The Classic Witcher
Starts off strong with a monster hunt and continues with nice, classic, witcher events — getting paid in a small town, interactions with royalty, Dandelion, talking with sorcerers, fighting unusual monsters and naive bandits, using a lot of signs and elixirs. And the overall setup feels pretty interesting and unique.
The ending—meaning the last two chapters—is really good and features a very unusual character and a reference to another book so a reader can understand the timeline of this story. And the epilogue tries to make the ending of The Lady of the Lake a bit more clear which works depending on your view of that ending.
So it could’ve been a good addition to The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny but there are too many unnecessary, boring and strange features. Like too much time is spent on a romance with another sorceress who is very clearly jealous about Yennefer and uses Geralt. And there are too many scene breaks, sometimes done for scenes consisting of just two or three lines and this just feels confusing to me.
And following The Lady of the Lake Sapkowski does it again but this time even bigger—a villain tells all his plans, history and problems for 8! straight pages. And then during an auction he wastes two pages to describe 7 lots with many details and how they're sold. This might be a personal nitpick but why do we need all this information?
I’ve rated this one a bit higher because of a few very nice moments—which I especially appreciate after The Lady of the Lake—but I’m probably not going to read the next one.
The Classic Witcher
Starts off strong with a monster hunt and continues with nice, classic, witcher events — getting paid in a small town, interactions with royalty, Dandelion, talking with sorcerers, fighting unusual monsters and naive bandits, using a lot of signs and elixirs. And the overall setup feels pretty interesting and unique.
The ending—meaning the last two chapters—is really good and features a very unusual character and a reference to another book so a reader can understand the timeline of this story. And the epilogue tries to make the ending of The Lady of the Lake a bit more clear which works depending on your view of that ending.
So it could’ve been a good addition to The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny but there are too many unnecessary, boring and strange features. Like too much time is spent on a romance with another sorceress who is very clearly jealous about Yennefer and uses Geralt. And there are too many scene breaks, sometimes done for scenes consisting of just two or three lines and this just feels confusing to me.
And following The Lady of the Lake Sapkowski does it again but this time even bigger—a villain tells all his plans, history and problems for 8! straight pages. And then during an auction he wastes two pages to describe 7 lots with many details and how they're sold. This might be a personal nitpick but why do we need all this information?
I’ve rated this one a bit higher because of a few very nice moments—which I especially appreciate after The Lady of the Lake—but I’m probably not going to read the next one.
Detective Murderbot 2
The intro tells how our murderbot got into a new situation but overall it feels like a direct continuation of the previous book (if we just remove a little recap about some events). Again a lot of exploration in the first third but then the action starts very suddenly.
A few really nice features—the global plot thickens, cool and dangerous detective work, really heart breaking moments here, nice ending with a hint of what to expect next.
Can’t get enough of this series!
Detective Murderbot 2
The intro tells how our murderbot got into a new situation but overall it feels like a direct continuation of the previous book (if we just remove a little recap about some events). Again a lot of exploration in the first third but then the action starts very suddenly.
A few really nice features—the global plot thickens, cool and dangerous detective work, really heart breaking moments here, nice ending with a hint of what to expect next.
Can’t get enough of this series!
Wyld adventure
Old fashioned fantasy with legends about giants, necromancers and, of course, dragons. The writing style is great especially for a debut—the dialogues feel pretty similar to how real people talk, smooth transitions from one event to another and really interesting legends. Also there are really well made descriptions, which I usually don't like in books, with awesome, funny comparisons.
A lot of very epic battles against very dangerous and awesome monsters. Cool bounty hunters and new bands. Some heartbreaking moments.
And the infamous Horde—and the forest where it came from—is insane featuring a lot of unusual, horrifying monsters.
And the ending is just beautiful.
Looking forward to reading Bloody Rose!
Wyld adventure
Old fashioned fantasy with legends about giants, necromancers and, of course, dragons. The writing style is great especially for a debut—the dialogues feel pretty similar to how real people talk, smooth transitions from one event to another and really interesting legends. Also there are really well made descriptions, which I usually don't like in books, with awesome, funny comparisons.
A lot of very epic battles against very dangerous and awesome monsters. Cool bounty hunters and new bands. Some heartbreaking moments.
And the infamous Horde—and the forest where it came from—is insane featuring a lot of unusual, horrifying monsters.
And the ending is just beautiful.
Looking forward to reading Bloody Rose!