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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
I started this book a long time ago, read the first half and I wasn't feeling it, so I waited to finish it. Unfortunately, that didn't improve my final thoughts on the book.
I found this book boring and meandering. I feel like Gerald and Ciri's storylines are almost a bit pointless in the macro storyline of the series and Gerald gets forgotten in the last part of the book. We learned a bit more about what's happening with the war and the different political players from Yennefer and the other random POVs that are presented in this book, so I honestly found myself enjoying the random POVs more because at least I was learning interesting information while following the main characters again felt very pointless.
I'm scared that all of the books in this series have been talking about these epic prophecies and the big events that are coming, but the plot has advanced really slowly in the last few books, so I'm nervous that the final book is going to be rushed and it's not going to give the series a satisfying ending.
I found this book boring and meandering. I feel like Gerald and Ciri's storylines are almost a bit pointless in the macro storyline of the series and Gerald gets forgotten in the last part of the book. We learned a bit more about what's happening with the war and the different political players from Yennefer and the other random POVs that are presented in this book, so I honestly found myself enjoying the random POVs more because at least I was learning interesting information while following the main characters again felt very pointless.
I'm scared that all of the books in this series have been talking about these epic prophecies and the big events that are coming, but the plot has advanced really slowly in the last few books, so I'm nervous that the final book is going to be rushed and it's not going to give the series a satisfying ending.
When this book is good it's SO good, but when it talks about politics and switches povs a ton it's hard for me to get through.
Geralt is a witcher – a modified and specially trained monster-hunter designed to kill dangerous creatures for money. The last things he cares about are politics, connections and upcoming war with Nilfgaard. But then, one day, he saves the life of Cintra’s crown princess’ fiancé and in return, by the ancient Law of Surprise, he asks for “that which they [princess and her lover] already have but do not know”. It so happened that Pavetta, the princess, was already pregnant (and didn’t know about it) so this way Geralt asked for their child. Few years later, when he finally met the child, Cirilla (or Ciri), he couldn’t ignore this weird feeling that grew slowly inside him. He also realized that he ended up being in the middle of what he hated: politics. It appeared that almost everyone wanted something from Cirilla because she was not an ordinary child. She was the Child of Elder Blood, a child of prophecies and legends, foretold to have unusual powers. In order to protect her Geralt must finally admit that being "neutral" is no longer an option.
The Witcher Universe is very similar to those from other fantasy novels – pseudo-medieval setting filled with warriors, magic, fictional creatures and races. But the themes presented in the book are very diverted and the author makes them look like exactly the same issues we are facing nowadays: equality, ecology, social costs, ethnic conflicts, racism, technological progress. This world appears to be similar to our own in many aspects and is very realistic. Moreover, all themes seem to be as important as the plot and they are tackled very maturely and easily integrated into dialogues or characters’ thoughts, usually sprinkled with black humour and a heavy dose of irony.
In the book there is no clear distinction between good and evil and nothing is black or white. It’s hard to judge the characters and none of the decisions they make, can make them either good or bad. Just when you think you’ve decided, something happens and forces you to rethink your choice and question your own views and opinions. There is no clear path for characters to follow and usually they have to choose between two equally “grey” options and the consequences they result in. They don’t choose a side because there is some universal definition of good that is worth fighting for. They have only their own beliefs and perspective to help them make the decision. Does joining to The Rats, a party of young criminals and rebels, make Ciri a bad person? Why are elves and humans at war even though it destroys both races? Are the elves too proud and lofty to live in peace side by side with “hairless apes” or are humans too small-minded and xenophobic to live side by side with “second-class non-humans”? Was sacrificing Scoia’tael commandos in the name of peace a good decision, a lesser evil or maybe a hideous betrayal? The books keep raising such questions but don’t offer clear and objective answers.
Throughout the whole series author also constantly plays with convention. Sapkowski mixes fantasy with traditional fairytales, myths and legends, usually parodying and deconstructing them. The books are full of zests and hidden references. Sometimes the hints are very vague and may take a form of one sentence but discovering them is a fascinating challenge and an immense joy.
There is a lot of lingual variety in The Witcher. The language differs according to the character, his social status, race and situation. There’s also a tiny drop of archaisms, vulgarisms, dialects and Slavic folklore which makes the books even more realistic and the characters coherent with their environment. I feared that stylized language might make this book hard to get through but it didn’t. It feels very natural, vivid and creates a unique atmosphere.
What I found difficult, was getting accustomed to the novel format after two collections of short stories. I think that short stories did better job and were a better form of narrative. Also, there is far less witcher in the Wicher in the novels than there is in the short stories. Geralt is the soul of the books and the first novel, which focuses mostly on Ciri, appears to be completely out of place and simply wrong. Later, when Geralt appears more often and when some new interesting characters join him, the novels are on the right track again. Don’t get me wrong, Ciri is a great, well-developed character too, but it’s Geralt who is the star of that saga and neglecting him almost completely in the first novel wasn’t a good choice. Sometimes he irritates and makes stupid decisions but I really missed his cynicism, wicked sense of humour, his witty lines and deadpan manners.
The ending of the book was also very disappointing for me. It feels like the author got lost in his own plot and mysteries and didn’t know how to solve it. The last chapters are really dry and there is no clear closure, which of course may be an advantage, but in this case I don’t think it was intentional. I think it ends the way it ends because the author didn’t have a clue what to do with the characters.
Nevertheless, the whole saga is amazing. It’s a realistic and original universe, there are interesting characters, engrossing plot and very smart writing. Immersing in this story was an unforgettable journey.
The Witcher Universe is very similar to those from other fantasy novels – pseudo-medieval setting filled with warriors, magic, fictional creatures and races. But the themes presented in the book are very diverted and the author makes them look like exactly the same issues we are facing nowadays: equality, ecology, social costs, ethnic conflicts, racism, technological progress. This world appears to be similar to our own in many aspects and is very realistic. Moreover, all themes seem to be as important as the plot and they are tackled very maturely and easily integrated into dialogues or characters’ thoughts, usually sprinkled with black humour and a heavy dose of irony.
In the book there is no clear distinction between good and evil and nothing is black or white. It’s hard to judge the characters and none of the decisions they make, can make them either good or bad. Just when you think you’ve decided, something happens and forces you to rethink your choice and question your own views and opinions. There is no clear path for characters to follow and usually they have to choose between two equally “grey” options and the consequences they result in. They don’t choose a side because there is some universal definition of good that is worth fighting for. They have only their own beliefs and perspective to help them make the decision. Does joining to The Rats, a party of young criminals and rebels, make Ciri a bad person? Why are elves and humans at war even though it destroys both races? Are the elves too proud and lofty to live in peace side by side with “hairless apes” or are humans too small-minded and xenophobic to live side by side with “second-class non-humans”? Was sacrificing Scoia’tael commandos in the name of peace a good decision, a lesser evil or maybe a hideous betrayal? The books keep raising such questions but don’t offer clear and objective answers.
Throughout the whole series author also constantly plays with convention. Sapkowski mixes fantasy with traditional fairytales, myths and legends, usually parodying and deconstructing them. The books are full of zests and hidden references. Sometimes the hints are very vague and may take a form of one sentence but discovering them is a fascinating challenge and an immense joy.
There is a lot of lingual variety in The Witcher. The language differs according to the character, his social status, race and situation. There’s also a tiny drop of archaisms, vulgarisms, dialects and Slavic folklore which makes the books even more realistic and the characters coherent with their environment. I feared that stylized language might make this book hard to get through but it didn’t. It feels very natural, vivid and creates a unique atmosphere.
What I found difficult, was getting accustomed to the novel format after two collections of short stories. I think that short stories did better job and were a better form of narrative. Also, there is far less witcher in the Wicher in the novels than there is in the short stories. Geralt is the soul of the books and the first novel, which focuses mostly on Ciri, appears to be completely out of place and simply wrong. Later, when Geralt appears more often and when some new interesting characters join him, the novels are on the right track again. Don’t get me wrong, Ciri is a great, well-developed character too, but it’s Geralt who is the star of that saga and neglecting him almost completely in the first novel wasn’t a good choice. Sometimes he irritates and makes stupid decisions but I really missed his cynicism, wicked sense of humour, his witty lines and deadpan manners.
The ending of the book was also very disappointing for me. It feels like the author got lost in his own plot and mysteries and didn’t know how to solve it. The last chapters are really dry and there is no clear closure, which of course may be an advantage, but in this case I don’t think it was intentional. I think it ends the way it ends because the author didn’t have a clue what to do with the characters.
Nevertheless, the whole saga is amazing. It’s a realistic and original universe, there are interesting characters, engrossing plot and very smart writing. Immersing in this story was an unforgettable journey.
I still miss Geralt just going out and messing monsters up, but I've accepted it now.
Better than most of the other books aside from the first ones I read. I enjoyed the focus on the 3 main characters - Yennefer, Geralt, and Ciri. This book had a lot more overt sexual content which was off putting to me when discussing a 16 year old girl. Overall one of the better in the series, but still lacking things and making it clear a man wrote this series.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
literally what is even going on in this series anymore lol what is even the point . jumping around a billion confusing irrelevant storylines and for WHAT‼️
also i am once again stating that if this man so much as LOOKS at a woman irl i will end him on sight .
also i am once again stating that if this man so much as LOOKS at a woman irl i will end him on sight .
My least favorite of the series. The timeline was a mess and a lot of pages were wasted following unimportant, uneventful scenes when they should’ve been dedicated to other characters or events. Ciri is finally able to kick ass though and that’s cool.
4 stars
**Even though this is a spoiler-free review (if there are spoilers they are hidden), there are spoilers for the preceding books**
To start off I must say that [b:The Tower of the Swallow|18247597|The Tower of the Swallow (The Witcher, #4)|Andrzej Sapkowski|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1457652195l/18247597._SY75_.jpg|66349] was a fantastic read. After a very long break, I have decided to take reading more seriously again; this was a great book to get me started back on the right foot. The fourth (technically sixth) book in the "Witcher" saga is usually branded the second-worst of the bunch, but I wholeheartedly disagree. The story follows four main narratives: Ciri's story, Geralt's story, sorceresses, and politics. I shall talk about each below:
Ciri's story was by far the most fascinating part of this book in my opinion. Where in [b:Baptism of Fire|18656031|Baptism of Fire (The Witcher #3)|Andrzej Sapkowski|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1443279182l/18656031._SY75_.jpg|1877750] Geralt is the most 'followed' character, in this book, it is Ciri. The book starts off with her being found by the hermit Vysogota of Corvo, who takes her in and nurses her back to health after a tragic sequence of events she begins to unravel to him as the book goes on. Although the first chapter is a slow burner, it introduces us to a new character who is very interesting and quite different than many that we have met in the series so far. Chapter 2 is when things start to go crazy. Leo Bonhart, a ruthless bounty-hunter, is introduced. Ciri recounts her encounters with the man and her time with the Rats gang. The entirety of Ciri's story is about ethics and morality and defining good and evil. Bonhart, Skellen, Neratin Ceka are all characters who fit into this story-line somehow and present the different faces and levels of evil. In my personal opinion, none of them are truly villains, rather anti-heroes (or something along those lines, the point is, they create an interesting discussion). I love also the way this story is told by intertwining Ciri's story with Tawny Owl's story that was set up back in [b:The Time of Contempt|14781491|The Time of Contempt (The Witcher, #2)|Andrzej Sapkowski|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1443278961l/14781491._SX50_.jpg|1877759]. This is a technique I didn't see recently in literature.
Unlike its predecessor, Tower of Swallows doesn't focus much on Geralt. Yes, his story still takes up a large part of the book, but it is clear that it is not the central story on which the reader should be focusing on. Though some may find this unnerving, I found it refreshing. The world of the Continent is vast and filled with many more interesting characters that Sapkowski decided to explore than just Geralt the Witcher. By cutting down Geralt's narrative, we got space for new characters like Kenna (Joanna Selborne), a psionic, who I really enjoyed reading about. But back to what actually happened. I felt that this segment of the book was sometimes very drawn out. Some events could have lasted way shorter than they ended up being, for example, the entire confrontation in Riedbrune when the company meets Angoulême. However, there were moments that made up for it, whether it was Dandelion's "Half a Century of Poetry", Regis's contemplations about the vulgarity of sexual organs, or Cahir and Geralt's slowly growing bromance. The last of which is one of the best aspects of the book in my opinion. Cahir is getting so much attention, and I am loving it. He is by far one of my favorite characters in the entire series Overall, Geralt's narrative was a mix of good and bad, but what it had bad, it made up for in the good.
The sorceresses' storyline shows a lot. Assire var Anahid is growing to be another favorite character of mine. I love how she is able to extract information from the courts and use it to her advantage. I like how we spent a bit of time with my no. 1 favorite character of the series, Yennefer, and our bro from the games, Crach an Craite. We got to see more of Skellige, hear of Hjalmar and Ciri's childhood romance it was the cutest thing ever. Now when playing the games I will have a much better insight into what went on in the past. On another end of the spectrum, there is Philippa Eilhart, always plotting something in the Lodge's interests, Triss Merigold scouting out information about Ciri/Geralt/Yen, and . The sorceresses played a key role in this book. Though it wasn't in the forefront, which I think the book would profit greatly from, it was easily one of the best parts to read about.
Lastly, there was the section about politics. Here I will talk about all things happening in Nilfgaard with Vattier de Rideaux and Dijkstra in Lan Exeter. I believe that this was the slowest and most boring part of the book. Though I do like learning about the politics of Kovir and Poviss and their relationship to Redania, I do not really need a 20+ page manifesto about the little specifics of everything imaginable. Though I did like this deep dive into history, it can be a little intimidating for some people to read... Not to mention boring. Same thing with Vattier de Rideaux. His section is just a bunch of dialogue about politics that will be probably hard to understand unless you have a map of the Continent nearby. In general, this was too drawn out, even though it didn't take up much of the book.
All in all, The Tower of Swallows was much better than I expected. It was a great read, that was for the most part very well-paced and allowed us to get a better insight/introduction to more minor characters that I really grew to love!
**Even though this is a spoiler-free review (if there are spoilers they are hidden), there are spoilers for the preceding books**
To start off I must say that [b:The Tower of the Swallow|18247597|The Tower of the Swallow (The Witcher, #4)|Andrzej Sapkowski|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1457652195l/18247597._SY75_.jpg|66349] was a fantastic read. After a very long break, I have decided to take reading more seriously again; this was a great book to get me started back on the right foot. The fourth (technically sixth) book in the "Witcher" saga is usually branded the second-worst of the bunch, but I wholeheartedly disagree. The story follows four main narratives: Ciri's story, Geralt's story, sorceresses, and politics. I shall talk about each below:
"Evil is afraid of pain, mutilation, suffering and at the end of the day, death! The dog howls when it is badly wounded! Writhing on the ground and growls, watching the blood flow from its veins and arteries, seeing the bone that sticks out from a stump, watching its guts escape its open belly, feeling the cold as death is about to take them. Then and only then will evil begin to beg, 'Have mercy! I regret my sins! I'll be good, I swear! Just save me, do not let me waste away!'"
Ciri's story was by far the most fascinating part of this book in my opinion. Where in [b:Baptism of Fire|18656031|Baptism of Fire (The Witcher #3)|Andrzej Sapkowski|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1443279182l/18656031._SY75_.jpg|1877750] Geralt is the most 'followed' character, in this book, it is Ciri. The book starts off with her being found by the hermit Vysogota of Corvo, who takes her in and nurses her back to health after a tragic sequence of events she begins to unravel to him as the book goes on. Although the first chapter is a slow burner, it introduces us to a new character who is very interesting and quite different than many that we have met in the series so far. Chapter 2 is when things start to go crazy. Leo Bonhart, a ruthless bounty-hunter, is introduced. Ciri recounts her encounters with the man and her time with the Rats gang.
Spoiler
The moments with Hotspurn (a love interest, sort of) were especially interesting for me as, Ciri goes through trauma, but doesn't feel anything when he dies other than disappointment that they couldn't finish their sexual acts. Her struggle with her emotions was very interesting to read about and gave us a deeper look into who Ciri grew into.“... Geralt the Witcher was always a modest, prudent and composed man, with a soul as simple and uncomplicated as the shaft of a halberd.”
Unlike its predecessor, Tower of Swallows doesn't focus much on Geralt. Yes, his story still takes up a large part of the book, but it is clear that it is not the central story on which the reader should be focusing on. Though some may find this unnerving, I found it refreshing. The world of the Continent is vast and filled with many more interesting characters that Sapkowski decided to explore than just Geralt the Witcher. By cutting down Geralt's narrative, we got space for new characters like Kenna (Joanna Selborne), a psionic, who I really enjoyed reading about. But back to what actually happened.
Spoiler
WE FINALLY GOT TO MEET AVALLAC'H!!!!Spoiler
When he admitted to himself and Geralt that he thinks he loves Ciri, I just started crying. The fact that he wants to take her to Nilfgaard just because it would mean that he can SEE her made me sob. The fact that she would probably never return his affections and that he was okay with it because he cared about her so much, made me sob. This, ladies and gentlemen, is how we write a fantastic character.The sorceresses' storyline shows a lot. Assire var Anahid is growing to be another favorite character of mine. I love how she is able to extract information from the courts
Spoiler
(mainly via Cantarella and Vattier de Rideaux)Spoiler
Sheala influencing Koviri politicsLastly, there was the section about politics. Here I will talk about all things happening in Nilfgaard with Vattier de Rideaux and Dijkstra in Lan Exeter. I believe that this was the slowest and most boring part of the book. Though I do like learning about the politics of Kovir and Poviss and their relationship to Redania, I do not really need a 20+ page manifesto about the little specifics of everything imaginable. Though I did like this deep dive into history, it can be a little intimidating for some people to read... Not to mention boring. Same thing with Vattier de Rideaux. His section is just a bunch of dialogue about politics that will be probably hard to understand unless you have a map of the Continent nearby. In general, this was too drawn out, even though it didn't take up much of the book.
All in all, The Tower of Swallows was much better than I expected. It was a great read, that was for the most part very well-paced and allowed us to get a better insight/introduction to more minor characters that I really grew to love!