A review by wandering_not_lost
The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

2.0

This book barely made it to "it was ok" stars with me.  I love heists, and I love criminal masterminds, so I though that this was going to be my cup of tea.  But in the end I just couldn't connect with the characters, and the last entire half was finished by determination alone.  Though the characters have sometimes interesting backstories, their interactions seemed stilted and unemotional, even when the characters are supposed to be :checks notes: in love? (the main character and Madeline were supposed to be main emotional stays for each other, but whenever they talked they seemed to snipe and be frustrated at each other so much that I was left wondering what they actually saw in each other.)  It was like we were TOLD the emotional ties were there, but we weren't SHOWN that.  Some of the characterization also seemed odd:  obsessed characters would allow themselves to be distracted from that obsession too easily, it seemed.  And without ties to and between the characters, what were supposed to be emotional moments sometimes fell incredibly flat.  Plotwise I also just felt like this book was too long (in multiple places, chase and search scenes just go on and on....)  Then, in the end, things are wrapped up suspiciously neatly  (

Spoiler

sorcerors that had been blocked [again, in suspiciously unmurderous ways!] from helping halfway through coming back to help just in the nick of time, people wandering aimlessly through an area they don't know but managing to split up and find each other again, etc.

).  

It just wasn't satisfying, and oddly in some of the same ways as Witch King wasn't satisfying to me.  I'm beginning to think that Wells is just going to be a one-series writer for me, and I should stick to Murderbot.