Reviews with content warning for Blood - The Tower of the Swallow

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.

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saneyossarian's review against another edition

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adventurous dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

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bobstick's review against another edition

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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.

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knkoch's review against another edition

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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.

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susysstories's review against another edition

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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.

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camoo3032's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

One of the things I love about this series is the different perspectives that Sapkowski chooses to tell the story from. In this book there are several different perspectives which almost makes the book read as a collection of interwoven short stories. It's very clever and engaging but I did find it disorienting the first time.
It's also the most gruesome novel in the series

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tilo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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

Auch dieses Buch der Hexerreihe führt fort, was die Vorgänger geschaffen haben. Die Komplexität der Charaktere und wie sich alle Plotstränge in der Welt zusammenfügen sind unsagbar beeindruckend.
Vysogota habe ich als neu eingeführten Charakter sehr lieb gewonnen und habe die Szenen mit ihm sehr genossen.

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