Book Review: The Witcher: The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski
A promising start to an exhilirating adventure.
The first chronological entry in the Witcher series, The Last Wish is a collection of short stories about the titular white haired hero, Geralt of Rivia. In it we follow Geralt's adventures which range from humorous to heartbreaking to intense. My favourite one is A Grain of Truth, but the Last Wish is the overall strongest in terms of writing and character development. I also really enjoyed the banquet scene in A Question of Price, the dialogue is expertly written and the atmosphere is amazing. In addition, I really want to see more of King Foltest, he is an absolute unit both here and in the games.
The one story that disappointed me was The Lesser Evil. Even though it contains one of Geralt's most iconic lines, it fails to build Renfri up as a character, so her dynamic with Geralt, which is the crux of the story, falls flat.
I really enjoyed Sapkowski's writing style; fast paced with intricate similes and clear to understand action. It also has instances of true genius which elevates it onto a whole another level. Being a fan of the games and the show, I had no difficulty immersing myself in Geralt's world and character; I even read all his lines in Cavill and/or Cockle's (Geralt's voice actor) voices! The world he has laid down draws heavily from Slavic folklore, and being Slavic myself I found a lot to grab onto and ground this world in reality. Suffice to say, the world is phenomenal.
Geralt seems like a typical grumpy antihero. As you read though, he really takes you by surprise by his eloquence. Who knew professional monster slayers had rhetoric in school! It's a nice change when compared to Geralt in other mediums in which he is very laconic and straight to the point. Another aspect of his which is truly compelling is his sense of morality. We all heard about the greyness of the Witcher world, but even here Geralt adds his own spin on it so it never becomes dull, though his morals are questionable at times.
Aside from Geralt, the side characters are mostly good. Dandelion (or Dandilion, I hate that spelling) is funny enough and almost never annoying. Almost... Yennefer is just malicious enough so as to not make the reader hate her, just stay on guard, like Geralt. The minor characters all have flavour, but I was disappointed with Filavandrel. He was kind of bland and I could not connect with him or his reasons and motives, which made the roaming Elves not stand out. I guess that's one thing the show got right.
As a first entry, this book is perfect. It doesn't reach the heights it could, but after all, it's just an introduction; I'm sure Sapkowski steps it up in the sequels. I wholly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys the prospect of magic, swords and grumpy main characters.