Paperback, 315 pages
English language
Published Jan. 6, 2012 by Gollancz.
I must say there isn't much here, it's mostly a training montage mixed with a political background montage.
If I wasn't already invested in the world and characters, I wouldn't have found much to like.
A very intermediary book.
2nd read, still class
The first of the Witcher novels, it was released after two volumes of short stories and is set after the most recently published book, [b:Season of Storms|36099978|Season of Storms (The Witcher, #0.6)|Andrzej Sapkowski|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1514124650l/36099978.SY75.jpg|26575985] (although there is some debate on when is the best time to read Season of Storms). So this is actually the fourth Witcher book I've read.
Although Geralt's fateful encounter with Ciri—an orphaned princess and a Source of powerful magic—is covered in a previous short story, this novel covers her early education. She spends roughly the first half of the book with Geralt, being instructed in the ways of the witcher, and the latter half with Yennefer, receiving magic tutelage. Along the way she learns some more about the world and its delicate political state, with the northern kingdoms trying to fend off the inexorable advance of the expansionist empire of Nilfgaard.
This book is …
The first of the Witcher novels, it was released after two volumes of short stories and is set after the most recently published book, [b:Season of Storms|36099978|Season of Storms (The Witcher, #0.6)|Andrzej Sapkowski|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1514124650l/36099978.SY75.jpg|26575985] (although there is some debate on when is the best time to read Season of Storms). So this is actually the fourth Witcher book I've read.
Although Geralt's fateful encounter with Ciri—an orphaned princess and a Source of powerful magic—is covered in a previous short story, this novel covers her early education. She spends roughly the first half of the book with Geralt, being instructed in the ways of the witcher, and the latter half with Yennefer, receiving magic tutelage. Along the way she learns some more about the world and its delicate political state, with the northern kingdoms trying to fend off the inexorable advance of the expansionist empire of Nilfgaard.
This book is tricky to rate. Like a lot of modern fantasy novels (in which a trilogy is assumed, at the bare minimum), this first book is all about preparing the board and setting up the game pieces. As a self-contained story, it fails miserably. There's not much of a plot, just prelude.
That being said, it was still a thoroughly engaging read, provided that the reader is familiar with the original short stories. The translation is smooth and draws zero attention to itself. The setting is immersive and the characters are great. It is such a pleasure spending time with Geralt, Triss, Ciri, Dandelion, and Yennefer. The interaction between these characters is always amusing, and it's masterful how much of their personalities are revealed through seemingly throwaway lines of dialogue and slight gestures.
Geralt himself is a particularly fun and surprising character. If you hear him described, he sounds like a one-dimensional edgy Mary Sue (and also kind of an Elric ripoff, with all the "White Wolf" stuff). But he's not really like that at all. Despite the two swords and the badass mutant monster hunter trappings, he's kind of a blue collar hero. He tackles monster problems like a plumber unclogging drains. His clients are happy to have him around, but they don't particularly respect him or his vocation. He keeps up a tough, world-weary front, but much like the old hardboiled detectives he reveals a softer, more noble side through his actions.
This book doesn't work very well as a novel, but it was an entertaining read that made me excited about the rest of the series.
I did not enjoy this book for two primary reasons. Firstly, at no fault of the author or story, I hated the audiobook. This is a personal preference, but I don't particularly enjoy audiobooks that are a full production or rely very heavily on accents and speech variations between characters. I much prefer the simplicity of someone reading a book. I found the incredibly harsh accents distracting and oddly immersion breaking.
The second reason is that this did not at all feel like a self contained story. It was very clearly just an introduction without a well developed plot that allows it to stand on its own. That's a huge pet peeve of mine when it comes to book series'. And on top of it all, the story that it did tell was not captivating enough for me to have any interest in reading anymore Witcher books.
Side note, I …
I did not enjoy this book for two primary reasons. Firstly, at no fault of the author or story, I hated the audiobook. This is a personal preference, but I don't particularly enjoy audiobooks that are a full production or rely very heavily on accents and speech variations between characters. I much prefer the simplicity of someone reading a book. I found the incredibly harsh accents distracting and oddly immersion breaking.
The second reason is that this did not at all feel like a self contained story. It was very clearly just an introduction without a well developed plot that allows it to stand on its own. That's a huge pet peeve of mine when it comes to book series'. And on top of it all, the story that it did tell was not captivating enough for me to have any interest in reading anymore Witcher books.
Side note, I also don't like the video games!
Blood of Elves is methodical and languid, slowly building the picture of a dark world torn by war. I enjoyed this one, I completely see how it spawned a game series if the rest of the series is like this first book.
It has a feel of a world already in progress that doesn't really have the time to pause and catch you up on what's happening right away, but it balances this by giving just a few key events or people at a time. The exposition comes in the middle or end of various sequences rather than at the start, and it creates a feeling that you can just relax and not worry about all the picky details for a minute. We have a few obvious protagonists and then kind of a sea of shifting loyalties and petty players in some larger game that we'll hopefully understand more as …
Glad I stuck with it, the last chapter is better than the rest. I now see what everyone is excited about & am keen to read more/play all the games/lose myself in compilations of Henry Cavill bathtub scenes.
Edit: I thought this was the first book so was pretty confused with the complete lack of character introduction & world exposition from something touted as “book 1”. There are short stories somewhere, I suppose.
This is the first book in the “Witcher Saga” proper. The books leading up to this one are short story collections that set up the characters and relationships while also building out the world.
The funny thing is, this book still felt a bit like several novellas stitched together, like the old-fashioned fix-up novels from the golden age of sci-fi. The end result is a novel that still feels fairly episodic. It works, but it doesn’t build to much of a climax.
Instead, it’s a series of stories about Geralt’s ward, Ciri, her early training, and the dangers she faces from the outside world. Geralt isn’t even the viewpoint character for most of the book, with Dandelion, Triss, Ciri and Yennifer all getting their turns at the helm. I like that this book kept things fairly small-scale. I’m assuming the series only builds in scope from here.
This was an excellent book. Unfortunately, I am pretty sure I read it out of order. On Goodreads it is listed as #3, but on Amazon and most other websites it is listed as #2. Clearly, though, within the first 100 pages I realized I missed a ton of context relevant to the narrative arc in this book. Still looking forward to reading more of the series.
Stopping at 50% to read Witcher #2 was a mistake as it disrupted the flow of Blood of Elves and I found myself wondering why Geralt was on a boat, where was Ciri and what happened to Triss. The story isn't told in a linear fashion, you may have past events told by a character in the future and this back and forth narration added to my confusion.
Reading order mistake aside this was an excellent "start" to The Witcher series and I appreciated having the two short story novels under my belt before I began. Onwards and upwards to Witcher #4...
Though this is technically the first full novel in the Witcher series, it runs with the assumption that you’ve read the original collection of short stories in “The Last Wish”. And though it was published afterwards, it would also be a good idea to read “The Sword of Destiny” as well before going into this one.
So, oops... I accidentally read this AFTER "Time of
Contempt". Luckily, almost nothing was spoiled, which goes to say that not a whole lot happened in this book. Ciri starts to learn magic, and not much else. Granted, I haven't finished the series yet, but it's entirely possible that you could skip this one completely and not miss anything in the series.
Definitely one of the best in The Witcher saga. In this book we meet Cirilla, Princess of Cintra and a special girl who has an amazing power. It was good to see Ciri's early years before The Witcher 3, being a good way to become more immersed in the saga.
Definitely one of the best in The Witcher saga. In this book we meet Cirilla, Princess of Cintra and a special girl who has an amazing power. It was good to see Ciri's early years before The Witcher 3, being a good way to become more immersed in the saga.
