A+ | A collection of seven short stories that introduce the world of The Witcher and the characters themselves, and the relationships. This book is a great place to start, especially for someone like me who has never played the video games (although plans to in the future) or has any clue of what’s going on.
Synopsis: Geralt of Rivia is a witcher. A cunning sorcerer. A merciless assassin. And a cold-blooded killer. His sole purpose: to destroy the monsters that plague the world. But not everything monstrous-looking is evil and not everything fair is good… and in every fairy tale there is a grain of truth.
A collection of short stories introducing Geralt of Rivia, to be followed by the first novel in the actual series, The Blood of Elves. Note that, while The Last Wish was published after The Sword of Destiny, the stories contained in The Last Wish take place first chronologically, and many of the individual stories were published before The Sword of Destiny.
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Review:
Full disclosure: I have never played The Witcher games and probably won’t get a chance to at least play the 3rd game for a very long time. While I have known about the games for a while — I’ve had a copy of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition for ages now — I haven’t actually had the chance to play it because I wanted to read the books first. Time is a pickle, isn’t it? Well, with Netflix coming out with its own show, I realized that now is the time to read these books.
I honestly enjoyed this book. As someone who had no clue about this world/universe, it’s a great place to start. Each of the 7 short stories are digestible stories that introduce me to this world and its characters. They are interconnected by Geralt of Rivia himself who is recounting this tale as he recovers from his injuries in the Temple of Melitere.
One of the things I love about this book is that it’s simple with beautiful, visual, and loud descriptions of the world, its people, and its monsters. I actually hesitated to start with this book; I was originally planning on reading Blood of Elves first. However, I’m glad I went against this idea and went to read this collection instead.
As much as I adore epic fantasies with deep lore and mythology that you can get lost in, sometimes I just want something easy that I could slip into like my favorite pair of skinny jeans. This book feels just like that — slipping into my favorite pair of skinny jeans. It feels like easing into a comfortable bath with the water temperature exactly how I like it.
Of the short stories, my favorites are “The Witcher”, “The Lesser Evil”, “The Last Wish”, and “The Edge of the World” in this order. These are the ones that entertained me the most. They also enthralled me and made me want to learn more about Geralt. The interludes in-between with Nenneke and Iola got me interested in the Melitele cult as well as the history between Geralt and Nenneke. There’s also Dandelion. How he and Geralt became friends, I don’t know. It’s a mystery I must uncover.
And of course, Yennefer. Look y’all, I know there’s a thing between Geralt and Yennefer and man oh man, am I looking forward to seeing more of these two. But more importantly, seeing more of Yennefer’s story apart from Geralt. Yes, I know this is Geralt’s story, but I want and need to learn more about Yennefer, too.
Despite the fact that these stories were short, the world building is great. From monsters to everyday mannerisms to the politics, the world is well crafted and alive. And while it’s not getting deep into the politics of this world, but there are enough snippets for me to get a glimpse. Considering that this is a collection of short stories, the fact that the world is ever alive nonetheless gives me goosebumps — in a good way of course.
In terms of the writing style, well, I can only talk about the translation and I don’t have any complaints. It’s not hard to read which is good. I didn’t notice any glaring issues. However, this is coming from someone who can’t read Polish so can’t read the original and compare.
Looking forward to reading more of this series in the future. How about you guys? Have you read the books? Played the video games? Are you looking forward to Netflix’s series?
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