The Last Wish: The bestselling book which inspired season 1 of Netflix’s The Witcher

Andrzej Sapkowski

Aug 2010 · Hachette UK

About this ebook

Introducing Geralt the Witcher - revered and hated - who holds the line against the monsters plaguing humanity in the bestselling series that inspired the Witcher video games and a major Netflix show.

Geralt of Rivia is a Witcher, a man whose magic powers and lifelong training have made him a brilliant fighter and a merciless assassin.

Yet he is no ordinary killer: he hunts the vile fiends that ravage the land and attack the innocent.

But not everything monstrous-looking is evil; not everything fair is good . . . and in every fairy tale there is a grain of truth.

Andrzej Sapkowski, winner of the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement award, started an international phenomenon with his Witcher series. The Last Wish is the perfect introduction to this one-of-a-kind fantasy world.

Translated by Danusia Stok

Ratings and reviews

These short stories offer a succinct and introductory insight into the many facets of the Witcher's world. Had I not played the games or seen the TV series beforehand, I would have found the continuous dropping of names of people and places confusing. I wish the telling of the stories was more epic. Instead, the plot plods along consistently and without surprise in a rather Brothers Grimms-y folkloric kind of way. Still, a decent romp for those looking to immerse themselves in everything Witcher.

A delightful collection of short stories about the Witcher's past adventures, retold as he recovers from his injuries in a recent hunt. Obviously if you're a fan of the games, then you should be reading the series, but even if you're new to the series, there's a lot here to enjoy as a well written fantasy that pulls inspiration from European fairytales and mythology.

I only wish this novel had been longer. Sapkowski manages to build up a comprehensive view of his characters without obsessing over the unnecessary details, making for an easy and pleasant flowing read. The book is broken down into perfectly sized individual adventures as Geralt reminisces about his past, held together under the main backbone storyline. I found this makes it nicely paced to pick up and put down as necessary, although I found it hard to put down and powered through!

About the author

Andrzej Sapkowski was born in 1948 in Poland. He studied economy and business, but the success of his fantasy cycle about the sorcerer Geralt of Rivia turned him into a bestselling writer and he is now one of Poland's most famous and successful authors, selling more in his own country than Stephen King or Michael Crichton.