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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
adventurous
adventurous
challenging
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Faster paced than the previous books and the introduction to characters we've been reading about before start to make even more sense, like pieces coming together.
3.5 Stars.
I enjoyed the previous 2 books, particularly Sword of Destiny but I have very mixed feeling about Blood of Elves. As much as I really enjoyed this book, I have quite a few issues with it which is why it’s only 3.5 stars. Before I get to the negatives I want to mention what I did enjoy about this. I liked a lot of the main characters. Geralt is a great character but I thought Ciri and Yennefer were the better characters and I really enjoyed reading about those 2 together and thought that they have a great relationship. I liked the plot of the book and found Rience to be an interesting antagonist for Geralt. Finally I enjoyed the political parts of this a lot as well and everything that I have mentioned so far makes me excited to continue reading.
Onto the negatives. Although this is the first book to be released following Geralt of Rivia, this should be nobody’s first read in the series. It does a poor job at introducing the characters and doesn’t give them much of a backstory. Fortunately I did read the books before this but I still think it is an issue. As much as I found Rience to be interesting, I really don’t think that we saw enough of him and I felt a little disappointed at this.
I found the pacing to be poor, mostly at the beginning. It was too slow at points but also too fast at other points, but it got better as the story progressed. I also really didn’t like the lengths of the chapters, they were too long, often being around 50 pages per chapter. Finally the sorry didn’t flow well between chapter 4 and 5. It felt there was a bit of a time jump(maybe only a couple of weeks) and there could have been some very important and interesting interactions that were left out because of this.
Overall a flawed but very enjoyable read. I have no doubt that this series is only going to get better when the characters are more fleshed out and the story progresses.
I enjoyed the previous 2 books, particularly Sword of Destiny but I have very mixed feeling about Blood of Elves. As much as I really enjoyed this book, I have quite a few issues with it which is why it’s only 3.5 stars. Before I get to the negatives I want to mention what I did enjoy about this. I liked a lot of the main characters. Geralt is a great character but I thought Ciri and Yennefer were the better characters and I really enjoyed reading about those 2 together and thought that they have a great relationship. I liked the plot of the book and found Rience to be an interesting antagonist for Geralt. Finally I enjoyed the political parts of this a lot as well and everything that I have mentioned so far makes me excited to continue reading.
Onto the negatives. Although this is the first book to be released following Geralt of Rivia, this should be nobody’s first read in the series. It does a poor job at introducing the characters and doesn’t give them much of a backstory. Fortunately I did read the books before this but I still think it is an issue. As much as I found Rience to be interesting, I really don’t think that we saw enough of him and I felt a little disappointed at this.
I found the pacing to be poor, mostly at the beginning. It was too slow at points but also too fast at other points, but it got better as the story progressed. I also really didn’t like the lengths of the chapters, they were too long, often being around 50 pages per chapter. Finally the sorry didn’t flow well between chapter 4 and 5. It felt there was a bit of a time jump(maybe only a couple of weeks) and there could have been some very important and interesting interactions that were left out because of this.
Overall a flawed but very enjoyable read. I have no doubt that this series is only going to get better when the characters are more fleshed out and the story progresses.
400 էջ կարդում ես, հուսալով որ հիմա վերջապես մի հետաքրքիր բան կլինի, որ շնչակտուր էջերը թերթես ու գլուխդ պատերին տաս, թե ո՞նց, ո՞նց, ո՞նց սենց էղավ, բայց չէ։
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
medium-paced
I don't think this book holds up very well on its own - the plot if there is one is hard to make out, the structure and pacing are all over the place and it reads more like a collection of scenes written as exercises in world-building. Nevertheless I am coming away from this book eager to read the next and stay immersed in this world, so Sapkowski must be doing something right.
Also worth noting is the impressive number of major female characters for a fantasy book written by a man in the 1990s
Also worth noting is the impressive number of major female characters for a fantasy book written by a man in the 1990s