Tag: books made into video games

Lady of the Lake by Andrzej Sapkowski

“Destiny isn’t the judgements of providence, isn’t scrolls written by the hand of a demiurge, isn’t fatalism. Destiny is hope. Being full of hope, believing that what is meant to happen will happen.”

4/5 stars.
ebook, 352 pages.
Read from October 4, 2021 to October 17, 2021.

An 8 Sentence Review:

If you’ve played the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, this book fills in some interesting pieces of that game that aren’t mentioned or discussed, however, the plot differs in terms of the main antagonist.

Continuing from where The Tower of Swallows left off, Ciri finds herself in an unknown realm on her own. The realm is unfamiliar to her and the elf inhabitants are unpleasant and indifferent to her despite their apparent vested interest in her as the child of prophecy. She is held captive by the elves and needs to find a way to escape this realm and find her way back to Geralt, despite the dangers she still faces in her own realm both from the war that is raging and from the Bonhart, who tortured and is still chasing her.

This read was an exciting end to Geralt and Ciri’s story and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Ciri’s times with the elves and the escapades it took to get her out of that realm. These last two books were the best in the series so far, next to The Last Wish (still the best Witcher book, in my opinion) and if you play the games, these books provide interesting details on characters and additional storylines that aren’t explained in the games. A solid read and a great finale to the series.

The Tower of Swallows by Andrzej Sapkowski

“They are not demons, not devils…Worse than that. They are people.”

4/5 stars.
ebook, 352 pages.
Read from September 19, 2021 to October 3, 2021.

An 8 Sentence Review:

It’s been a pleasure to read this book while also playing and being completely engrossed by the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt video game. There are so many characters and story references that are alluded to in the video game that come from the book series that would make no sense to anyone who has not had the pleasure of reading them.

After finding the last two books in the series full of too much lore and politics, this was a much needed change of pace. Geralt can’t find Ciri, the child of prophecy, and war is erupting all around. The plot of this story focuses mostly on Ciri and how she manages to escape the capture of a terrifying bounty hunter, as well as realising how much of the prophecy involving her is true. The writing style still feels a bit clunky, similar to the others in the series, but it’s hard to determine if that’s the fault of the translator or the author. The story itself is still immensely gripping, however, and I would mark this book as my favourite next to The Last Wish. A must-read for lovers of the the Witcher series and video games.

The Time of Contempt by Andrzej Sapkowski

“That’s the role of poetry, Ciri. To say what others cannot utter.”

4/5 stars.
ebook, 336 pages.
Read from January 19, 2020 to January 28, 2020.

Have I mentioned how much I love the world of Geralt? Well, I do. Whether it’s from the books, the video games, and now the TV show there are many ways I can now indulge in this world. If you haven’t watched the TV series, you might be a bit lost for a few episodes if you haven’t read the books or played the games as the timeline jumps around a lot with no warning. Believe me when I say it’s worth it. The show is outstanding and much to my surprise Henry Cavill played Geralt absolutely perfectly, as I had serious doubts before.

This book picks up where Blood of Elves left off. Ciri has been training with Yennifer and they haven’t seen Geralt in a long time. Ciri is proving to be a promising student and the bond between Ciri and Yennifer grows deep. As Ciri ages, like most pre-teens, she doesn’t always want to listen to Yennifer and it gets her in some big trouble in this book. Yennifer wants to enrol Ciri in a school in Aretuza where she will be able to continue learning about sorcery and magic in safety but Ciri has other ideas and runs off in search of Geralt when she learns that he might be nearby. Ciri’s escape doesn’t go unnoticed by other sorceresses who mistaken her for a runaway from the nearby school. This leads to arguments during a mage’s conference that both Geralt and Yennifer end up attending. What neither of them know, is that a coup is brewing within the mages that threaten everyone’s safety, especially Ciri’s. Thanks to Geralt and Yennifer, Ciri manages to escape the coup but her journey is far from over.

‘I can’t leave— I can’t just leave her to her fate. She’s completely alone . . . She cannot be left alone, Dandelion. You’ll never understand that. No one will ever understand that, but I know. If she remains alone, the same thing will happen to her as once happened to me . . . You’ll never understand that . .”

This book finally starts to give you answers about why everyone is chasing poor Ciri which is what makes this book a lot more enticing than the previous book. On top of getting to know Ciri in more depth, a new cast of characters, there are also some amazing fight scenes as well as a steamy sex scene. Now that I feel that things are finally coming together, I can hardly wait to start the next book in the series.

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