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A review by bigbookslilreads
Sword of Destiny by Andrzej Sapkowski
4.0
My feelings were shattered tenfold with this book. If [b:The Last Wish|40603587|The Last Wish (The Witcher, #0.5)|Andrzej Sapkowski|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1529591917l/40603587._SX50_.jpg|2293675] starting pecking at my heart, this book just tore it open and left it bleeding. Could I love these characters more? Could this world be even more interesting? I'm pretty sure it can and will, but with the level of quality so far, colour me impressed.
This collection has no major narrative structural frame like The Voice of Reason in The Last Wish. The cronology seems pretty linear in this one however, even though there are a few moments of dream-like states where a reader might be confused. Besides that, the writing has significantly improved from the first instalment, and I don't know if that's due to the improvement of the writer's technique or the translator's habituation to the style. Exposition is a lot more subtle, characters have grown from the first to the second collection, or grow tremendously in this instalment itself, and descriptions and style are even more beautifully crafted. I had a lot more awe by Sapkowski's dark retellings and short stories in The Last Wish, perhaps because it was the first time I was exposed to his writing. In Sword of Destiny I found some stories not as crucial to the overall plot (e.g. Eternal Fire, A Little Sacrifice), so my fascination was deemed a wee smidge. However, all of them were a pleasure to read and tugged on my emotions. Those that had significant plot-weight and world building potential left me floored and begging for mercy because my feels were hit HARD ().
The set-up in The Last Wish paid off in this second short story collection of the Witcher series. We continue to follow Geralt and learn of what became of his entanglement with Yennefer, of his foray into the Law of Surprise in the kingdom of Cintra, among other things. What unites these stories is not just Geralt being tugged back and forth in the war between good and evil, chaos and order... it's also him learning to accept his destiny.
If there is anything that this series is succeeding at is building up its characters and the interactions between them. While there are some action-packed moments that the author is skillful in writing, this is mostly still a character-based series and I believe it will continue to be so. I felt deeply connected to Geralt's struggles and fears, but also empathised with those of other characters. I even grew more attached to Dandelion, who I found profoundly irritating in The Last Wish (he is still irritating, just now I find him more loveable).
Besides the slight less engagement I had with some of the stories in this instalment, if there is anything else negative that I can point out, it's the blatant sexism in some parts. While less frequent than in The Last Wish, there were some moments where women were assaulted and objectified for no good plot-reason. Just because. Sapkowski also seems to have an obsession with describing breasts. Alas. Not a fan of that.
But hey, if you can look past it, the rest of the story is amazing. And Geralt is a joy of a character to be in the head of. He's kind of an anti-hero, but deeply attached to a code of honour and to his morals, and he respects others to a fault.
I am even more excited to see what Sapkowski can pull off in novel form, so you can catch me reading [b:Blood of Elves|6043781|Blood of Elves (Witcher, #1)|Andrzej Sapkowski|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1443278828l/6043781._SY75_.jpg|1877722] soon!
This collection has no major narrative structural frame like The Voice of Reason in The Last Wish. The cronology seems pretty linear in this one however, even though there are a few moments of dream-like states where a reader might be confused. Besides that, the writing has significantly improved from the first instalment, and I don't know if that's due to the improvement of the writer's technique or the translator's habituation to the style. Exposition is a lot more subtle, characters have grown from the first to the second collection, or grow tremendously in this instalment itself, and descriptions and style are even more beautifully crafted. I had a lot more awe by Sapkowski's dark retellings and short stories in The Last Wish, perhaps because it was the first time I was exposed to his writing. In Sword of Destiny I found some stories not as crucial to the overall plot (e.g. Eternal Fire, A Little Sacrifice), so my fascination was deemed a wee smidge. However, all of them were a pleasure to read and tugged on my emotions. Those that had significant plot-weight and world building potential left me floored and begging for mercy because my feels were hit HARD (
Spoiler
I had to cry every time Ciri begged for Geralt to stay with her T__T, when Geralt found himself feeling lonely, when he couldn't stop thinking about Yennefer evenThe set-up in The Last Wish paid off in this second short story collection of the Witcher series. We continue to follow Geralt and learn of what became of his entanglement with Yennefer, of his foray into the Law of Surprise in the kingdom of Cintra, among other things. What unites these stories is not just Geralt being tugged back and forth in the war between good and evil, chaos and order... it's also him learning to accept his destiny.
If there is anything that this series is succeeding at is building up its characters and the interactions between them. While there are some action-packed moments that the author is skillful in writing, this is mostly still a character-based series and I believe it will continue to be so. I felt deeply connected to Geralt's struggles and fears, but also empathised with those of other characters. I even grew more attached to Dandelion, who I found profoundly irritating in The Last Wish (he is still irritating, just now I find him more loveable).
Besides the slight less engagement I had with some of the stories in this instalment, if there is anything else negative that I can point out, it's the blatant sexism in some parts. While less frequent than in The Last Wish, there were some moments where women were assaulted and objectified for no good plot-reason. Just because. Sapkowski also seems to have an obsession with describing breasts. Alas. Not a fan of that.
But hey, if you can look past it, the rest of the story is amazing. And Geralt is a joy of a character to be in the head of. He's kind of an anti-hero, but deeply attached to a code of honour and to his morals, and he respects others to a fault.
I am even more excited to see what Sapkowski can pull off in novel form, so you can catch me reading [b:Blood of Elves|6043781|Blood of Elves (Witcher, #1)|Andrzej Sapkowski|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1443278828l/6043781._SY75_.jpg|1877722] soon!