The Tower of Swallows

by Andrzej Sapkowski

Conflict rages on. Ciri, the prophesied one, has disappeared. Pursued by both allies and enemies, she's adopted a new identity as a small-time thief, experiencing freedom for the first time. Yet, the noose tightens. Geralt, the Witcher, has rallied a team, including Dandelion, Milva, Regis, and Cahir, to save her. Both warring factions have dispatched ruthless mercenaries in pursuit. Her deeds have earned her infamy. One sanctuary the tower of the swallow awaits.

Genres: Fantasy

Unknown Binding

About the author

Andrzej Sapkowski, born June 21, 1948 in Łódź, is a Polish fantasy and science fiction writer. Sapkowski studied economics, and before turning to writing, he had worked as a senior sales representative for a foreign trade company. His first short story, The Witcher (Wiedźmin), was published in Fantastyka, Poland's leading fantasy literary magazine, in 1986 and was enormously successful both with readers and critics. Sapkowski has created a cycle of tales based on the world of The Witcher, comprising three collections of short stories and five novels. This cycle and his many other works have made him one of the best-known fantasy authors in Poland in the 1990s.

The main character of The Witcher (alternative translation: The Hexer) is Geralt, a mutant assassin who has been trained since childhood to hunt down and destroy monsters. Geralt exists in an ambiguous moral universe, yet manages to maintain his own coherent code of ethics. At the same time cynical and noble, Geralt has been compared to Raymond Chandler's signature character Philip Marlowe. The world in which these adventures take place is heavily influenced by Slavic mythology.

Sapkowski has won five Zajdel Awards, including three for short stories "Mniejsze zło" (Lesser Evil) (1990), "Miecz przeznaczenia" (Sword of Destiny) (1992) and "W leju po bombie" (In a Bomb Crater) (1993), and two for the novels "Krew elfów" (Blood of Elves) (1994) and "Narrenturm" (2002). He also won the Spanish Ignotus Award, best anthology, for The Last Wish in 2003, and for "Muzykanci" (The Musicians), best foreign short story, same year.

In 1997, Sapkowski won the prestigious Polityka's Passport award, which is awarded annually to artists who have strong prospects for international success.

In 2001, a Television Series based on the Witcher cycle was released in Poland and internationally, entitled Wiedźmin (The Hexer). A film by the same title was compiled from excerpts of the television series but both have been critical and box office failures.

Sapkowski's books have been translated into Czech, Russian, Lithuanian, German, Spanish, French, Ukrainian, and Portuguese. An English translation of The Last Wish short story collection was published by Gollancz in 2007.

The Polish game publisher, CD Projekt, created a role-playing PC game based on this universe, called The Witcher, which was released in October 2007. There is also a mobile version of the game which has been created by Breakpoint Games and is being published by Hands-On Mobile in Western Europe,Latin America and Asia Pacific.

The English translation of Sapkowski's novel Blood of Elves won the David Gemmell Legends Award in 2009.

Reviews

[Michaela Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think maybe more like a 3.5 - there are moments when these books are so fun and clever but sometimes it can feel bogged down with how many characters and perspectives and threads we’re following. BUT this book got crazy with time which I actually found to be a fun level of confusing

And maybe this is just me not being a careful enough reader! But I don’t think it’s unreasonable to find it jarring to be back in the perspective of a character that was introduced 200 pages ago and not seen since lol

[Charlie Kwartler · Rating 3 out of 5]

i mean it’s not bad like i’m still invested in the characters/story overall but at the same time i’m excited for this series to be over. i feel like lowkey nothing is happening. geralt has been on this journey to find ciri for what feels like 100 years and hasn’t really made that much progress. ciri spends basically the whole book playing house with that guy. i also feel like the narrative is too scrambled like i genuinely was confused about who people were or what was happening a few times. i miss the prequels, much more action packed and easier to follow.

[Benjamin Brimhall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good general fantasy book not amazing plot.

[Ian McGaffey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another good entry in the adventures of Geralt, Yennifer, and Ciri. Its been interesting seeing it develop. I am looking forward to the next adventures.