At last, I have begun the full-length novels in the Witcher series, starting with The Blood of Elves. I admit, I am a little disappointed with the shift in energy and grit this novel has taken from the short stories The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny. While the short stories held a lot of oomph and detail, The Blood of Elves seems to feel lacklustre and dull in comparison.

The Witcher holds the fate of the world in his hands. For over a century, humans, dwarves, gnomes, and elves have lived together in relative peace. But now their races of fighting once more – killing their own kind and each other. As the threat of war hangs over the land, Geralt of Rivia must protect the child of prophecy, Ciri, from those who are hunting her for the extraordinary power she holds. A power that could save the world – or destroy it. This time, Gerald may have met his match.

A lot of the novel is dialogue. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you have interesting characters, but these characters are all ones we have seen the likes of before. Moreover, their dialogue wanders between somewhat misplaced exposition and pointless conversations to fill space. Little of note or of interest happens, and if you were short on time you could read the beginning and the end of each chapter to understand what happened without losing too much information.

But it is not all doom and gloom. There are elements of The Blood of Elves I quite liked, such as the visit to Kaer Morhen – I wish the isolated Witcher keep and the handful of witchers residing within were given a little more detail and gravitas – and the bond formed between Yennefer and Ciri. The political intrigue is strong in this one, stretching from before the novel’s events all the way through. Change is coming for all, and alliances and friendships are being tested, broken, and left behind. The races are turning on each other and themselves, not knowing who to trust and who to fight for. It is quintessential adult high fantasy, and while some may not enjoy it, it is important for the development of plot, culture, characters, and relationships within the series. The Blood of Elves may not be the most interesting, intense, or likeable of the Witcher novels, but it serves as a gateway between the short story messages from the first two books into the more overarching, joint journeys in the main series of novels.

The Blood of Elves may get a bad rep, but I encourage you to at least give it a shot so that you can go into later novels with the core knowledge in place. There is a lot to learn from this novel, though it isn’t given in the most attractive or enticing way, and the developments between cultures, races, and cities will play a huge part in the series later on, no doubt. It might take you a bit longer to get through it, but I do think it is worth reading. Let’s hope it gets better in Time of Contempt.