Sean is CPL’s Human Resources Specialist. He processes payroll and helps coordinate the employee experience “from hiring to retiring.” While he is usually working behind the scenes, you might spot him in the wild at library programs like “I Read Dead People” or “Cantassic Park,” where his event planning experience shines.
Sean recommends Witch King by Martha Wells. It is available in many formats: as a printed book, an e-book (on Libby) or an e-audiobook (on both Libby and Hoopla).
Summary
Kai is a powerful demon capable of possessing the bodies of deceased mortals. After being murdered, Kai wakes in an elaborate water trap to find a lesser mage attempting to harness Kai's magic to his own advantage. He has so many questions.
How much time has passed? Why was Kai imprisoned in the first place? What has changed in the world since his assassination? Who betrayed him? 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 suspects he won't like the answers.
He recommends it because...
“I appreciate that the story trusts the reader to figure things out as they go,” says Sean. “The worldbuilding progresses through showing rather than telling. Where many fantasy stories would lead with exposition, Witch King starts with the main character disoriented and confused, disembodied in his own tomb.” For him, finding his footing within the mystery is half the fun.
Who might enjoy it?
Sean recommends Witch King to grown-up fans of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, Amelia Atwater-Rhodes and Tamora Pierce. Similarly, he thinks “anyone who likes dark fantasy with suspense, sarcasm and found family” will find something to love in this book.
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