The Witch Roads is the first book in the eponymous epic fantasy duology written by Kate Ellliott, published by TOR Books. A quest story that shows Elliott's ability at crafting a really complex world, fully fleshed, balanced with a cast of characters whose interactions make this a really rich novel, sprinkled with dashes of mystery and secrets that slowly crawl into the plot.

Elen, our main character, lives in Orledder Halt, a small outpost far from the Empire's capital; she works as a deputy courier, walking the roads and watching for signs of the Pall, a virulent infection that swiftly mutates any animal or plant that enters in contact. Elen has many secrets, especially from her past; but destiny puts her in the role of guiding a Prince's party over an alternative route because of an avalanche. After stopping at an ancient shrine, a haunt starts controlling the Prince; Elen can't be sure of the spirit's motives, but she needs to avoid people discovering it, making the journey even more interesting.

Despite Elliott's ambitious worldbuilding scope, you don't really feel like you are being info dumped; instead, all the lore bits and pieces are naturally introduced as part of the narration, picking your curiosity, giving details that might end being relevant. While I'm not exactly a fan of the whole quest fantasy as a subgenre, the execution on The Witch Roads is simply immaculate; putting a focus on giving us complex characters whose interactions draws our attention into the reading (also the whole El's backstory is captivating to discover).
The pacing is a bit of a slow-burn at the start, introducing you to the complexity of the world and the relative mundanity of what's Elen world, to later break them and use that base as the call for adventure, progressively picking up the pacing.

The Witch Roads is a really well executed novel, perfect starting point for an epic fantasy duology; if you love classic fantasy worldbuilding with some twists, definitely you will enjoy reading Kate Elliott's latest release!