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A review by olivera420
The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski
2.0
Overall this is a solid beginning to the series. I don't usually like short story collections but here it was very well done with one overarching story and the rest set in the past as Geralt's memories. And the stories themselves were mostly very good with interesting twists to the classic fairy tales. Unfortunately I didn't like most of the characters and most of the stories had boring exposition as a way to get the Witcher up to date with whats happening. Also there was a lot of unnecessary female nudity. But I'm really looking forward to reading the next book since the premise is interesting and I hope there'll be less questionable things in the sequels.
There was a lot of gratuitous female nudity in every single story. For example when Geralt and Yennefer are fighting close to the end of the last story there was this:
And there was one very questionable scene in the first story where Geralt managed to turn the striga back into a 14 year old girl and we get this description of her:
Since we're in Geralt's mind as the stories are basically told as his memories of past missions, this is how he saw her, her breasts get more detailed description than her face. And he is much older, I'm guessing over 50 since training witchers takes a lot of time and he's been a witcher for a while by this point. To me at least Geralt comes across as a creep here.
Dandilion was a terrible character. When he tried to make his wishes from the djinn in the last story, his wishes were to kill his rival and rape a girl. The second wish was to magically get a girl that didn't like him to have sex with him against her will - in summary, he wanted to rape her.
And Geralt himself wasn't a very compelling character. We don't really get to know him in this book even though it's written from his perspective. I can't tell what his personality is like based on this first book.
Spoiler
What I didn't likeThere was a lot of gratuitous female nudity in every single story. For example when Geralt and Yennefer are fighting close to the end of the last story there was this:
The sudden move split her dress at the armpit, revealing a shapely breast.
Geralt grabbed her by the hands and, to avoid being hit by her forehead, thrust his face into the sorceress's cleavage which smelled of lilac, gooseberries and oysters.
And there was one very questionable scene in the first story where Geralt managed to turn the striga back into a 14 year old girl and we get this description of her:
She was rather ugly. Slim with small pointed breasts, and dirty.
Since we're in Geralt's mind as the stories are basically told as his memories of past missions, this is how he saw her, her breasts get more detailed description than her face. And he is much older, I'm guessing over 50 since training witchers takes a lot of time and he's been a witcher for a while by this point. To me at least Geralt comes across as a creep here.
Dandilion was a terrible character. When he tried to make his wishes from the djinn in the last story, his wishes were to kill his rival and rape a girl. The second wish was to magically get a girl that didn't like him to have sex with him against her will - in summary, he wanted to rape her.
"My wishes," continued the poet, "are as follows. Firstly, may Valdo Marx, the troubadour of Cidaris, die of apoplexy as soon as possible. Secondly, there's a count's daughter in Caelf called Virginia who refuses all advances. May she succumb to mine. Thirdly-"
And Geralt himself wasn't a very compelling character. We don't really get to know him in this book even though it's written from his perspective. I can't tell what his personality is like based on this first book.