Geralt is a witcher, a man whose magic powers, enhanced by long training and a mysterious elixir, have made him a brilliant fighter and a merciless assassin. Yet he is no ordinary murderer: his targets are the multifarious monsters and vile fiends that ravage the land and attack the innocent. He roams the country seeking assignments, but gradually comes to realise that while some of his quarry are unremittingly vile, vicious grotesques, others are the victims of sin, evil or simple naivety. One reviewer said: 'This book is a sheer delight. It is beautifully written, full of vitality and endlessly inventive: its format, with half a dozen episodes and intervening rest periods for both the hero and the reader, allows for a huge range of characters, scenarios and action. It's thought-provoking without being in the least dogmatic, witty without descending to farce and packed with swordfights without being derivative. The dialogue sparkles; characters morph almost imperceptibly from semi-cliche to completely original; nothing is as it first seems.Sapkowski succeeds in seamlessly welding familiar ideas, unique settings and delicious twists of originality: his Beauty wants to rip the throat out of a sensitive Beast; his Snow White seeks vengeance on all and sundry, his elves are embittered and vindictive.
It's easily one of the best things I've read in ages.'
The Last Wish is a series of short stories or adventures as Geralt of Rivia battles monsters, travels the countryside and meets all walks of creatures from Fae to monsters. We see him sit with the Queen, fall for a sorceress, and deal with the effects of his own transformation.
The author shares retellings of some famous fairytales and enlightens us with stories involving a strigoi, rusalka, and jinn. Even though I had just watched the first season, I found the story, characters, and narration refreshing.
Readers and listeners will find a pleasant mix. Some tales offered humor and others will make the hair on the back of your neck stand on end. These are the tales one tells around a campfire intended to scare.
Andrzej Sapkowski is a brilliant storyteller and I can easily see why this series became a video game and now a series.
Peter Kenny did a fantastic job with the narration capturing the characters and creatures we met along the way.
Now you ask me why should I listen or read it, I watched it? Ah, my friend listen for the details and the untold stories. While Henry does a brilliant job capturing Geralt of Rivia, I truly appreciated getting his inner thoughts, understanding his conflicts and there is a theme here. Geralt very much wants to feel and I think you will be surprised at what you discover. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer
Reading updates
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Started reading
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3 January, 2020:
Finished reading
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11 February, 2020:
Reviewed