chirson's review against another edition
4.0
I am quite happy to say that I take my 2000s dislike and disappointment back: upon re-reading, I loved the conclusion of the saga. Not completely, I still have my qualms, but I have much more appreciation.
Sapkowski does a really great job of bringing together and subverting two toxic narratives - Polish martyrology/nationalist narcissism and epic-and-military fantasy's romanticising of war "heroism". War is ugly from every direction you look, and what comes after is often not much better. And while I poked fun at Sapkowski's use of a variety of POVs and metafictional devices in volume 4, here they actually work when telling war and post-war stories and bringing them to bear on the myths about heroism the last hundred years of history of this particular place on Earth has created. There are specifically parts that hghlight as evil not just obvious and uncontroversial acts of genocide (like the monstrosity of antisemitic pogroms, which no one but the most shameless nazi will defend) but also events Polish history still struggles with acknowledging, like war crimes against German settlers/settlers of German extraction, cursed soldiers as war criminals killing Orthodox minority and so on.
The entire battle of Brenna section was powerfully rendered and constructed. It made me cry, it brought together subplots from earlier on in the saga, and the perspective provided by the flashforward sections made it utterly chilling.
And then there's the famous ending.
I found this volume somewhat derivative of Zelazny's Amber when I first read it, but I read Amber so long ago and remember so little of it that it no longer bugs me!
I still hate the Forest Grandpa (or however that got translated) a lot and don't think it was that necessary, contributed that much or worked well. I hope it doesn't make it to the show.
I am not sure if an international reader will get half as much out of this novel as a Polish one may do (there are as many very particularly Polish historical details as there are literary allusions and allusions to world history) but I think it's still worth reading. Re-reading made me a little more disappointed in the Netflix series - I am convinced the decision to go more grimdark and less postmodern in it actually detracts from the potential of this story, and some plot changes make it more difficult to provide us with moral ambiguity - but also even more impatient to see how the showrunner and writers tackle the complexity of this story. It has a lot to offer still.
Sapkowski does a really great job of bringing together and subverting two toxic narratives - Polish martyrology/nationalist narcissism and epic-and-military fantasy's romanticising of war "heroism". War is ugly from every direction you look, and what comes after is often not much better. And while I poked fun at Sapkowski's use of a variety of POVs and metafictional devices in volume 4, here they actually work when telling war and post-war stories and bringing them to bear on the myths about heroism the last hundred years of history of this particular place on Earth has created. There are specifically parts that hghlight as evil not just obvious and uncontroversial acts of genocide (like the monstrosity of antisemitic pogroms, which no one but the most shameless nazi will defend) but also events Polish history still struggles with acknowledging, like war crimes against German settlers/settlers of German extraction, cursed soldiers as war criminals killing Orthodox minority and so on.
The entire battle of Brenna section was powerfully rendered and constructed. It made me cry, it brought together subplots from earlier on in the saga, and the perspective provided by the flashforward sections made it utterly chilling.
And then there's the famous ending.
Spoiler
I am still very unhappy with Regis not getting to be in the afterlife! And I'm not ultimately a fan of tragic endings as tragic as this one (even if it's communicated and foreshadowed clearly from the very beginning). But I see what Sapkowski does here - his story, to me, ultimately defends lost causes and demands ethical action even when its outcome is bound to be grim. And the statements about victims of war and bigotry that he makes in the final sections may be obvious but still need saying in this place and in this time, perhaps even more than when he first wrote them.I found this volume somewhat derivative of Zelazny's Amber when I first read it, but I read Amber so long ago and remember so little of it that it no longer bugs me!
I still hate the Forest Grandpa (or however that got translated) a lot and don't think it was that necessary, contributed that much or worked well. I hope it doesn't make it to the show.
I am not sure if an international reader will get half as much out of this novel as a Polish one may do (there are as many very particularly Polish historical details as there are literary allusions and allusions to world history) but I think it's still worth reading. Re-reading made me a little more disappointed in the Netflix series - I am convinced the decision to go more grimdark and less postmodern in it actually detracts from the potential of this story, and some plot changes make it more difficult to provide us with moral ambiguity - but also even more impatient to see how the showrunner and writers tackle the complexity of this story. It has a lot to offer still.
barney100's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
reading_kitkat's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
3.75
kind of a let down for an ending
sunnydreads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
meiswerth33's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
schluschli's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
juliette_bunny's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
amoore126's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
emilyburns8's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars
im unwell, im happy, my heart is broken, geralt and yen forever. going to play the game for the 4737379465th time to fill the well of sadness i have from nearly finishing this beautiful series. depictions of war, xenophobia, racism, and sexism that are handled masterfully and consistently fought against by our hero, geralt of rivia. i love you forever, white wolf <3 can’t wait to see you in the NEXT BOOK
im unwell, im happy, my heart is broken, geralt and yen forever. going to play the game for the 4737379465th time to fill the well of sadness i have from nearly finishing this beautiful series. depictions of war, xenophobia, racism, and sexism that are handled masterfully and consistently fought against by our hero, geralt of rivia. i love you forever, white wolf <3 can’t wait to see you in the NEXT BOOK
lucyspooner66's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0