Blood of Elves - Andrzej Sapkowski (reread)

⭐ 8.0/10

(Originally written by Joseph)

I read this book sometime last year, but wanted to do a seperate review now because my thoughts have really evolved as I've been on this Witcher journey. I didn't love it last time, and I blamed a lot of that on the audiobook experience. Now I've been reading through all the physical versions, and I can definitely confirm that going audio for the first read through is a terrible idea. This book has so much going on that it's almost impossible to catch the political machinations and world building while just listening. This story is also probably about 70% from a female perspective, much of that being Ciri, and that just always sounds weird coming from an adult man reader.

But anyways, I loved the first two books. They were all short stories and they focused on Geralt. This book, the first of the Witcher saga proper, was definitely a bit of a step down for me. It focuses less on Geralt, whom I'm in love with, and more on other characters who simply aren't as interesting to me. I'd say when the story is about Geralt, this book is awesome, and when it's about anyone else it's merely good.

I'm still quite optimistic for the rest of the series. My first reason is that two translators have worked on the series, and in my opinion the lesser of the two did the translation for this book. I've begun the next in the series and I think the style is quite noticeable. Second, I assume there will be more Geralt. This is the Witcher saga afterall! Third, there was a lot of pure exposition setting up the world and conflict in this one. I actually think the author uses some genius writing devices to do this, but in the end it's just not as interesting to me as the actual story and characters I care about. The second book has already felt like it can more freely focus on them and that makes me happy.

So in summary, this book is still not perfect upon reread in my opinion, though I think it's great. I suppose I just resent the author for any page he writes that isn't about my beloved, but I have started to really like the other characters also. I think the writing style is still awesome and unique, and I love how the author writes with this great sense of humor. It's seen a little less here, but the two letters Geralt reads made me chuckle. But this is still a good book and a good enough starting point for the saga. I'm optimistic for the future books and confident it can reclaim the magic of the first two books I read.