Release that Witch

Description

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Chen Yan travels between worlds, ending up becoming an honorable prince in a medieval fantasy world. Yet this world was not quite as simple as he thought. Witches with magical powers abound, and fearsome wars between churches and kingdoms rage throughout the land.

Roland, a prince regarded as hopeless by his own father and assigned to the worst fief, spends his time developing a poor and backward town into a strong and modern city, while fighting against his siblings for the throne and absolute control over the kingdom. Join Roland as he befriends and allies with witches and, through fighting and even farming, pushes back invaders coming from the realm of evil.

Associated Names
One entry per line
Fang Kai Nage Nuwu
Fangkai Nage Nuwu
Fàng kāi nàgè nǚwū
RTW
ปล่อยแม่มดคนนั้นซะ
放开那个女巫
마녀 사용설명서
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
Genjitsushugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki (45)
Tales of the Reincarnated Lord (25)
Sevens (22)
Maoyuu Maou Yuusha (19)
Ascendance of a Bookworm (19)
Common Sense of a Duke’s Daughter (17)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Female Lead Stronger than Male lead
  2. Kingdom / Sect / World Building
  3. Collection
  4. New list 1
  5. Wow there's a manhua version (ML)

Latest Release

Date Group Release
09/25/17 Seki – CA translations c378
08/28/17 Seki – CA translations c377
08/27/17 Seki – CA translations c376
08/25/17 Seki – CA translations c375
08/23/17 Seki – CA translations c374
08/22/17 Seki – CA translations c373
08/20/17 Seki – CA translations c372
08/20/17 Seki – CA translations c371
08/18/17 Seki – CA translations c370
08/17/17 Seki – CA translations c369
08/16/17 Seki – CA translations c368
08/15/17 Seki – CA translations c367
08/14/17 Seki – CA translations c366
08/13/17 Seki – CA translations c365
08/12/17 Seki – CA translations c364
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expertsource10
expertsource10 rated it
September 6, 2018
Status: c3
Weak MC is an absolute turn off for me because what follows it is a Very-Thick-Plot-Armor

A worm, snail, loser, weak, powerless MC who relies on other people, and tries to climb the dangerous path of competition/politics/wars/fights. This is nothing but delusional and full of luck (plot armors) and highly probably full of inconsistency.

The plot may be well written or intriguing, however, I dropped after 3 chapters and realized being well-written is not enough to be good. The negatives out-weights the positives tremendously.

I don't need to read the novel to foresee... more>> these plot armors of no back-stabbing, illogical loyalties, and constant inconsistencies.

In essence, the novel is fated to be inconsistent, illogical and heavily plot-armored. Plus weak MC, makes it double turn off. <<less
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Kuzero
Kuzero rated it
August 27, 2018
Status: --
There are already many reviews so I won't go into details.

Though, I feel like the plot armor is not stressed enough in most review as well as how forced the plot sometimes feel.

For example, when was the MC transmigrated into Roland. If it was 5 years earlier, a lot would become easy. If it was 5 years later, he wouldn't be able to do anything.

... more>> Still, he was also transmigrated in a great time, with plenty of incredible opportunities to become 'strong'.

The first few witches he gets as subordinate are so useful it's incredible. He really struck it rich when he got those incredible subordinate so easily. My point is that most witches are, while useful, not that incredible, but the first three witches he met happens to be top tier.

More generally, things don't always go as the MC plans it. But it always go in a way which makes him and his territory stronger. Sometimes it felt like the whole world was moving to make a convenient situation for the MC. When it happens once, it's luck. When it happens twice, it's great luck. When it happens 10 times? I call it plot armor.

But well. I will admit that in most cases it's not that bad. Often, I can still barely tell myself that he just makes the best out of the situation. Sometimes though I'm forced to admit 'Wow, how convenient'.

...I mean, one of the greatest example...

Spoiler

Roland really needs a certain witch. She, however, is a noble and isn't willing to give up on everything to come with him (well, can't blame her). It's at that moment that the church decides to comes knocking, having discovered she is a witch, and wants to hang her. How convenient. I mean, she has lived hidden for tens of years.

If I didn't know better, I would have thought Roland was the one to call the church over.

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Another fact that bothered was was the romance. Wow, it's bad. I mean, seriously bad. The average chinese novel will try to offset how bad a romance is by making a harem but it doesn't seem like this novel will have one.

Anna is such a 1D character it's almost impressive. Well, I agree that perhaps the two most unidimensional character of the story - Roland and Anna - might make a good couple in a way, but well...

I would rather there isn't any romance at all than this.

Last but not least... The MC becomes an idealist at some point. I'm not saying I want him to be a great villain. But around chapter 900 he states wanting to stay a righteous man and decides on a s*upid course of action fitting of an idealist with only demerit for himself, his kingdom, his friends, his descendant, the world, the human's race, etc, just so that he can proudly says 'I'm a righteous man!'. Funnily enough, while it is quite unrealated, his attitude at this moment made me think of polluters not caring what will happen 50 or 100 years later, which is pretty different from what a 'righteous man' would be.

Which is kinda funny considering all the things he had done until now. I mean, he had done a lot of worse things for personal interest and for the well being of the kingdom and the human race until now, so why not now?

I have nothing against idealist (ok, maybe a little). But pragmatic characters suddenly going full idealist just to look cool? Hell no. <<less
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Kailour
Kailour rated it
April 23, 2018
Status: --
I made it to, I believe it was chapter 6 where he decided to dress a female he just met in frilly maid clothes for his own personal pleasure. It became fairly clear to me what this novel was going to be about after that.

... more>>
Spoiler

Other than that, the novel starts off with MC body swapping into someone elses life, he starts off explaining that the former owner of his new body never forced himself on any woman, then he immediately slaps his maids ass because "that's what the former owner of his body would do".

Immediately after he entered this world, the first thing he did was to denounce the church in front of his loyal retainers (retainers granted to him by his father so not actually loyal to him) his retainers were immediately ok with this, it was never mentioned whether or not the former owner of his body often randomly denounced the church.

In this new world apparently "Witches" exist the MC being the religion hating atheist he is immediately believes that witches have never done any wrong and could never possibly have harmed a fly. He spares a witch and asks her to perform her "magic" she does so proving that her magic is real which also means its highly possible that witches have committed these crimes which they are accused of. What does the MC do? Why he frees her and gives her a frilly outfit to wear for his personal pleasure. It apparently doesn't matter to his retainers (who were granted to him by his father, the king) that by releasing the witch he completely goes against his fathers decree which would normally be grounds for treason in this type of kingdom.

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Needless to say, I do not recommend this novel unless you are looking for a power trip wish fulfillment fantasy (in other words authors wet dream in novel form) <<less
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Ryanwhoknowsall
Ryanwhoknowsall rated it
March 31, 2018
Status: c1084
so I read the first one hundred chapters of the English version, and it’s pretty good. But when I read the Chinese version, it feels like magic. The plot and the story itself is amazing and how the writer describes it is astonishing. It is very easy to get s**ked up into the book world and spend hours and hours reading it despite having exams sitting right in front of my face. The translation needs improvement, I have to say. It messed up and ruined quite a good bit of... more>> the book. Still, I highly recommend this book, and if anyone knows Chinese, be sure to read the original version written by Er Mu. <<less
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Zeke27
Zeke27 rated it
February 1, 2018
Status: c693
At first when the author introduce that the MC is an engineer I found it fascinating as I'm currently studying engineering. It just annoyed me that the author never mentioned what type of engineer the MC was. I just fell like the MC just know way to much in other fields, for example how the MC knows the components to make cement and gun powder. So assume he was some kind of chemical engineer but then he made boats and a bridge. The MC's knowledge is just way to diverse... more>> to be real.

Another thing that bothers me with this novel is the speed in which things occur, simply put it's to slow. This slow speed is alright at the beginning but just frustrating later on, in fact a good example of this is a chapter where a character literally walks from point A to point B and he opens a door, and that's the entire chapter.

So if your looking to read a novel I don't recommend this one, I know it might look tempting but it's not worth it. Don't let all those 5 stars trick you, this novel is just boring and a waste of time. <<less
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IAmDaven
IAmDaven rated it
January 16, 2018
Status: c660
This is an amazing story!

I've read tens of thousands of pages now of different stories now from this site and Release that Witch stands among the most interesting and original stories. The chemistry of the characters is strong, many people who are introduced end up having a lasting effect throughout the story. And even when you forget about a character because there are so many, they revisit and tend to add something interesting all over again.

You want to root for the MC and the people around him because he is... more>> not some overpowered/cultivating/powerhouse/magi, hes a guy using his mind to make things better. And the rest of the mystical elements of the story is balanced among a dozen supporting characters. Very enjoyable. <<less
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acepepe
acepepe rated it
December 23, 2017
Status: c900
One of my favourite ever WN/LN despite the author making an absolute hash of it lately.

INTRO: A fantasy kingdom building epic. MC's (originally from the modern Earth) soul gets transferred to one of the 5 (?) royal siblings fighting for the throne by developing territories - whoever has the best territory in some years time wins. The MC is basically worthless and has appropriately been given a poor non-important territory on the borders of the kingdom. He utilizes witches (women with special abilities), maligned throughout the lands, to... more>> first survive then develop then conquer.

THE GOOD:

    • The whole premise is refreshingly new and without the generally found Xianxia or Game elements.
    • Each witch has a unique ability and personality.
    • The story (initially) and the battles are well portrayed and make you want to read not skip.
    • Enemies are capable and conflicts make sense.
    • MC is overall quite good.
    • The political and the scientific parts are well-thought out and well-researched, respectively
THE BAD:

    • Although the witches are not just mindless dolls, the focus is only ever given to 2 of them.
    • The author keeps inserting various elements without resolving any previous ones as a result of which I don't even know where he's going anymore. This is the biggest issue I have and it has completely ruined a great story and undone his initial genius.
    • MC knows too much (as in inventions that one needs for the civilization to progress)
    • The romance subplot.
      Spoiler

      What the f*ck happened between Anna and Nightingale?

      [collapse]
Overall I feel it's a must read regardless of what it becomes because what initially was, was glorious. <<less
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maria1014
maria1014 rated it
December 3, 2017
Status: c573
It is very interesting. Although it is slow paced, the author does a very good job about the plot. It is not forced or rushed. The pacing draws you in. Unlike other ln out there who have 500+ chapters (where you get tired reading because it does not interest you anymore and you just kinda drop it), this novel is refreshing in a way.

EDIT: Also, don't judge it just because it is CN. *For those who dislikes wuxia, or thinks wuxia is cringy or something. Your father, I, can vouch... more>> that it is unlike those! (Not kidding) <<less
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Deathlord
Deathlord rated it
November 18, 2017
Status: --
Spoiler

I don't care what others think of this novel but it is so LAME!

I am not criticizing the world building and the concept, I am criticizing the personality of the MC. First of all he is weak as in totally weak. Second he doesn't seem like a MC in a novel (here MC means the driving character on whom the story revolves around) its more like he is some random side character who you like having around for a time being and then poof!

Third the ramblings of the author. We all know how well that the schools, drama stages etc. Works (assuming 99% people who read the book will know about the procedure of it.) there is no need for him to drag the explanation for multiple chapters long.

In a nutshell its a waste of time. DON'T READ

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ieh
ieh rated it
November 12, 2017
Status: c532
I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of this story and how it sidesteps a lot of cliches that run so rampant in the light novel world. It's not perfect but it's the best written story I've read so far.

I see other reviews comparing this with Spice and wolf or Maoyuu Maou Yuusha but it's like comparing apple to oranges. Those other 2 novels are heavily focused on the economic side as an excuse to flesh out a vibrant fantasy world. While RtW focuses more on a steady army building... more>> and technological growth for the final confrontation with monsters that threaten to eradicate what is left of humanity.

Personally, I don't think the main character Roland is as flawed or overpowered as some other reviews make him out to be. He has no physical or magical powers and is just a smarter than average human being with a current day University education and work experience. You have to understand that this was written by a Chinese author and in China they focus excessively on memorizing information in school. Also, he never outright builds a current day gun or technology right off the bat. The first good chunk of chapters he is hindered by the lack of resources and being unable to refine metals. He basically made brittle iron tubes with handles and saltpeter as a propellant to use as makeshift muskets (Think 1700s matchlock muskets with a rough iron ball that takes forever to manually reload). Steam engines were also invented in the 1600s before even matchlock muskets with the first steam engine in a mine made in 1702. Roland brought the fantasy world out of the dark ages to the age of enlightenment.

He also uses simple tactics like hiding his staggered gun lines behind a dirt wall made with a basic understanding of present day building techniques and knowledge from University science classes for science majors. You don't have to be a genius to balance chemical equations, remember the uses of acids/bases, or even to memorize the periodic table since you'd use that regularly for years until it became second nature.

RtW is almost a step by step story of how our actual technology progressed throughout the years except aided by magic. By later chapters and close to 2 years into the story, he's brought the town close to the industrialization era (Assembly line, specialization of skills to improve productivity) with near equivalent weapons for that era (Gatling guns, both occurred in the mid 1800s). I think the parallels to real history has made the story very satisfying and given it a touch of realism to make it more believable. Not to mention that there are witches whose magical powers are used in creative ways to bypass certain technological bottlenecks and speed up progress.

The flaws of this story are mostly the uninspired evil Church and High Nobles. I completely agree that the finances and gold royals in this story are glossed over, but that's fine because I don't want to read 100 chapters about a guy using double entry bookkeeping and balancing a checkbook. The speed of the town being built is a bit excessive on top of everything else but that's a minor nitpick to speed the story along. I wasn't a fan of the special boat they've built, I just keep picturing the CSS Palmetto State (also built during the mid 1800s!).

I'd highly recommend reading this story! <<less
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Mike777ac
Mike777ac rated it
March 16, 2017
Status: c260
For a long time, I never read this novel simply because the name sounded kinda lame to me lmao. However, in the past 4 days of binge reading, I've learned that this is literally one of the best Chinese novels I've ever read. (And I've read hundreds of them by now lol.)

I won't give any spoilers, but I'll say that it's definitely a kingdom building novel. The MC constantly creates new technologies in order to overcome and transform the terrible world that he gets transported into... It's definitely dark... more>> in a sense, but not a tragedy as far as I can tell. <<less
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Aho555
Aho555 rated it
March 9, 2017
Status: --
This is good. To think I skipped it once because it had a cover ripped from videogame art. Good thing I went back to read this.

Pros:
-An atypical Chinese novel with English character names! And no cultivation (what is that anyway??) or secret technique books etc
-If you like the theme of MC transported/reincarnated and uses his modern knowledge to improve everything around him, this one has it in spades
-Romance that bears fruit (*wink*)
-Relatively lighthearted, meaning no gory, sickening mature stuff
-an MC you cannot find faults... more>> with
-well developed characters

Cons:
-Chapters are relatively short; although this novel always has a clear, overarching plot, it doesn't have long story arcs that continue for chapters and chapters - in this way it's kind of a slice-of-life theme. <<less
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Ashers
Ashers rated it
January 16, 2017
Status: c211
4.4/5

It's a refreshingly charming story of Cheng Yan/Roland's bringing about the industrial revolution at an accelerated rate while fighting against the ideological stranglehold of religion. I can't really say anything new that other reviews haven't already praised; life-like characters, fantastic world-building, with the allure of mystery and intrigue. So I'll just nit-pick here to explain why it's a 4.4 in my book, if anyone's interested.

... more>>
Spoiler

Beware - fairly opinionated;

MC knows far too much to be your average every day engineer. From weapons manufacturing to assembly-line machinery to literary screenplay writer to a silver-tongue'd negotiator to teacher to etc. Early on the author establishes his shyness but that just evaporates within the first few chapters, and despite him being an engineer he's able to write a screenplay that wraps itself nicely while most of the novels here are a testament to how difficult that is? It takes away from the believably that the MC is your average hard-working civilian that's an engineer for a living. It would've been nice to have a little background in the beginning or flashbacks that explain why he would have such information. Yes, people are more than their jobs, but some of the stuff he's introduces feel like they require a little more in-depth knowledge about the subject matter than a quick look over. However, at the moment, I'll have to doc 0.2 stars for this.

MC resolves himself to live in this new world... a little too quickly. I can understand not wanting it to drag on and on, but the MC doesn't reminisce about the people from his old life or the little things he enjoys. I know that wanting will not get him anywhere where action will, but it's a world he was part of for 40+ years of his life. He has the attitude of "Oh well... this is me now!". It kind of ruins the idea that the MC is someone who's been reincarnated as someone else mid-life and instead is more like the person is the Ronald just super matured and got a knowledge hack all of a sudden. Down another 0.2.

MC has too much of an easy time with fighting against the Church's ideologies. Unfortunately the author doesn't go too in-depth so it's... pretty easy to assume it has all the similar failings of our own religions - so it's easy for us to kind of tear down our own boogeyman of what religion is. However, he's fighting against 500 years of ideological thought taught to them from birth - that's not easy to just throw away with just a little learning for a multitude of reasons. The scientist that still believe in their various religions show this. Therefore, I'm just a little disappointed that there's not as much questioning and discussion of the Church's teachings being dissect'd. Another 0.2 doc.

Below are more things I hope the author will elaborate upon rather than just say that's how it is.

Witches - Why? Why not Warlocks? Why is it gender-locked? I want to be able to Warp like Nightingale >w< I know it's what the Churches of our world have done, but I don't see a reason why this couldn't have just been part of the MC taking stuff he knew from the old world into the new ie there's no such thing as magic.

Magical Evolution - Why Anna's flame evolved along the path of heat, activity of molecules, instead of radiation, packets of energy? Maybe he's reserving this for Evolution 3, or it's just my lack of understanding? What Soraya's paint is made out of - if it follows the same rules as our world it must be a particular strong, lightweight material of some sort. Pretty OP in its application, while not directly a skill for fighting it's already showing how useful it is elsewhere. Why's he taking so long to help Mystery Moon - he knows so much about engineering, but he's not that knowledgeable about electromagnetism? He was excited about her ability at first, and now he's getting more confirmation about how to evolve their abilities. It feels like after he knows so much about those various industries the MC should has a general idea of how to evolve everyone else abilities.

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TangerineWave
TangerineWave rated it
January 5, 2017
Status: c196
Went into this not expecting much, but I have to admit I was blown away by how well written it is for a web novel. The world is well thought out, the characters are fairly realistic, and the magic powers are reasonable. I like how the main character relies on knowledge and hard work rather than godgiven superpowers. And I like how even the most powerful witches are only a match for a small group of professional soldiers, not demigod super saiyans.

My biggest praise for this novel is the characterization... more>> of the side characters. Too many web novels focus on the protagonists only. But this novel has a huge cast of supporting characters, and delves into each of their histories and experiences. They are people you can relate to, people you like, and people you despise. I even feel sorry for the bad guys sometimes. I have a minor gripe with the huge cast of characters where some characters just don't get mentioned for dozens of chapters and you sort of wonder what they've been doing. But don't worry, they're never forgotten. The story eventually gets back to them even if it takes ages.

I can't forget to mention the awesome world. The world is beautiful, diverse, and full of history. Even while the main character is doing his thing in his corner of the world, the rest of the world still moves around him. The story doesn't forget to follow up on the other major players in the world. Everyone in this world has motivations and goals. It really makes the people of this world feel like a living breathing society.

The main character is a sympathetic character that you really want to see succeed. But I have to say he is the one weakness of the novel. He can sometimes feel like a cardboard cutout. His emotions are rarely shown, and I think that's his biggest flaw. He's always very calm and collected, but we never get to see his weaknesses as a human. Sometimes we can see when he laughs, when he loves, but too often he's so calculating that it comes off as cold logic and robotic. Still, I think he has enough depth to to sympathize with.

I really have to praise the author for his skill. If there is one way for me sum up the writing, it's 'deep and satisfying.' The characters, the world, the plot all feels very satisfyingly deep. There's enough twists and turns that it's never boring. And even though its one of those kingdom building novels which always ends up with very dry exposition chapters as they lay down laws and build infrastructure, I never felt it with this novel. There was always a looming threat and always exciting new weapons you want to see blow up the enemy to smithereens. Overall, I give this novel my highest rating, and I don't give this out lightly.

Rating:
Overall: 5/5
Characterization (MC) : 3 / 5
Characterization (Antagonists) : 4.5 / 5
Characterization (Side Characters) : 5 / 5
Worldbuilding: 4.5 / 5
Magic System: 5 / 5
Plot: 4 / 5
Pacing: 4 / 5
Realism: 4 / 5 <<less
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Chaku
Chaku rated it
December 6, 2016
Status: c92
Such an interesting story it truly is, its also regularly updated by the great awesome translators who are so quick that it makes my mind boggle I never have to wait impatiently for a release!

Roland is a reincarnator, who finds himself in the body of the 4th Prince, who awakens his previous life memories, this world is primitive compared to where he was from, he presides over the execution of a witch, his previous world common sense rejects such ideas, despite being reincarnated, having a mechanical engineering background, he... more>> logically tries to understand what is happening. Memories of the 4th Prince paints the picture of a useless man, who only sought pleasure, while not a completely horrible character, he was a man of little worth, when left to lord over a small desolate town in the middle of nowhere Roland struggles to understand the predicament he is in, realizing that he is in competition for the throne alongside 4 other siblings due to His Fathers decree. As the story unfolds Rolands previous knowledge becomes the foundation for the world he creates alongside the Witches, the future is uncertain, but due to his ability to apply modern technology and magic, he establishes the beginnings of a new life filled with great potential and love.

This is a fantastic story, with such scope and depth that you wont find yourself bored for an instant, the array of characters are wonderful, there are no overtly OP displays of power, even though it is blatantly OP but its the progression by which it came about that makes sense, even if it is a bit convenient, like getting the right assortment of powers/people/circumstances to push his plans forward.

That aside it even has an educational component hah, I spent time outside of the story finding out about various things that are described in the story, and got smarter or at least more aware as a result. It encourages you to think about the possibilities not in a predictable way, even though there is an obvious linear progression in what Roland is aiming for, but its like an excitement of what might come, and when it does happen that feeling of satisfaction arises, its like deciding on which pathway will be taken, if he goes A route or B route in accomplishing his goals, its truly satisfying, add the witches magic into the mix and you have pure harmony.

There are no outright villains in the story much like Game of thrones, sure there are rotten people, and those that seek to overpower another, its not a Defeat the Demon lord kind of scenario, there are enemies and allies of sorts, even the fantasy aspect is really unclear, there are demonic beasts, and a demon race, there are devils and Churches which Im sure you can figure out where such things can lead, spanish inquisition anyone? The crusades? Salem witch hunts?

As Rolands siblings vie for power, he races against the clock to put his plans in motion, with determination, and intellect used to defeat his foes and build the world around him, we are immersed and invested in Roland, journeying alongside him as he accomplishes his goals.

I highly recommend reading this story, you will be entertained and perhaps will learn something new along the way :) <<less
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kaluk1321
kaluk1321 rated it
October 12, 2016
Status: --
One of the best novels here.

The best thing about the novel for me is the writing, and the pacing. It's just right. You never feel the author is filling stuff out of nowhere, everything is related to the plot. Another thing that really impressed me, is the fact that the MC actually uses his brain (he's an engineer after all) instead of having cheat like powers as so many other novels out there. Awesome read 5/5.
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ShioCarl
ShioCarl rated it
September 29, 2016
Status: c82
Oh darn...I love this novel so much. One of the best chinese novel that fitted my taste of mixing european royalty, politics, kingdom building and it's realistic. I couldn't help to attempt reading chinese ver for the remaining chapters now! Thank you, Roxerer for translating! You guys should go Patreon and support them!
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rdawv
rdawv rated it
September 15, 2016
Status: c70
As of Ch.70.

Of all the transported/transmigrated stories that I have read here, this one stand apart. At first read, you might be fooled into thinking that this is a story written for a western audience, with its English naming conventions and western fantasy elements, all wrapped around a technological bent.

The story is about an Asian who was transmigrated into the darkest times of a medieval, feudal age. The difference is that the MC did not use the typical Asian sensibilities so often found in other stories where "Eastern superiority" is... more>> touted and contrasted against "ignorant Westerners". In this story, the transmigration serves as a vehicle for the author to write in modern ideas (equality, employment etc) and technological knowledge (gunpowder, steam power). His Asian origin is not very important, so much so that if this story was published in English it can very well find its way among other sci-fi novels at your local bookstore.

It does not have the usual Chinese/Japanese/Korean supernatural elements and martial arts. It has knights, witches, sword and sorcery, kings and peasants, strategy and betrayal, discrimination and politicking, kingdom building and monstrous hordes. It very much reminds me of the Conrad Stargrad novel series by Leo Frankowski, where a time-traveling Polish engineer climbs the feudal ranks of 13th century Europe and changes history with his new ideas and innovations.

What I read so far is decent. <<less
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MisterAbstruse
MisterAbstruse rated it
January 26, 2024
Status: Completed
Release That Witch is one of my favorite novels. Allow me to be transparent upfront, the first several hundred chapters are a FIRM 10/10. Then it dips to an 8/10, and eventually has a 6/10 ending. Why did I still give it 5 stars? For two reasons: extremely high and resonant enjoyment, and it's peak (and averaged) quality.

It's been quite some time since I finished this novel, and I had taken a break around chapter 900 (because the translation was not finished) ; but I still use "Novels like Release... more>> That Witch" in my Google searches to find books that I will like. Almost everything that it does, it does incredibly well for quite some time.

I spent an immense amount of time crafting mental fanfiction of where the story could go while I was reading it, thinking of different ways that the witches powers could be used or cultivated into particular directions. I'm a sucker for science and engineering, as well as city development, and it's such a joy to hear processes and advancements described in such a holistic way. It's like watching someone play "Civilization"; but more detailed, fantastic, and personalized - you are taken on the adventure firsthand.

Spoiler

Also, Nightingale is best girl - and you cannot convince me otherwise.

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If you know of novels like Release That Witch, DM me; I need more of it in my life.

Final score: (900*1+500*0.8+100*0.6) /1500 = ~0.91

9.1/10 goes to a 5/5 (I may have finessed the numbers. I'm not sorry. Reading it is worth the sadness of knowing you will not soon find another novel that takes you to the same heights that this one does.) <<less
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cosme7
cosme7 rated it
July 31, 2023
Status: Completed
I just finished reading it and I hope this review helps you decide whether to give the WN a chance or not :P
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Story ★★☆ & 5/10 - The beginning of the story is fantastic, he starting to develop the technologies of the City, little by little conquering a place in the hearts of the people, of course the Propaganda in the Communist molds comes strong, but it is part of the history XD, and I must say that it was well implemented XD. You ask yourself, okay but... more>> did you give it a 5/10? The problem with this note comes from half of WN onwards, after the first war in which I won't give spoilers directly, the work takes another direction, and from then on it is completely lost.

Some spoilers in case you're interested in this topic.
Spoiler

- I must agree with one of the reviews on the site, whenever he needs to develop something, magically a new Witch appears JUST what he needs, I personally don't bother, but the pattern is present.
- Witches not getting pregnant I thought it was too much bullshit, it could be something in the footprint of the elves who are difficult to get pregnant, and they still have to keep reading the MC saying "Wow, that's great that they can't get pregnant and blah blah", trying to find a valid reason for that, being that he is a KING and needs an Heir, besides, the moment I thought "is the MC kidding me?" that's when he wanted to do an advertis**ent to increase the birth rate in the Kingdom, MARRYING A WITCH, I thought AHHHHHHHHHH if I was in this room...
- Sleeping Island plot totally irrelevant, pure waste of time in the story, the characters could have been inserted in another way, but there had to be a whole plot on the island and blah blah, totally unnecessary.
- Dream World, after the battle with the church, and he starts to have these "powers", I found the chapters extremely BORING, totally unnecessary plot, could have simply continued with the war against the demons and it was great, BUT, let's go for one third race in between.
- In addition to Dream World, the passing in the last 300 caps is strange, he starts using technologies that were not present in his kingdom in a totally simple way, and in other chapters the MC complains about lack of material and etc...
- And the end comes with a giant load of science-fiction out of nowhere and you're like ??? It is serious? Okay, at least it's not Nanomachine's, but it still sucks.

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Character ★★☆ & 5/10 - That part was what saddened me the most, it had enormous potential, but it was something totally simple, with the exception of the Side Characters (Humans), because in them you even feel that they are "palpable" they are "real" you know? If you were to complain about anyone (Human), it would have to be the MC and his passivity in certain matters. Now when you go to the Witches, it's a sad thing.

Some spoilers: Humans
Spoiler

- MC, his passivity at certain times, he has to have a lot of c*ckroach blood to bear, especially when it involves the witches of Taquila, the "women" all the time talking with disdain of humans, even Edith humiliates them, from afar the BEST FEMALE CHARACTER, should have become Queen aff!

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Some spoilers: Witches
Spoiler

General: They all went through trauma at some level, with the exception of the witches of Taquila, but it's always the same background with some variations, the way that "trauma" is healed, is being accepted by humans and working with them, and only, they don't have anything else, how to relate and etc... The other variation is the power of Witch being "useless" apparently, but the MC has the right place to put this girl to work, and the Witch is neurotic of "AHHH I AM USELESS and blah blah"
- Union Witches: Scroll, Wendy (debatable) and Nightingale, have a certain more two-dimensional personality, the rest of them are even too simple, others are UNBEARABLE boring.
- Sleeping Island: Tilly is an extremely boring character, irrelevant to the story honestly, she could have put another character and removed the plot from the island, which would have given space to develop other things in the story, in addition to her personality, Tilly is unbearably selfish, skill is "meh", in relation to other characters like Andrea, Ashes, Maggie, Ify and etc... It's debatable, because on the island itself there are about 300 witches and you only read about 20 or less, of course the author has the perfect excuse that "oh they are traumatized and blah blah blah, so they don't want to go out", in addition to the many others that go to town, you barely read about any of them.
- Taquila Witches: For me they are the worst with the exception of Agatha, all the other witches, AFTER THEY LOST A WAR, they are still: look at the "commons", they can't do anything without us, they are a bunch of weaklings, IF IT WAS IN OUR TIME PEOPLE COULD SOLVE IT FAST, plus he keeps playing jokes about "aahh what if we take power again? LET'S REVIVE WITCH SUPREMACY!" as if it had worked before KEKW, another detail is that they think they are HYPER intelligent, and they don't have a third of the knowledge of the MC, having them over 400 years old.

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Some Spoilers: Romance
Spoiler

- Anna is a boring character, is she BEAUTIFUL? YES! But it's boring, it barely has any personality, Nightingale is much better, and their romance, it's an extremely strange thing in WN, they make a deal that the reader is never told about the content, it just stays on the air, or in some moments is quoted.
- And where I REALLY found it wasted, is with the Witches themselves and the residents of the city (Humans), ok, they have their traumas, but this PLOT could have been inserted to give WN more color, at least to the witches from the Union, because it has the harem tag, but it is not the case with WN.

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Art ★★★★★ - I'm going to use Manhua as a base, and I thought the arts were very beautiful XD, just so I don't leave this part blank.
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Enjoyment ★★☆ & 5/10 - As I said in the story part, it started fantastic, I loved every part of the development, it's even well explained, the reason the character is doing X or Y, but after War, it becomes something cliché, which could have been done differently, or in my opinion, it doesn't even exist in WN, and in relation to "City-Building", mainly in the weapons development part, it becomes something irrelevant, the MC starts taking things off the top hat to be done, the reason is acceptable, the problem is the execution.

Some Spoilers: Feminism
Spoiler

- Firstly, it's a CN work, if you're seeing feminism in it, you're crazy, the work is completely the opposite in my opinion, a woman in a position of power = it's a problem XD, especially when the plot of the witches of Taquila comes into play, and the ABSURD IDEA they had, you stay ??? IS IT SERIOUS THAT YOU DID THIS? AND YET WANNA CALL HUMANS "WEAK" or TREAT WITH DISDAIN? If they were f*cked, it was little.

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General ★★☆ & 5/10 - I really picked it up to read it because of the high rating on the site, and having read some good reviews, but unfortunately they are not just "flowers", a lot of things left to be desired from the story to the characters, due to the number of chapters, I could have done one GREAT work, but as I said, in my opinion the author got lost in his own story, and the rush at the end trying to close all possible points is proof of that.
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If you read this review thank you very much and may God bless you! <<less
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