Sword of Destiny (The Witcher, #0.75)

by Andrzej Sapkowski

[thepunktheory]

Full review on my blog coming soon!

It turns out, just like The Last Wish, Sword of Destiny is also a collection of short stories instead of a full-fledged novel.
Naturally, there are some stories I liked better while there were others I found rather boring. Well, actually I enjoyed all of them quite a lot except for one. This already brings me to my first realization about the Witcher series: I don't care too much about Geralt and Yennefer.
The particular story I am not exactly fazed by features Geralt as well as another lovesick wizard who he is supposed to duel in order to decide who gets Yennefer.
In general, I am not a fan of book Yennefer and here's why: we only get to see her through the eyes of a pining Geralt. That annoys me tremendously and I wish we'd got to see more of her on her own or something about her background. I know the books are decidedly focused on Geralt, but the way it is, it bores me. Their relationship is obviously not a good idea and I don't even want to read more on that front.
Furthermore, we first meet Ciri in another one of the short stories. Geralt runs into her in Brokilon forest and she is a certifiable BRAT. Ciri is a spoiled and annoying little bitch and I almost wish Geralt would have smacked some sense into her. Well, I do spot some character development towards the very end, so maybe there is hope for her in some future story. For now, I really don't care about her at all.
We also get to see more of Dandelion aka Jaskier in this book. He is funny and it's always a delight to find a story that features him. I love his dynamic with Geralt and the adventures with both of them are my favorites so far.
While I generally like that the books (at least the first two, I haven't read any further yet) consist of short stories, it also prevents me a little from really sinking into the story. There are some interesting moments but ultimately I am not desperate to pick up the next volume and find out more.