Throwback Thursday: The Lady of the Lake, by Andrzej Sapkowski: Book 5 of the Witcher Saga

It is difficult to finish a series, regardless of genre.  There is great pressure on creators to create the perfect finale, wrap up every storyline, and provide every character with a satisfying conclusion.  Sometimes the fans are satisfied, other times they are far from it.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is an emotional and filling conclusion to one of the most popular book franchises to exist, while Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker is altogether disappointing, undoing so much of what made its predecessors great.  With The Lady of the Lake, the fifth and final novel in the Witcher series, Andrzej Sapkowski had to provide a conclusion to a series spanning two collections of short stories and five novels.  A series following several main characters, a multitude of side characters, and major political upheaval.  In The Lady of the Lake, however, something does not just end, something begins.

Throwback Thursday: The Tower of the Swallow, by Andrzej Sapkowski: Book 4 of the Witcher Saga

Every chapter in a story has a responsibility to the overall narrative.  This is most evident in trilogies, where the first novel sets up the stakes and the characters, the second builds upon the threat, and the finale contains the climax of all that came before.  The saga of the Witcher is atypical in its structure and how each novel contributes to the narrative.  On top of that, the story began long before the novels were written, in the world crafted by the original series of short stories.  Despite its odd nature as a five-novel story, the fourth book, The Tower of the Swallow, still has a responsibility as the penultimate chapter in the tale of Ciri, Geralt, and Yennefer.  It must continue the adventure that has come before, while escalating the stakes.  Some characters begin the lead up to the finale, while others are brought to their lowest point in preparation for their eventual rise.

Throwback Thursday: Baptism of Fire, by Andrzej Sapkowski: Book 3 of the Witcher Saga

A “baptism of fire” can be defined in several different ways.  Classically, and for most of literary history, it referred to a specific passage from the Gospel according to Matthew in the Catholic Bible.  According to John the Baptist, who baptized Catholics with water, God would come after and baptize their followers with the Holy Spirit and with fire.  The phrase also appears in the Gospel according to Luke and Dante’s Inferno referring to a fiery trial of faith which would purify those who looked upon God.  It was not until the 19^th century that “baptism of fire” finished its transformation and gained the meaning Andrzej Sapkowski hints at.  First used secularly to mean a soldier’s first time in battle, a baptism of fire is now any toil or hardship which strengthens you through the challenge.

Throwback Thursday: Blood of Elves, by Andrzej Sapkowski: Book 1 of the Witcher Saga

While Andrzej Sapkowski published his first Witcher short story in 1986, the series certainly did not end there.  After a couple years and two collections of short stories later, Sapkowski introduced the world to what would come to be his magnum opus; the saga.  Beginning with the first fill novel set in the Witcher universe, Blood of Elves, the saga would occur across a series of five lengthy novels, all following the adventures of Geralt of Rivia, Yennefer of Vengerberg, and Ciri as they navigated a dangerous world.  While introduced in the short stories, we spend much more time with these characters in the novels and see new sides of them.  Hinted in the final two short stories, Sword of Destiny and Something More, the saga confirms that the tale belonged to Ciri all along, and she shares equal page time as Geralt.

Throwback Thursday: Revisiting The Witcher, by Andrzej Sapkowski: The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny

In honor of the recent release of Netflix’s new fantasy series, The Witcher, I have decided to revisit one of my favorite fantasy series and its amazing stories.  The Witcher franchise began in 1986 when Andrzej Sapkowski released a short story titled Wiedźmin, or, The Witcher.  This story introduced audiences to Geralt of Rivia, the world of the Continent, the monster hunters called witchers, and the monsters they face.  After publishing several more short stories expanding the world and characters, Sapkowski released the tales in three collections.  This led into a five-novel saga, a standalone novel, a trilogy of video games set after the books, multiple comic books, one movie, two television adaptations, a card game, a tabletop roleplaying game, a board game, and more.  What was once a local Polish series has now become a worldwide phenomenon.

2017 Reading List, Part 5

Welcome back to City on the Moon for the fifth and final part of my 2017 reading list, where I’ve been going over every book I read this year, not including Artemis and The Wrong Stars, my first two reviews.  Part 4 featured Minecraft: The Island by Max Brooks, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made by Jason Schreier, Red vs. Blue: The Ultimate Fan Guide from Rooster Teeth, and Go Nitro: Rise of the Blades by Jeremy Dooley.  Today’s list is a bit of a departure in that all six books are part of one series, a science-fiction story where realistic space travel meets alien technology.

2017 Reading List, Part 4

Welcome back for Part 4 of my 2017 Reading List, as I lay out the many books I have read this year.  In Part 3, I wrote about Outriders and Sungrazer by Jay Posey, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, Camino Island by John Grisham, and The General History of the Pirates by Captain Charles Johnson.  Today, the four books I am presenting are all connected by the world of video games, either through fiction or journalism.  In another break from tradition, the last book on today’s list is a self-published novel; a format which does not garner much critical attention, often for a good reason.

2017 Reading List, Part 3

Sunday is all about Part 3 of my 2017 reading list.  With today’s addition, that brings my total up to fifteen books and novels.  Yesterday I showcased The Obelisk Gate and The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin, the second and third books in her Broken Earth Trilogy; Silence Fallen, book ten in Patricia Briggs’ Mercedes Thompson series; as well as American Gods and Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman.  Today I’ll be switching between genres, beginning with three of the many science-fiction novels I’ve read this year, before showcasing the latest story by one of America’s most prominent novelists, and then ending with a dive into a history lesson.  The binding force behind today’s selection is not literary or intellectual.  It is sheer entertainment.

2017 Reading List, Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 of my 2017 Reading List, where I’m running through the books I’ve read so far this year.  Yesterday I detailed Metro 2035 by Dmitry Glukhovsky, the Lady of the Lake by Andrzej Sapkowski, and Bird in a Cage, The Wicked Go to Hell, and Crush by Frédéric Dard.  Today I’ll be writing about another five books from different three authors, all under the umbrella of fantasy, but with very different takes on what that genre means.  Some take place in far off realms, while others are happy to show the supernatural side of our own Earth.  Some you may have heard of, some you may not have.

2017 Reading List, Part 1

I’m getting closer to finishing Time Pratt’s The Wrong Stars, and I expect to have my review up on the site by the beginning of next week, so keep an eye out for that.  In the meantime, I thought it’d be fun to write a little bit about the books I’ve read so far this year.  I’ve put together a list of the twenty-six books I can remember reading this year, minus Artemis, which will be broken up into five posts over the course of the next five days.  My 2017 reading ranged from Russian science-fiction to Polish fantasy, history to self-published, a breakdown of the video game industry to a fan guide for a long-running web series.  These won’t be full reviews of the books, just brief thoughts meant to give a general idea of my reading experience and, hopefully, help you to find that next novel.  Today, I’ll be focusing on some great works out of Russia, Poland, and France.