Reviews with content warning for War - Sword of Destiny

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Sword of Destiny by Andrzej Sapkowski

28 reviews

crowcrow's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad

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

4.5

(Originally posted on Goodreads.)

I'd give it a 4.5 but I had enough fun that I'm willing to rate it higher.

Edit: The more I think about this book the angrier I get. Yennefer and Geralt are a dumbass couple and their romance was so rushed, you cannot convince me that they're good together. Just fucking marry Jaskier already, the guy would sacrifice a leg for you.

That aside, book's fun. I like Ciri and her hot grandma.

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literatureleaf's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Age: 14+

Reading time: 15 days

Difficulty level: 2.5/5

Rating: 2/5

Sword of Destiny by Andrzej Sapkowski is simultaneously the first and second novel in The Witcher series. Published a year prior to The Last Wish, it serves as both the first book in a famous saga, and the continuation of the beloved character of Geralt of Rivia. Each chapter is its own separate, contained story, containing small glimmers of a larger tale that, as the reader falls more and more in love with Geralt and his companions with each turn of the page, simply begs to be told.

In classic Sapkowski fashion, Sword of Destiny proves to be an entertaining loose continuation to The Last Wish. Told in the same short story format, there is no major overarching plot, but rather bite-sized glimpses into the daily happenings of Geralt of Rivia that delight and charm the reader.

A fun read through and through, Sword of Destiny not only serves to entertain, but to promote deeper thinking and discourse. Told through the unique and inventive lens of reimagined fairy tales, themes of good and evil, the natural order of the world and who has a right to disrupt it, corruption, political order, and the circle of life can be found hiding amongst the gritty and glamorous monsters and fantasy worlds of the stories.

Sword of Destiny may be considered the second novel in The Witcher series, but it is Sapkowski’s first book, and throughout the reading process, it becomes evident that he had not quite found his footing as an author yet. The writing is clunky and at times limited, particularly in the first half of the book, and the flow of the stories feels choppy and forced.

Many of the same flaws that can be found in The Last Wish are even more pervasive in Sword of Destiny. Stilted, emotionless dialogue continues to be an issue, and repetition, both in conversation between characters and as a general literary device, is overused and contributes to the stale feeling that permeates the pages of the novel.

Sadly, the characterizations have a more cookie-cutter feel that is not as present in his other works. At times the characters, particularly Geralt and Yennefer, act in ways that are contrary to how they have been set up by Sapkowski to behave, and they seem to waffle back and forth between extremes when it comes to their decision making.

For instance, often a character will state whether they will or will not do something or explain how they are feeling about a certain action, then act in a completely contrarian way to what they have just said, with no further explanation for why they have made the decision. This leads to a jarring reading experience that results in feeling a central disconnect from the main characters.

Despite its flaws, Sword of Destiny is considered by many fantasy fans to be a must-read in the genre. Featuring beloved characters and plotlines that have been adapted for video games and television, the antics and adventures of the Witcher shine in the novels in a way that is unique to written media. Enmeshing adventure and fantasy with a grander understanding of the inner workings of humanity and love, Sword of Destiny captures what many fantasy readers love in a novel.

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forget_me_knots's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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marissab's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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bsparx's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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ritsuka's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective relaxing tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Opowiadania wyniesione na zupełnie inny level w porównaniu do „Ostatniego życzenia”! Cudownie napisane, z superpasją, polotem… wprowadzają w sagę, której nie mogę się już doczekać!

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pvbobrien's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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belladonnashrike's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

loved this. enjoyed it more than the first collection of short stories, but there’s clearly bias there because this book finally introduced ciri & yennefer was much more prevalent in these stories than in the other ones. also….mermaids!

there’s more weird fantasy misogyny in this one though. I just sigh and ignore it at this point, you really can’t escape it in this genre at all

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mattiedancer'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

4.75

Writing: 4.25⭐️/5

Much of this novel is beautifully written. I think I saved maybe 10-20 quotes throughout the book and that was without looking too hard for gorgeous passages. I do, however, draw an issue with some of the more misogynistic passages. I understand this is a part of the worldbuilding and is often used to demonstrate the bleakness of the world in which the characters live. However, these passages are often used in lieu of more interesting worldbuilding. I don’t really see the point of passively mentioning how a maid is getting SA’d and Geralt is annoyed by it. It just felt kind of lazy, but a laziness that was pretending to be clever.

Characters: 4.5⭐️/5

As far as well-written, thought-out, and developed characters go, it doesn’t get a lot of complaints from me. I would argue that several of the female characters relied heavily on tropes/stereotypes, which was a bit tiring at times as a reader given the depth of other characters. That being said, all the main characters were extremely well-fleshed out, which I really enjoyed reading.

Plot: 4.5⭐️/5

The short story format fit the material well. I found most of the plots just stunningly engaging and honestly really enjoyable. It was intriguing the way Sapkowski played off fairy tales in an entirely dark way. I really enjoyed it. This is what made it so confusing when he seemed to go out of his way to include a misogynistic side plot.

Post-Reading Rating: 4.5⭐️/5

Thoroughly enjoyable.

Who Should Read This?

Fans of Game of Thrones
Fans of bleak fantasy worlds
Fans of the Witcher show/game

CW: Sexual abuse, mentions of rape, sexual assault, murder, death

Final Rating: 4.75⭐️/5

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kevin_the_intern's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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