The Last Wish
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Review
"It's refreshing to see another take on familiar elements. There's a fairy-tale quality to much of THE LAST WISH." (Jonathan Wright SFX )
"It is [his] world-weariness, combined with his battle-boned powers that make Geralt such an interesting character. Here's hoping THE LAST WISH is merely the opening chapter in his English language adventures." (EDGE magazine )
"Sapkowski's 'The Last Wish' is a great collection of short stories centred around a witcher, Geralt - a rare sorcerous breed who hunts down the monstrous but is feared by the innocent. With a wonderous mix of Eastern European folklore and myth, beautiful princesses, mischievious demons and where all is not as it seems, 'The Last Wish' is a great read - perfect for dipping into or just reading cover to cover, as I did." (WATERSTONES.COM )
"I really, really enjoyed this book. Despite the original language being Polish, the translation is quite good and captures much of Sapkowski's prose. None of the characters in Sapkowski's world are black or white; they are all shades of grey, including Geralt and the monsters. In fact, other humans tend to be greater monsters than the ones Geralt is sworn to track down and destroy." (THE DECKLED EDGE )
"The Last Wish is an accomplished retelling of some well-known fairy tales, each transformed almost beyond recognition and given the darkest tinges of horror. This takes the book outside the norms of traditional fantasy writing, while still being anchored in (the more original edges of) sword and sorcery." (DREAMWATCH )
"Sapkowski is very good at creating interesting, imaginative characters with unusual levels of depth to them, not least Geralt, whom people are consistently underestimating. The Last Wish is an enjoyable book full of stories both melancholy and comic." (THE WERTZONE )
"This beautifully written character-based story from Polish author Adrezej Sapkowski is a refreshing champion in a genre that's starting to get a little homogenic. While there is the occasional nod to traditional European fairy tales (Snow White, among others), much of the application of supertext and tropes are from a new point of view." (THE SPECUSPHERE )
"Sapkowski's series has the potential to develop a new audience and appreciation of fantasy and like Mieville and Gaiman, take the old and make it new. This reviewer is certainly looking forward to the next installment of this fresh take on genre fantasy." (FOUNDATION ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
"It is [his] world-weariness, combined with his battle-boned powers that make Geralt such an interesting character. Here's hoping THE LAST WISH is merely the opening chapter in his English language adventures." (EDGE magazine )
"Sapkowski's 'The Last Wish' is a great collection of short stories centred around a witcher, Geralt - a rare sorcerous breed who hunts down the monstrous but is feared by the innocent. With a wonderous mix of Eastern European folklore and myth, beautiful princesses, mischievious demons and where all is not as it seems, 'The Last Wish' is a great read - perfect for dipping into or just reading cover to cover, as I did." (WATERSTONES.COM )
"I really, really enjoyed this book. Despite the original language being Polish, the translation is quite good and captures much of Sapkowski's prose. None of the characters in Sapkowski's world are black or white; they are all shades of grey, including Geralt and the monsters. In fact, other humans tend to be greater monsters than the ones Geralt is sworn to track down and destroy." (THE DECKLED EDGE )
"The Last Wish is an accomplished retelling of some well-known fairy tales, each transformed almost beyond recognition and given the darkest tinges of horror. This takes the book outside the norms of traditional fantasy writing, while still being anchored in (the more original edges of) sword and sorcery." (DREAMWATCH )
"Sapkowski is very good at creating interesting, imaginative characters with unusual levels of depth to them, not least Geralt, whom people are consistently underestimating. The Last Wish is an enjoyable book full of stories both melancholy and comic." (THE WERTZONE )
"This beautifully written character-based story from Polish author Adrezej Sapkowski is a refreshing champion in a genre that's starting to get a little homogenic. While there is the occasional nod to traditional European fairy tales (Snow White, among others), much of the application of supertext and tropes are from a new point of view." (THE SPECUSPHERE )
"Sapkowski's series has the potential to develop a new audience and appreciation of fantasy and like Mieville and Gaiman, take the old and make it new. This reviewer is certainly looking forward to the next installment of this fresh take on genre fantasy." (FOUNDATION ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
EDGE magazine
"It is [his] world-weariness, combined with his battle-boned powers that make Geralt such an interesting character. Here's hoping THE LAST WISH is merely the opening chapter in his English language adventures."
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Sapkowski has been a bestselling author of fantasy literature in most of Europe, but for some reason it took over 15 years for the 'English-speaking world' to notice him. Well, better late then never :)
I will admit I am not the greatest fan of fantasy: too often I have found the books to be simple clones of Tolkien work, and with writers paying no attention to how their fantasy civilizations would deal with such problems as trade or agriculture. Sapkowski's fantasy is one of my favorite exceptions: with lots of subtle references to the history of our world, we witness a an epic struggle between civilizations, where nobody cares about heroes or legends, but 'realpolitik' or economics are the real forces driving the changes. The series raises many concepts not common to fantasy: the issue of colonization, of history being written by the victors, of racial and ethnic hatred, of scientific (magical) ethics... Although to be completely honest I will add that most of the 'serious' stuff becomes really visible in the novels, and the stories, such as those to be found in 'Last Wish', are much lighter, some even humorous - although they all set the stage for the epic drama to come later.
Last but not least I should stress that although Sapkowski's world is harsh to 'would-be heroes', and Geralt has long ago shed any illusions that he can be one, he is quite intelligent and an extremely skilled and able fighter, so when push comes to shove, he will often end up victorious. I personally prefer such a main character to anti-heroes like Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever, run-of-the-mills Conans or 'normal person caught in the middle'.
All in all, it's one of the best fantasy books I have read.
I will admit I am not the greatest fan of fantasy: too often I have found the books to be simple clones of Tolkien work, and with writers paying no attention to how their fantasy civilizations would deal with such problems as trade or agriculture. Sapkowski's fantasy is one of my favorite exceptions: with lots of subtle references to the history of our world, we witness a an epic struggle between civilizations, where nobody cares about heroes or legends, but 'realpolitik' or economics are the real forces driving the changes. The series raises many concepts not common to fantasy: the issue of colonization, of history being written by the victors, of racial and ethnic hatred, of scientific (magical) ethics... Although to be completely honest I will add that most of the 'serious' stuff becomes really visible in the novels, and the stories, such as those to be found in 'Last Wish', are much lighter, some even humorous - although they all set the stage for the epic drama to come later.
Last but not least I should stress that although Sapkowski's world is harsh to 'would-be heroes', and Geralt has long ago shed any illusions that he can be one, he is quite intelligent and an extremely skilled and able fighter, so when push comes to shove, he will often end up victorious. I personally prefer such a main character to anti-heroes like Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever, run-of-the-mills Conans or 'normal person caught in the middle'.
All in all, it's one of the best fantasy books I have read.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I must admit that I know Andrzej Sapkowski's books so to say "first hand", being Polish and all. And, believe me, Geralt's saga only gets better with every novel. It is an absolutely beautiful mixture of action, mythologies, humour, psychology, magic, feelings, cultural references and quotes, sharp observation and unique talent. Andrzej Sapkowski uses words in a wonderful manner and he is probably most eloquent person I have ever met (and I had a chance to meet him personaly during a SF convention).
I am not sure about the translation; it is very difficult for me to judge how much it reflects the original fluency and eloquency. When I re-red the book in English it sounded strange, but maybe it was just because I already knew it almost by heart in Polish. I really hope that the translation encompasses the richness of the original. But, translation aside...
The Witcher is fantasy as it has been never written before, very fresh and captivating. Geralt's world is so far from usual cliches, or, rather, uses the cliches only to mock them. In a sense, it is a very modern world, with modern problems and ideas, populated by rich, full-booded characters. The story is far from obvious and there is a good measure of humour which makes "larger than life" heroes much more humane. Ach, well, I could go on and on in my poor English... Let me just say that again: It gets even better. First two novels are composed of short stories published over a period of time in Fantastyka magazine. Those stories were compiled together, glued, so to say, to form a novel. But when the main plot of all seven novels really kicks in... well, see for yourselves, it is just great!!!
I cannot express how happy I am for Andrzej Sapkowski to finally reach the English speaking readers. And how happy I am for English speaking readers by the way:) And I just hope that The Witcher the game will be as good as the novel.
I am not sure about the translation; it is very difficult for me to judge how much it reflects the original fluency and eloquency. When I re-red the book in English it sounded strange, but maybe it was just because I already knew it almost by heart in Polish. I really hope that the translation encompasses the richness of the original. But, translation aside...
The Witcher is fantasy as it has been never written before, very fresh and captivating. Geralt's world is so far from usual cliches, or, rather, uses the cliches only to mock them. In a sense, it is a very modern world, with modern problems and ideas, populated by rich, full-booded characters. The story is far from obvious and there is a good measure of humour which makes "larger than life" heroes much more humane. Ach, well, I could go on and on in my poor English... Let me just say that again: It gets even better. First two novels are composed of short stories published over a period of time in Fantastyka magazine. Those stories were compiled together, glued, so to say, to form a novel. But when the main plot of all seven novels really kicks in... well, see for yourselves, it is just great!!!
I cannot express how happy I am for Andrzej Sapkowski to finally reach the English speaking readers. And how happy I am for English speaking readers by the way:) And I just hope that The Witcher the game will be as good as the novel.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I picked up this book totaly randomly, having heard about but never played the witcher game. I expected it to be in line with the majority of comercialy driven stories, a kind of a metric fantasy filled with stereotypical and straightforward fabula, yet what I encountered was truly refreshing. Not long ago I was discussing what I think is a deterioration of the genre because lately no author seems to be capable of writing good, compact stories that begin and end in 200 pages, instead they all create these multi-volume, multi-thousand page behemoths that drag along and never end, as if they are payed by the page and not by the quality of the text. This book was the exact opposite. It is short, read in a single breath and leaving you some food for thought.
Sapkowski's writing is heavily influenced by slavic folklore, I even recognise some of the folk stories I was told as a child, but he does not copy them - instead, he just draws inspiration from them and wraps them deep inside the stories.
The book is emotionaly charged, and every part of the story makes you stop and think a bit about what has just happened. The world is not black and white and everything is a shade of grey - everyone has right from his own point of view. Geralt is nowhere near perfect - he just tries do do the right thing at the given moment, and doesn't always succeed.
It is very refreshing bringing you back to the core of the fantasy genre and I can't wait to get my hands on more of Sapkowski's texts.
Sapkowski's writing is heavily influenced by slavic folklore, I even recognise some of the folk stories I was told as a child, but he does not copy them - instead, he just draws inspiration from them and wraps them deep inside the stories.
The book is emotionaly charged, and every part of the story makes you stop and think a bit about what has just happened. The world is not black and white and everything is a shade of grey - everyone has right from his own point of view. Geralt is nowhere near perfect - he just tries do do the right thing at the given moment, and doesn't always succeed.
It is very refreshing bringing you back to the core of the fantasy genre and I can't wait to get my hands on more of Sapkowski's texts.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Fascinating short stories
Those that played the Witcher video games, either the first or the second, probably asked themselves questions regarding Geralt's past, his loves stories, but also his witchers... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Omnes
a great introduction to the Polish master of fantasy genre...
what a great read! Sapkowski is, without a doubt, one of the most talented Polish fantasy writers. My only regret is that so much is lost in translation, although it is not a bad... Read more
Published 6 months ago by bartman
Entertaining, thoughtful, sarcastic; delicious
I'm not a huge fan of fantasy novels, but I decided to give this one a chance after the constant reccomendation of a polish friend of mine. And I'm glad I did! Read more
Published 7 months ago by Javi_up
Geralt of Rivia
Sapkowski makes a very good job of drawing you into this vast and loreful world from the first page. Sex, violence and drugs are an ongoing theme throughout all the short stories. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Zodeak
Bought as a gift
I bought this book as a xmas gift so not sure what the person will think of it yet and I haven't read the book myself. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Ghost4287
An Introduction to The Witcher Characters
I bought this after playing the second PC game. I felt the need to know more about the fantastic world that Andrzej Sapkowski has created and of course Geralt of Rivia, one of the... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Pedro Costa
Really good stuff, if you aim to play the games after reading.
I bought this book just to use it as a prequel to Geralt's story, as I was going to play the games (TW1 + TW2) after playing. Read more
Published 10 months ago by PORTAL MASTER
THE WORLD OF THE WITCHERS
I bought this book on the strength of the first Witcher PC game but could not find time to read it before completing the second one. Read more
Published 10 months ago by NeuroSplicer
Good fantasy book
Having never heard of this author before playing though the Witcher 2 computer game, this was a nice read that gave me a better background for the game's storyline. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Bjørn Christi Sebak
A good Read
Whenever I watch a film or tv programme, I always have to read the synopsis first, to get a feel for what's going to happen. The same goes for the back cover description on a book. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Parm
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