The Witcher: The Last Wish - REVIEW

The Witcher: The Last Wish is a personal favourite of mine. I recently re-read it as I bought the full collection and plan to read them all back to back. This is the book that eventually sparked the international phenomenon that is The Witcher franchise.

The book itself is a series of short stories about Geralt of Riva that were originally published separately in a Polish fantasy magazine in the 80's.. However, the flow of this book is so masterfully crafted that you wouldn't be able to tell.

Set to the back drop of Geralt healing at a temple, the short stories come in the form of flashbacks when he's talking to various characters in the presence. It has a dark fairy tale feel and can be quite adult at times, tackling complex issue such as miscarriages that turn into monsters, but it can also be quite humorous in a cynical way. 

The author is a master of making the mundane, every day parts of life funny and interesting. There's also a fairy tale feel to some of the stories. For example a hedgehog monster who comes to court to toss his hat in the ring for the hand of the princess.

Many of the stories in this book have since been recreated in the Netflix series, but, as with any series, the books will always give you more!

​5/5 would recommend!