Witch King

This is a different book. The style of the plot and the feel of the world reminded me of old pulpy sword and sorcery tales from well back in the 20th century those stories had a sense of wonder at the world and a sort of glee at crazy ideas or the possibilities of magic- but far too many had paper thin characters, few female characters worth speaking of and spotty descriptions.

This book is not like that.

This book has that old fashioned sense of wonder, it has the feeling of glee at the possibilities of magic and it has plenty of crazy ideas - but Martha Wells takes all of the good parts of sword and sorcery and then she adds huge, rich layers of characterisation, gorgeous description and deep characterisation to make this a book that creates a world and a cast that feel real and make your brain hum like a crystal glass.

If I have one negative it is that this feels very much like an introduction to the people and the world. The plot does resolve itself - Ms Wells is not cheating us. It's just that I have that edgy feeling I get when I was halfway through a really nice cup of tea and someone tidied it up before I was finished.

I really want more from this world!