Sword of Destiny (The Witcher, 2)

While the stories contained in “Sword of Destiny” are undeniably part of the Witcher continuum and undeniably awesome, they also undeniably take second place to those in “The Last Wish.” Qualifier: nothing in “Sword of Destiny” is bad. Quite the contrary: it’s a great read and worth every one of its five stars. Each story in this anthology is entertaining, well told, has a message and is very much worth reading. Compared to the absolutely top-shelf quality and originality of every story in “The Last Wish,” however, “Sword of Destiny” can’t help but feel a bit wanting. Part of this is successor syndrome (i.e., the preceding installment was JUST SO GOOD the sequel can’t really compare), part of it is Sapkowski finding his voice and dialing in his style. There are two very notable exceptions: “Little Sacrifice” and “Something More.” Those two stories rank among the very best of the Witcher short stories contained in either of the aforementioned collections. Holy wow do those stories hit the reader right in the feelz. Geralt of Rivia returns for another foray into Sapkowski’s brilliant fantasy world; a world as vibrant and real as our own, full of metaphor, allegory and relativism, where everything exists only in some wonderful shade of gray. Are dragons inherently evil and what exactly does that mean? What do you do with a creature that clones a person, but only copies said person’s good behaviors? What precisely constitutes a little sacrifice? How do you define destiny or if it even exists? The Witcher series is making fairy tales relevant again, but with grown-ups as the audience. With “The Last Wish” (Witcher #1) and “Sword of Destiny” (Witcher #2) finished, time to move onto the novels. “Blood of Elves” (Witcher #3) is already on this reviewer’s short list. “The Witcher nodded. Not for the first time, the criteria by which women judged the attractiveness of men remained a mystery to him.” - - - - - - “It’s not worth worrying about storytellers. If they don’t have enough material they’ll make things up anyway. And if they do have authentic material at their disposal, they’ll distort it.” - - - - - - “The Sword of Destiny has two blades… You are one of them.” - - - - - - “She stood before him and Geralt regretted it was her and not the fish-eyed creature with a sword who had been hidden beneath the water. He had stood a chance against that creature. But against her he had none.” - - - - - - “Aha,” he said calmly. “Essi Daven, also known as Little Eye. The alluring little eye of Little Eye fixed its gaze on the Witcher and caused confusion in the Witcher. The Witcher behaved like a little schoolboy before a queen. And rather than blame himself he is blaming her and searching for her dark side.” - - - - - - “For me,” Dandelion fantasized, “a palliasse without a girl isn’t a palliasse. It’s incomplete happiness, and what is incomplete happiness?” - - - - - - “You’re sensitive,” she said softly. “Deep in your angst-filled soul. Your stony face and cold voice don’t deceive me. You are sensitive, and your sensitivity makes you fear that whatever you are going to face with sword in hand may have its own arguments, may have the moral advantage over you…”

Very well written. Beautiful and dark. Romantic, funny, and scary. Fantastical and yet realistic. Incredible dialog. I was quite moved.

I think I am landing on four stars for Sword of Destiny, the second collection of Witcher stories. Of the six stories I'd give four of them four stars, and two of them five. So four seems fair. The first thing I noted is that Sword of Destiny has a different translator than The Last Wish. David French in this case, rather than Danusia Stok. I noticed a little stiltedness and awkwardness in some of the writing in the beginning stories, and I wanted to attribute this to the new translator, however I am wondering if this was not more of a placebo effect. Because the first time I read The Last Wish I had similar 'issues' with the translation, but the second time I didn't have any at all. Nor did I have any issues with, say, the back half of this book. So I think it may just be a mood thing, or a matter of getting used to the writing/translation. In any case, I have never really felt my enjoyment of Sapkowski's stories lessened by the fact that they are not in the original language. So, then. Sword of Destiny. If you enjoyed The Last Wish and want to learn more about our man Geralt (much more) then you'd be doing yourself a disservice not picking up this book. It expands on the world, on the characters, and on just about everything that Sapkowski introduces in The Last Wish. It even introduces Ciri, who fans of the games will recognize instantly. She appears in two of the stories in this collection, and it's no coincidence that those two are the ones I'd have easily given five stars. In fact, Ciri's story bits--and the way they affect Geralt--have me more excited to eventually dive in to the main Witcher series than I ever was before. As I mentioned there are six stories in Sword of Destiny, just as there were six stories in The Last Wish. Sapkowski's talent for storytelling shines through once more. In his clever resolutions to what could otherwise be run of the mill fantasy; in complicated characters who engage in meaningful, smart dialogue and are consistently challenged emotionally (even when those characters aren't human). The feel of his world is one that I enjoy. It feels very lived in which is a compliment that I throw around at times, but not lightly. It's rough around the edges, but with the capacity to be beautiful. I'm actually reminded of the movie Willow at times, for whatever reason. Not in tone, or in content. Just the feeling of the world. It's a good feeling though. Spakowski is not without his faults. Women outside his main characters can sometimes feel like fodder for Geralt; whether sexually or to challenge him in some way (emotionally, intellectually, etc). You can make the, "It's the times!" argument here, probably even successfully, but still it's a noticeable piece of these stories. Even so, I enjoy them greatly. Now, here's a bit about each story in the collection. THE BOUNDS OF REASON: In which Geralt embarks with strange company on a dragon hunt, finding himself face to face with a living legend. This story explores the limits of possibility. A SHARD OF ICE: In which Geralt finds himself in a lover's spat with a sorcerer named Istredd as they fight over who should be with Yennefer. This story was noteworthy for how it challenges the idea that Geralt, as a Witcher, is without emotion. ETERNAL FLAME: A story surrounding a series of chaotic trade deals after a mimic (doppler) assumes the form of a merchant friend of Geralt's. Fans of the game will recognize the city of Novigrad, the dwarf banker Vivaldi, and the doppler Dudu. This one has an excellent scene during which the reader's view of 'monsters' or non-humans is deeply challenged. Some good Dandelion bits in this one. A LITTLE SACRIFICE: In which Geralt and Dandelion--down on their luck--are invited to a wedding where Dandelion has been commissioned to sing alonside Essi Daven, known as Little Eye. Soon enough Geralt is entangled in a Duke's advances on a mermaid and a case of some murdered pearl divers. This is another one that dives a bit deeper into Geralt's supposed lack of emotions. THE SWORD OF DESTINY: This and the next story were my favorite of the bunch, and may even be the two best stories of both collections. They serve as the introduction of Ciri, and begin to build toward what I can only imagine will be a large part of the series moving forward. In this one, Geralt is on a diplomatic mission to Brokilon, home of the dryads. SOMETHING MORE: Wounded after defending the life of a merchant stranded in monster territory, Geralt experiences several hallucinogenic visions while he recovers using his own alchemical agents. These.. visions, are very interesting. Namely because the reader is unsure whether they are visions. Or whether they are simply hallucinations. Additionally, we have no idea if they are happening now, have happened, or will happen; though some guesses can be made. Each is worthwhile though. This story also contains major information about The Law of Surprise, Geralt's parentage, and the Niflgaard war that will likely consume a large portion of our story moving forward. Excellent story. Well, there it is. Next up is Blood of Elves, the beginning of the main series.

This book was longer, and more complex, than the first book, and just as good if not more so. It covers a number of different stories, all from different chapters of the Witcher’s life, but it’s not as if they’re all unrelated. In the begining stories they all dealt with Geralt’s tumultuous relationship with Yennefer, how they broke off and came together, fought and made up and then split again. And while that trend continues throughout most of the book, a new plot begins to brew as well, a plot that is exceedingly interesting to those of us who’ve played Witcher 3: how Ciri came into Geralt’s life. These first two books in the Witcher series are collections of short stories, but I say they are absolutely essential reading material for the rest of them (even though I have yet to read the rest of them). What these two books do is introduce us to the characters, tells us the tale of how Geralt met them. Dandelion, Yennefer, and Ciri, the three most important people in Geralt’s life (I don’t know how Triss Merrigold gets involved yet, and by the end of the book that will be a tremendous mystery you’ll be starving for an answer to). I’m giddy with excitement as I look back and remember everything I read in this book over the last few days. I want to go on and on about how great it is and why you should buy it, but I can’t say anything else without spoiling things, and you should really experience this book for yourself. So instead I’ll just point out my one and only criticism: towards the end of the book, there’s a segment where Geralt is injured. Multiple times, he falls into and out of consciousness, into and out of dreams. At that point of the story you have to be exceedingly aware of what you’re reading, because there is absolutely no mark of when these transitions occur and sometimes the paragraph in which that transition happens can be equally applicable to the scene he fell asleep in and the scene he comes to dream of. When that happens, you can find yourself bewildered and confused and may even have to double back a few pages to get your bearings. Read this book. It’s amazing and I love it.

Geralt, the witcher, has been on many adventures, facing extreme challenges, slaying countless monsters, meeting fantastical creatures all while trying to protect the Child Surprise: the young Princess Ciri. Well-known Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski’s the 'Witcher' series is far from over and, to bridge the gap between 'Baptism of Fire' and 'The Tower of Swallows', another collection of short stories has been released, 'Sword of Destiny', to satisfy readers until the main story line continues. 'Sword of Destiny' most certainly shares some similarities with Sapkowski’s first collection of short stories, 'The Last Wish'. The more obvious similarity is the fact that it is indeed another collection of short stories, but the other similarity readers will not notice until reading is that these stories also take place before 'Blood of Elves'. Each story is able to stand on its own, but, like in 'The Last Wish', each story also helps to add a bit more to the main story arch. While the first collection of stories focused more on stories resembling well-known fairy tales, the new collection focuses on stories about commonly known mythical creatures that readers familiar and unfamiliar with fantasy will know. Three of the six stories focus on three familiar mythical creatures: a golden dragon, a mermaid, and a shapeshifter (or in Sapkowski’s case, a mimic/ doppler). The stories that don’t focus on mythical creatures focus more on Geralt’s relationship with the people that he is familiar with: mainly Yennefer, Dandelion, and Ciri. Whether it is a story with a mythological creature or just a story about them, any of the stories with Yennefer show the struggle she and Geralt constantly endure regarding their relationship. Similar stories occur to delve deeper into the friendship between Geralt and Dandelion. What is even more appealing to the reader is the fact that there is finally a story that shares how Geralt and Ciri meet each other and does a great job at setting up the relationship readers are introduced to in the main story arch. 'Sword of Destiny' is not a story that needs to be read before 'Blood of Elves', but it certainly adds to the main story arch in Sapkowski’s the 'Witcher' series. Each individual story has the ability to stand on its own and each houses the elements every reader familiar with Sapkowski’s work loves and enjoys: his amazing writing style, his creative storytelling in fantasy fiction, and his quirky sense of humor. With the recent release of 'The Tower of Swallows', readers will not have to wait to read the next installment of the series upon completion of 'Sword of Destiny'. Even more stories will be released in the future to complete the series: a fifth and final installment of the main story arch, 'Lady of the Lake', and another collection of short stories, 'Season of Storms'.

A great read from start to finish. I've been reading and playing the first game at the same time. What an experience.

The Bounds of Reason - Definitely one of the better stories featured in the book and a great opener. Geralt and many familiar characters find themselves tagging along with a king's caravan as the king attempts to slay a local dragon terrorizing the land. It's everything you want in a Witcher story. 5/5 A Shard of Ice - Geralt and Yennifer spend time in a town often visited by Yen and Geralt deals with many conflicts with the town's local inhabitants throughout their stay. It provides a pretty in-depth look at the complexity of their relationship and arguably my favorite story of the book. 5/5 Eternal Flame - Geralt and Dandelion help out their friend Dainty, who currently is being troubled by a mimic named Dudu who is causing havoc in his work-life and is close to bringing him to financial ruin. All in all, It's not a bad story but it can be quite uneventful and I felt it ran a bit too long. 2.5/5 A Little Sacrifice - While helping a Duke in a relationship with a mermaid, Geralt also finds himself dealing with relationship trouble as he kindles a romance with a minstrel named Essi. I think if anything this story does a great job at showing Geralt's flaw of keeping others a distance while also showing that his connection with Yen will never truly go away no matter how hard they run from it. Aside from that, This is another story that tends to run a bit long but it's more tolerable than the previous story. 3/5 Sword of Destiny - The titular story finds Geralt, while on a mission to deliver a message to the queen of the dryads, discovers a couple of characters in the forest that the dryads protect. One of them is Ciri, the child of destiny from the previous book who keeps her identity secret from Geralt until later on in the story. This one keeps up with the theme of Geralt always wanting to run from his destiny rather than embrace it. It's an interesting story but not as satisfying as I hoped it would be, especially after a slow start. 3/5 Something More - The final story of the book brings us full circle with Geralt finally learning to embrace destiny rather than run from it. He is gravely injured following a fight and deals with a series of hallucinations that lead him to accept fate as it is. It's really a great way to end the book and makes me excited to see what happens next. 4/5 Overall: 4/5 There are definitely a couple of slow stories here but for the most part, Sword of Destiny is a satisfying book that makes me want to continue on with the series.

This is the second of the Witcher Series by Andrzej Sapkowski. The genre is "Sword and Sorcery," although the emphasis is more on the relationships between the characters. It has a very "Dungeons and Dragons" feel to it, with characters being labeled as Bards, Druids, Clerics, Sorcerers, and other class names, although the author denies the connection. It also was heavily influenced by Polish and Eastern European folklore.

Secondo libro di short stories nella saga di Geralt, successivo a the last wish e che precede blood of elves, che è il primo romanzo. Fortemente consigliato a tutti gli amanti dell'heroic fantasy. Geralt ha più di qualcosa in comune con Elric di Melniboné, il che è un gran complimento. Decisamente atipico e fuori dai canoni del fantasy tradizionale. Sono storie brevi slegate tra di loro, ma nella loro successione seguono un filo logico e cronologico; la figura di Geralt viene delineata non attraverso decrizioni ma tramite il racconto diretto degli accadimenti. E' un espediente interessante. Ne viene fuori un quadro a tratti scarno ma sicuramente vivo e potente. L'ultimo racconto è meraviglioso. Che altro dire, va letto.

Very nice quality! Worth it.

Je continue ma lecture de cette série de livres pour avoir au moins atteint le tome 1 correspondant à la sérié télé qui va sortir et toujours autant de plaisir: on retrouve tous nos personnages, avec leurs défauts qui s'affichent au grand jour, et on s'approche petit à petit de l'intrigue principale qui va ressortir. On retrouve moins les rapports aux contes de fées du précédent tome et on attaque directement avec beaucoup de personnages autour de l'attaque d'un dragon, le temps pour l'auteur de se moquer de certains tropes classiques de ces personnages. On retrouve aussi beaucoup de dialogues, personnellement j'ai trouvé ces parties très drôles. On en apprend un peu plus sur les witchers et un peu tous les personnages. Le seul qui m'agace est Dandelion, trop caricatural sans doute. La fin nous prépare au roman suivant qui commence la trilogie associant Geralt et Ciri. Et j'ai déjà commencé ce premier tome qui nous en apprend encore un peu plus sur qui sont les witchers. Bref, je recommande sans hésiter pour les amateurs de fantasy grim dark et qui attendent un peu d'humour en prime autour.

Gran libro, apasiona hasta el final , y sobre todo a mi joven hijo , espero continuar comprando lis que faltan pronto

Assim como o primeiro livro, "Sword of Destiny" é um livro de contos, sem ter necessariamente uma linearidade temporal entre eles. Apesar de ainda não ter chegado nos volumes principais, acredito que os que tenham melhor relação com a história posteriormente são "Sword of Destiny" e "Something More" (os dois últimos) - que inclusive já apareceram na 1° temporada da série, mesmo tendo também aparecido na série "The Bounds of Reason". Li na versão para Kindle e não encontrei nenhum erro ou algo para não recomendar. Com relação ao conteúdo, gostei bastante! Lerei os próximos para saber também a relação com os jogos!