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puzzle_ad's review
3.0
So I watched the first season of The Witcher show when it came out (almost mostly because of Henry Cavill, that beautiful nerd) but I thought it was kinda weird and didn't like it all that much and then ya know shit happened and the world was on fire and I forgot about it. I have never played the video games. But I thought hmm I might read the books and I never did. And then the second season came out and I wasn't sure I would even watch it. But I got my booster shot and had a headache so I decided to spend the entire day watching the Witcher while my body did its thing and created all the antibodies. And I really enjoyed it. Listen Jaskier and Yennefer were the best part. I am not surprised they are my favourites. I am a theatre kid first, human second. The funny guy that sings will always own my heart.
So I decided to try the books. I was mostly hesitant because it's a fantasy written by an old Polish man the year I was born which doesn't bode well for many reasons. It very much does read like a fantasy written by an old Polish man the year I was born. Very very sexist and misogynistic. Very much a teenage boy's wish fulfilment fantasy of a strong man fighting monsters and having women constantly throwing themselves at him to sleep with him. But honestly, I expected it to be worse. Thankfully it wasn't as graphic as I thought it would be. Every single story featured rape, every single woman was sexually assaulted in some way. I hate this the most and it is why I hate medieval fantasy. The women were very very male-gazy written. Like, listen there is an entire fucking chapter of the woman that Geralt slept with that has very conveniently taken a vow of silence so she doesn't speak and she is just there for him to monologue at about his manpain^tm. If this isn't the most fucking sexist male fantasy of having a woman there just to fuck and her being literally unable to talk. Renfri's entire story was fucking disturbing as hell. And yes I do realise that he is pulling from Slavic mythology and fairy tales and her story was basically Snow White and his take of fairy tales is very close to the original Grimm tales it still left a bad taste in my mouth. And it reminded me how much I liked Renfri in the first episode and how mad I was at what happened with her so fast.
This is another point, I have seen so many people bitch about how the show is basically fanfiction and has nothing to do with the books so I expected to be you know surprised when reading the book. But the first season followed this book so so closely that I really don't know why people are bitching so much about it. This had the side effect of me being bored because I know what happens next. There just wasn't much Yennefer and it had very little of Jaskier/Dandelion ( I firmly believe fantasy names should not be translated literally in fantasy and it means Buttercup flower too) which was a bummer. They are mostly the reason I wanted to read the books.
The main problem I had with the show was the randomness of the timelines and how it took me until episode 7 to realise there are in fact different timelines, I think I was also not alone in this. The book's short stories since it is in fact a collection of short stories and in a different order than the show's stories but also not in chronological order. Now in retrospect, I do like how they did the first season with the timelines and it is a good adaptation but I didn't enjoy it at first. I think it is a nice storytelling element.
Despite all the problems I had with this I am already halfway through the second one. What I do enjoy is the worldbuilding and mythology. I am Eastern-European and so I do appreciate it a lot. It is much more authentic than when an American author tries to use Slavic mythology. (*cough* Leigh Bardugo *cough*) I wanted to read it translated into my language from Polish (it's probably way more accurate) but there are no audiobooks and I just don't have the time and don't want to sacrifice my vision for this honestly. The audiobooks are fine enough but the narrator singing for Jaskier/Dandelion has honestly scarred me. I feel like his humour is much better in the show but that might just be my bias. I also enjoyed the writing style, though I don't know how much of that is from the translator.
Overall it was fine if you go into it expecting the problems and prepare for reading them.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infertility, Sexual content, Misogyny, Rape, and Sexism
aristata9000's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Good fight scenes, but a little degrading to women. I love the show, but was disappointed in the lack of character development in the book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
draakedan's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-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? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Gore
Moderate: Alcoholism, Vomit, and Alcohol
Minor: Sexual content, Cursing, and Body horror
inkfish's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore
Minor: Sexual content and Rape
martalucyna's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Blood and Gore
asami_kukomi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Decided to pick this up after watching season 2 of The Witcher. I enjoyed this book more than I was expecting to, it was an easy read and I liked most of the short stories. It covers a lot of the stories that season 1 of The Witcher is based on, so I was able to get more of an understanding on what was happening.
One thing I found really cool about this book was that it contained elements of fairy tales. Some of the stories were like dark retellings of fairy tales set in the Witcher universe. Beauty and the Beast and Snow White were the two prevalent stories with mentions of other fairytale characters such as Rumpelstiltskin, and Rapunzel like 'monster' princesses who are locked up in towers because they're believed to herald the end of the world.
Overall a decent read, Geralt was definitely more talkative in the books than he is in the show. There's also a lot of nudity in the books, breasts are mentioned quite a few times, so the amount of nudity in the show makes sense, it's canon.
One thing I found really cool about this book was that it contained elements of fairy tales. Some of the stories were like dark retellings of fairy tales set in the Witcher universe. Beauty and the Beast and Snow White were the two prevalent stories with mentions of other fairytale characters such as Rumpelstiltskin, and Rapunzel like 'monster' princesses who are locked up in towers because they're believed to herald the end of the world.
Overall a decent read, Geralt was definitely more talkative in the books than he is in the show. There's also a lot of nudity in the books, breasts are mentioned quite a few times, so the amount of nudity in the show makes sense, it's canon.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual content
arachan's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Honestly not sure what to make of this book.
It's grimdark fantasy which is not my preferred genre. If I was asked to describe it, I would say noir fantasy with all that implies. There's a lot of "The world is horrible and shitty and the main character sees all the horrible underside of people but he's repulsed so he's the good guy!" which reminded me (unpleasantly) of GRR Martin. It also falls into the Slavic tradition of "the world is shit but what can you do?" which is hard to read in pandemic times.
All that being said, I was genuinely surprised. There were some genuinely human moments. The writing treats women as dangerous and unpredictable but does also treat that dangerous unpredictablity as a natural response to a world that's just flat out shitty to them. I did like Geralt.
There are some interesting parallels to the Netflix series but the book's characters are different in interesting ways.
Geralt is the obvious one; Netflix!Geralt is a brooding loner who still keenly feels the injustice of his treatment, he's like a younger Sam Vimes who still believes there is an objective justice out there and holds the world to it. Book!Geralt is older and both more and less cynical. He understands human foibles and mostly just tries to live with them.
Yennefer is less fleshed out (I presume her backstory happens in the other books) but the core of the character and her attitude that the world fucked her over so she's going to fuck it back twice as hard is intact.
Dandilion/Jaskier is a very different character. Again, the Netflix version is younger, rawer and more eager to prove himself. Dandilion is comfortable in his role and his life. The biggest difference here is that while Netflix!Geralt spends most of the show being an asshole to Jaskier, Book!Geralt not only cares for his Dandilion's well-being, he actually likes him. There's a comparable amount of insults but in the book, it's clearly a reflection of a very long and close friendship. Netflix!Geralt just comes across as an asshole.
It's grimdark fantasy which is not my preferred genre. If I was asked to describe it, I would say noir fantasy with all that implies. There's a lot of "The world is horrible and shitty and the main character sees all the horrible underside of people but he's repulsed so he's the good guy!" which reminded me (unpleasantly) of GRR Martin. It also falls into the Slavic tradition of "the world is shit but what can you do?" which is hard to read in pandemic times.
All that being said, I was genuinely surprised. There were some genuinely human moments. The writing treats women as dangerous and unpredictable but does also treat that dangerous unpredictablity as a natural response to a world that's just flat out shitty to them. I did like Geralt.
There are some interesting parallels to the Netflix series but the book's characters are different in interesting ways.
Geralt is the obvious one; Netflix!Geralt is a brooding loner who still keenly feels the injustice of his treatment, he's like a younger Sam Vimes who still believes there is an objective justice out there and holds the world to it. Book!Geralt is older and both more and less cynical. He understands human foibles and mostly just tries to live with them.
Yennefer is less fleshed out (I presume her backstory happens in the other books) but the core of the character and her attitude that the world fucked her over so she's going to fuck it back twice as hard is intact.
Dandilion/Jaskier is a very different character. Again, the Netflix version is younger, rawer and more eager to prove himself. Dandilion is comfortable in his role and his life. The biggest difference here is that while Netflix!Geralt spends most of the show being an asshole to Jaskier, Book!Geralt not only cares for his Dandilion's well-being, he actually likes him. There's a comparable amount of insults but in the book, it's clearly a reflection of a very long and close friendship. Netflix!Geralt just comes across as an asshole.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Sexual content and Sexual violence
katmahalia's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I will be completely honest and say I didn’t follow the plot of the short stories that closely because I listened to the audiobook while playing video games, but from what I heard I really enjoyed it. The pacing did not feel too slow as it can in fantasy adventuring stories, and the action never felt disjointed or separated from the plot. And I liked the whole the-princesses-are-the-monsters twist on fairy tale plots, it was a nice nod to the fact that every fairy tale and legend has a bigger story behind it.
My only gripe: the love interests are not interesting or lovely, mostly just annoying.
My only gripe: the love interests are not interesting or lovely, mostly just annoying.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Medical trauma, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Trafficking, Xenophobia, and Ableism
Minor: Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and War
booksthatburn's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
THE LAST WISH is a prequel to the Witcher main series, a collection of stories from Geralt’s life before the events of THE BLOOD OF ELVES. Each story is based or at least inspired by a fairy tale or bit of folklore.
I didn’t get much of a sense of Geralt from these stories alone, but having read the first book of the main series his characterization here seemed consistent with that. The titular story, “The Last Wish” had really strong characterization with an early meeting of Yennifer. She’s really well-written here, and that story alone is enough for me to recommend this to anyone interested in the broader series.
As a collection of fairytale retellings, I enjoyed this. It approaches most of them from strange angles which meant they felt great and fresh as stories. My favorite is the one which is clearly inspired by Beauty and the Beast. Given the blend of magic and corrupted desires already present in the series, the fairy tales fit right into the world of the Witcher.
Because this a collection of short stories from Geralt’s life before the main series of books, it doesn’t quite work to analyze the ending or an overall plot. I suspect a re-read might make it clearer, but the framing between stories was confusing to me and it wasn’t until several stories in that I figured out that the start of each chapter strung together to create an narrative distinct from the individual stories.
This is good for anyone looking for additional Witcher content, but I don’t work it works well on its own or as a first introduction to the character and the world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Sexual content, Sexism, Ableism, Confinement, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Body horror, Excrement, Vomit, Cannibalism, Rape, Animal death, and Child death
Minor: Fatphobia, Sexual harassment, Incest, Torture, Suicide, and Animal cruelty
touchegiantsquid's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual content