A series that I thought I would enjoy but was saddened to see develop differently to wait I had in mind, Andrzej Sapkowski’s The Witcher series is a widely popular adult fantasy series that has inspired multiple games, the Netflix TV show, and many other things. From the short stories of The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny to the novel series including Blood of Elves, Time of Contempt, Baptism of Fire, The Tower of the Swallow, and The Lady of the Lake, and the standalone novel Season of Storms, the Witcher books have spanned many years, and even still they are an active name in the book world as Crossroads of Ravens will be published in September of this year. I will break the books up into three areas as noted above to give my impressions and ratings, then give the overall rating. So, let’s get into it.

The short story collections The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny were hands down my favourite of the Witcher books. With their sharp detail, compelling action plots, slow reveals of character background and relationships, and the tone of the stories giving space for both deep themes and character introspection, I could see nothing about these stories that I would change. I loved the focus on Geralt and seeing the stories progress from his perspective, learning more about his past, his profession, and his loyalties, while also seeing other characters take the reins for a bit in terms of dialogue and action. These novels are an easy 4.5/5 each, and I will still highly recommend these to anyone looking for adult fantasy recs.

Unfortunately, my extreme liking of the short stories were perhaps fuelling my assumptions for how the series was going to go. Some of you may remember that I paused after reading Blood of Elves and Time of Contempt because I felt that the re had been a complete flip of expctations and reality with the series. I wanted to rally like it at the very least, but Blood and Elves is one of the slowest fantasy novels I have ever read, and provided nothing for me in terms of build up or interest for the series. Time of Contempt is only slightly more interesting, but equally as slow until the conflict near the end. I wasn’t expecting to take a break from reading the books, but it was a must after the let down of the beginning of the series. Upon coming back, I had to realign my expectations and read this from a different viewpoint, and I managed to get through Baptism of Fire, The Tower of the Swallow, and The Lady of the Lake with minor lapses in my pace. In the end though, I just could not get into the series. There were a few moments across the series that I liked, but there is so much waffle and directionless dialogue that stopped me from getting immersed in the story world and the feel of the novels. The series gets a 3/5 from me, and that is on the generous side of the rating too.

The standalone Season of Storms gave a pleasant middle ground between the concise story telling of the short stories and the longer arcs and threads in the novels. I enjoyed Season of Storms, especially the fact that Geralt’s personality and chracteristics shine in this one. We also see monster hunting which is really exempt from the series, an experience I was keen to read again and gave this book its 4/5 star rating. Alongside the short stories, I would read Season of Storms again following my read of Crossroads of Ravens.

Overall, The Witcher books contain the good and the bad of adult fantasy, but due to the higher number of books in the series compared to the standalone and short stories, the rating slips to 3.5/5. As noted though, I would reread some of these and leave the series. I would even pick up a video game of The Witcher to enjoy the storyworld and characters because that’s what I was hoping to do at the beginning of this journey. I am not sure how to feel about this series, so perhaps I will simply say I have read it and that’s that. Given they occur before the series takes place, I recommend Season of Storms, The Last Wish, and Sword of Destiny if you are looking to get into the Witcher books yourself. The series is one of those adult fantasy series that may be polarising.