Name: Justin Staack's review of The Tower of the Swallow by Andrzej Sapkowski
Item: The Tower of the Swallow
Rating: 4
Author: Justin Staack

Andrzej Sapkowski

The world has fallen into war. Ciri, the child of prophecy, has vanished. Hunted by friends and foes alike, she has taken on the guise of a petty bandit and lives free for the first time in her life. But the net around her is closing. Geralt, the Witcher, has assembled a group of allies determined to rescue her. Both sides of the war have sent brutal mercenaries to hunt her down. Her crimes have made her famous.

The Tower of the Swallow

Wieża Jaskółki

Der Schwalbenturm

Anna 

Vojtech

"Was ist mit dem Mädchen? Ihr dürft nicht zulassen, dass sie den Turm betritt! Hörst du? Lasst nicht zu, dass sie den Schwalbenturm betritt ... "Hexer Geralt und seine Gefährten sind bei der Suche nach Ciri, der verschwundenen Prinzessin von Cintra, bisher erfolglos geblieben. Jetzt will die rivische Königin sie als Partisanenkämpfer in dem blutigen Krieg gegen Nilfgaard verpflichten. Doch sie setzen sich ab, um ihre unterbrochene Reise zu den Druiden wieder aufzunehmen. Bei einem Überfall gerät Geralts Wolfsmedaillon, das Insignium seines Hexertums, in fremde Hände ... Ciri, die so hartnäckig Gesuchte, ist von dem gelehrten Einsiedler Vysogota aufgenommen worden. Ihr ganzes Sinnen und Trachten richtet sich jetzt auf den legendären Schwalbenturm, denn dies muss der Ort sein, von dem in der alten Prophezeiung die Rede ist. Allerdings ist der Schwalbenturm nur noch eine Ruine ... Andrzej Sapkowski, geboren 1948, ist Literaturkritiker und Schriftsteller. Er lebt in?ód?. Seine Hexer-Sage erreicht weltweit Millionen-Auflagen. Höchst erfolgreich ist auch seine Mittelalter-Trilogie um den Medicus Reinmar von Bielau. 2008 wurde Andrzej Sapkowski mit der Ehrenbürgerwürde der Stadt?ód? ausgezeichnet.

Roman

Justin Staack

The world has fallen into war. Ciri, the child of prophecy, has vanished. Hunted by friends and foes alike, she has taken on the guise of a petty bandit and lives free for the first time in her life. But the net around her is closing. Geralt, the Witcher, has assembled a group of allies determined to rescue her. Both sides of the war have sent brutal mercenaries to hunt her down. Her crimes have made her famous. There is only one place left to run. The tower of the swallow is waiting...

C. J. Daley 

So I think this top portion will be the basis for my review for all five of the Witcher series (excluding The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny--Kind of, you'll see...)

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. I think that overall, this attention to detail within every word uttered may actually have been in some ways at a detriment to his overarching story. 

So to speak, his great characters, the companions of the Witcher, and even the enemies, all have this way of leaving you wanting more. However, if you were to pull away all of that and the world's lore, the series itself is kind of about... nothing. I did find myself more than once getting to the end of one of the novels and being like wait... nothing happened? Destiny has brought the Witcher and Ciri together, and yet they are also destined to never be together... it's just the kind of realization that stings. If you read the first book you can skip to the final book for the ending because the others are just more of the same. Luckily for me, as I've already stated, I enjoyed the dialogue and the world building, I drank that sh*t up. It's just kind of weird/funny to realize negative things like that about something you've rated pretty well. Despite all of that, I really enjoyed them. 

In terms of The Tower of the Swallow specifically, I enjoyed that this storyline followed Ciri maturing and dealing with things on her own. There's a lot of growing and exploring for her. 

However, Geralt and team are still looking for Ciri, but no Ciri is found.

Evelina

I actually love these books that's why i am reading them, but i give them one star out of spite. Fuck that old man, he needs to leave ciri alone. I wish we saw more of yennefer too :(

Dave G

Great read

Loved the way it was written, showing the results often and then back talking to show the reader how we got there. Different to the last book in style

Izzy Smith

Very MINOR spoiler below, but also not really a spoiler because it didn't happen. 

It has taken far too long to get here. Sapkowski has again managed to stretch ~100 pages of actual story progression over 450 pages. Skipping pages upon pages worth of fluff and unnecessary history lessons was the only thing that made this readable. Don't get me wrong, the parts I didn't skip were great to read. But all that fluff is hard to get through.

I don't mind the time jumping and the way it's narrated, actually it's interesting at some points (specifically when it's from the PoV of Dandelion or Ciri telling her story). The beginning of the book and somewhere in the middle when we get Yennefers PoV, beautiful, fun to read, best writing I've seen from this author so far. But those moments are too rare and sometimes there's a random character telling the story and I just don't get why. Can we please just get the narration from our main characters?? One of my least favorite things about this series is the constant addition of characters. I can't keep up. Am I supposed to remember this person's name? Also do they have to have 12 middle names?

Sometimes things are so RANDOM, I put this book down so much and go "...what?" At one point, UNPROVOKED, Geralt goes "Ciri is dead. She died 2 days ago. During the fireworks. And someone I care about is the one who abducted her." I'M SORRY, WHAT? Geralt, sweetie, have you been sniffing a lil fisstech? Where the h*ck did that come from? Then it shifts to Ciri, who is, as we already knew, very much alive. 

Oh, and don't forget the incessantly disgusting portrayal of women and sex. I get that it's a reflection of the times, I do, but it doesn't need to be such a heavy theme throughout the books. If the difference between men and women in the 1500s has to be touched on, fine, but c'mon. If it's not about sex and rape and men's rights to infidelity, it's about appearance. Triss isn't eating because she has to watch her figure? And her waist size is 22inches, almost the same size as that hideous woman's arm? Ok? It's just annoying to read, it adds nothing to the plot but says everything about the author.

Despite it all I did like this book more than the few before it, we did finally see some story progression and better writing. But one more book and I am free of the series. It's really so disappointing. The fantasy world of the Witcher is fascinating but the writing sucks. It has little to no emotion, no action, no "wow" moments. The only reason I am reading is because I love the show so much and wanted more. The only reason I would recommend this is if you loved the show and wanted more. Or, I guess, if you like super political and emorionless fantasy, have at it..

Viry

a huge jump from my enjoyment of the previous books, but i just felt so boreeedddd. Glad I made it through, now to take a quick break from the universe before moving to the final books!

Jelke Lenaerts

This book has content warnings for homophobia, sexual assault, a suicide attempt, domestic violence, prostitution and rape.

This book is a what I wanted from the series. It switched between perspectives flawlessly and never leaves me disoriented, which was my main problem with book two. Nothing felt out of place and it all felt like one coherent story. That story was so captivating and I just couldn't put it down. I also really like the direction this story took us in and how the characters developed. I'm very excited about the final book in this series, to see how this series is going to wrap up. I'm so glad I pushed through those first couple of books to reach this because this book is what I expected from the entire series. Now, Andrzej Sapkowski does go off on rants about things that don't really matter at times and that keeps me from giving these books a full five stars because it can be a bit mind numbing because of that. But this book was a HUGE improvement on the previous three, in my opinion.

A BRAND NEW TRILOGY from the author of the legendary WITCHER series, set during the vibrantly depicted Hussite wars. Reinmar of Bielau, called Reynevan, flees after being caught in an affair with a knight's wife. With strange, mystical forces gathering in the shadows and pursued not only by the Stercza brothers bent on vengeance, but also by the Holy Inquisition, Reynevan finds himself in the Narrenturm, the Tower of Fools, a medieval asylum for the mad, or for those who dare to think differently and challenge the prevailing order. The 'patients' of this institution form an incomparable gallery of colourful types: including, among others, the young Copernicus, proclaiming the truth of the heliocentric solar system. This is the first in an epic new trilogy by Andrzej Sapkowski, author of the bestselling Witcher series that has become an international phenomenon and inspired a bestselling videogame and Netflix show.

The Tower of Fools

Karen Harding

If I hadn’t needed to finish this book for review, I would have DNF’d it after the first quarter. The characters use slang that is not invented for hundreds of years from the character’s environment, there is a confusion of POVs with this changing mid-sentence at one point, and throughout there is a lack of show, with the author (or perhaps the translator) opting to describe every emotion like a robotic dictionary, often repeating the descriptor two to three times per page. I did read the whole book, however I will not be reading anymore in the series as it was such a slog to get through this first book, and there was not enough plot to make a continuation worthwhile.

Eugene

Hunted by friends and foes alike, Ciri has taken on the guise of a petty bandit and lives free for the first time in her life.
But the net around her is closing. Geralt the Witcher has assembled a group of allies to rescue her. Both sides of the war have sent brutal mercenaries to track her down. Her crimes have made her famous. 
There is only one place left to run. The Tower of the Swallow is waiting . . .
The Tower of the Swallow is the fourth novel in the Witcher saga, following Baptism of Fire

The Witcher Saga 4

Jiji

François Declercq

Sandra Tammaru

Soon to be a major Netflix original series! The world is at war and the prophesied savior is nowhere to be found. The Witcher, Geralt of Rivia, races to find her -- but time is short, and an army is on his heels in the fourth book of the NYT bestselling series that inspired the blockbuster video games. The world has fallen into war. Ciri, the child of prophecy, has vanished. Hunted by friends and foes alike, she has taken on the guise of a petty bandit and lives free for the first time in her life. But the net around her is closing. Geralt, the Witcher, has assembled a group of allies including Dandelion, Milva, Regis, and Cahir, to rescue her. Both sides of the war have sent brutal mercenaries to hunt her down. Her crimes have made her famous. There is only one place left to run. The tower of the swallow is waiting... Andrzej Sapkowski, winner of the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement award, started an international phenomenon with his Witcher series: Witcher novelsBlood of Elves The Time of Contempt Baptism of Fire The Tower of SwallowsLady of the LakeSeason of Storms Witcher collectionsThe Last WishSword of Destiny The Malady and Other Stories: An Andrzej Sapkowski Sampler (e-only) Translated from original Polish by David French

The Tower of Swallows

Vikram Sreekanti

J. Nystad

Geralt the Witcher races to find his missing ward, Ciri, in this fourth novel in the bestselling Witcher series that inspired the Netflix show and video games. The world has fallen into war. Ciri, the child of prophecy, has vanished. Hunted by friends and foes alike, she has taken on the guise of a petty bandit and lives free for the first time in her life. But the net around her is closing. Geralt, the Witcher, has assembled a group of allies determined to rescue her. Both sides of the war have sent brutal mercenaries to hunt her down. Her crimes have made her famous. There is only one place left to run. The tower of the swallow is waiting...

Witcher 6

Ricardo

NOW A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES The world is at war and the prophesied savior is nowhere to be found. The Witcher, Geralt of Rivia, races to find her—but time is short, and an army is on his heels in the fourth novel of Andrzej Sapkowski's New York Times bestselling series that inspired the hit Netflix show and the blockbuster video games. The world has fallen into war. Ciri, the child of prophecy, has vanished. Hunted by friends and foes alike, she has taken on the guise of a petty bandit and lives free for the first time in her life. But the net around her is closing. Geralt, the Witcher, has assembled a group of allies including Dandelion, Milva, Regis, and Cahir, to rescue her. Both sides of the war have sent brutal mercenaries to hunt her down. Her crimes have made her famous. There is only one place left to run. The tower of the swallow is waiting. . . Look out for The Tower of Fools, book one of Andrzej Sapkowski's Hussite Trilogy, available now! Witcher collections The Last Wish Sword of Destiny Witcher novels Blood of Elves The Time of Contempt Baptism of Fire The Tower of Swallows Lady of the Lake ​Season of Storms Hussite Trilogy The Tower of Fools The Malady and Other Stories: An Andrzej Sapkowski Sampler (e-only) Translated from original Polish by David French

Laura Vroom

Geralt the Witcher races to find his missing ward, Ciri, in this fourth novel in the bestselling Witcher series that inspired the Netflix show and video games. The world has fallen into war. Ciri, the child of prophecy, has vanished. Hunted by friends and foes alike, she has taken on the guise of a petty bandit and lives free for the first time in her life. But the net around her is closing. Geralt, the Witcher, has assembled a group of allies determined to rescue her. Both sides of the war have sent brutal mercenaries to hunt her down. Her crimes have made her famous. There is only one place left to run. The tower of the swallow is waiting... Translated by David French.

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The Tower of the Swallow by Andrzej Sapkowski

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