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comradehaasboy's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content and Cursing
thewillowwood's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Overall I enjoyed this book, enough so that I will be reading the next instalment of the series. Some of the scenes were quite dull, but the more enjoyable ones made up for it. It also suffers a bit from the “men writing women” problem that made me a tad uncomfortable, but it didn’t completely ruin the experience. It’s a decent fantasy read, if you enjoy that then this book will likely be enjoyable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Death of parent, Gore, War, Blood, Sexism, Xenophobia, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Rape, Grief, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
marissab's review
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Torture, War, Death, Violence, Colonisation, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, Drug use, Genocide, Sexual content, Cursing, and Grief
readbyella_'s review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Misogyny and Sexism
Minor: Sexual content
tilo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Der erste Teil der Hauptreihe enttäuscht nicht! Mehrmals war ich emotional etwas aufgewühlt und einige Stellen haben mir das Herz erwärmt. Ich habe das Gefühl, dass Leser:innen, die sich mit der Welt noch nicht so gut auskennen, besonders am Anfang sehr überrumpelt von all den Namen und geschichtlichen Ereignissen fühlen könnten. Ansonsten bietet das Buch alles, was man von der Welt erwartet: Mysteriöse Geschehnisse, Abenteuer und einzigartige Charaktere mit komplexen und faszinierenden Hintergrundgeschichten.
Randnotiz: Positiv aber sehr überraschend fand ich die Art und Weise wie mit Ciris Menstruationsbeschwerden und später erste Fragen zum Sexualleben umgegangen wurde. Fand ich gute Aufklärung in einem Buch, von dem man es nicht zwingend erwartet.
Randnotiz: Positiv aber sehr überraschend fand ich die Art und Weise wie mit
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual content, War, Infertility, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Cursing, Murder, Racism, Drug use, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit
puzzle_ad's review against another edition
3.5
Some random notes, taken while listening:
• So far it's so much better than the short story collection.
• Love that there are more POVs than just Geralt.
• Jaskier is Taylor Swift confirmed, come on. And I quote:
“Master Dandilion, what is this? Are you going to leave us in suspense? That can’t be the end of your ballad? Sing to us of what happened next!”
“Songs and ballads” – the musician bowed – “never end, dear lady, because poetry is eternal and immortal, it knows no beginning, it knows no end—”
“But what happened next?” The tradeswoman didn’t give up, generously rattling coins into the bucket Dandilion’s apprentice held out to her. “At least tell us about it, even if you have no wish to sing of it. Your songs mention no names, but we know the witcher you sing of is no other than the famous Geralt of Rivia, and the enchantress for whom he burns with love is the equally famous Yennefer. And the Child Surprise, destined for the witcher and sworn to him from birth, is Cirilla, the unfortunate Princess of Cintra, the town destroyed by the Invaders. Am I right?”
Dandilion smiled, remaining enigmatic and aloof. “I sing of universal matters, my dear, generous lady,” he stated. “Of emotions which anyone can experience. Not about specific people.”
“Oh, come on!” yelled a voice from the crowd. “Everyone knows those songs are about Geralt the Witcher!”
And here I thought the jokes about Burn Butcher Burn(10 Minute Version)(Jaskier's Version) can be reserved only for the show. But that whole segment felt like peak Taylor Swift energy.
• Yennefer and Jaskier are a delight in the show and book when they are together.
• I find it so funny that the entirety of The Witcher books is the size of two Stormlight Archive books.
• I cannot stress this enough I love Jaskier/Dandelion.
• Yennefer is the queen of sarcasm my god. That letter almost had me in tears laughing, especially the way the narrator read it.
• Triss on makeup being something women do for themselves was surprising. I mean that is a very low bar but in this series, I didn't expect this much tbh. The old Polish guy gets some points.
• I can appreciate the elves as metaphors for racism and xenophobia and shit. And it's still relevant close to 30 years after this book was published.
• Jarring changes between scenes that make you feel you missed something both in ebook and audio. Three books in and I still hate it and can't get used to it.
• Sickness and people knowing to wash their hands to prevent it in the fucking middle ages imagine that.
• Jaskier being described like this: I know you’re almost forty, look almost thirty, think you’re just over twenty and act as though you’re barely ten. What I'm getting is the casting was perfect.
• This quote from a henchman and the bad guy's scene from the henchmen's POV really made me laugh a lot:
He was afraid he would be forced to listen to a long monologue. The marshal knew that the man standing at the window considered his monologues a conversation, and viewed conversation as a privilege and proof of trust. He knew this but still didn’t like listening to the monologues.
this is what having a"conversation" with my boss feels like tbh.
• Only women are in pain using magic, only women have to be sterilised to be mages, only women have to choose between being a mother and being a magician, this is fucked up.
So I did enjoy this quite a bit more than the previous instalments. The added different POV and actual overarching plot really helped with that I feel like. I was quite excited about it when I started but by the end of the book I feel like my excitement fizzled out and that the ending was quite anticlimactic. Ultimately I feel like nothing actually did happen in this book, it's a set-up for the story overall. Quite a lot of training montages in a way. I now see why people say the second season of the show is quite the fanfiction. And at this point, I agree that some things in the show that they made up are weird and unnecessary. I do want to finish this story but by the end of this book, I feel like a hit some kind of burnout on this world and characters and need some time away from it. I will be back to finish it though at some point. I am sort of sad that the end of season 2 spoiled something from the books that gets revealed in the last one, but oh well. That is what I get for watching before reading the books.
• So far it's so much better than the short story collection.
• Love that there are more POVs than just Geralt.
• Jaskier is Taylor Swift confirmed, come on. And I quote:
“Master Dandilion, what is this? Are you going to leave us in suspense? That can’t be the end of your ballad? Sing to us of what happened next!”
“Songs and ballads” – the musician bowed – “never end, dear lady, because poetry is eternal and immortal, it knows no beginning, it knows no end—”
“But what happened next?” The tradeswoman didn’t give up, generously rattling coins into the bucket Dandilion’s apprentice held out to her. “At least tell us about it, even if you have no wish to sing of it. Your songs mention no names, but we know the witcher you sing of is no other than the famous Geralt of Rivia, and the enchantress for whom he burns with love is the equally famous Yennefer. And the Child Surprise, destined for the witcher and sworn to him from birth, is Cirilla, the unfortunate Princess of Cintra, the town destroyed by the Invaders. Am I right?”
Dandilion smiled, remaining enigmatic and aloof. “I sing of universal matters, my dear, generous lady,” he stated. “Of emotions which anyone can experience. Not about specific people.”
“Oh, come on!” yelled a voice from the crowd. “Everyone knows those songs are about Geralt the Witcher!”
And here I thought the jokes about Burn Butcher Burn(10 Minute Version)(Jaskier's Version) can be reserved only for the show. But that whole segment felt like peak Taylor Swift energy.
• Yennefer and Jaskier are a delight in the show and book when they are together.
• I find it so funny that the entirety of The Witcher books is the size of two Stormlight Archive books.
• I cannot stress this enough I love Jaskier/Dandelion.
• Yennefer is the queen of sarcasm my god. That letter almost had me in tears laughing, especially the way the narrator read it.
• Triss on makeup being something women do for themselves was surprising. I mean that is a very low bar but in this series, I didn't expect this much tbh. The old Polish guy gets some points.
• I can appreciate the elves as metaphors for racism and xenophobia and shit. And it's still relevant close to 30 years after this book was published.
• Jarring changes between scenes that make you feel you missed something both in ebook and audio. Three books in and I still hate it and can't get used to it.
• Sickness and people knowing to wash their hands to prevent it in the fucking middle ages imagine that.
• Jaskier being described like this: I know you’re almost forty, look almost thirty, think you’re just over twenty and act as though you’re barely ten. What I'm getting is the casting was perfect.
• This quote from a henchman and the bad guy's scene from the henchmen's POV really made me laugh a lot:
He was afraid he would be forced to listen to a long monologue. The marshal knew that the man standing at the window considered his monologues a conversation, and viewed conversation as a privilege and proof of trust. He knew this but still didn’t like listening to the monologues.
this is what having a"conversation" with my boss feels like tbh.
• Only women are in pain using magic, only women have to be sterilised to be mages, only women have to choose between being a mother and being a magician, this is fucked up.
So I did enjoy this quite a bit more than the previous instalments. The added different POV and actual overarching plot really helped with that I feel like. I was quite excited about it when I started but by the end of the book I feel like my excitement fizzled out and that the ending was quite anticlimactic. Ultimately I feel like nothing actually did happen in this book, it's a set-up for the story overall. Quite a lot of training montages in a way. I now see why people say the second season of the show is quite the fanfiction. And at this point, I agree that some things in the show that they made up are weird and unnecessary. I do want to finish this story but by the end of this book, I feel like a hit some kind of burnout on this world and characters and need some time away from it. I will be back to finish it though at some point. I am sort of sad that the end of season 2 spoiled something from the books that gets revealed in the last one, but oh well. That is what I get for watching before reading the books.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infertility, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Rape
lvl52_grant's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
The book works very well as a longer version of the first two. Still feels like a collection of shorter works, but more like 2 or 3 as opposed to the 4 or 6 in the first two. The characters are still just as interesting and loveable, and the focus purely on character interactions was an interesting way to follow some sequences. I'm excited for the next one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Minor: Sexual content and Sexism
veganecurrywurst's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.0
Ich muss sagen, dass ich die Geschichte zwar sehr interessant fand, aber der Schreibstil hat mir persönlich einfach nicht gefallen.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence
Minor: Alcohol and War
nejtack's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Sexism
Minor: Sexual content
chronographia's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Whereas the previous books (The Last Wish, The Sword of Destiny) were a series of vignettes broadly following a storyline but mostly sketching out characters and worldbuilding, this one hangs together with more cohesive plot advancement. And oh how there are plots. Plots within plots. Enough to drive you on to the next book in the Witcher series.
(I am starting to feel like the grandson in The Princess Bride, “do we HAVE to have the kissing”—except replace “kissing” with “ambient misogyny.”)
(I am starting to feel like the grandson in The Princess Bride, “do we HAVE to have the kissing”—except replace “kissing” with “ambient misogyny.”)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, and Xenophobia
Minor: Bullying, Death of parent, Mental illness, Murder, and Sexual content