TheWell Bookshop

Series · fantasy

The Rising World

by Martha Wells

The Rising World series by Martha Wells has 2 known books (2 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with Witch King (2023). The latest book with a fully recorded publication date is Queen Demon.

Books
2 known books (2 novels)
Published
2
First published
2023
Status
ongoing
Shelved under
Fantasy
Last checked

Start here: Witch King (2023) — then read straight through in publication order.

Book one

Cover of Witch King

Witch King (2023)

Reading order

The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.

  1. Witch King

    Novel

    Witch King is the book that opens Martha Wells' The Rising World series, published in May 2023 at 432 pages. It's the natural place to begin the series, which continues with Queen Demon; a third volume has been announced to complete the planned trilogy, though no title or release date is confirmed yet.

    View book

  2. Queen Demon

    Novel

    Queen Demon is the second entry in Martha Wells' The Rising World series, published in October 2025 at 400 pages. It follows Witch King in the reading order, with a third and final volume planned to complete the trilogy.

    View book

About The Rising World

Kai Bashevi wakes up drowned and imprisoned in an underwater vault, having been murdered by someone he trusted -- and as a witch king, dying is more of an inconvenience than an ending. Witch King (2023) unfolds on two timelines at once: Kai's present-day hunt for whoever betrayed him and why, and the buried history of the war and revolution that brought his world's current order into being, gradually revealing how those two stories are the same story. It's one of Martha Wells's most structurally ambitious books, using the dual timeline to build a genuinely non-Western fantasy political history from the ground up.

Queen Demon (2025) continues directly from Witch King, deepening the series' central demon-and-human political alliances as new threats to the fragile order Kai helped build emerge. A third and concluding volume has been announced for 2026, though no title or firm release date has been confirmed as of August 2026.

Frequently asked questions

How many books are in The Rising World series?

Two published so far -- Witch King (2023) and Queen Demon (2025) -- with a third and concluding volume announced for 2026, though no title or confirmed date has been set as of August 2026.

What order should I read The Rising World books in?

Publication order: Witch King, then Queen Demon. Queen Demon continues directly from Witch King's plot.

Is The Rising World connected to the Murderbot Diaries?

No -- it's an entirely separate secondary-world fantasy setting with no shared characters or continuity.

Why does Witch King have two timelines?

The novel deliberately interweaves Kai's present-day investigation into his own murder with the buried history of the revolution that shaped his world, revealing by the end how the two are connected.

Is The Rising World a trilogy?

It's been described as planned for three books, with a concluding volume announced for 2026, but as of August 2026 no title or specific release date has been confirmed, so this dataset doesn't list one.

Reading order last verified .