Sword of Destiny is a compilation of short stories in relation to Geralt’s (the Witcher) adventures. This book is slightly better than the previous one (The Last Wish). I personally think that the translator for this book (David French) did a better job than the translator for the previous book. Because of this, Sword of Destiny is definitely more engaging than The Last Wish.
The complexity of Geralt and Yennefer’s character shone throughout the story. Now I understand why Geralt’s character is flat and bland as in the process of becoming a witcher, he was not supposed to have any emotions / feelings. Despite this, we still can see the ethical and sensitive part of Geralt. While most of the book reviewers hated Dandelion, I personally think that his character is my favourite in this book. He is definitely a funny character and I enjoyed reading story lines involving Dandelion. We have also been introduced to Ciri, the Child of Destiny. I understand that she is one of the main characters for the subsequent books and I am definitely intrigued to read more on her relationship with Geralt.
The one thing I still can’t relate to is the sex element in this book. I am especially confused and puzzled when reading the story line regarding Geralt and Essi Daven’s relationship. Their love at first sight is definitely one of those moments when I started rolling my eyes. And then Essi just suddenly passed away due to some disease. I also don’t get the “I have feelings for you, but I cant be together with you, but I still can have sex with you” concept which was reflected in this story. Maybe I’m from a conservative Asian country (well, not that conservative actually) but I really don’t get it.
Needless to say, a strong 3.8/5 star rating from me! I hope this series will get better and better! #bookstagram #witcher #swordofdestiny #orbitbooks #fantasy #kjreadsfantasy #goodread #bookcollector #booknerd #booklover #bookaddict #bookoholic #beautifulbooks #bookstagrammer #bookreview #igread #bookgeek #booksofinstagram #andrzejsapkowski
Hilarious, witty, fun, are the only words to describe this book!
This debut by Jon Hollins (a pseudonym for Jonathan Wood) reminds me so much of Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames whereby the humor element shines strongly throughout the book. I literally LOL when I’m reading this book! Some may think that the a lot of vulgar descriptions were used, but seriously, I have no issues with that.
This story took place in the world where Dragons ruled the society and humans are forced to pay crazy high taxes to the Dragons due to fear. We follow the main character Will, a farmer who, in the midst of running away from the guards of the Dragon Consortium for failure to settle his tax, met up with Lette (a mercenary who wanted to be “a better person” and seeks for a change in her life), Balur (Lette’s “tribe”, who is also a lizard man), Quirk (a scholar and wizard who refuses to use magic due to her past life) and Firkin (a drunkard, who is also Will’s friend). All 5 of them (with Will as the group’s herald) initially came up with a plan to rob one of the Dragon, Mattrax, who ruled Will’s village. But such plan of course, did not go as well as they imagined. One heist plot lead to another and all plans turned out to be a disaster, except for the last plan where it was a success. In the midst of taking us through the action-packed plot, Hollins managed to bring the characters to life. The interactions between the characters are so engaging and fun!
I have to say, this series is a new breath to the fantasy genre. While we can see some usual fantasy tropes in this story (i.e. the medieval world building, greedy dragons who are crazily in love with gold), Hollins still manage to step out from the usual classic fantasy genre by introducing the heist plots. And of course, i definitely enjoyed the epic battle with 5 dragons at the end of the book (even in such an epic battle, Hollins still managed to make me LOL)! This book deserves a strong 4/5 star rating! #bookstagram #thedragonlords #orbitbooks #fantasy #kjreadsfantasy #goodread #bookcollector #booknerd #booklover #bookaddict #bookoholic #beautifulbooks #bookstagrammer #bookreview #igread #bookgeek
Book 1 of the The Witcher Series: The Last Wish. I picked up this book with high expectations as there will be a TV series by Netflix based on this fantasy series (which was also highly recommended by other book reviewers). To be honest, I did not like this book. I understand that this series was published in Polish and translated into English. I think the translation created some problems here as I felt that the sentences and language to be not engaging to the audience at all. This is not the only problem I feel in this book.
We followed Geralt, a witcher, who was trained to hunt monsters for a living throughout the book. This book is, as the cover reveals, an “introduction” to the witcher. In other words, an introduction to Geralt as a character as well as the world building for the main series later on. But, I think Geralt’s character fell flat to me. There is also not much world building here. I understand that the author is trying to bring out the inner conflicts that Geralt is facing but it really fell flat and so bland.
I enjoyed reading the adventures of Geralt though it was portrayed in bits and pieces. These adventures were intended to be the flashbacks of Geralt and to introduce Geralt’s acquaintances. However, there is one part of the story which I felt illogical i.e. Geralt using his last wish to make Yennefer (a sorceress) to fall in love with him (and maybe have sex with him) during their battle with the djinn? I really don’t get it.
The only reason that I moved my initial rating of maybe 2.5 or 3 star to a 3.5/5 star is the major cliffhanger at the last chapter of the book. Overall, I would still want to continue with this series as this book is merely an introductory book and not the main series.
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