For a moment it looked as if you'd gone berserk. That nothing mattered to you any longer... Aside from killing...
The Tower of the Swallow
by Andrzej Sapkowski
Genre: Adult Fantasy
About: The Witcher, with his band of misfits, is in pursuit of Ciri - his dreams warning that she's in desperate need of help; Yennefer is also searching, but with her traitor status has few friends to call on; and Ciri, she just wants to forget her destiny, if only it would forget her. Following on from the chaos of war, the Witcher, Ciri and Yennefer fall even further down their different paths. Each bloody and without mercy.
The Good
There are so many characters to love in this book. Not for their morality (even a character fighting for democracy deserves a special place in hell), but because you feel you know them so well. You might not root for them exactly, but you will want to stay in their head for the adventure. Side characters have a detailed history and purpose, even towns and villages are a kind of character in themselves. To say that the world is immense is an understatement, it has mind-blowing detail at times.
The dialogue is another highlight, it's funny and clever, often making me laugh out loud.
Also I think this book, more than the others, has a masterful narration. Sapkowski slips from one character to another seamlessly to give his epic story extra intrigue, allowing us to see events through several sly eyes.
The Bad
Chapters are on the long side so you'll be making use of your bookmark or else dog-earring the pages. And although this book isn't bogged down with as much politics as the previous ones, it still has some which, while impressive in intricacy, is still not the most riveting to read.
Names. Too many characters have more than one way to refer to them or their names begin with either a V or an S. So even though characters have vivid descriptions and I feel I know them while I'm in the scene with them, it's still hard to keep track.
And I would have liked a wrap up on how the Witcher was doing towards the end - Yennefer and Ciri take over the last section so we don't get any information on Geralt and his gang.
The Somewhat Iffy
Prophecy is perhaps the key to the entire series but whenever an elf or sorcerer starts saying what must come to pass, I really wish they wouldn't... The plot can be confusing enough because there are just so many characters driving their own agendas and muddling around with spies and secret plots, adding cryptic prophecies into the mix and dreams that are of the past or possibly the future, are all parts I suspect I'll enjoy a lot more on a re-read.
Overall
I love this world. I love how effortlessly the world-building is added in, I love how fierce and clever the characters are, in particular the women, and I love how much happens in this novel, which in previous ones had felt a bit slower in pace. If fantasy is your jam, this is a must-read series.
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