Tag Archives: fantasy

The Last Wish (The Witcher) – Andrzej Sapkowski (Translator Danusia Stok)

I don’t believe in Melitele, don’t believe in the existence of other gods either, but I respect your choice, your sacrifice. Your belief. Because your faith and sacrifice, the price you’re paying for your silence, will make you better, a greater being. Or, at least, it could. But my faithlessness can do nothing. It’s powerless.

The Witcher is a series that you either know or you don’t. It was widely popularized by the TV games and the Netflix series. The story follows a demon-hunter, Geralt of Rivia, in his quest to basically make the world a better place, without attracting too much attention. The adventures take place in a fantasy world, with elves, mages and dwarves, similar to a pre-gunpowder, medieval world.

The appealing of the book is in the main character and the universe created. His choices are real and well-motivated. He is hated for being different, basically a mutant, and his helped sought only in dire need. Geralt wants to help and make a better world. Yet, he needs to make a living and he asks for money for his exploits. This gives him a great emotional burden, as too much involvement would get him in trouble, as any wrong move could mean a death verdict by a mayor or a king. Our hero wants to help, but most often then not, he is chased away, despite his best intentions.

The beauty of the story is that the protagonist, despite being often despise, chased away and confronting mortal danger, does not give up of his humanity and keeps seeking the light. It is truly a beautiful story.

The Last Wish is built as a series of short stories, introducing our main character and his friend, the troubadour Dandelion (Jeskier in original Polish manuscript). The love interest is Yennifer of Vengerberg, but, as Dandelion, she is much more than a support character.

Dandelion understands human character on a profound level. He is a good person, a superb artist and a practical guy who marries his genuine desire to help the Witcher with building his own fame. What the Witcher needs is basically some solid public relations and Dandelion provides that by composing and singing songs about the Witcher tales, making him known to people and, so, approachable.

Yennifer is the love interest of the main character, but she is not a damsel in distress. She is powerful woman, smart and independent, thinking with her own head. Her character is developed later in other books of the series, The Last Wish only introducing her as a powerful sorceress, way stronger than Geralt.

There is no doubt that the stories are well-thought and nicely built. The conundrum is real and there is no easy way out. Despite a world of magic, the solutions are very real and sometimes painful. The reader is engaged and wants to know more about the protagonist. The author does this in a craftily way, not by cutting a story and leave it for later, but by creating interest in the world and the Witcher.

The pace of stories is absolutely perfect, you never feel that the descriptions are too long or details are missing. The vocabulary is rather mediocre, but hard to say if that is because of the author or of the translator.

To sum up, the Polish author Andrej Sapkowski created one of the best characters in the fantasy world, Geralt of Rivia, the Witcher.