Reviews with content warning for Murder - The Last Wish

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The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski

34 reviews

shelbyslifer's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

3.0

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calamitydane's review against another edition

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adventurous funny tense medium-paced

5.0

A male power fantasy but a great one. I love the adaptation of classic stories to this world. I love the characters. I love how they interact. Jaskier (Dandelion) and Geralt's relationship is so well written. They really sound like old friends and I smile every time they have scenes together.

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crowcrow's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny

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

4.5

It's fun. I liked that it was dark and gritty, I'd say it perfectly presented what living in the middle ages must've been like. Minus the ghouls, of course. I was also pleasantly surprised with how complex certain characters were. The book never tried painting anyone as pure evil or good, most were differing shades of gray, and I loved it! Depth! Something different!

There are some low brow moments, but if you can look past those I think you'll have as good as a time as I did.

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ellahoward_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny fast-paced

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

4.75

This book throws you in at the deep end, immersing you in magic, mystery and monsters. It helped having context from the Netflix show, but I just loved the sarcastic one liners from Geralt. I would note that you should be aware that at some points there are references about sexual objectification of women that were uncomfortable, but overall was an interesting start to the Witcher world.

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lidia7's review against another edition

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adventurous

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A

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brittni_in_ink's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.25

I enjoyed this more than I expected! The episodic format and time jumps were interesting, and I liked getting to know Geralt and his main circle through the short stories that make up the book. The "monsters" had nuance to them, and the action sequences were very well written. Having fairy tale references throughout was also interesting! Also props to the translation team - the quality of the writing really shone through.

I'd played a little of the Witcher 3 before reading this, so I was familiar with the characters and the kinds of stories I'd encounter. But I didn't expect the book to be so funny. There were some legit laugh out loud moments. Geralt does say "hmmm" a lot.

Overall, the lore and the characters were compelling, and I'll definitely continue reading through the series.

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literatureleaf's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.5

Age: 15+

Reading time: 2 days

Difficulty level: 3/5

Overall Rating: 7/10

The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski is the second novel in The Witcher series, but it serves as an excellent starting point into the world of the beloved Geralt of Rivia. Told in short story format, with hints of a longer, overarching plotline in between, this book introduces the reader to who Geralt is, what makes him tick, and the characters who will eventually come to play a much larger role in his story.

The bite-sized tales featured in this novel are entertaining, easy to follow, and manage to keep the focus on Geralt while honoring the uniqueness and differentiation of the other characters in the story. Each one feels distinctly separate from the rest but remains in keeping with the overall mood and tone of the book.

Sapkowski excels at taking the short story format and doing something larger than life within it. He maintains a masterful plot, that contains hints of mystery, romance, and an origin story, despite the appearance of a book that, at first glance, seems to be comprised of separate, contained stories that have little to do with one another, aside from the main character.

Where The Last Wish struggles is with dialogue. The conversation is often stilted and repetitive, and many of the side characters felt like carbon copies of one another because of this. Much of the dialogue gave off the impression that it was not well thought out, and that it was written because Sapkowski felt like it needed to be there, rather than for an actual literary need for conversation.

Repetition in general was an issue throughout this book. Lines of prose were repeated quite often, to the point that it made focusing on the story itself difficult. Many passages felt clunky and, much like with the dialogue, as if they were written simply to fill blank spaces on the page rather than to enhance the story. This book was originally written in Polish, so, admittedly, some of these gripes may result from things that were lost in translation.

At its core, The Last Wish is a beloved fantasy novel with cherished characters who have earned well-deserved video game and television adaptations. Packed with action, fight scenes, and fairy tale parallels, it weaves the riveting narrative of a being who is finding his place in a world where he was created to kill. Hidden within the gory battles and captivating fights are bits of perfectly timed sarcasm and dry humor, expertly penned political and class commentary, and not-so-gentle reminders that real evil can be found lurking within humanity, not monsters.

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