Paperback, 384 pages
English language
Published Nov. 27, 2015 by Orion Publishing Group.
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.
This is a collection of short stories, following the adventures of the hit collection THE LAST WISH. Join Geralt as he battles monsters, demons and prejudices alike...
Emotionally stunted monster slayer begrudgingly discovers his soft side: lovelorn for his ex (an obstinate sorceress), and dedicated accidental guardian to a dauntless princess, destiny's fulcrum.
This is a much better installment than the first set of related vignettes. Yes, it's fairly predictable but the view into Sapkowski's world compensates. I really enjoy The Witcher's backstory and am interested to see how the story develops.
The second anthology of short stories about Geralt of Rivia, the Witcher, left me a bit cold at first. While it was fun to experience familiar characters from the game in their original written form, the stories themselves weren't great. This changed for me with the last two stories, which were about the Witcher's destiny, taking care of the Child of the Elder Blood, Ciri. As big fan of the Witcher 3, I loved that and am excited to read the actual series now, not just short stories.
It's really quite amazing how well the games capture the tonality and atmosphere of the books. Reading those stories I could hear Geralt just as he appears in the game, walking the streets of Novigrad.
I would probably only recommend this to fans of the games.
