The collection contains seven short stories interspersed with a continuing frame story: Geralt of Rivia, after having been injured in battle, rests in a temple. During that time he has flashbacks to recent events in his life, with each flashback forming a short story.
Dieses Buch beginnt ziemlich genau, wo die Serie beginnt: Geralt jagt eine Striege. Erzählt wird hier viel aus der Vorgeschichte des Hexers, warum er der Schlächter von Blaviken heisst, wie er den Brauch des Rechts der Überraschung anwendet (was später viel Bedeutung haben wird), wie er die Zauberin Yennefer kennenlernt und sie sie verlieben.
Die Dialoge sind oft wirklich witzig. Unterhaltungen laufen oft wie in einem Krimi ab, denn fast alle wollen einem Hexer nie die Wahrheit sagen, selbst wenn sie ihn eigentlich beauftragen wollen. So kommen die eigentlichen Gründe und Randbedingungen immer erst nach und nach ans Tageslicht.
Sehr spannend ist das Buch auch. Aber es liest sich wirklich sehr gut. Ich beschaffe mir umgehend Teil 2.
DE: Nach Serie und Spiel gebe ich mich nun auch mal an die Bücher. Band 1 der Vorgeschichte hat mir gut gefallen, auch wenn natürlich einiges in den Grundzügen bekannt war. Es ist eher eine lose Sammlung an Kurzgeschichten, was ich vorher wusste und dem Lesen keinen Abbruch tut. Einzig mit dem Schreibstil (bzw. der deutschen Übersetzung) werde ich nicht ganz warm.
EN: After the TV show and the game, I will now delve deeper into the Witcher saga by reading the books. I really liked Part One of the prelude, even though most of the general story was already known. It is more a collection of short stories than one continuous story, but I knew that beforehand and enjoyed it nonetheless. Just the writing style (or at least the German translation) is not quit my cup of tea.
Rather different fantasy, but spoilered by games and tv shows.
3 stars
So, this is a good book, to get this straight right away. It's well-written, the stories are off the beaten path of generic fantasy. Their grittiness reminds me of stuff from the Warhammer universe, lacking completely any sort of pink elven shininess. Sapkowski occasionally borrows from common fairy tales and other well-known material, but he does so in an entertaining way, that strangely fit this world.
However: If, like me, you played the games, saw (at least some of) the TV show, this might well be less enjoyable. Practically everthing in this book is stuff that has "happend" in other media. It's kind of nice to get this "oh, here's where it all comes from" feeling, but it also means that really nothing is fresh. Still, it was a decent read.
A series of short stories following the monster bounty hunter Geralt. Many of the plots have some kind of traditional fairytale lore, but subvert expectations with unique twists in each one. The world-building in this first book is already fascinating. It feels well-established without a lot of exposition. And the premise of a flawed but morally strong lead character just roaming the land to kill problematic monsters for money is great. It's straightforward, until it's not.
The plot is often made more interesting with moral choices constantly having to be made. What constitutes a monster, who wants it dead, and for what reason? People's expectations of Geralt versus reality make for great interactions. It might be because I'm easily impressed from a lack of fantasy exposure, but I enjoyed all of the stories and how different they were from each other.
Although the overarching narrative is a bit confusing at points, these short stories give a good introduction to the setting of the Witcher universe, and a grounding in the main characters that the series follows. Some of the characterisation seemed a bit idiosyncratic - especially Geralt and Yennefer's relationship - but there is enough of interest to keep things engaging.
As many people I started reading this after watching the TV Show (but haven't played the game, yet).
I was scared that it would be too similar to I was already seen but to my surprise, even though some of the events tell the "same story" (on a sense), the events within them are pretty different from what I saw on TV. Different enough I would say.
I did enjoy it though it was short in length, but in exchange you don't necessarily need to continue reading the rest of the books if you don't want to (right away) because it contains a tale per chapter that even if they are a full story when read in full it doesn't put the reader in a position where it needs to read the rest right away.
I recommend it if you like the fantasy genre, is a light read, short and …
As many people I started reading this after watching the TV Show (but haven't played the game, yet).
I was scared that it would be too similar to I was already seen but to my surprise, even though some of the events tell the "same story" (on a sense), the events within them are pretty different from what I saw on TV. Different enough I would say.
I did enjoy it though it was short in length, but in exchange you don't necessarily need to continue reading the rest of the books if you don't want to (right away) because it contains a tale per chapter that even if they are a full story when read in full it doesn't put the reader in a position where it needs to read the rest right away.
I recommend it if you like the fantasy genre, is a light read, short and self-contained.
Lots of fun, plenty of monsters, & a little bit sexy. Everything you need! Read this book first in your Witcher adventure. Season one of the Netflix series pretty much covers this book.
The spoiler: “Her ... eyes were those of a hunchback.” oh lawd I nearly died laughing -but then there’s a cool battle & a really cute sexy bit right after so all was quickly forgiven. It’s not a cerebral tome but who cares? Turn brain off, enjoy.
If you first got acquainted to the Witcher universe through the Netflix show, like I did, give this book a read. It'll help make sense of the show, and it's a thoroughly enjoyable read.
Like many people, I think, I first found out about The Witcher from a computer game. I'd just finished one of the Dragon Age games and was on a bit of an Epic Fantasy high, so I spotted this one in my local computer store's bargain bin and picked it up. But I never really got into it, because I could never quite figure out what it was I was supposed to be doing. It was only much later that I discovered the books.
After reading this book, I can tell you that I understand now.
This book is a collection of seemingly unrelated "episodes", in which the titular character travels from town to town eradicating monsters and other supernatural threats for financial gain. In between each of these episodes is an ongoing series called "The Voice of Reason", which sees the Witcher resting at his "home base" (if you …
Like many people, I think, I first found out about The Witcher from a computer game. I'd just finished one of the Dragon Age games and was on a bit of an Epic Fantasy high, so I spotted this one in my local computer store's bargain bin and picked it up. But I never really got into it, because I could never quite figure out what it was I was supposed to be doing. It was only much later that I discovered the books.
After reading this book, I can tell you that I understand now.
This book is a collection of seemingly unrelated "episodes", in which the titular character travels from town to town eradicating monsters and other supernatural threats for financial gain. In between each of these episodes is an ongoing series called "The Voice of Reason", which sees the Witcher resting at his "home base" (if you will), a temple to a religion he doesn't believe in, being tended by the priestesses there. It's a cool concept, and I could definitely see this working as a TV series.
There are copious references to, and loose retellings of, fairy tales, but these are the dark, gruesome, twisted fairy tales, in the style which they were originally told; not the dumbed down, "Happily Ever After" fare that we feed to our children!
Look, like most short story collections (which this effectively is), it's a mixed bag. Some of them had me sitting on the edge of my seat, biting my nails, while others just... couldn't hold my attention, and I skimmed through them as quickly as possible.
There are also some formatting issues in the Kindle edition, which I did find jarring, notably how, sometimes, there's a space between the last word of a sentence, and the punctuation mark at the end. I couldn't help noticing, every time that happened.
But it's a fine world this author has crafted, with a great premise, and I'll be reading the next in series, just to see where he goes with it next.
To find out where you can pick up a copy of the ebook, click here: books2read.com/u/3Rxvqp
I can say without reservations that I would not have enjoyed this collection of short stories had I not been previously acquainted with Witcher lore and characters through the iconic video games.
Reading about the early adventures of Geralt, Dandelion and Yen was a delight. I love these characters, and getting more of them is always welcome.
"Can I believe you refused him, as you have me?" "You can" "Why?" "Because I don't believe in a lesser evil."
I'm going in to The Witcher series fresh with no prior knowledge of the books or video games. I enjoyed the book, each story seemed to provide some background to Geralt or his purpose. Not all short stories followed the same routine of: arrive in town, find monster, slay monster, recover, repeat; which was a nice change.
I'm intrigued enough in the premise that I will keep reading the series.
Not terrible, but I’ll probably not read another. Too much pandering to the LCD. There were a few glimpses of substance but they were few and too far between.
This book is written as a collection of stories about the witcher, Geralt. Witchers kill monsters for the money offered for them. Through Geralt's experiences we understand that not all monsters are evil and not all evil look like monsters. The tales are not in chronological order, the author often chooses to provide teasers to the actual story before telling it. The magic in this book does not stand in the foreground. Instead it merely serves as a backdrop for the author to ruminate on themes like Man and Nature ( The edge of the world ) , True love ( A grain of truth ) etc.
I'm definitely looking forward to the rest of the series and would recommend this book to any one interested in a good read. If you've stayed away from fantasy books because of the whizz bang magic, then you should definitely consider this.
