SWORD OF DESTINY: TALES OF THE WITCHER

Very nice quality! Worth it.

Good continuation of story, flashback section of story are deep and reveal plot more...some twists in flow nay be lost in translation from original polish version..that is my guess..

Always a Fan of Witcher books, and Andrej Sapkowski's writing. This Hardcover book series is the most premium and most cared property on the Books side of the Witcher's world. The Illustrations are lovely as ever, the Print quality is Amazing and overall build of the Book is perfect. However... It's missing one thing, which I'm 90% sure was there in other reviews I've seen for the book, which was the engraved Quote on the Hardcover as there is in the previous one, Last wish. It was Yennefer's quote in same blue with slight Cyan accent tint used in other parts of the books. I don't know if it was a mistake or not but I expected that to be there

I loved the way the characters were introduced and developed. I loved the way destiny was held as an answer for every question. The best part about the series is author's vision into this world of witcher.

Man O Man. What a World, What a lore. I got into the Witcher Universe back in 2018 with Witcher 2:Aok, then I Watched the Netflix Series, played Wild Hunt and now Halfway through this Book. Also I just ordered The Last Wish. (If you wanna Start with Witcher books Either start with 'Sword of Destiny' or 'The Last Wish' then Move on to the Witcher Saga with 'Blood Of Elves' and then end with 'Season of Storms')

A fine prequel to the main series. Its definitely worth reading both the prequels since it lays the foundation for the main series and introduces the main characters. The kindle version was of good quality and it did not have any typesetting issues that i observed.

Sapkowski skillfully and effortlessly weaves stories about complex themes. Some of the stories that I found most memorable- In the eponymous tale "The sword of destiny" , Sapkowski reveals the central theme of this book: Fate and destiny. Beautifully written, never feels like the writer is forcing the characters. The story moves organically and the thread continues in the next story: "Something more", and ends with a deeply pleasing note. "A Little Sacrifice" is the strangest story in the collection. In retrospect it is also about destiny linking people together, or rather in this case pushing people away. The story ends with a deeply unsettling paragraph which made me think about the unfortunate characters long after I finished reading it.

Must read saga. The delivery was great too. Loving the series.

Je continue ma lecture de cette série de livres pour avoir au moins atteint le tome 1 correspondant à la sérié télé qui va sortir et toujours autant de plaisir: on retrouve tous nos personnages, avec leurs défauts qui s'affichent au grand jour, et on s'approche petit à petit de l'intrigue principale qui va ressortir. On retrouve moins les rapports aux contes de fées du précédent tome et on attaque directement avec beaucoup de personnages autour de l'attaque d'un dragon, le temps pour l'auteur de se moquer de certains tropes classiques de ces personnages. On retrouve aussi beaucoup de dialogues, personnellement j'ai trouvé ces parties très drôles. On en apprend un peu plus sur les witchers et un peu tous les personnages. Le seul qui m'agace est Dandelion, trop caricatural sans doute. La fin nous prépare au roman suivant qui commence la trilogie associant Geralt et Ciri. Et j'ai déjà commencé ce premier tome qui nous en apprend encore un peu plus sur qui sont les witchers. Bref, je recommande sans hésiter pour les amateurs de fantasy grim dark et qui attendent un peu d'humour en prime autour.

Assim como o primeiro livro, "Sword of Destiny" é um livro de contos, sem ter necessariamente uma linearidade temporal entre eles. Apesar de ainda não ter chegado nos volumes principais, acredito que os que tenham melhor relação com a história posteriormente são "Sword of Destiny" e "Something More" (os dois últimos) - que inclusive já apareceram na 1° temporada da série, mesmo tendo também aparecido na série "The Bounds of Reason". Li na versão para Kindle e não encontrei nenhum erro ou algo para não recomendar. Com relação ao conteúdo, gostei bastante! Lerei os próximos para saber também a relação com os jogos!

The book is great and the series is fantasy at it's best!

I became aware of this collection of books through watching the Netflix series, The Witcher. It was somewhat hard to completely appreciate the feelings and motivations of the characters in the series. What a revelation to read these stories in their original form. The feelings and motivations of the characters (tortured and driven by their destiny) are clearly laid out in a thrilling way. This series ranks among the best fantasy series that I have read.

While the stories contained in “Sword of Destiny” are undeniably part of the Witcher continuum and undeniably awesome, they also undeniably take second place to those in “The Last Wish.” Qualifier: nothing in “Sword of Destiny” is bad. Quite the contrary: it’s a great read and worth every one of its five stars. Each story in this anthology is entertaining, well told, has a message and is very much worth reading. Compared to the absolutely top-shelf quality and originality of every story in “The Last Wish,” however, “Sword of Destiny” can’t help but feel a bit wanting. Part of this is successor syndrome (i.e., the preceding installment was JUST SO GOOD the sequel can’t really compare), part of it is Sapkowski finding his voice and dialing in his style. There are two very notable exceptions: “Little Sacrifice” and “Something More.” Those two stories rank among the very best of the Witcher short stories contained in either of the aforementioned collections. Holy wow do those stories hit the reader right in the feelz. Geralt of Rivia returns for another foray into Sapkowski’s brilliant fantasy world; a world as vibrant and real as our own, full of metaphor, allegory and relativism, where everything exists only in some wonderful shade of gray. Are dragons inherently evil and what exactly does that mean? What do you do with a creature that clones a person, but only copies said person’s good behaviors? What precisely constitutes a little sacrifice? How do you define destiny or if it even exists? The Witcher series is making fairy tales relevant again, but with grown-ups as the audience. With “The Last Wish” (Witcher #1) and “Sword of Destiny” (Witcher #2) finished, time to move onto the novels. “Blood of Elves” (Witcher #3) is already on this reviewer’s short list. “The Witcher nodded. Not for the first time, the criteria by which women judged the attractiveness of men remained a mystery to him.” - - - - - - “It’s not worth worrying about storytellers. If they don’t have enough material they’ll make things up anyway. And if they do have authentic material at their disposal, they’ll distort it.” - - - - - - “The Sword of Destiny has two blades… You are one of them.” - - - - - - “She stood before him and Geralt regretted it was her and not the fish-eyed creature with a sword who had been hidden beneath the water. He had stood a chance against that creature. But against her he had none.” - - - - - - “Aha,” he said calmly. “Essi Daven, also known as Little Eye. The alluring little eye of Little Eye fixed its gaze on the Witcher and caused confusion in the Witcher. The Witcher behaved like a little schoolboy before a queen. And rather than blame himself he is blaming her and searching for her dark side.” - - - - - - “For me,” Dandelion fantasized, “a palliasse without a girl isn’t a palliasse. It’s incomplete happiness, and what is incomplete happiness?” - - - - - - “You’re sensitive,” she said softly. “Deep in your angst-filled soul. Your stony face and cold voice don’t deceive me. You are sensitive, and your sensitivity makes you fear that whatever you are going to face with sword in hand may have its own arguments, may have the moral advantage over you…”