From the Bookshelf of Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy"…

The Last Wish (The Witcher, #1)

Andrzej Sapkowski

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What Members Thought

Jan 05, 2017 Martyn Stanley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: great-read, good-book

First of all, apologies to anyone and everyone who has read 'The Last Dragon Slayer' and its sequels. I know the 5th book in the series, 'The Temple of the Mad God' seems to be taking forever, but it's long, it's complicated and I really want it to be awesome. Also, 'The Witcher'.

I'll be honest the primary impediment to my writing hasn't been 'The Last Wish'. It's broadly speaking, been Open University SK320, 'Public Health and Infectious Diseases' and 'The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt' on Xbox One. ...more

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Feb 17, 2016 Dan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, dark-fantasy, sword-and-sorcery

The Last Wish is a compilation of short stories about Geralt, The Witcher. A Witcher is a mercenary like profession, but the person is chosen and trained for the job at a very young age. The other difference is that Witchers don’t hunt humans, they hunt supernatural entities and monsters.

The stories themselves have a distinct traditional Sword & Sorcery type feel. Dark, violent and introspective, with a fair share of drinking and innuendo for good measure. Yet these stories still have a modern f The Last Wish is a compilation of short stories about Geralt, The Witcher. A Witcher is a mercenary like profession, but the person is chosen and trained for the job at a very young age. The other difference is that Witchers don’t hunt humans, they hunt supernatural entities and monsters.

The stories themselves have a distinct traditional Sword & Sorcery type feel. Dark, violent and introspective, with a fair share of drinking and innuendo for good measure. Yet these stories still have a modern feel to them. Partially due to the prose, which tends to be less florid and imagery filled as works by say Robert E. Howard or Michael Moorcock, but also due to a unique gothic tinge to the works.

The setting of The Last Wish stands unique among modern fantasy. Despite being in a fantastic imagined world, it has a more Eastern European feel to the work than the English fantasy most Westerners are used too. Which tends to have roots in either Celtic and British backgrounds or Norse mythology, or often enough both. Even works taking from Greco-Roman influence are more prevalent in English language fantasy. Also something that helped separate The Last Wish from other Sword & Sorcery works was the way real-world fairy tales were worked into the plot. Sometimes just alluded to, or mentioned in passing, like Rapunzel or Baba Yaga, other times as focal points of a story, like Snow White and The Beauty and the Beast.

I will say that at times, more so in the beginning/middle, I could grow tired of some of the dialogue (mostly from Geralt who is somewhat predictable) or even the stories themselves. That said, some of the dialogue, normally from Geralt’s verbal sparring partners, could be quite humorous and insightful. Besides, by the time I started to grow weary of any one of the stories it was done and I was on to the next one. And, too, it should be noted that as the book continued I found the stories generally just got better. More consistency in style, and more continuity in plot. I also liked the wrap-around story, which I think tied the shorts together in an imaginative and comprehensive, if non-linear, fashion, and by the end leaves you wanting more.

Overall this was a quick and surprisingly addictive read. And for those looking for the new Sword & Sorcery, and pining for days of old, this is where to turn. Despite the fact that it was actually written over 20 years ago (but only translated within the last 10). And the fact that I have never played the Witcher games that are based on these stories made no impact on my enjoyment of this book, which was a lot. 3.75/5
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Jul 19, 2015 Xara Niouraki rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Contains minor spoiler

General opinion 3 stars + 1 star because Geralt's first wish was for the genie to go fuck itself =
4 stars ...more

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Sep 02, 2015 Lawrence Caldwell rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This was very good. I originally came by the Witcher books (this is actually a collection of short stories)through the video games, of which I have a limited experience of since my laptop can't play very powerful games.

It's pretty dark and carried a sort of fairy tale vibe. In fact, during the course of these short stories, Geralt meets Snow White, though her name isn't used once in the text.

This series of short stories is also an interesting introduction to Geralt of Rivia. In the last story, h ...more

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May 28, 2015 Caleb rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought. Like a good majority of people that have read this I came to the book because of the Witcher video game. This is a short story collection set around the main character Geralt resting in a temple over a couple days. He relates some of his adventures to people there and these form the stories in the book. It was great seeing some characters from the game in the book and having the voice from the game helped bring more life to the characters. Just to n ...more

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