Sword of Destiny - Andrzej Sapkowski

⭐ 9.5/10

(Originally written by Joseph)

Really, really love this series. This is the second Witcher book, and is another collection of short stories about Geralt. This one felt a bit more linear than The Last Wish and most of the stories seemed to set up the Witcher Saga proper with stories about Ciri and the war with Nilfgard. But each story is still mostly self-contained using one strong theme throughout and wrapping up by the end.

I just really dig this formula. Each story feels really well thought out and crafted. They feel smart and written with care, and it's one of those series where you start and feel like you're in good hands with a good writer for as long as they'll write books. These books truly have inspired a love of reading that my life has been lacking for quite some time.

Definitely some minor quibbles keeping it just short of a perfect score. I don't really dig the romance, mostly because I'm not into Yennefer. The question also still remains on whether the author is a little sexist, or if the world he writes about is. I definitely think there might be some of the former, unfortunately, and I won't try too hard to defend a 70 year old white European guy writing decades ago. Still, I think he writes some really great female characters, and let's just chalk some off-handed sentences up to translation issues, shall we?

But overall, I just love Geralt. He's a character that is noble enough to want to spend 8 books with, and complex enough to remain interesting. Really looking forward to starting the actual Witcher saga, but admittedly a tad nervous that it won't have the same magic of the short stories. But the author wears his Tolkien inspiration on his sleeve, and I really hope some more of you might pick these up so we can discuss. They have a really high recommendation from me.