***** (5 out of 5) · Books · Fantasy

Review: The Last Wish (Introducing The Witcher)

PerfectlyTolerable

The Last Wish

by Andrzej Sapkowski

translated by Danusia Stok

narrated by Peter Kenny

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

40603587._SX318_

Goodreads | Amazon*

*Disclaimer: All Amazon Links are affiliate links. If you purchase anything through one of my links I will get a small commission! All the thoughts and opinions in this post are mine and in no way influenced by Amazon.

I had never heard of the Witcher when I learned about the TV series.  I now know that it has a pretty big cult following but before the TV series I knew nothing about it.

If you are like me, and didn’t know anything here is a quick recap of everything Witcher:

  • The Witcher was originally a series of short stories written in Polish, these were published in two books: The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny.
  • After the two books of Short Stories there are 5 books that are the Witcher Saga:
    • Blood of Elves
    • Time of Contempt
    • Baptism of Fire
    • The Tower of the Swallow
    • The Lady of the Lake
  • Finally there is a standalone novel, Season of Storms which is set in between the short stories and the full books
  • The books have been adapted into a polish film (The Hexer), a polish television series (The Hexer) and an English television series (The Witcher)
  • There are also three video games adapted from the books:
    • The Witcher
    • The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
    • The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

So long story short, I watched the TV show without knowing anything I just listed above.

The TV show was amazing and it made me want to read the books!  My friends are split, they either loved the TV show or thought it was boring.  Someone described it as “Lord of the Rings meets Game of Thrones” so basically its an Epic Fantasy with nudity. Its definitely not for everyone but it was right up my alley.

I’m usually not a fan of short stories, but honestly this didn’t feel like short stories.  They all follow Geralt of Rivia so they go together just like episodes in a TV show.  And it was a lot of fun since a lot of the episodes in the TV show were pulled straight from the short stories.  I was surprised that the show actually followed the book pretty well (with 8 books to choose from I kind of just assumed the show would have picked one of the actual books and not the short stories)

I am super excited to read the next book, and seeing how they made the tv show makes me anxious for Season 2! I am sort of obsessed right now with the Witcher and I am tempted to buy the video game.  I have never played an open story game before but I want to because I am OBSESSED AND NEED MORE CONTENT!!!!!!

 

38 thoughts on “Review: The Last Wish (Introducing The Witcher)”

  1. I decided to read the short stories first and then go back to the show. It’s interesting they started from the short stories because while I really enjoyed the first book and am enjoying the second I know a lot of people complained that it made the first season of the show pretty confusing and I can kind of see that.

    I must say though I’m excited to get into the main series! Glad to hear you liked the show as well I’ve heard such mixed things!

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    1. It was a little confusing at times but it came together in the end and all made sense! (at least I thought so) If you think of shows like Supernatural the first couple seasons were really a collection of short stories that lead toward a bigger picture/story in later seasons, so I kind of like the way they set it up. And I’m excited for the next season!

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  3. I love this series! I’ve read all the books, played all the games, and when I heard about the show, I was so excited. Anyway, it took me about four episodes or so to really get into it, but I loved it in the end. Cavill is so perfect for Geralt, and I have to say they followed this book (including its confusion) pretty well, given its format 😀

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    1. I’m glad you were able to get into it!!! I loved it and am loving the books so far 😀 I want to play the games eventually but I’m not a big gamer so would it make sense to start with the 3rd game? Or do I need to do the first two first?

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      1. You can jump into the third game 🙂 In fact, I would actually recommend skipping the first game, it’s not as good as the others and the controls are horrid. You don’t really need to play 2 before 3 either, but that one was actually quite good as well so I would consider it!

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    1. I hope you like it!!! Unfortunately I don’t have enough brain power capacity to buddy read right now 😦 I’ve been listening to them on audio and my reading schedule is all over the place. I might listen for 3 hours in one day and then not get any in for the next three days. I hope you can find someone to buddy read it with tho! Good luck ❤

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  7. Ha ha ha, I understand your obsession! I watched the show, thought it was cheesy for about the first episode, and then got totally hooked. I love the characters, and I can’t stop hearing Toss a Coin in my head! I just downloaded the audiobook of this book, and I’m so excited to see your review and how much you liked it.

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    1. Haha I binged the entire first season in like 2 days so I can’t even remember what I thought of the beginning specifically 🤣 but knowing me I got hooked super fast! I keep getting that song stuck in my head too! 🤣 I hope you love the audiobook! I am currently on the 3rd one and loving them still! I think the narrator’s voice fits perfectly with how Henry Cavill played Geralt ❤

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      1. I’m struggling a little bit — not sure if it’s my ears or the narrator, but I keep finding myself not quite catching everything and having to go back and listen again.

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  8. Ooh glad to hear this was good! Ive heard of the Witcher but didn’t really know any of the background stuff either, and I’m really curious about the show! I’ll have to check it out.

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  9. My first experience with The Witcher was the 3rd video game. I enjoy playing similar games, but had never tried this one. However, so many of the characters & choices at the early part of the game seem to be linked to the earlier games, so I was lost and got easily bored. I didn’t play much of the game. You might enjoy it more since you now know the story better than I did! However, I will say what I’ve seen of the TV show looks uncannily like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. They did a great job with the visuals.

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      1. I hope it will! The biggest part of the reason I didn’t like the game as much as I could have was because I was so confused by the names (of both people and places) that it felt like I was supposed to already know. If you read the books first, you shouldn’t have that problem. 🙂

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  10. I totally agree with this review!
    I’m normally not big on short does either, but these didn’t really feel like they were!
    I can’t wait to read the next one!

    (www.evelynreads.com)

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  11. I knew the show was based on the books, but I never gave much thought to reading them, especially after finding out they were a compilation of short stories. However, after watching the show, I’m tempted to read the books cause I feel they’ll provide a richer understanding of this fantasy world.

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    1. Only the first tow books are short stories! And they didn’t really feel like short stories, at least not to me. They followed the same person (Geralt) and it was just different adventures he want on pretty much. I hope you like the books if you decide to read them!!

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  13. Pingback: Review: Sword of Destiny – Perfectly Tolerable

  14. It was very confusing trying to figure out the reading order, what with short story prequels and that one that’s a book but also comes before the main ones lol. I don’t normally love short stories, but yeah, it works when they’re all connected like this! I’ve only listened to this one so far, but I also kind of want to play the game or at least watch a Let’s Play on YouTube since I don’t play these kinds of games. I can’t right now cuz of headaches, but maybe one day lol. So I get the obsession!

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    1. It was super confusing! Especially since Goodreads listed the short stories as .5 in the series, and starts the series with the first full book, but I guess the short stories were written first, and the internet says you should read them first! But then the prequal full story can be read before or after the rest haha. Are you planning on continuing with the series? And I hope you headaches get better so you can play! I’m going to try and play the game after I’m done reading the books!

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