Hardcover, 352 pages
English language
Published Dec. 7, 2021 by Orbit.
Geralt de Rivia is a witcher. A cunning sorcerer. A merciless assassin. And a cold-blooded killer.His sole purpose: to destroy the monsters that plague the world. But not everything monstrous-looking is evil and not everything fair is good. . . and in every fairy tale there is a grain of truth. The international hit that inspired the video game: The Witcher.
It’s a fun fantasy world but it tries to be so clever sometimes that the stories get a little confusing. The conclusion of most of the plots usually ends up being less satisfying than the build up would lead one to hope for. Nevertheless, Geralt and Dandelion are super fun and I’ll probably read more of the series.
DE: Nach Serie und Spiel gebe ich mich nun auch mal an die Bücher. Band 1 der Vorgeschichte hat mir gut gefallen, auch wenn natürlich einiges in den Grundzügen bekannt war. Es ist eher eine lose Sammlung an Kurzgeschichten, was ich vorher wusste und dem Lesen keinen Abbruch tut. Einzig mit dem Schreibstil (bzw. der deutschen Übersetzung) werde ich nicht ganz warm.
EN: After the TV show and the game, I will now delve deeper into the Witcher saga by reading the books. I really liked Part One of the prelude, even though most of the general story was already known. It is more a collection of short stories than one continuous story, but I knew that beforehand and enjoyed it nonetheless. Just the writing style (or at least the German translation) is not quit my cup of tea.
That was fun. I like the writing style and the retelling of fairy tales. I find a secret pleasure in short stories that you can read apart one after another.
I am a little bit pissed at the portrayal of some characters. It was also hard to get in on the first book, because it was slightly confusing, but in general really want to continue.
3.5 stars.
I've played a bit of Witcher 3, watched a friend play a bit more, and then saw the TV Show (season 1). 80% of the content for season 1 comes from this one book, so it helped clear a lot of issues I had with the show (mainly around the pacing, and chronology).
Some of the chapters that were not adapted were quite refreshing. Especially the one about the Devyl's origin.
Things I liked:
- Interesting worldbuilding. A lot of it adapts tropes, myths and sometimes subverts tropes in unexpected ways. Since a Witcher exists to kill monsters, we get to see lots and lots of monsters, some mythical, lots made up, and a few monster-like but not really monsters.
- Witcher's internal monologue.
- Weird comic interventions. Often by characters doing non-genre stuff.
- One other unexpected finding was how "scientific" the book's viewpoint is. Witcher magic …
3.5 stars.
I've played a bit of Witcher 3, watched a friend play a bit more, and then saw the TV Show (season 1). 80% of the content for season 1 comes from this one book, so it helped clear a lot of issues I had with the show (mainly around the pacing, and chronology).
Some of the chapters that were not adapted were quite refreshing. Especially the one about the Devyl's origin.
Things I liked:
- Interesting worldbuilding. A lot of it adapts tropes, myths and sometimes subverts tropes in unexpected ways. Since a Witcher exists to kill monsters, we get to see lots and lots of monsters, some mythical, lots made up, and a few monster-like but not really monsters.
- Witcher's internal monologue.
- Weird comic interventions. Often by characters doing non-genre stuff.
- One other unexpected finding was how "scientific" the book's viewpoint is. Witcher magic is fairly systematic, and Geralt is a staunch atheist, despite living in a world where he meets a God, and sees minor miracles via priests. There was also a really interesting tidbit about greenhouses, UV rays, and genetic mutations play a big role in the storyline.
Things the show did better:
- Using Jaskier instead of Dandelion as the name. Dandelion is what the english edition uses, Jaskier is apparently the polish edition - and works better I think.
- Music. I don't think Jaskier actually sings anything long anywhere in the book, but having Jaskier sing in the show makes for a much more lively tone.
