Journal

Martha Wells has written many fantasy novels, including Witch King, The Wizard Hunters, Wheel of the Infinite, the Books of the Raksura series (beginning with The Cloud Roads and ending with The Harbors of the Sun), and the Nebula-nominated The Death of the Necromancer, as well as YA fantasy novels, short stories, and nonfiction. Her New York Times and USA Today-bestselling Murderbot Diaries series has won the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and Alex Awards.