This was another one of those books that I had bought a couple years ago, skimmed a few pages and then set back on my shelf and never picked back up again— until recently.

I remember when Covid had just begun to take over and the entire world went on lockdown. It was the middle of my sophomore year of high school and everyone was quarantined. School was shit when did go back and my depression was at an all time low. This is how The Witcher became my safe haven.

I knew the games existed because of my younger brother but I hadn’t ever really looked into them because I was never one to play video games. Though during quarantine, I went down the rabbit hole when I heard that a show was being created based on the books (to which I never even knew existed). Oh, and Henry Cavill had just been announced to be casted as Geralt of Rivia; thus the beginning of my obsession.

I had become so engrossed with the world of The Witcher that I ended up downloading the game on my Xbox and teaching myself how to thoroughly play it without needing help. Yes, it was on easy mode but I taught myself nonetheless. I played that entire game of The Witcher: Wildhunt lll. I beat it. One of my biggest achievements ever as a girl.

After not knowing what to do with myself, I later bought the book and began it only to get barely twenty pages in before I shut it and never looked back. Recently, I’ve been trying to read every single book on my shelf and I have; The Last Wish being one of the only ones left I hadn’t fully finished.

So I forced myself back into this world (I haven’t even finished the third season, that’s how out of the loop I am anymore) just so I could finish it. And I am so glad that I finally read it through and through because, what an ADVENTURE!

It was like watching the show through the book and vice versa. Im so used to romance plot driven books that reading about Geralt and his quests changed my perspective on books completely. Like obviously, I live for Yennefer and his’ love story but it’s not the main center point of the story and you know what? That’s okay. I almost forgot how books are so much better than their live adaptations and this was one of them. Andrzej Sapkowski has such a way with words it’s indescribable. He really knows how to make you feel as if you are Geralt of Rivia or even one of the many side characters that he interacts with. His descriptions and the dialect of each character is just so profound and intricate in a way that I’ve never experienced in reading before and in all honesty, that’s what hooked me the most. It’s just so simple but yet so complex in the most interesting way possible. (I’d love to just ask him about how wrote his fight sequences because they’re not very detail-oriented but at the same time, the imagery is just there and it really is so action-packed and it really feels as if the pages are jumping out at you inside of your head, it’s crazy how I really felt as if I were there inside the book.)

It really felt like I was reading an old tale of a sort and it made me use my brain and dig a little to try and understand parts of the story and that’s what made it so fun in a sense. I loved getting to see more of Nenneke’s character in these short stories. Especially when it’s clear she’s some sort of a “mother-figure” in a way to the Witcher. Also in understanding Geralt a little more and getting to feel his emotions through his inner monologue’s throughout the novel. And the scenes that felt extra because they weren’t included in the show, just superb. It truly made for an even better reading experience because they added such comedic relief half the time. And that’s all the novel truly is, an introduction to the tall, dark, brooding, dry-humored, breath-of-fresh-air, adventure-filled-Witcher, that is Geralt of Rivia. There was never a dull moment (although some of the chapters felt a bit as if they just dragged on when someone would get started on a subject of someone or something or so on, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.)

I wish this would’ve introduced Ciri as well but I understand this was before her time so I’m really excited to finally move onto The Sword of Destiny so I can return to Continent to follow up on Geralt and our favorite sarcastic bard on their adventures. And I’m so ready for some new types of monsters! (Something I think this first novel kind of lacked but again, it’s just a short introduction, so all is understood.)

To the edge of the world and then some!