Reviews

While I literally gorged up "Tower of Fools", I was struggling a bit with "Warriors of God" in some ways.

If I had to summarise "Warriors of God" in a single sentence, I would describe it as "Medieval ISIS and a dude trying to survive this". Which is interesting - this book had been written long before, in early 2000s. Well, Sapkowski must have had some sort of premonition.

In this book, blood spills quite freely and abundantly. Almost from chapter one. It's not that the readers should expect something else - if one recalls the end of the first book within the Hussite trilogy, they should not be surprised. And yet, in a way, whatever happened in the first book, was daisies. "Tower of Fools" is lighter in tone. While reading that, the reader gets elements from fairy tales, Sapkowski-esque fantasy, East European folk beliefs, fancy clothing, medieval Eastern European cuisine. And Reynevan is constantly guided by some gentle souls or relations, or... Providence.

While this book was getting more and more grim and dark with every page.

Not really surprising. The story of "Warriors of God" is set in a period when a religious revolution or even war is happening. And that constant feeling at the back of one's mind - that there is a war going - lliterally, in a battlefield, or somewhere in a neighbouring duchy, or just about to break out. Not unlike a storm. And this constant tension exhausts not only the characters, but the readers, too. One is sure - there will be plenty of dead bodies.

It's not that Sapkowski does not provide some relief to his characters or the readers. As the story of "Warriors of God" is set some two years after the events in "Tower of Fools", one finds Reynevan and co. settled somewhere in Prague and quite chill about their new Hussite life style. Blood and fires aside - nearly peace. What else could one expect in such a world? But this relief is quite relative as intrigues build up - gradually but intensely. Almost from chapter one. Even if the war is fought eomewhere else.

So what happens? Well, Reynevan decides to help his friend Samson, however, he discovers quite soon that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Especially when one finds himself in the turmoil of religious wars, discovers that he is still persecuted, and finds himself a tool for political intrigues.

When reading "Warriors of God", I was quite surprised to see some developments - especially in the dynamics of some characters. Reynevan here, for instance, is more serious, mature and battered by life. And the dynamics within his group had changed, too, one of the indicators being others taking out crap on him so much more rarely than before. Perhaps one should not be surprising - afterall, Reynevan had survived two years among religious fanatics, many of them totally rabid about their beliefs.

And yet, his transformation is not over yet. While one is tempted to get irritated about Reynevan blathering on his perceived truths, there are others whose blathering is so much worse. More so, one at least knows Reynevan believes in some of the crap he is talking. Plus, it is safer to play Roman when in Rome. So all in all, I was way less annoyed by Reynevan than before.

It is interesting that in "Warriors of God", Sapkowski chose to draw the main (or the main supporting) characters a bit further away from the main scene and developments. One way he does that - by focusing on political intrigues and religious demagogies. While the former were engaging, twisted and frequently foreshadowing some big developments would happen at some point later in the story (or explaining some quite confusing developments in "Tower of Fools"), the latter began to irritate me at some point. Especially when one encounters yet another rabid monologue on the greater cause. God, I would not survive medieval ages.

I digress.

Another way he does that is by focusing on worldbuilding. While Sapkowski manages miracles at creating a grim, dark atmosphere of medieval ages, some aspects begin tiring one at some point. There are only so many names and coats of arms one can remember and Sapkowki pours them non-stop. Which is difficult to digest if one makes a mistake of grabbing the second book of the Hussite trilogy without revising the first one. Resulting in encountering some name one knows they should remember but never actually remembering it. While I do love worldbuilding and small details, this time it was a bit overwhelming.

There is plenty of geography too. But here Sapkowski restrains himself and depicts Bohemian and Silesian lands so beautifully. I found the descriptions of these lands quite enticing, dynamic and varied. And quite tempting for a trip in the Czech Republic or southern Poland.

And yet all this worldbuilding has some consequences. In this book, Sapkowski keeps restraining some highly intriguing characters, putting them off for later. Which was a tiny little bit disappointing. He draws them out, blows dust away from them, briefly demonstrates them to confirm that no, he had not forgotten about them and then puts them back in closet somewhere. He does that both to some old and some new characters. But one desires to know more of them! Or, in contrast, exposes others to an extent they begin to lose their charm. This is what happened to my mental image of the Wallcreeper. I found him less creepy, less haunting in this book, partly because I found him more human here.

Just to finish on worldbuilding: in other scenes, Sapkowski trolls the readers by tossing some intriguing details at them (e.g. the mysterious shrine in the caves) and then drops it, leaving the readers to marinade in curiosity and wonder what the hell on earth was that. Spin-off? Not likely.

"The story is the queen!" - one remembers Sapkowski pointing a finger at them. Then one sighs and carries on reading, confident that excessive or trolling worldbuilding aside, intentionally hidden characters aside, the story will go well. And it does - there are other rich, interesting supporting characters that pull off such plot twists that one gets hiccups.

A nice thing is that Sapkowski did not forget fantasy elements in the second part of the Hussite trilogy. In a way, there is almost more fantasy in this book than in "Tower of Fools". Sapkowski not only conveniently exploits it to drive the plot, but playfully makes the story lighter making one laugh out loud in some cases. And that is something one really needs at times - I found this book quite hard to cope with emotionally at times. Sometimes to an extent I really needed to put the book aside for some time.

What made these fantasy elements so playful at times was references. Consider Brazauskas, for instance. Def fan service for Lithuanian or perhaps Polish fans. Or the secret agent with iron eyes. And the black riders - the more into the story, the more I became convinced these guys are a reference to the Nazgul.

Which leads me to another off-topic. I am more than sure that CD Project Red (CDPR) used the Hussite trilogy for inspiration when creating the world of the Witcher franchise. One encounters Berengar in "Warriors of God". Some creatures Geralt encounters in the games are actually described in this book. The occult magic practiced by the magicians and the sorceresses def reminds that encountered in these books. The battlefields of Velen with piles of dead bodies, roads decorated with hangmen, burnt villages with inns at crossroads, infested settlements in woods - all are mirror images of Bohemia and Silesia ravaged by Sapkowski's imagination.

And yet. Despite all these enticing experiences, I did not find "Warriors of God" easy to read.

Now. The last off-topic.

A couple of years ago now, I got into a minor argument with someone. What we argued about, was whether Sapkowski overuses the element of fate in his books or not. Back then, I argued he did not. However, by the time I finished "Warriors of God", I ended up deciding that he does like exploiting fate. Yet, whether that can be considered overuse - is a matter of taste. What I can say though, is that yes, sometimes he does pull them out a bit - whether by a well-timed recognition of some coat of arms or by an accidentally met femme fatale.

Yet, it does not make the book less interesting to read.

To sum up my impressions, yes, this book was a bit surprising. I did not expect it to be an easy read, but I did not expect how serious, deep and dark it will sometimes be, either. And yet - is it possible to describe lightly wars where a single individual, irrespective of what they are or feel, is only a small cog? Especially, if the destiny of that cog does not depend on its size or function? What made it a bit more difficult to enjoy, was the never-ending lists of names. Even if knowing those names and what faction they stand for can sometimes save one's life in a bigger game.

Already looking forward for "Lux Perpetua".

deyph's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

webjoram's review against another edition

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3.0

Empecé está novela con mucha ilusión y ganas sobretodo por la buena impresión que me causó la primera parte de esta saga. En esta ocasión seguimos con las aventuras de Reynevan y compañía pero en mi opinión la historia adolece de varios problemas. El primero es que centra excesivamente la acción en Reynevan obviando casi por completo a Scharley y Sansón que en la anterior novela eran el contrapunto perfecto de Reynevan. El segundo gran problema es que se ha centrado demasiado en la cruzada husita y nos encontramos con una sucesión de batallas sin fin que en vez de agilizar la historia la ralentiza hasta llegar un punto de aburrir.
Lo mejor de la historia ha quedado para el final y al final consigue dejarte con ganas de leer el último de la saga. Veremos...

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