The Last Wish (The Witcher, #0.5) in Around the World in 80 Books

Jan 02, 2019 Tony rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: translated-fiction, fantasy, short-stories

Most mass-market fantasy fiction has little appeal to me, but I'm more likely to try something from a non-traditional source, and thus picked up this first book in a series by a Polish writer (which apparently has gone on to spawn a popular video game franchise). I didn't realize that this initial book was really a loose collection of short stories, each highlighting a particular adventure, with interstitial chapters taking place at a friendly temple. It's not the worst format to introduce a cha Most mass-market fantasy fiction has little appeal to me, but I'm more likely to try something from a non-traditional source, and thus picked up this first book in a series by a Polish writer (which apparently has gone on to spawn a popular video game franchise). I didn't realize that this initial book was really a loose collection of short stories, each highlighting a particular adventure, with interstitial chapters taking place at a friendly temple. It's not the worst format to introduce a character, since there's a lower investment in time and energy, and you're not left at the end with some kind of cliffhanger to be resolved in the next book in a series. On the other hand, since these stories all feature the main character as a fully realized and powerful warrior/mage, there's none of the typical hero's origin story to ease the reader into their company.

The basic premise is that there have been children selected over the years to be trained as monster hunters with superhuman melee combat skills, combined with training in sorcery. Their purpose is to protect humanity from various supernatural creatures -- but over time, these threats have receded and the need for these trained killers has diminished, and so they have to eke out a living travelling around to scrape together reward money.

This book collects a few such adventures, and one of the elements I liked the most about it is the strangeness of the monsters, many of which are based on Eastern European folklore I wasn't familiar with. At the same time, there are elements to some of the stories that will resonate with many readers, such as a Beauty and Beast-type plot. I also enjoyed the dry, deadpan humor that's found throughout -- not unlike Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories (actually as I think further, the structure and tone is quite similar to those). All in all, it's quick-reading and generally entertaining swords and sorcery fare, but I don't feel the need to continue with the series (which is soon to be a TV show). ...more

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Dec 25, 2021 Amanda R rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I picked this up because I was starting to finally watch The Witcher on Netflix and I'm always the one who wants to read the book first (though I've read it kind at the same time in this case). It was a fun collection of stories - I enjoyed the humorous dialogue, the pacing of the stories, and the little touches of fairy tales that are intertwined in. All in all, an enjoyable read. ...more

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Jan 22, 2020 Claire Fun rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle

Finally, thanks to the Netflix series, I get around the reading the first book in The Witcher series! It's a collection of short stories that will be familiar from the show, and featuring characters familiar from the games and in the novels. I really enjoyed them - I don't generally enjoy short stories much, but these all felt interlinked enough that they worked for me as 'part of the whole'. The faintly masked fairy tales aspect - not so apparent in the TV series - I loved, as I'm a big fan of ...more

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