Name: Nessa Luna's review of The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski
Item: The Last Wish
Rating: 3
Author: Nessa Luna

Andrzej Sapkowski

Soon to be a major Netflix original series! Geralt the Witcher -- revered and hated -- holds the line against the monsters plaguing humanity in this collection of adventures in the NYT bestselling series that inspired the blockbuster video games. Geralt is a Witcher, a man whose magic powers, enhanced by long training and a mysterious elixir, have made him a brilliant fighter and a merciless assassin. Yet he is no ordinary murderer: his targets are the multifarious monsters and vile fiends that ravage the land and attack the innocent. But not everything monstrous-looking is evil and not everything fair is good...and in every fairy tale there is a grain of truth. Andrzej Sapkowski, winner of the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement award, started an international phenomenon with his Witcher series. The Last Wish short story collection is the perfect introduction to this one of a kind fantasy world. Witcher collectionsThe Last WishSword of Destiny Witcher novelsBlood of Elves The Time of Contempt Baptism of Fire The Tower of SwallowsLady of the LakeSeason of Storms The Malady and Other Stories: An Andrzej Sapkowski Sampler (e-only) Translated from original Polish by Danusia Stok

Introducing the Witcher

The Last Wish

Geralt the Witcher -- revered and hated -- holds the line against the monsters plaguing humanity in this collection of adventures in the New York Times bestselling series that inspired the Netflix show and the hit video games. Geralt is a Witcher, a man whose magic powers, enhanced by long training and a mysterious elixir, have made him a brilliant fighter and a merciless assassin. Yet he is no ordinary murderer: his targets are the multifarious monsters and vile fiends that ravage the land and attack the innocent. But not everything monstrous-looking is evil and not everything fair is good. . .and in every fairy tale there is a grain of truth. The Last Wish story collection is the perfect introduction to a one of a kind fantasy world. And look out for The Tower of Fools, book one of Andrzej Sapkowski's Hussite Trilogy, coming in October 2020!

Only read the first chapter, the thing was quite boring. There was too much talking, and the events were completely unrelated the main character. This also seems to have more of an episodic approach which isn't really style.

THOU art I

She leant over him, touched him. He felt her hair, smelling of lilac and gooseberries, brush his face and he suddenly knew that he’d never forget that scent, that soft touch, knew that he’d never be able to compare it to any other scent or touch. Yennefer kissed him and he understood that he’d never desire any lips other than hers, so soft and moist, sweet with lipstick. He knew that, from that moment, only she would exist, her neck, shoulders and breasts freed from her black dress, her delicate, cool skin, which couldn’t be compared to any other he had ever touched. He gazed into her violet eyes, the most beautiful eyes in the world, eyes which he feared would become . . . Everything. He knew.

“But he suddenly knew the truth. He knew it. He knew what she used to be. What she remembered, what she couldn't forget, what she lived with. Who she really was before she had become a sorceress.”

“It ought to be clear to you too, that you're never going to be human, but you still keep trying to be one. Making human mistakes. Mistakes a witcher shouldn't be making.”

“Evil is evil, Stregobor,” said the witcher seriously as he got up. “Lesser, greater, middling, it's all the same. Proportions are negotiated, boundaries blurred. I’m not a pious hermit. I haven't done only good in my life. But if I’m to choose between one evil and another, then I prefer not to choose at all.”

“With the usual question, I take it,” interrupted Geralt. “’Who is the fairest of them all?”

“[...] or I throw you into prison, pre—How do you say it, Geralt?”

Geralt de Riv, a witcher, uses his vast sorcerous powers to hunt down the monsters that threaten the world, but he soon discovers that not every monstrous-looking creature is evil, and not everything beautiful is good.

Victoria Justice

Introducing Geralt the Witcher - revered and hated - who holds the line against the monsters plaguing humanity in the bestselling series that inspired the Witcher video games and a major Netflix show. Geralt of Rivia is a Witcher, a man whose magic powers and lifelong training have made him a brilliant fighter and a merciless assassin. Yet he is no ordinary killer: he hunts the vile fiends that ravage the land and attack the innocent. But not everything monstrous-looking is evil; not everything fair is good . . . and in every fairy tale there is a grain of truth. Andrzej Sapkowski, winner of the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement award, started an international phenomenon with his Witcher series. The Last Wish is the perfect introduction to this one-of-a-kind fantasy world.

Introducing the Witcher - Now a major Netflix show

Vanja Lovre

Vojtech

Nessa Luna

Lately, there has been a huge hype surrounding the Witcher books. Netflix made a series, there have been games and honestly, everyone’s been raving about the Witcher for the past year or so. I never played the games and I have yet to watch the series, but I did decide to pick up this book when it got the most votes for G’s Patreon book club. I loved the first couple of stories, especially when I realised they were based on fairytales I knew (Beauty and the Beast, Snow White). But halfway through the book, I started to get a little bit bored. I think it was the fourth story that made me kind of reluctant to read on and after that, I kind of just skimmed the rest of the book. I loved Dandilion as a character, but that was kind of the best thing about the latter part of the book. Not sure if I’m going to continue reading the series, but I think I will definitely check out the Netflix show!

CAWPILE: 7 | 6 | 6.5 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 (Avg: 6.50)

There were aspects that I didn't enjoy, and some of the world-building seemed unnecessary, but overall pretty good.

Sean McPherson

nienke

4 / 5 stars
Book 1 of 2022

'Evil is evil. Lesser, greater, middeling... Makes no difference. The degree is arbitrary. The definition's blurred. If I'm to choose between one evil and another... I'd rather not choose at all.'

After watching the Witcher season 1 on Netflix. I wanted to read the book quite badly (just like everyone else, gosh those books sold out fast). Only I started the first one eventually in December 2021. 

I went into this book with little to no expectations and I am happy I did. If I had expected it to just go like the Witcher on Netflix, then I was quite wrong. There are some parts that overlap, but in the book, the story goes way deeper. Loved it.

Connor J. Daley 

I feel like it took me a long time to read these, when in actuality, I started the first one in January so that isn't really all that long. Some of the way I'm feeling may be based off a lapse in memory though because I read around 95 books around the reading of these so I may be hazy. 

For starters, I think Andrzej Sapkowski is a phenomenal writer. Secondly, I think David French did an absolutely wonderful job translating these to English. And thirdly, I think the Gollancz paperbacks were amazing--great cover art, nice quality--I actually managed to read them all without breaking the spines! 

Sapkowski has such a way about his writing that the dialogue in the novels can be truly captivating. He wields it so well that he has honestly created such a wonderful lush lore within his world that really carried the hundreds of pages he wrote. 

The short stories collected into The Last Wish were my favorite out of all of the stories/books. I loved the surfacing and the creation of the Witcher as a whole. Geralt of Rivia, to me, is a wonderful character. I think the addition of the overarching Melitele flashes really helped glue everything together. I think that this collection more than any other is really the basis for the games and their success. Monster hunting for life. 
Not to mention some of these stories made for incredible episodes in the Netflix adaptation.

Cheri Fuller

Absolutely enjoyed and will gladly keep going with the series.

Colleen

3 Stars

*A creative but fragmented set of stories that needed a bit more cohesion*


I've been aware of The Witcher series (books and games) for a long time, but I never felt the inclination to delve into them. They were just kind of there floating just outside my sphere of interest. When I heard they were making it into a tv series, I decided to give the book a try. However, the library waiting time was a few months, and I wasn’t interested enough to actually buy the book. So I ended up watching the series first. Usually I make a concerted effort not to do that, but I’m kind of glad I did in this case.

First off, I ran into difficulty getting an answer about where to start with the books. Because it turns out the series was not written chronologically. There are novels. There are a couple of collections of short stories. There are prequels. And as I mentioned, none of these are in order. But there is not a consensus on what order to read them. I could tell you that I selected The Last Wish after reaching some informed decision, but the truth is that after some frustrating and non-conclusive research I simply put the three most likely books on hold and read the one that came in first. Which ended up being The Last Wish.

The Last Wish is really a set of loosely connected short stories introducing Geralt of Rivia. I had mixed feelings about it. On the plus side, Sapkowski created an interesting world with memorable characters. I liked how he adapted European folklore and fairytales. The stories explore the tropes of many well-known tales but also add in lessen known creatures and legends. I do appreciate anything that ventures off the well-worn path of standard fairytale creatures. The writing also had some great moments, some humorous, some insightful. 


  “People," Geralt turned his head, "like to invent monsters and monstrosities. Then they seem less monstrous themselves. When they get blind-drunk, cheat, steal, beat their wives, starve an old woman, when they kill a trapped fox with an axe or riddle the last existing unicorn with arrows, they like to think that the Bane entering cottages at daybreak is more monstrous than they are. They feel better then. They find it easier to live.”

On the downside, the stories have a noticeable lack of cohesion. This is where I am glad I watched the show first. Because even though that also jumps around and leaves information out, the book gives you even less information. I know that if I had read this blind, I absolutely would have ended up extremely frustrated and disconnected. Even with this being a set of short stories, there still should have been more cohesion. It felt like being given several pieces of a much larger puzzle. You could see that they were part of the same whole, but none of the pieces fit together. So even though there was a lot of creativity in The Last Wish, the end result was patchy. 

Normally with translations, I would wonder how much of that was due to the translation versus the original writing. But given that this involves huge gaps in both the storytelling and worldbuilding, it seems likely that this is simply how it was written. That didn’t make it any less annoying for characters to reference people, events, and world aspects that were never explained in this book. There wasn’t even a map!

Despite being full of holes, I did enjoy most of the book. Not that random, gratuitous sex scene that the book opens with. But most of it, particularly the characters and the mythological/folklore aspects.


  “I manage because I have to. Because I've no other way out. Because I’ve overcome the vanity and pride of being different. I’ve understood that they are a pitiful defense against being different. Because I’ve understood that the sun shines differently when something changes, but I’m not the axis of those changes.”

I strongly hope that the next book (which is actually a novel instead of short stories) will show improvement. So I’m continuing on with the series – though not in any rush.


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 4 Stars
Writing Style: 3 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 3 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 3 Stars
Level of Captivation: 4 Stars
Originality: 3 Stars

Geralt was always going to stand out, with his white hair and piercing eyes, his cynicism and lack of respect for authority... but he is far more than his striking appearance. He is a witcher, with powers that make him a brilliant fighter and merciless assassin - and his targets are the vile fiends that ravage the land.

As guardian of the innocent, Geralt meets incestuous kings with undead daughters, vengeful djinns, shrieking harpies, lovelorn vampires and despondent ghouls. Many are pernicious, some are wicked, and none are quite as they appear.

It is good, just the time skipping backwards and forwards is a bit to hard on my head

Hilde 

Andrzej Sapkowski's The Witcher has become a global phenomenon, inspiring the hit Netflix series and the blockbuster video games. Now you can experience the world of the Witcher like never before with this stunning deluxe hardcover edition of The Last Wish. Featuring seven gorgeous illustrations from seven award-winning artists-one for each story in the collection of adventures-it celebrates the first chapter of the bestselling, groundbreaking "series you can sink your teeth into" (BuzzFeed News).

Illustrated Edition

It was certainly fun to recognize scenes from the show and how they interpreted it. The Law of Surprise chapter in particular was a lot of fun. However, be forewarned that this book — as is common in a lot of grimdark adult fantasy — contains a lot of misogyny & violence against women (usually not on-page, but retold by men as either a joke or a way to explain the monster haunting their town). And because of that, I didn’t enjoy the book as much as I’d hoped.

Liz Griffin

Gillian Rose

So-so. I didn't realize that it wasn't a linear story and that it was a collection of separate stories so I was confused about the cohesion. I liked Geralt and may read the other novels but I disliked that all the monsters were women. Felt a little sexist.

🧸

"People"—Geralt turned his head—"like to invent monsters and monstrosities. Then they seem less monstrous themselves. When they get blind-drunk, cheat, steal, beat their wives, starve an old woman, when they kill a trapped fox with an axe or riddle the last existing unicorn with arrows, they like to think that the Bane entering cottages at daybreak is more monstrous than they are. They feel better then. They find it easier to live."

I was confused the whole time reading this book idk how I managed to finish it but the final scene with yennefer was worth it tbh.

also I loooooved the destiny scene it was so beautiful <3

Danusia Stok

Last Wish

Beatriz Aguiar

3.5
i really like the plot and vibe of witcher 
howEVER this book is a short story collection andddd i'd like more from the characters.
still a lot of fun and way different from the show adaptation. the book is more campy and makes fun of itself. it's also a funny mashup of other tales and myths which is cool (featuring a brief appearance of a snow white like character for example) 
it's good fun <33

Jenn Doan 

taylor alyse pisanie

Ryan LaFerney

These are the stories of Geralt, the Witcher, professional monster hunter, sorcerer, swordsman and mutant. Read these stories if you dare, for if you do, you will fall for Sapkowski's enchanting world and quickly devour more.

Nicole Sonja

A brilliant book! I enjoyed it thoroughly. It was quite strange at times but it was a good book.

Aditi

dimmie

while i see where the points about some young girls being described "inappropriately" are coming from, i personally found the comments i read to be exaggerating. it was nowhere near as bad as they made it seem - just two or three sentences over 300 pages. i think DNFing because of that, in the case of this particular book, is a shame. i will admit however there were times where i thought it was dragging a bit and had to go read something else (i finished 2 other books while reading this), but that's probably because i've never consumed any other media related to the witcher and therefore had no existing interest in the characters. and i'm also not the target audience. that being said, i didn't find it confusing or felt dumb because i was missing out on key information - i think the book does a good job of introducing new fans to all the key elements of the world and characters. my only confusion comes from geralt instantly falling in love with yennefer. why?? where from? what did she do??? why is he whipped from the first scene? i assume its not a spell because she clearly didn't want him until the end, so why is he suddenly risking everything to save her??

basically. nice read. but i'm also am not rushing to buy the other 6 asap👍

I loved this book so much! It taught me that you don't have to describe so much in prose to create a strong connection with the reader - a lot can be done with creative dialogue. It also taught me a lot about possible magic systems and how to incorporate a fictional language without spending 20 years on building it from scratch. 

Other than that, I just thoroughly enjoyed this book cover to cover and will be one of the select few that I read more than once. Loved this story, world, people, all of it!!! 

Marshie

I loved this book so much! It taught me that you don't have to describe so much in prose to create a strong connection with the reader - a lot can be done with creative dialogue. It also taught me a lot about possible magic systems and how to incorporate a fictional language without spending 20 years on building it from scratch. 

Other than that, I just thoroughly enjoyed this book cover to cover and will be one of the select few that I read more than once. Loved this story, world, people, all of it!!! 

Amina Madadi (ⴰⵎⵉⵏⴰ)

Being a collection of short stories, this book wasn't really compelling for me.
The narrative is great, the characters are well developped but it lacks action!

Haley Murray

I only picked this book up to fulfill a challenge for PopSugar. This book is just not for me.

Cool setting and characters. I'm not sure if it's the translation or a stylistic thing, but the writing feels a bit clunky at times. Once you realize how the jumps in time are set up it works quite well; I think that and the witty banter between characters are where this book excells.

Simon Crocker

Aditi Verma

Paige Radice

Having never read an adult fantasy book, this was the perfect introduction to the genre. I watched the Netflix adaptation, and was fascinated by the main characters, who I felt were complex and perfectly imperfect. This book mastered world-building, and whilst I was initially daunted by the structure of this book (being short stories) - once I got past the first few 'chapters' it flowed effortlessly. The creatures themselves, are characters in their own right. And I loved the way that Sapkowski didn't constrain such creatures, nor other characters as either being bad or good. I would recommend this to anyone wanting to enter the fantasy realm of literature. (Will definitely continue reading the series!)

Chiara Vitale Zelaia

I’ve been a fan of the Witcher franchise for years now, but having discovered it before I got back into reading, it never occured to me to also read the books. Luckily, my undying adoration for the Netflix series was the perfect motivator to get this mood reader in the right frame of mind to start this epic series, and I’m so glad that I have!

The Last Wish is a collection of novellas that follow the protagonist of the series, the witcher Geralt of Rivia. This is the perfect way not only to be introduced to this wonderful character and all his complexities, but also to get a feel and taste of the magical world in which the series is set. This book had it all—action, folklore, friendship and even a dash of romance and spins on well-known fairytales. It was compelling, engaging and the story-telling mechanism was brilliant! Each story felt like a piece of a greater puzzle, and it left me starving to figure out the whole picture. My one complaint is that there were moments where the dialogues went on for too long, which I felt sometimes slowed down the pace—however, this was typical of the adult epic fantasy of a few decades ago, so I can’t really fault the author for it.

One more thing before I leave thee: a simple Google research (like the one I did before starting) will suggest to read The Last Wish before starting the first book, Blood of Elves. While I do agree, I think the author presumed the reader already had a basic understanding of the world (given that Blood of Elves was the first book in order of publication), so if you’re completely unfamiliar with the franchise, you may have some difficulty visualizing some of the monsters and magic mentioned in the book. With that in mind, I definitely recommend this series to all lovers of epic fantasy—especially anyone looking for an adult read! And if you haven’t already, get your hands on the Witcher 3 game and watch the Netflix show for the full Witcher experience!

Vojtech &
The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski

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