Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - The Last Wish

If you're looking to pick this up after watching the adaptation, this book just about covers the first half of the first season.

Caveat: I first got to know The Witcher through the games (I played all 3, and loved them), and then I watched the first 2 seasons of the adaptation. This means I went into this book with expectations and an element of fondness/nostalgia, which definitely impacted my reading experience in a positive way.

I'm still only giving this 3.5 stars.

The thing is, I don't think this series aged particularly well. It falls under that brand of fantasy written by men, where they feel free to create a universe where women are consistently abused because "that's how things used to be in the past". Never mind that this is a fantasy world. The stories are full of misogyny. Even capable women don't escape it. Instead of focusing on their strength or prowess on the battlefield, characters like Calanthe predominantly seem to be valued for her "hand and bed". Yennefer, one of the strongest sorceresses, gets the "let's show some nudity in a random fight scene just 'cause" treatment.

Looking past that, the world building remains extremely vague, and I question how much I would've understood about the tension between elves and humans without the knowledge I already had about the setting. I don't think most things are explained very well.

You do, eventually, get a sense of who Geralt is as a character, although even that I found disappointing, since the book seems to portray him as someone who has no issue killing humans to prove to some lord that he should be hired, or as someone who would potentially "mount a striga", as a priestess suggests. He didn't do the latter, but he definitely did the former, and I guess I prefer the version of Geralt that sees the shades of grey in every decision, and finds life in all its forms to be worthy of treating with respect.

I did find the book easy to read, and enjoyed some of the minor details like Geralt discussing theories with Roach.

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warlockdorian's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

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jenziecreates's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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katmahalia's review against another edition

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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.

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