The Last Wish Andrzej Sapkowski
Overview:
The Last Wish is a collection of six loosely-connected stories and intervals starring Geralt. Originally released in 1993 in Poland as Ostatnie Zyczenie, The Last Wish contains some of the oldest of the Geralt tales, although it was not the first Geralt book released in Poland. It is, however, an excellent introduction to the character and to the type of story that Sapkowski apparently wants to tell.
Geralt is a Witcher, an altered human being who has enhanced eyesight, a quicker healing / recovery mechanism for his body, and supposedly immune to most of the normal human emotions (although some of his interactions with various characters belies this to some extent). As a Witcher, Geralt's task is to roam the countyside and towns, looking for and destroying true monsters. While this might sound like a perfect D&D-style adventure series, Sapkowski quickly shows a combination of a sly wit and a tendency to not just subvert these adventure tropes, but to twist them and spin them upon their head until they collapse, too dizzy to assert themselves in the story themes.
Although Geralt is trained as a killer and does have some impressive skills as a fighter, violence is not a staple of these stories. Rather, it appears to be that there are two overarching themes to these tales: overcoming first impressions and the notion that the truest monsters might have a comely appearance and be fair of speech.
Geralt is a Witcher, an altered human being who has enhanced eyesight, a quicker healing / recovery mechanism for his body, and supposedly immune to most of the normal human emotions (although some of his interactions with various characters belies this to some extent). As a Witcher, Geralt's task is to roam the countyside and towns, looking for and destroying true monsters. While this might sound like a perfect D&D-style adventure series, Sapkowski quickly shows a combination of a sly wit and a tendency to not just subvert these adventure tropes, but to twist them and spin them upon their head until they collapse, too dizzy to assert themselves in the story themes.
Although Geralt is trained as a killer and does have some impressive skills as a fighter, violence is not a staple of these stories. Rather, it appears to be that there are two overarching themes to these tales: overcoming first impressions and the notion that the truest monsters might have a comely appearance and be fair of speech.
Blood of Elves Andrzej Sapkowski
Overview:
Blood of Elves comes with a familiar character for those who already read The Last Wish. Andrzej Sapkowski plays with the well known elements of fantasy in his novel. The pages of Blood of Elves are inhabited by dwarves, elves, halflings, wizards and magical creatures. But to the merit of the author all these elements feel fresh throughout the pages of the novel and avoid being stereotypical. The fantastic world of Blood of Elves is a very interesting one.
Geralt - the character who established Sapkowski in Poland - features strongly in the first half of the novel, making for a kind yet hard-headed and enigmatic protagonist. The story then shifts its focus onto the mysterious Yennifer, who up until then has been little more than a name. Initially coming across as your standard tough female archetype, Yennifer soon assumes a much more intriguing role. These involving characters, along with the promising young figure of Ciri, are what really keep the pages turning so fast.
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