Em

[Reread 23/05/24] I first read this ten years ago and found it terrifying and reading it now as an adult it's even more terrifying. I hope I don't reread it in ten more years.

I'd already read through this series four times and with the Amazon series beginning to gain some traction I figured now was as good a time as any for a fifth!

Seeing as the first 3/14 are kind-of sort-of seen as a mini trilogy before the world truly explodes in book 4 I wanted to say I am just as bowled over and invested on this fifth time as I was reading this for the first time 8 years ago. I think I'll always be absolutely in love with the Wheel of Time.

I have a bad memory, which in the case of reading books actually turns out to be a good thing. I first read The Witcher when I was in college and now, about five years later, I barely remember anything of it other than that I found it really enjoyable. I did watch the Netflix show back in December, but found it disappointing and didn't finish the season.

That's what made me want to reread it, but also made me somewhat concerned. What if it wasn't as good as I thought?

Well, I didn't have anything to be worried about. This is an excellent collection of short stories. They roll along quickly, none of them are boring, standouts being The Lesser Evil, The Last Wish and The Witcher. There's plenty of dark humour, lots of fun references to well-known fairy-tales (a friend describes it as Shrek for adults, which isn't exactly inaccurate) and monsters galore. It's in this volume that you're introduced Geralt and the supporting cast of Yennefer and Dandelion and the bulk of it, and the sequel, essentially helps to illustrate the world before book three heads into the saga proper (I was surprised Ciri didn't show up, but that must be book two!).

All in all, I'm glad I reread this, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the books. A bad memory has its perks; I'm basically looking at this again for the first time!

The perfect Christmas read. I'm a simple woman, I see “TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.” and I hit the five star button. Happy hogswatch! :)

“He walked out in the gray light and stood and he saw for a brief moment the absolute truth of the world. The cold relentless circling of the intestate earth. Darkness implacable. The blind dogs of the sun in their running. The crushing black vacuum of the universe. And somewhere two hunted animals trembling like ground-foxes in their cover. Borrowed time and borrowed world and borrowed eyes with which to sorrow it.”

Devastating.