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Geralt-Saga #1-5
Die 5 Bände der Hexer-Saga: Im edlen Schuber mit Karte
Herein lies the main saga of Geralt the Witcher - revered and hated - who holds the line against the monsters plaguing humanity. These five novels make up the bestselling series that inspired the Witcher video games and a major Netflix show.
Geralt of Rivia is a Witcher, a man whose magic powers and lifelong training have made him a brilliant fighter and a merciless assassin.
Yet he is no ordinary killer: he hunts the vile fiends that ravage the land and attack the innocent.
But not everything monstrous-looking is evil; not everything fair is good . . . and in every fairy tale there is a grain of truth.
Read the epic Witcher saga now with this eBook boxset, which contains all five novels in the ground-breaking series.
Blood of Elves translated by Danusia Stok.
Time of Contempt, Baptism of Fire, The Tower of the Swallow, The Lady of the Lake translated by David French.
Andrzej Sapkowski, winner of the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement award, started an international phenomenon with his Witcher series. The Last Wish is the perfect introduction to this one-of-a-kind fantasy world.
Geralt of Rivia is a Witcher, a man whose magic powers and lifelong training have made him a brilliant fighter and a merciless assassin.
Yet he is no ordinary killer: he hunts the vile fiends that ravage the land and attack the innocent.
But not everything monstrous-looking is evil; not everything fair is good . . . and in every fairy tale there is a grain of truth.
Read the epic Witcher saga now with this eBook boxset, which contains all five novels in the ground-breaking series.
Blood of Elves translated by Danusia Stok.
Time of Contempt, Baptism of Fire, The Tower of the Swallow, The Lady of the Lake translated by David French.
Andrzej Sapkowski, winner of the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement award, started an international phenomenon with his Witcher series. The Last Wish is the perfect introduction to this one-of-a-kind fantasy world.
Paperback
Published November 17, 2021
188 people are currently reading
1031 people want to read
About the author
Andrzej Sapkowski
207 books18.9k followersAndrzej 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
July 25, 2024
I read the Witcher series a few years back and just now I decided to write a few words about it. I barely remember the details and at this point I can only recall the general outlines of the Witcher’s world and my impressions of it.
I played the video game (The Wild Hunt) back in 2015 and it was because of the game that I decided to try the books. Much has been said about the game but suffice to say that it was a masterpiece, not the least because it shocked the gamers with brand-new graphical details and world design that pushed your console (or your graphic card) to its maximum limits. The game’s combat system wasn’t anything revolutionary but the story was probably one of the best that you could find in a game.
The story of the game was a brilliant adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski’s series and I resolved to read the books. Resolved because it was the first fictional series that I got involved with and back then I tried the Persian translations first and finding them not that good, opted for the English translations. It was a new experience for me and I had to wrestle with new words and expressions and it didn’t help that the books were translated from Polish to English with obvious loss of clarity entailed even in the best of translations. Nevertheless, the English version felt closer to my experience of the game and I stuck with it.
I read the The Last Wish first (which is not included in this box set) and it started slowly for me. It begins with the early adventures of Geralt of Rivia, the main protagonist, and his fights with his foes which at this point were mostly ghoulish creatures. You get introduced to the craft of witchers by being exposed to Geralt’s early tales and even though Geralt seems like a bore early on, little by little you get to know him and understand his peculiarities and his strengths as a fighter trained to death for killing wild beasts raging all over the world, ruining the lives of humans, elves and dwarves inhabiting that world. A witcher is a fighter that has undergone deliberate and cruel mutations in his childhood in order to become half a beast himself. A man-made beast that has supposedly become a creature empty of emotions that cares only about killing the demons and ghouls and necrophages infesting the land and making a bit of money along the way. Witchers accept contracts from desperate locals who are unable to deal with savage beasts on their own. Generally, the locals don’t like the witchers, as they are a bunch of outcasts living horrid lives in their bleak castles and drinking witchery potions which sharpen their senses and dull their pains. And it seems that this lot cares only about the money.
Sapkowski’s world is filled with magic and different types of mages practicing it. It is a magical world but there are also humans and human armies (mages are usually humans but there are lots of elven mages as well and you better not cast a wrong glance towards the elven ones). There is the southern Nilfgaard and there are the Northern Realms and very soon tensions between them begin to rise. Through thick and thin, we follow Geralt in the first books as he goes through his journeys and we get to know that he is no ordinary witcher. He has lots of contacts with mages (all kinds of contacts) and it becomes more and more clear that he is to play a significant role in the destiny of a world threatened by utter destruction.
As the story moves ahead, two other protagonists enter the fray: Yennefer and Ciri. Yennefer is a brilliant and powerful mage and is probably the most interesting character in the book. She is unscrupulous and is hell-bent on achieving her goals and has a complicated relationship with Geralt and Ciri. Ciri is a mysterious teenage girl possessing unworldly powers, trying to learn how to harness that power and shape her destiny. The trio of Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri stands at the center of the story and you get to follow them to the final pages and see how they shape the world around them.
Compared with epic fictional stories, the Witcher series suffers heavily from weak character development and its world has a confusing history. Sapkowski has made matters worse by introducing a sense of immortality and meddling with the concept of death. Mages and witchers live for hundreds of years in Sapkowski’s world and this, ruined the characters of Yennefer and Geralt for me. They have been living forever it seems and even though mages and witchers can die, mortality and the immediacy that it injects into a story are somewhat taken away.
The most glaring deficiency of the series for me was the lack of a good structure that can forcefully propel the reader towards a dramatic and climactic ending. There are too many digressions and unending dialogues which don’t lend themselves to an overarching theme. The story had a lot of potential but I think Sapkowski is not a great writer. He lacks that genius so necessary for building an epic story. The world that he has created is massive and complicated: there are backstabbing politics, different races fighting each other, cruelties and betrayals and almost no heroes to save the day. But other than Geralt and Yennefer the individuals didn’t come alive for me.
From the fourth book to the last pages of The Lady of the Lake, the story became blurry and it lost its touch with its earlier themes. The ending came suddenly and out of nowhere and it felt detached and underworked. To describe it in one word, other than Geralt, the novelty of the witchers, his adventures and his pirouetting moves in his fights, this was a forgettable story. I can’t exactly recall what happened in the final chapters. Maybe I couldn’t connect with it because I didn’t read it in Polish or maybe I read it too fast, I don’t know but I’m not going to try it again.
I played the video game (The Wild Hunt) back in 2015 and it was because of the game that I decided to try the books. Much has been said about the game but suffice to say that it was a masterpiece, not the least because it shocked the gamers with brand-new graphical details and world design that pushed your console (or your graphic card) to its maximum limits. The game’s combat system wasn’t anything revolutionary but the story was probably one of the best that you could find in a game.
The story of the game was a brilliant adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski’s series and I resolved to read the books. Resolved because it was the first fictional series that I got involved with and back then I tried the Persian translations first and finding them not that good, opted for the English translations. It was a new experience for me and I had to wrestle with new words and expressions and it didn’t help that the books were translated from Polish to English with obvious loss of clarity entailed even in the best of translations. Nevertheless, the English version felt closer to my experience of the game and I stuck with it.
I read the The Last Wish first (which is not included in this box set) and it started slowly for me. It begins with the early adventures of Geralt of Rivia, the main protagonist, and his fights with his foes which at this point were mostly ghoulish creatures. You get introduced to the craft of witchers by being exposed to Geralt’s early tales and even though Geralt seems like a bore early on, little by little you get to know him and understand his peculiarities and his strengths as a fighter trained to death for killing wild beasts raging all over the world, ruining the lives of humans, elves and dwarves inhabiting that world. A witcher is a fighter that has undergone deliberate and cruel mutations in his childhood in order to become half a beast himself. A man-made beast that has supposedly become a creature empty of emotions that cares only about killing the demons and ghouls and necrophages infesting the land and making a bit of money along the way. Witchers accept contracts from desperate locals who are unable to deal with savage beasts on their own. Generally, the locals don’t like the witchers, as they are a bunch of outcasts living horrid lives in their bleak castles and drinking witchery potions which sharpen their senses and dull their pains. And it seems that this lot cares only about the money.
Sapkowski’s world is filled with magic and different types of mages practicing it. It is a magical world but there are also humans and human armies (mages are usually humans but there are lots of elven mages as well and you better not cast a wrong glance towards the elven ones). There is the southern Nilfgaard and there are the Northern Realms and very soon tensions between them begin to rise. Through thick and thin, we follow Geralt in the first books as he goes through his journeys and we get to know that he is no ordinary witcher. He has lots of contacts with mages (all kinds of contacts) and it becomes more and more clear that he is to play a significant role in the destiny of a world threatened by utter destruction.
As the story moves ahead, two other protagonists enter the fray: Yennefer and Ciri. Yennefer is a brilliant and powerful mage and is probably the most interesting character in the book. She is unscrupulous and is hell-bent on achieving her goals and has a complicated relationship with Geralt and Ciri. Ciri is a mysterious teenage girl possessing unworldly powers, trying to learn how to harness that power and shape her destiny. The trio of Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri stands at the center of the story and you get to follow them to the final pages and see how they shape the world around them.
Compared with epic fictional stories, the Witcher series suffers heavily from weak character development and its world has a confusing history. Sapkowski has made matters worse by introducing a sense of immortality and meddling with the concept of death. Mages and witchers live for hundreds of years in Sapkowski’s world and this, ruined the characters of Yennefer and Geralt for me. They have been living forever it seems and even though mages and witchers can die, mortality and the immediacy that it injects into a story are somewhat taken away.
The most glaring deficiency of the series for me was the lack of a good structure that can forcefully propel the reader towards a dramatic and climactic ending. There are too many digressions and unending dialogues which don’t lend themselves to an overarching theme. The story had a lot of potential but I think Sapkowski is not a great writer. He lacks that genius so necessary for building an epic story. The world that he has created is massive and complicated: there are backstabbing politics, different races fighting each other, cruelties and betrayals and almost no heroes to save the day. But other than Geralt and Yennefer the individuals didn’t come alive for me.
From the fourth book to the last pages of The Lady of the Lake, the story became blurry and it lost its touch with its earlier themes. The ending came suddenly and out of nowhere and it felt detached and underworked. To describe it in one word, other than Geralt, the novelty of the witchers, his adventures and his pirouetting moves in his fights, this was a forgettable story. I can’t exactly recall what happened in the final chapters. Maybe I couldn’t connect with it because I didn’t read it in Polish or maybe I read it too fast, I don’t know but I’m not going to try it again.
May 8, 2025
This is actually really a 2.5 star (damn you goodreads!), whilst always enjoyable (especially with such a focus on Ciri), I feel often 20-30% of the book feels entirely random ramblings that don’t add or build much.
You do feel the missing of Geralt for lots of this and really 60-70% of this book focussed on side or background characters which means attention is hard to keep. But when Geralt or Ciri do show up it’s always a good time.
You do feel the missing of Geralt for lots of this and really 60-70% of this book focussed on side or background characters which means attention is hard to keep. But when Geralt or Ciri do show up it’s always a good time.
December 2, 2023
Very nice, morally grey story, excellent world building, and great characters that you care about
September 24, 2020
God this took me SO LONG to read, but that was cause of COVID not the quality of the novel. I just haven't been reading as much, alas.
This was my first of the original, full length Witcher books and I really enjoyed it! Again, many of the characters and events from this one tie into the Witcher 3 game and, I expect, will be involved in season 2 of the television series (which I am eagerly awaiting). Interestingly, Geralt was only sparingly present here, with the focus being primarily on Ciri and her adventures with Triss and Yennefer. As much as I love Geralt and am *never* upset when he's on the page, I enjoyed getting to know our sorceresses a little better, and surprisingly despite being a child, I didn't find Ciri too annoying. I'm interested to see what happens next.
This was my first of the original, full length Witcher books and I really enjoyed it! Again, many of the characters and events from this one tie into the Witcher 3 game and, I expect, will be involved in season 2 of the television series (which I am eagerly awaiting). Interestingly, Geralt was only sparingly present here, with the focus being primarily on Ciri and her adventures with Triss and Yennefer. As much as I love Geralt and am *never* upset when he's on the page, I enjoyed getting to know our sorceresses a little better, and surprisingly despite being a child, I didn't find Ciri too annoying. I'm interested to see what happens next.
October 19, 2022
Oh what could have been. The short stories that preceded this saga were amazing and satisfying introductions to the world of The Witcher. Unfortunately, The Saga of the Witcher is a true slog to get through. It felt like it should've and could've been a solid, fast-paced trilogy that simply got stretched too thin with obscure ideas that didn't pay off and extremely long tangents that removed all focus from the plot and characters time and time again.
Blood of Elves - 3 Stars
Book 1 takes some time to get going but is honestly a fun adventure story when it starts moving. Geralt and Ciri's training and relationship grows and develops in a natural way that is satisfying to read about.
Time of Contempt - 1.5 Stars
Book 2 takes a detour from what the first book established and meanders here and there with a confusing plot that really only centers around a final banquet and explosive climax that leaves the main characters separated. It felt like this book should've been a section of the first book or left out entirely.
Baptism of Fire - 3 Stars
Book 3 responds to the climax of the last book by finally getting Geralt to go on a quest to save Ciri and Yennefer and finds an unlikely fellowship to join him. Most of the book is a journey tale of the fellowship bonding and working together in surprisingly interesting ways and closes in a dynamic climax that was enjoyable to read.
The Tower of Swallows - 1.5 Stars
Book 4 is by far my least favorite. It felt the least focused on any one narrative besides having repeated subplots with disturbing events taking place. Another example of a useless entry similar to Time of Contempt, that either could have been the end of the series, or just left out to make room for the last book.
Lady of the Lake - 2.5 Stars
Book 5 is the conclusion and honestly just felt like an extremely long epilogue. We finally have a end to the Saga, but like Tower of Swallows, its told in a confounding way. Surprisingly, we get new connections to people, places, and universes that have never been mentioned, but luckily the story of Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri are given a level of closure, even if it's mostly unsatisfying.
Blood of Elves - 3 Stars
Book 1 takes some time to get going but is honestly a fun adventure story when it starts moving. Geralt and Ciri's training and relationship grows and develops in a natural way that is satisfying to read about.
Time of Contempt - 1.5 Stars
Book 2 takes a detour from what the first book established and meanders here and there with a confusing plot that really only centers around a final banquet and explosive climax that leaves the main characters separated. It felt like this book should've been a section of the first book or left out entirely.
Baptism of Fire - 3 Stars
Book 3 responds to the climax of the last book by finally getting Geralt to go on a quest to save Ciri and Yennefer and finds an unlikely fellowship to join him. Most of the book is a journey tale of the fellowship bonding and working together in surprisingly interesting ways and closes in a dynamic climax that was enjoyable to read.
The Tower of Swallows - 1.5 Stars
Book 4 is by far my least favorite. It felt the least focused on any one narrative besides having repeated subplots with disturbing events taking place. Another example of a useless entry similar to Time of Contempt, that either could have been the end of the series, or just left out to make room for the last book.
Lady of the Lake - 2.5 Stars
Book 5 is the conclusion and honestly just felt like an extremely long epilogue. We finally have a end to the Saga, but like Tower of Swallows, its told in a confounding way. Surprisingly, we get new connections to people, places, and universes that have never been mentioned, but luckily the story of Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri are given a level of closure, even if it's mostly unsatisfying.
May 16, 2022
Still love this series. I have read the short stories and watched the TV series all of them. I am enjoying the extra wonderful depth the book brings to the world. It is good to see the world through Ciri's eyes and the women who are part of Geralt's life. This book picks up Ciri's life when she is at the Witcher's keep and it arranges the forces around Ciri. Nilfgard is still pushing its expansion onward and the world has creatures. We meet up with our favourite characters and there is treachery in the air. This book isn't as lyrical as the short stories and for those of you who like reading a long series, this is it. The world is rich and complete and the magic has rules and consequences. This story has elves and dwarves but in a different way. I sense there is so much more to find out and I look forward to reading the rest of the series.
A good book for an avid fantasy reader and also a good way to get a gamer to read.
A good book for an avid fantasy reader and also a good way to get a gamer to read.
August 17, 2025
The entire saga of the witcher, a very promising story for who has already seen the first three seasons on netflix. Although the overal level of writing is beter than that of the average fantasy novel, there is not much more to find in the books than what has been shown on the screen. The overal coherence between the little stories seems often to be missing, same as for the different seasons on the screen. In the stories that are not yet put on screen, there is not much improvement in this. In fact it even gets worse and you get more and more the idea that it are several stories with not much connection between them. As if it was a legend, told by someone who does not know everything and who has failed to fill in the blanks with his own fantasy because of fear to hurt the historic value. In the end of the book it appears that is is exactly like that, which I found quite an authentic writing perspective.
August 1, 2024
I have read... The Last Wish, a random collection of somewhat meaningless vignettes...
Now I have read the Witcher #1. I remain unconvinced this series should have anything resembling the success it has had. It might just be that I do not gel with the writing style. There is a lot of... somewhat meaningless dialogue and the structure of the story is a bit scattered. Ultimately, I don't really care about any of the characters. They are all generally unlikable (perhaps except Dandelion) and the overall story really isn't piquing my interest. It definitely feels like a fantasy novel but without any of the... substance?
Now I have read the Witcher #1. I remain unconvinced this series should have anything resembling the success it has had. It might just be that I do not gel with the writing style. There is a lot of... somewhat meaningless dialogue and the structure of the story is a bit scattered. Ultimately, I don't really care about any of the characters. They are all generally unlikable (perhaps except Dandelion) and the overall story really isn't piquing my interest. It definitely feels like a fantasy novel but without any of the... substance?
March 21, 2021
There is so much to love about this book, but the ending few chapters ruined it for me.
There is too time spent setting up a scene, focusing on side characters that we don't know and don't care about. It's boring and I'll admit that I skimmed over it, because I was so mind numbing.
Also the set up of the "sex" scene between Ciri and a new character to the story, is disgusting. The author has glorified a rape scene, and then given Ciri instant Stockholm Syndrome, making a romance out of it.
It has definitely put a dampener on my otherwise high regard for this series.
There is too time spent setting up a scene, focusing on side characters that we don't know and don't care about. It's boring and I'll admit that I skimmed over it, because I was so mind numbing.
Also the set up of the "sex" scene between Ciri and a new character to the story, is disgusting. The author has glorified a rape scene, and then given Ciri instant Stockholm Syndrome, making a romance out of it.
It has definitely put a dampener on my otherwise high regard for this series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 14, 2023
Took me a long time to complete this.
Books 1 and 5 were very good. 2 and 4 felt like weaker additions to the saga however they both had strong aspects to them as well. Book 3 was by far my favourite.
I really enjoyed this collection of novels. Whilst there were times I struggled to stay motivated to read this, I also found there was some excellent writing by the author.
The non-linear story telling was really strong in Book 5 and I found it really gripping. The characters throughout were really interesting and varied. Loved it!
Would recommend.
Books 1 and 5 were very good. 2 and 4 felt like weaker additions to the saga however they both had strong aspects to them as well. Book 3 was by far my favourite.
I really enjoyed this collection of novels. Whilst there were times I struggled to stay motivated to read this, I also found there was some excellent writing by the author.
The non-linear story telling was really strong in Book 5 and I found it really gripping. The characters throughout were really interesting and varied. Loved it!
Would recommend.
January 17, 2023
To my surprise I really liked the first 2 books, as they were short stories and I thought that I would not enjoy that as much. But from the 3rd book it becomes this long story about Geralt and his long journey and it's really good. The characters are amazingly fleshed out and their development is also well written. Would recommend these books to everyone who is interested in medieval fantasy.
May 17, 2021
Great book, liked reading it.
But there was something, not sure if it's the book or the part of life I'm in that made me go start stop a few times over long periods of time...
Love the parts with the hut and I'm the windows of the hut 2 people sad and so on, great way of writing :-)
But there was something, not sure if it's the book or the part of life I'm in that made me go start stop a few times over long periods of time...
Love the parts with the hut and I'm the windows of the hut 2 people sad and so on, great way of writing :-)
October 10, 2022
Highlight!!! Ich wollte die Bücher gelesen haben, bevor ich die Netflix Serie schaue. Dass es mich so abholt und in diese fantastische Welt entführt hatte ich nicht erwartet. Es war fesselnd und mitreißend! Ich habe es geliebt.
August 21, 2020
I started on this, wanting to give the series another chance. I just couldn't get into the story - or rather I couldn't care less about the characters.
February 6, 2021
Not bad but not my favoritt.
August 26, 2022
Rich character development and interweaving of narratives to tell the story. I really enjoyed the heightened complexity in what is "monster" and what makes a character "good".
May 15, 2023
If you liked the video games and the Netflix series, you should definitely pick these up.
September 6, 2023
DNF for the same reasons others give this a low rating.
October 12, 2023
It was my favourite of the series so far!
January 8, 2024
Much better than the previous one in my opinion. Even thought it starts a bit slow and uneventful it picks up as it goes along and it became one of my favourites of the saga so far.
January 25, 2024
World building was interesting but had some dark themes and the translation felt blocky a lot of time, phrases were repeated often.
April 1, 2024
- horror rating: 2/5
- thrill rating: 3/5
- tear rating: 4/5
- humour rating: 3/5
- thrill rating: 3/5
- tear rating: 4/5
- humour rating: 3/5
June 13, 2024
Nou, je hoeft niet bang te zijn dat de serie op netflix iets voor het lezen van de boeken spoiled.
January 22, 2025
The ending...
December 31, 2023
I really tried hard to like this series, especially since I liked the two prequel books (which are written quite differently, being a series of shorts instead of an epic tale). Unfortunately though, I found that it dragged a lot - instead of being filled with fantasy and action like I was expecting, there was a lot of politics, gratuitous sex scenes that didn't add to the story, and side stories being narrated by characters that I didn't care about at all and didn't contribute to the overall reading experience. I had a hard time keeping track of a lot of the supporting characters, to the point where I wouldn't remember who they were or how they fit into the overall story when they were mentioned. And since it was written in such a way that a lot of the plot points were implied instead of outright explained, this made things a bit confusing to follow at times. I finished it because I'm a bit of a completionist and I was hoping it would get better, but overall found it hard to get through.
In terms of the main characters, I found Geralt to be whiney and sulky, Ciri to be a brat who never grows out of it, and Yennifer to be a manipulative b*tch who maybe redeems herself slightly by the end, but I couldn't bring myself to like any of them. Ciri and Geralt don't even really even spend a lot of time together throughout the series, so it just seems like the bond between them is forced for the sake of the overall story arc. There was supposed to be this overall theme of destiny and the two of them being intertwined, but it didn't really amount to much considering it was supposed to be a focal point. Also, when it came to female characters in the book in general, it felt overwhelmingly obvious that it was written by a man, and I couldn't get past it.
When it comes to the overall plot, I got to the end of the story and it just fell... flat. I'm not sure exactly what it was, but it felt like there wasn't really this epic build-up with an explosive breaking point that is the height of the story, it just kind of hums along, and then it's over without actually leaving you feeling that all the pieces came together in a satisfying way, like a balloon that just slowly deflates until its empty. Even the character deaths didn't leave much of an impression. I got to the end (which was left vague) and felt like I'd accomplished nothing by reading these books.
Overall disappointing for me, but based on other reviews, people are pretty split on whether they think it's a masterpiece or a waste of time. My advice is, if you are finding the books slow and un-captivating from the get-go, you probably won't find it improves.
In terms of the main characters, I found Geralt to be whiney and sulky, Ciri to be a brat who never grows out of it, and Yennifer to be a manipulative b*tch who maybe redeems herself slightly by the end, but I couldn't bring myself to like any of them. Ciri and Geralt don't even really even spend a lot of time together throughout the series, so it just seems like the bond between them is forced for the sake of the overall story arc. There was supposed to be this overall theme of destiny and the two of them being intertwined, but it didn't really amount to much considering it was supposed to be a focal point. Also, when it came to female characters in the book in general, it felt overwhelmingly obvious that it was written by a man, and I couldn't get past it.
When it comes to the overall plot, I got to the end of the story and it just fell... flat. I'm not sure exactly what it was, but it felt like there wasn't really this epic build-up with an explosive breaking point that is the height of the story, it just kind of hums along, and then it's over without actually leaving you feeling that all the pieces came together in a satisfying way, like a balloon that just slowly deflates until its empty. Even the character deaths didn't leave much of an impression. I got to the end (which was left vague) and felt like I'd accomplished nothing by reading these books.
Overall disappointing for me, but based on other reviews, people are pretty split on whether they think it's a masterpiece or a waste of time. My advice is, if you are finding the books slow and un-captivating from the get-go, you probably won't find it improves.
March 9, 2021
I have enjoyed the read, although the book has many characters to keep tabs on I'm looking forward to the next one, delving deeper and getting to know the Witcher better. Although I think to understand the story better I may have to read the prequels too. If you love a good story full of heroes and villains in a time where magic rules the world. You will indeed enjoy this book.
January 19, 2020
Wirklich, ein sehr gutes Buch. Abtauchen garantiert!
February 25, 2024
White Wolf winner! 🐺💪
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