"Thou is a mixed bag, just like a bag of Revels"Here's the problem. When eating a bag of Revels there are three flavours to risk eating; toffee, biscuit and coffee. For me I seem to always get a mouthful of coffee *ewww*. The Last Wish is exactly like that, given that the book itself is a series of short stories, with one slightly longer tale woven across seven separate chapters. The rest being slightly related to the Witcher known as Geralt. Some time ago I played the PC game (which is very good by the way), I never completed it but recall some of the side quests from this book. Nothing wrong with that, but at times I had no clue what was going on (like the game). This could be my brain wishing to sleep, who knows.*Grabs a Revel**puts it in his mouth**ARGHHHH coffee*Apparently Sapkowski is a best-selling European author of fantasy literature. Some of my Polish friends have been raving on about him for years, and obviously the Witcher games stem from his works. Fantastic. Everything is here for a fantasy reader to enjoy, a Tolkien-esque civilization. You've got politicking going on, wizards who are afraid of getting a knife in a back, so much background lore it's going to hurt your hear AND monsters, sooo many monsters. Que Geralt, he is here to stem the balance. The lands of - well there isn't a name for the lands as a whole. They seem to be split into realms. Anyway, Geralt is a Witcher, a albino and a fan of moaning about how his kind don't fit into the world any longer. This got on my nerves a tad, a lot actually. He travels the land looking for work that pays for him to kill off monsters (vampires, trolls, mutants etc). During his travels we get introduced to some of his 'friends.' Nenneke is a contemptuous old stepa at a temple, Dandelion is a travelling poet and minstrel and later on Yennifer a sorceress who becomes Geralt's love interest. I say love interest, it's more a moment of sharing a bath together, as you do! The translation in my opinion is excellent, mainly because of the olde English thrown in there. Yes the southerners talk like they are straight out of a Shakespeare play. Up north, they speak proper English - balderdash, piffle, cream tea and scones at noon, etc. What I did enjoy about "The Last Wish" is the real world feel to the prose. We're introduced to ethnic and racial hatred (between the elves and humans, and then their general dislike of Witchers). There's almost a scientific feel to magic and how it's used and applied. Personally I'm not a fan of any novels that overuse magic, I'm more interested to read how a person stands with their own two hands. It's a harsh world out there for Geralt, at times he deals with it at other's he is obviously eating to many coffee Revels and comes across depressed - yes that's a real emotion, but it didn't fit in right with the character (for me anyway). If you're going to be a anti-hero, then be one, don't start with the "BUT MUM, they picked on me and now I'm gonna cry" blurb. Mark Lawrence handles the anti-hero persona best in his Thrones trilogy, it's more "BUT MUM, these guys picked on me and I killed them all - THEN ate all their Revels" *evil chuckle*.I best sum this up using a conclusion then, apparently they are handy for concluding a essay! The Last Wish was a mixed bag for me. Some of the tales were really interesting to read, other's seemed like they were just thrown in, like one of the many side quests in the game. Hopefully "Blood of Elves" will reel me in, as it's meant to be a actual novel - though having said that, magic and me don't mix. I'm sure other's will disagree, which is fine, eat those coffee Revels!
The Last Wish is a collection of short stories that introduces Geralt of Rivia, better known – particularly to gamers like me – as The Witcher. I’m just a few chapters into the first Witcher game, slowly preparing myself for the upcoming release of The Wyld Hunt, but through my limited play and my vicarious play through my friend, I have a pretty solid feel for the game in general, and for the character and his world, specifically.A witcher is a man taken from childhood into the service of this group and forced to undergo all sorts of dangerous alchemical trials that leave the man not quite human. The result is a lethal, seemingly cold-blooded killer whose purpose is to hunt the monsters of the world. Only, there are not many monsters left now, leaving few options for a witcher to earn his keep, and resulting in a reputation as little more than a cold-hearted mercenary for hire.Players will recognize the first story from the opening scene of the game, which features Geralt fighting off a deadly striga. The game has perfectly captured Geralt’s skill, his balletic grace, and his determination, as well as other elements such as his use of alchemy. But what the game misses is Geralt himself. Not that the game character is not interesting, but by the nature of the game system, where the player works with a Geralt who has lost his memories and must choose various options as the game progresses, the gamer misses out on the things that make Geralt a really, *really* interesting character. He is a man of few words – but only in certain situations where he deems the words unnecessary. He will deliver messages by the blade, but he is not a man without morals. In fact, his personal moral code is often called into question as he deals with lesser and greater evils – many of which are not actual monsters, but human beings.It’s also very interesting to note that several stories are actually intriguingly re-imagined fairy tales. Sapkowski skillfully writes them to bare little similarity to their original or Disney versions at first, allowing the details to slowly fall into place for the reader. My absolute favourite was the Snow White retelling.Some of my other favourite stories are the ones where Sapkowski simply allows Geralt to talk, which he tends to do only with people (or his trusty horse, Roach) who can’t respond. Sapkowski lets Geralt express doubt, to question himself, and to just vent. He also has many acquaintances, each of whom reveal a little something about a man who initially seems to be a loner. It becomes apparent through his actions and his relationships, that there is a significant amount of depth to the character.One thing the game most certainly takes liberties on is sex. Geralt is able to sleep with just about any woman, with the added bonus of collecting trading cards for each bedding. This Pokemon approach to sex and romance is very far from the book’s Geralt. The witcher most certainly has a healthy appreciation for the female form, but any moments where he has relations with a woman are all tastefully (and even amusingly) done.See more reviews at The Bibliosanctum.
Do You like book The Last Wish (2007)?
Full Review at Tenacious Reader: http://www.tenaciousreader.com/2015/0...The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski surprised me, not only in the fresh, yet familiar style, but also in that it is actually a collection of short stories, all with a common character of Geralt. The Voice of Reason is the opening and framework story, as Geralt recounts past events in the form of the other short stories. As each short story concludes, we return to The Voice of Reason which will proceed a bit and segue to the next story. Another aspect I didn’t expect was how these stories are like fairy tales. Dark and twisted (the best kind) of fairy tales. I actually enjoyed how many of the elements of the story were told in a more conversational style. It strips the story down to just the important elements, quickly getting to the meat of the story and the core of the characters. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy some good, elaborate world building and descriptive prose, but I found this to be a refreshing change of pace.In some of short stories I could recognize elements of modern, well known fairy tales, such as Beauty and the Beast. Others, I was not as quick to identify with something specific, but they still all held that style to them. There is also a very good chance they could be using elements from fairy tales and folklore that I am unfamiliar with. And trust me, these are not Disney fairy tales. They are dark and bloody. And Geralt lives through them on his own. I can tell you, being a Witcher does not have much appeal as he seemed to just travel from one life threatening disaster to another, but of course along the way, there are lessons in love, trust, patience and price. And honestly, I think there’s a lesson to never make deals unless you know the exact price. I would not trust anyone in this world. But, untrustworthy and deceptive/deceitful characters make for great reading!The simpler style of story is reminiscent of older fantasies I have read. And I don’t mean simple as in there is no complexity to the story, because there definitely is. I mean simple as in there is no more information than is needed. You may get the names of plants, and some descriptions, you certainly get some great tension and suspense at all the appropriate times, but there are no meals that are detailed over 5 pages. It was simply to the point, detailing conversations, battles and anything else of importance. There were many elements in this book that quite surprised and delighted me. From the creatures Geralt had to fight, which ranged from familiar to new and unexpected (at least for me). Overall, definitely recommend if you are looking for something a bit different, particularly if you are a fan of dark fairy tales.
—Lisa
A good read. It inspired a computer game(some will be impressed one way and some another by that...and others will say "so what". Probably the best reaction i suppose). I found the book enjoyable with a couple of weaknesses. This is a good idea, I think (and this is only my opinion) it could have been handled better. For on thing I'm just tired of stories about "the last" whatever. The last dragon, the last fairy, the last elf...on and on. Here we meet the Witcher. A sort of sorcerer/warrior who hunts down witches and monsters. Unfortunately (or possibly fortunately depending on your point of view) monsters are getting fewer and farther between and Witchers are getting hard to come by. Our hero (Geralt) may be the last.The book is largely (another) retelling of some traditional fairy tales from a darker and more adult point of view (as they were originally). Grimm's Fairy tales were some of the darkest of tales in Europe and have been "cleaned up" a bit since. We get to meet some elves who are also "darker" than the norm (closer to the Elves and/or Fairy knights of the Ice Landish sagas and the Norse myths) and pretty much at war with humanity (apparently non-humans keep to themselves and don't much like humans)and the Witcher himself. The "chapters" in the book are laid out as a sort of stories within a story set up. There is the story going on in the background and then the "stories" that are told to sort of fill us in and tell us about Geralt (the Witcher).I won't go farther as any more will include spoilers. The book is "pretty" good and readable and good enough that I have purchased the sequel (Blood of Elves).
—Mike (the Paladin)
Spicuiri din recenzia finala care se gaseste pe blogul meu ..........................................Ce face Sapkowski de a reușit să creeze un personaj și o serie atât de iubită?Reia povestiri și personaje vechi, aproape uitate și le reintepretează într-un mare stil. L-a inspirat pe Gaiman, zic eu evident, în scrierea acestuia a povestirii Snow, Glass, Apples cu prima aventură a lui Gerald Vânătorul de monștrii.Nu știu pe cine a mai inspirat dar nu m-ar mira dacă am să mai descopăr multe povestiri scrise de autori bestseller care și-au hrănit muzele din scriitura lui Sapkowski. Ceea ce este cu adevărat fascinant la autorul polonez este că te lasă să-ți imaginezi ce vrei dar îți oferă spațiul perfect pentru ca imaginația să zburde liberă. Creează o lume atât de plină de variante și de spectaculoasă încât ajungi la un moment să stai cu volumul în mână și să-ți lași mintea să umble vandra pe tărâmul lui Sapkowski........................................
—Razvan Zamfirescu
