3/5 stars.
ebook, 409 pages.
Read from November 9, 2019 to November 25, 2019.
I tried to do the responsible thing and wait to get this book from the library but after reading The Last Wish and the Sword of Destiny and loving them I decided I couldn’t wait to continue into this series and bought a copy for myself.
After finally accepting his fate, Geralt has found himself protecting and caring for Ciri, the orphaned princess and the only remaining royal bloodline of Cintra. Ciri is quickly becoming skilled with a sword under the Witcher’s guidance but an old friend and lover of Geralt, Triss, points out Ciri’s serious magical potential. Ciri then begins to learn the skills of a sorceress to ensure she can control her powers and hopeful stop the horrible nightmares that have been keeping her awake at night. However, Ciri is still being hunted. Rience, a powerful mage, tortures Geralt’s friend, Dandelion, to find the whereabouts of Ciri and ends up being saved by Yennifer. Geralt then pursues Rience while Ciri falls into Yennifer’s care in order to protect her.
The storyline in this book is not what I hoped it would be for the first official novel on Geralt. The short story style in the last two books seemed more concise and engaging whereas this book felt convoluted. Perhaps this novel is just laying a lot of detailed groundwork so that the next novel is seamless? I hope so. I still enjoyed the book, especially the character-building with Yennifer and Ciri and their bond, but the plot itself was lacklustre compared to the last two books. The focus of the previous books was more linear whereas this book the focus changes a few too many times between characters as well as on some uninteresting politics.
Here’s hoping that the focus in the next book is narrower and more concise as I am looking forward to seeing how Ciri and Geralt’s fate unfolds. Overall, this book is likely still a necessary book in the series and I’m hoping to see the rest of the books continue on the same track as the previous two.
The Pluviophile Writer 