Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski

Blood of Elves (The Witcher, #1)

by Andrzej Sapkowski

The Witcher, Geralt of Rivia, becomes the guardian of Ciri, surviving heiress of a bloody revolution and prophesied savior of the world, in the first novel of the New York Times bestselling series that inspired the Netflix show and the hit video games.

For over a century, humans, dwarves, gnomes, and elves have lived together in relative peace. But times have changed, the uneasy peace is over, and now the races are fighting once again. The only good elf, it seems, is a dead elf.

Geralt of Rivia, the cunning assassin known as the Witcher, has been waiting for the birth of a prophesied child. This child has the power to change the world -- for good, or for evil.

As the threat of war hangs over the land and the child is hunted for her extraordinary powers, it will become Geralt's responsibility to protect them all. And the Witcher never accepts defeat.

Andrzej Sapkowski, winner of the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement award, started an international phenomenon with his Witcher series.

Now, look out for The Tower of Fools, book one of Andrzej Sapkowski's Hussite Trilogy, coming in October 2020!

Reviewed by kimbacaffeinate on

4 of 5 stars

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Having listened to the short stories first, I can see now why it is recommended that you begin with them. For me, it increased my enjoyment of Blood of Elves. While this lacked some of the fast-paced excitement of the short stories and monster battles provided, it expands the world and gave depth to characters I’ve already developed a kinship with.

Geralt of Rivia seeking to protect Ciri, takes her to the Witcher halls of Kaer Morten. Here he and other Witchers train her in combat, but also seek help from Triss and Yennefer. I found the keep, the relationships and Ciri’s abilities fascinating. A large portion of the audio surrounds Ciri and her training and powers. This keeps action low, but the world building is spectacular from legends to politics and the danger is ever present.

The story offers a nice mix of humor, magic, snark and history of a world filled with kingdoms, fae, elves, monsters, sorcerers, witches and things of lore.

Don’t fret though, we do get some battle as someone is hunting Geralt in search of the girl. The tale is told in multiple POVs but Peter Kenny made their delivery smooth. We only had one chapter from Geralt and while I missed his perspective the others gave us great insight. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 20 January, 2020: Finished reading
  • 20 January, 2020: Reviewed
  • Started reading
  • 20 January, 2020: Finished reading
  • 20 January, 2020: Reviewed