tupsukorva's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.0
Gets better towards the end!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Misogyny, and Torture
Minor: Sexual content
marinaxanna's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
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
2.5
probably my least favorite part in the series. it felt like it dragged on and progress felt so slow due to time switches. like a lot of build up to nothing basically, and only in the last part it felt like the plot was finally moving along.
im just waiting to feel that same ‘magic’ i felt while reading time of contempt. it was kind of lost for me in this part with the constant jumping back and forth. loved ciri and yennefers parts as well as geralts. wish all the side characters POVs were kept to a minimum, maybe for intros and interludes only. i get its helpful storytelling to let readers know whats happening in the world by choosing to use different characters but there were just way too many. the story would be stronger by sticking to geralt/ciri/yennefer. dijkstra is SO boring to me, and triss feels/felt underdeveloped (i feel like she deserved better because i loved her moments with ciri in prior parts).
anyway. one more part. i really hope the pace picks up. and more magic! because i think its such a huge subject in this universe and its been kind of neglected.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Death, Gore, and Physical abuse
excepto's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Mam wrażenie że Sapkowskiemu, piszącemu książkę w której nic się nie dzieje, a czyny prawie wszystkich bohaterów nie mają wpływu na ostateczną sytuację, udaje się dalej opowiedzieć historię o wielu rzeczach.
Czuję, że im bardziej czytam tym bardziej wiem czemu mi nie leży adaptacja serialowa, wiedźmin to w małym stopniu historia o zabijaczu potworów, bardziej o politycznych intrygach, na szczeblu głów państw, jak i drobnych rzezimieszków. Najgorszymi potworami stałe są ludzie, którzy nie powstrzymują się przed niczym.
Czuję, że im bardziej czytam tym bardziej wiem czemu mi nie leży adaptacja serialowa, wiedźmin to w małym stopniu historia o zabijaczu potworów, bardziej o politycznych intrygach, na szczeblu głów państw, jak i drobnych rzezimieszków. Najgorszymi potworami stałe są ludzie, którzy nie powstrzymują się przed niczym.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, Cursing, Medical content, Misogyny, Sexual content, Slavery, Child abuse, Torture, Transphobia, Drug use, Infidelity, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Animal death, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, War, and Xenophobia
kirj's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Rape and Child abuse
Minor: Vomit
mischastink's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Torture, and Gore
Moderate: Sexual violence and Rape
saltylane's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
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
4.0
Despite how confusing the jumping around of the narration could be, I did quite enjoy the varying viewpoints used. It was interesting to be able to read all the different characters’ perspectives. There are a lot of cliffhangers and enough intrigue to make me want to keep reading all the way to the end of the story/series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Physical abuse, Murder, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Child death, Child abuse, Body horror, and Blood
Moderate: Alcohol and War
Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Drug use, Grief, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, and Vomit
saneyossarian's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Rape
bobstick's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A great story told in many flashbacks which can be hard to grasp the exact timeline, but still a rather simple story to understand as it's all explained and written quite well. This book mainly focuses on Ciri with Geralt only really being a side character, a complete switch on the previous book, but I think works in the series' favour.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, Kidnapping, and Animal death
knkoch's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I wonder what difference it would make to read these books cover to cover. It would be a weighty undertaking, considering the number of books in the series, but easier in perhaps in clarity.
I’m not doing that, which impacts my memory of the details. This is a big world, with l o t s of place names and characters of no small significance. I’ve been forging on with the sense that some details are passing over my head, but trusting that I’m grasping enough of the general plot to get by. I wish there was a map of the region contained, like in the Lord of the Rings; I’m very lost as to the geography of this place, and which regions border each other.
Sapkowski does a lot of misdirection with the way they story is told. It’s quite brilliant, and underlines both the nature of storytelling (passed around like rumors and embroidered by the teller) and the historical context it resides in (as some parts of the plot are relayed years after their occurrence). It’s a nice way to avoid dwelling forever in one character’s head, and more creative than endless third-person. It’s nice to jump perspectives, even from Geralt, once in awhile!
None of the books in the main plot line (starting with Blood of Elves) has given me a strong stand-alone sense of identity as a book; they feel like continuations of each other as the plot unfolds. But this is just my first reading, so separating them could get easier with greater familiarity. The magic in this world doesn’t operate from a sense of logic or rules that we’re privy to as the reader; it often acts as a plot device we just have to trust. I liked that Ciri emerged as a strongly-defined character here, and her scenes in this book were the best. I’m deeply confused about Yennefer’s role, owing to memory deficiency and (intentional?) plot obscurity. But my heart belongs to Regis.
I’m not doing that, which impacts my memory of the details. This is a big world, with l o t s of place names and characters of no small significance. I’ve been forging on with the sense that some details are passing over my head, but trusting that I’m grasping enough of the general plot to get by. I wish there was a map of the region contained, like in the Lord of the Rings; I’m very lost as to the geography of this place, and which regions border each other.
Sapkowski does a lot of misdirection with the way they story is told. It’s quite brilliant, and underlines both the nature of storytelling (passed around like rumors and embroidered by the teller) and the historical context it resides in (as some parts of the plot are relayed years after their occurrence). It’s a nice way to avoid dwelling forever in one character’s head, and more creative than endless third-person. It’s nice to jump perspectives, even from Geralt, once in awhile!
None of the books in the main plot line (starting with Blood of Elves) has given me a strong stand-alone sense of identity as a book; they feel like continuations of each other as the plot unfolds. But this is just my first reading, so separating them could get easier with greater familiarity. The magic in this world doesn’t operate from a sense of logic or rules that we’re privy to as the reader; it often acts as a plot device we just have to trust. I liked that Ciri emerged as a strongly-defined character here, and her scenes in this book were the best. I’m deeply confused about Yennefer’s role, owing to memory deficiency and (intentional?) plot obscurity. But my heart belongs to Regis.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Gore
susysstories's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
A lot more going on in this instalment, making it easier to read but yet, this isn’t one of my favorite series. I find most characters quite unlikable, yes even Ciri. I’m growing tired of all the fighting, blood shedding, condescending talk about women, etc. I feel like the magic is secondary to all the fighting. Also, the going back and forth in time isn’t doing it for me in this book. Will definitely finish the series and I’m curious to see how I like the show, but as I said, not my favorite series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Torture, and Violence