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anthrat's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
cherrick8's review against another edition
4.0
I'm gonna give this one 4 stars. It kind of jumped around and some of it didn't make sense, but it was entertaining and the characters are fun.
merlin_thewitch's review against another edition
4.0
This summer I read books 1 & 2, the short stories and loved them; last week I watched the first season of the Netflix series which covers these two books - loved it (with a few minor complaints) - and now I continued where season one ended.. And it is so good ! The characters, the humor, the intrigue and the plot - mwuah ! Can’t wait to read on ..
pagemaster_az's review against another edition
3.0
Losing a lot of the charm of the first two prequels, BofE is trying to establish the scene for the coming books but unfortunately results in it being a bit more labourious with long periods of just establishing the geography of the wars previous and future. Peters out to a bit of an inspired ending but there were still remnants of the first two installments I so enjoyed. Overall, the worst one so far but possibly a necessary expense if the following books reap what was sown here.
savnichole's review against another edition
3.0
I started with this book, but looking at other reviews, I wish I’d read the prequels first. I’ll probably move on to those next. I found this novel difficult to follow; you’re thrown a lot of obscure names and have very little to cross-reference with. I would have liked a world map, or maybe a description of the Kingdoms with their rulers.
As a matter of fact, my biggest complaint is that it’s very difficult to visualize the world at all. Sapkowski’s descriptions of locations are very vague and difficult to follow, and you rarely know where the characters are in the scene or what their surroundings look like. I’d like to call the book atmospheric, but with minimal descriptions and ample dialogue, it doesn’t earn that adjective. You’ll read page after page of political strategy relating to borders and waterways, but you have to keep this all in your head or draw your own map because you have nothing to reference. While I enjoyed reading about Ciri’s training, a lot of the book was very slow paced and the central conflict was more a foreshadowing of conflict. While we’re clearly seeing a buildup to a war, there is no catalyst laid out in this novel.
Overall this was just a deep dive into Sapkowski’s world-building, though it still felt very abstract. It was easy enough to read but much harder to understand. I didn’t find the plot (or, more accurately, the lack of plot) alluring at all and had to force myself to finish it. I’m still planning to continue the series, probably with the prequels next, and I’ll see if that improves the experience.
As a matter of fact, my biggest complaint is that it’s very difficult to visualize the world at all. Sapkowski’s descriptions of locations are very vague and difficult to follow, and you rarely know where the characters are in the scene or what their surroundings look like. I’d like to call the book atmospheric, but with minimal descriptions and ample dialogue, it doesn’t earn that adjective. You’ll read page after page of political strategy relating to borders and waterways, but you have to keep this all in your head or draw your own map because you have nothing to reference. While I enjoyed reading about Ciri’s training, a lot of the book was very slow paced and the central conflict was more a foreshadowing of conflict. While we’re clearly seeing a buildup to a war, there is no catalyst laid out in this novel.
Overall this was just a deep dive into Sapkowski’s world-building, though it still felt very abstract. It was easy enough to read but much harder to understand. I didn’t find the plot (or, more accurately, the lack of plot) alluring at all and had to force myself to finish it. I’m still planning to continue the series, probably with the prequels next, and I’ll see if that improves the experience.
zoe_vdv's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
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
4.0
allison_minnie's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
true14216's review against another edition
4.0
So back in 2019 when the first season came out I bought the box set of the Witcher because I liked the show so much. Not knowing there were prequel books until I had already started reading Blood of elves I just decided to continue onward with this one. This book was really great, I read this book because of how I liked the show. I like Ciri in the books a little bit more than in the show. I Geralt and Yennifer both like in the show and the book. The only thing I did not like was how long the chapters were and how sometimes the chapters (in the middle) of them would change up who the story was following.