The Last Wish (The Witcher #0.5)

Summary:

Geralt the Witcher—revered and hated—is a man whose magic powers, enhanced by long training and a mysterious elixir, have made him a brilliant fighter and a merciless assassin. Yet he is no ordinary murderer: his targets are the multifarious monsters and vile fiends that ravage the land and attack the innocent.

But not everything monstrous-looking is evil and not everything fair is good... and in every fairy tale there is a grain of truth. (Summary and cover courtesy of goodreads.com)

Review:

I kept hearing about The Witcher from Netflix / video game, but then I realized it was a book series and it was highly recommended.  Goodreads recommended starting with “The Last Wish” and since fantasy epics tend to do better when you have the background I decided to go with the recommended order.  This is a collection of short stories about the character we get to know as Geralt the Witcher, which is a profession that seems to be going out of business.

Several of the stories are loose retellings of classic fairytales, but more on the Grimm spectrum than the Disney series.  I liked that Geralt is a bit of monk who is following his own rules, trying to be the hero, but completely unacknowledged for his efforts.  He’s a bit sexist at various points, but curious to see how this develops.  I’ll definitely be continuing with the series…whenever the next book actually comes up at the library!

Warning: Contains repeated violence.

Rating: 4 stars!

Who should read it? Fantasy fans who want to find out what’s going on with the inspiration for the video game.

Want to read the whole series?

• Season of Storms (The Witcher Prequel)

• Sword of Destiny (The Witcher Short Stories)

• The Road with No Return (The Witcher Short Story)

• Blood of Elves (The Witcher #1)

• The Time of Contempt (The Witcher #2)

• Baptism of Fire (The Witcher #3)

• The Tower of the Swollow (The Witcher #4)

• Lady of the Lake (The Witcher #5)