Tower of Swallow [Oct 23, 2018]

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

This is a Buddy Read for The Tower of the Swallow by Andrzej Sapkowski starting November 23, 2018.
The Tower of Swallows

[Jenna, I'd be free if not for Temper & Edgewalker]

Date change: actually starting Oct 23rd.

[Virginie]

Will be starting tomorrow! I'll try to read 2 chapters a day this time! :)

[Bea]

I'm planning to start this evening. I'm not sure yet how many chapters I'll manage every day. I somehow find it hard to concentrate on the Witcher books for a longer amount of time

[Virginie]

Eeeeh, I'm the same. I'm really enjoying the series but I can't read more than 2 chapters at once. :/

[Bea]

Chapter One

 (view spoiler)[Aaand I'm confused again. How did Ciri end up in that swamp with that ugly wound?
The beginning was somehow more atmosperic than the last books.
The annual cycle is taken from celtic mythology, right? Wikipedia told me that Samhain, Beltane etc. are irish but I believe the celts were spread over bigger parts of europe. Do you know more about that? (hide spoiler)]

[Virginie]

Chapter 1 (view spoiler)[

I'm actually not that confused. The previous book ended with a guy from Nilfgaard realizing that Falka = Ciri. He tasks a mercenary to kill her. The mercenary asks him if he wants proof of Ciri's death, or if he can take her head to claim the reward for the death of one of the Rats, and the Nilgaardian says he doesn't want her head and trusts the mercenary to kill her.
We also learn that said mercenary is planning a trap for the Rats.

So I'm guessing the Rats falling for the trap, getting massacred with only Ciri escaping was simply ellipsed. (hide spoiler)]

About the mythology: (view spoiler)[ I have no idea. I've lived in Sweden for 2 years, and so I felt some words and myths reminiscent of Nordic mythology. 'Midaëte', the summer soltice, reminds me of both 'Midsommar' (Swedish word for the holiday of Summer Soltice) and 'été' means 'summer' in French, and is pronounced the same as 'ëte' would be in Swedish.

More telling is the mention of Ragh nar Roog', the last battle between Light and Darkness which obviously reminds me of the Nordic myth of Ragnarök. Also, there's the priestess Sigrdrifa of the temple of the godess Freyja on the island of Hindarsfjall.

So I don't know... I was told by a Czech friend that some slavic myths originate from Nordic myths, and also the other way around. (hide spoiler)]

[Bea]

Chapter one makes perfect sense now I've read chapter two^^

Currently reading chapter 3
(view spoiler)[Interesting names again. Draakul is an important name in vampire culture? No idea were Sapkowski got that idea :p
Spiekeroog (with ie) is an island in the north sea.

'I'm not asleep. I'm thinking creatively.'
That's so me haha. (hide spoiler)]

[Bea]

Virginie wrote: "Chapter 1
"

I don't know more about it either. But parallels between nordic and slavic mythology don't seem surprising to me.

Oh, cool, you have lived in Sweden? I'd love to go there on holiday some day, it must be lovely!

[Virginie]

Read chapter 2. You're right, everything is explained :)

Yeah, I did my master in Stockholm. The town and its surroundings are amazing! I'd advise you to go there in the summer though, unless you like constant night and negative temperatures haha :p

[Virginie]

Ok, I kept reading my daily chapters and finished. I really, really liked this one. Need to order my thoughts on it before commenting :)

[Bea]

I'm planning to finish it tomorrow. I think it will become my second favorite after the Last Wish.

Chapter 9
(view spoiler)[I liked how Yennefer said she doesn't believe in gods and then the goddess tells her that one day people will no longer believe in sorceresses as well.
I can't remember Triss actually having an affair with Geralt. Did that happen offscreen (and when) or is my memory just bad?
(I actually know my memory IS bad 😂 (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 10
(view spoiler)[So how did Ciri regain her lost abilities?
Was it enough to simply be touched by magic? (hide spoiler)]

[Virginie]

Bea wrote: "I think it will become my second favorite after the Last Wish."

YES! I thought this one had a really good flow; the time/POV jumps were well executed (while they were sometimes jarring & confusing in previous books).

Loved the atmospheric/poetic tone of the first chapters.

[Virginie]

Re: chapter 9 (view spoiler)[
Quite liked that bit too. Loved the references to Nordic mythos, with Freya the goddess of nature&life, and Heimdal guarding the Bifrost. I mean, Norse gods are being used more and more in Fantasy books/movies these days but this book was written 20 years ago!

Can't remember either about Triss. Maybe during a period Geralt & Yen had a fight? (hide spoiler)]

[Virginie]

Re: chapter 10 (view spoiler)[
Yeah, I'm not clear on how she got her abilities back. Could it be that she can't really 'burn out' her powers since she's herself a source? Being touched by magic simply restored the connection somehow? (hide spoiler)]

[Virginie]

Entire book thoughts!

Geralt (view spoiler)[ got on my nerves a little bit, suspecting everyone and everything. First Regis, then Cahir... But the poor guy had to let go of the two things he thought would never change: Yen loves him & would never betray him, and he's a witcher. (hide spoiler)]

Yen (view spoiler)[ is seriously in a bad spot. Everyone (but Ciri) thinks she betrayed Geralt, and she's now being tortured by Vilgefortz; his using her feelings towards Geralt against her is really horrible. She was so desperate to protect Ciri that she 'gave up' Geralt instead. (hide spoiler)]

Ciri (view spoiler)[ is turning into a Mary Sue, with super strong magic, incredible swordplay and a bunch of weird mystical events happening around her. BUT it doesn't annoy me at all, for some reason.

Also, she kicked her pursuers' asses on ice-skates. ICESKATING COMBAT. How cool is that? :O (hide spoiler)]