Blood of Elves
I don't know how many people here have heard of Andrzej Sapkowski, he is a fantasy writer from Poland and is very popular in Europe but unfortunately has not experienced the same here in America and is slowly making his way over here. He actually didn't make here with his books but with a video game based on his books that was released here before any books were. The game specifically is called The Witcher, it follows Sapkowski's star character, Geralt of Rivia and the video game actually takes place after all the books in timeline but is pretty stand alone and knowledge from the books is not needed to fully enjoy the game.
Anyway, this is how I actually stumbled across Sapkowski, is through the game which is excellent might I add. Although it would feel like familiar fantasy, it does contain elves, dwarves and gnomes along with magic, Sapkowski takes these "standard fantasy" concepts and makes them his own, putting his own spin on these traditional concepts. Plus, the tone is far from cheery with the grime and grit of life put on full display with the distinct feeling that everything is going to shit. The cheerful moments that do happen usually come from the populace trying their best to forget that any of it is happening. I throughly enjoyed the video game (And they are making a sequel to this hit game as well, which is awesome) and once I heard that they would finally be publishing Sapkowski here in America, I was absolutely delighted. I had to wait a few months after finishing the game to read The Last Wish but as soon as it was here, I went to the bookstore and blasted through it. I was happy to see that the book gave me the same enjoyment that the game did and it had that same atmosphereic delight, I also finally was able to grasp hold of all the references made in game to the book.
So, this is bookfail, if I loved it so much why am I writing here, this belongs in bookwins. Well, I wanted to ask about the latest book of Sapkowski that has been recently released, Blood of Elves, which involves our friend Geralt of Rivia. I have read the summaries of it and some of the reviews and I am quite hesitant. From these, it doesn't look like it has the same feel as the game and The Last Wish and even has Geralt taking a side (he is usually shown to be morally ambigious to political situations and such, which to me adds to the appeal). Has anyone read Blood of Elves? I would like to know if Sapkowski continues his greatness or if he gets caught up into something terrible.
Anyway, this is how I actually stumbled across Sapkowski, is through the game which is excellent might I add. Although it would feel like familiar fantasy, it does contain elves, dwarves and gnomes along with magic, Sapkowski takes these "standard fantasy" concepts and makes them his own, putting his own spin on these traditional concepts. Plus, the tone is far from cheery with the grime and grit of life put on full display with the distinct feeling that everything is going to shit. The cheerful moments that do happen usually come from the populace trying their best to forget that any of it is happening. I throughly enjoyed the video game (And they are making a sequel to this hit game as well, which is awesome) and once I heard that they would finally be publishing Sapkowski here in America, I was absolutely delighted. I had to wait a few months after finishing the game to read The Last Wish but as soon as it was here, I went to the bookstore and blasted through it. I was happy to see that the book gave me the same enjoyment that the game did and it had that same atmosphereic delight, I also finally was able to grasp hold of all the references made in game to the book.
So, this is bookfail, if I loved it so much why am I writing here, this belongs in bookwins. Well, I wanted to ask about the latest book of Sapkowski that has been recently released, Blood of Elves, which involves our friend Geralt of Rivia. I have read the summaries of it and some of the reviews and I am quite hesitant. From these, it doesn't look like it has the same feel as the game and The Last Wish and even has Geralt taking a side (he is usually shown to be morally ambigious to political situations and such, which to me adds to the appeal). Has anyone read Blood of Elves? I would like to know if Sapkowski continues his greatness or if he gets caught up into something terrible.