The Witch King

Dust jacket and interior illustrations by Rovina Cai.

Subterranean edition will be printed on premium paper, in two colors throughout.

When Witch King and Fourth Prince of the underearth, Kaiisteron—just Kai to his many powerful friends and strange relations—awakens to find himself a prisoner in an underwater stronghold, he has no idea how he got there. Upon learning that his closest ally, the wind Witch Ziede, is also imprisoned, Kai affects a spectacular escape not only from his bonds, but from his very body.

This is not the first time he has accomplished such a trick, as we learn in this twisting, twining narrative that gradually brings together plot lines past and present into a thrilling now. Magic-wielding expositors, terrifying monsters, haughty holy warriors, crafty politicians, and unimaginably powerful outlander wizards bent on world domination are among Kai’s opponents.

He finds himself as much at war with his own demonic nature as with his enemies, reliant on allies old and new to solve the mystery of who imprisoned him, and why. As a conspiracy is gradually uncovered at the highest levels of the Rising World, the empire Kai helped found, questions outnumber answers and dangers threaten from unexpected directions.

The winner of four Hugo Awards, two Nebula Awards, and four Locus Awards, Martha Wells is the author of many fantasy novels, young adult novels, science fiction novels, and short stories. Her training as an anthropologist is on full display in Witch King, with its diverse and realistically devised social and cultural settings, even as her vivid imagination takes readers places they’ve never been before.

Witch King is just the latest spectacular epic to flow from the pen of Martha Wells, as her Ile-Rien and Books of Raksura fantasy series propelled her to the very top of the fantasy genre. Her fan-favorite Murderbot Diaries have brought her even greater fame. Here is a book that will only add to her glittering reputation.

Limited: 500 signed numberd hardcover copies