The Last Wish (The Witcher, #0.5)

384 pages

English language

Published March 8, 2007

ISBN:: 978-0-575-07783-6
Goodreads:: 1128434

(1 review)

The Last Wish (Polish: Ostatnie życzenie) is the third published short story collection in Polish fantasy writer Andrzej Sapkowski's The Witcher series. Published by SuperNowa in 1993, it was preceded by 1992's Sword of Destiny, but is officially considered the first entry in the series and Sword of Destiny the second. The collection contains seven short stories interspersed with a continuing frame story: Geralt of Rivia, after having been injured in battle, rests in a temple. During that time he has flashbacks to recent events in his life, with each flashback forming a short story. The Last Wish was first published in English on 7 June 2007 by Gollancz, and has also been translated into several other languages. In 2003, it won the Premio Ignotus for Best Anthology.

13 editions

Aaron reviewed The Last Wish (The Witcher, #0.5) by Andrzej Sapkowski

Review of 'The Last Wish (The Witcher, #0.5)' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Translations haven't really worked for me that well in the past, so I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get through the first chapter, but I was actually pleasantly surprised by the competency of the writing.

What is ostensibly a collection of short stories, with some connective tissue starts strong, but I found myself growing tired of it near the end. It's a weirdly antiseptic book, all description and a minimum of internal monologue. It's hard to get a grasp on Geralt as he seems to act somewhat randomly and never getting to hear his thoughts means there is not a lot to hang his motivations on.

And the humour gets old fast.

And so does the weird sexism.

It has, however, made me appreciate the computer game a lot more, so I guess that is something...