Publisher: Orbit
Publication Date: 1993 (Originally. Edition shown in photo published 2019)
Genre: High Fantasy, Magic, Short Stories, Adventure
Adventure Rating: 4.5 Stars
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. “
Where to start… First let me say, if you want to watch the show, I highly recommend you read up through book one. Read The Last Wish, Sword of Destiny, AND Blood of Elves first. In the show, there are multiple timelines that cover each of those books.
Anyways, each short story is like a Grimm Fairytale that is even more grim. (Ha. Ha. Ha.) They don’t really end in happy endings and they are often filled with gore. I loved it. They were really dark. My favorite was the Beauty and the Beast one of course. Again, no happy endings, but it was very interesting! Each story is setting you up for the first book, Blood of Elves. And it’s basically Geralt’s back story.
Geralt is fascinating to read about. He acts like he has no feelings but he does. His character development is really well done. The world is changing and he has to change with it. Or die out. It’s really about him navigating his dying profession of monster killing, and where to go from there.
My favorite character is Dandelion (not pronounced like the weed but pronounced more like Dan-DILL-ion). He was the comic relief and the cinnamon roll of the series. I love him. He is a traveling bard who is a quick thinker and has sassy come-backs. He’s a good contrast to Geralt. And Yennefer for that matter.
I’m not really sure how I feel about Yennefer yet. She’s kind of a mysterious morally grey character. She is cool, I just don’t know if I like her yet.
This book was FULL of adventure. I was surprised at how fast I fell in love with it. No wonder it’s insanely popular. It’s dark, intense, and just fun to read. I’m officially a fan of The Witcher!
Have you read this? What did you think? Let’s discuss!
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Storied Adventures 