It’s a secondary world fantasy, about immortals who once defended their world from a colonizing empire, and who are now trying to keep the coalition of countries from becoming an empire in turn. Martha has promised us a guest post on the book in a few weeks, so stay tuned. Martha’s upcoming Witch King, her first new fantasy novel in over a decade, arrives from Tor.com at the end of the month and, as you can imagine, it’s one of the most highly anticipated books of the year.

That didn’t stop the Hugo electorate from voting The Murderbot Diaries the 2021 Hugo Award for Best Series (the same year that Network Effect, the 5th volume, won the Hugo for Best Novel). The first two books in the series, All Systems Red and Artificial Condition, won back-to-back Hugo and Locus Awards after that Martha graciously declined further nominations to give other nominees a chance. Of course, her career really took off with the appearance of Muderbot. Her terrific Ile-Rien tales (“Reflections,” Black Gate #10, “Holy Places,” BG #11, and “Houses of the Dead,” BG #12) were set in the same world as her nebula-nominated novel The Death of the Necromancer, and her popular Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy ( The Wizard Hunters, The Ships of Air, and The Gate of Gods). Martha Wells was one of the most popular authors we published in Black Gate. Readers looking for more Murderbot may be disappointed, but fantasy readers looking for new worlds and characters to explore will be enthralled.Witch King by Martha Wells (Tor.com, May 30, 2023). VERDICT: After the rousing success of “The Murderbot Diaries,” Wells has returned to her fantasy roots in a tale of revolt, rebellion, and betrayal. The world is wide-open, its peoples are not the usual fantasy suspects, and the power of both friendship and heartbreak pushes the story on at a breathless pace. His betrayal is an attempt to undo that work, and Kai must figure out whom he needs to kill this time around. Kai and his dearest companions saved their world from an all-consuming conqueror. After all, Kai is the Witch King, and he can’t let anyone stand in the way of protecting his loved ones. He’ll have to recover his companions, retrace his steps, both in the past and in the present, and consume the life energy of anyone who gets in his way. “Demon Prince Kai awakens in his own tomb, alone and unable to remember how he got there, although he knows he must have been betrayed.

Witch king martha wells