The Last Wish: Introducing the Witcher

Andrzej Sapkowski

Dec 2008 · The Witcher Saga Book 1 · Sold by Orbit

About this ebook

Geralt the Witcher—revered and hated—holds the line against the monsters plaguing humanity in this collection of adventures, the first chapter in Andrzej Sapkowski’s groundbreaking epic fantasy series that inspired the hit Netflix show and the blockbuster video games.

★ The New York Times bestselling series
★ Over Fifteen Million Copies Sold Worldwide
★ World Fantasy Award Winning Author
★ David Gemmell Legend Award Winning Author
★ Named One of the Greatest Book Series of All Time by Forbes

Geralt is a Witcher, a man whose magic powers, enhanced by long training and a mysterious elixir, have made him a brilliant fighter and a merciless hunter. Yet he is no ordinary killer. His sole purpose: to destroy the monsters that plague the world.

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

Witcher collections
The Last Wish
Sword of Destiny

Witcher novels
Blood of Elves
The Time of Contempt
Baptism of Fire 
The Tower of Swallows
Lady of the Lake
Season of Storms
Crossroads of Ravens

Hussite Trilogy
The Tower of Fools
Warriors of God

Translated from original Polish by Danusia Stok

Ratings and reviews

As much as I would like to give this book a higher rating, it's vulgar and too lewd for good reading. Neither of those is necessary but have been added for audience 'enjoyment.' For the writing itself, it flows well and is well written. The Author doesn't waste time talking about the world excessively and does leave some things to be figured out yourself, which are both great qualities in a writer.

I watched the Netflix series first. I had also played The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt before that. It was great to understand some of the backstory. So many things make more sense now. I can't wait to read the next book. The only issue I had with it was the jumping back and forth in the timelines. It made it a little trickier to follow at first, but eventually worked out well.

if I could give 3.5 stars, I would. Don't get me wrong, I'm thoroughly enjoying the series and I love the characters and stories, but if I had no prior knowledge of the witcher I would probably be pretty confused with this first book. I also think the English translation doesn't let the work shine, and a lot of charm is perhaps lost in that, along with the page setup and punctuation - it doesn't read like your typical novel written in native English. 3.5/5 - Enjoyed it, plan on reading them all and replaying the trilogy. Translation bad, story confusing and written chaoticly, but enjoyable

About the author

Andrzej Sapkowski is the author of the Witcher series and the Hussite Trilogy. He was born in 1948 in Poland and studied economics and business, but the success of his fantasy cycle about Geralt of Rivia turned him into an international bestselling writer. Geralt’s story has inspired the hit Netflix show and multiple video games, has been translated into thirty-seven languages, and has sold millions of copies worldwide.