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Blood of Elves

Book 1 in the series:The Witcher

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"Blood of Elves" in 'The Witcher' series by Andrzej Sapkowski follows the story of Ciri, a princess saved during a war and brought to the safety of the Witcher Stronghold, Kaer Morhen. Trained by Geralt and advised by Tris Marigold, Ciri learns to fight and embrace her destiny amidst a world filled with political intrigues and dangers. The plot intertwines dialogue-driven scenes with moments of introspection, focusing on character development and the complexities of relationships within a rich fantasy world.

The narrative alternates between dialogue-heavy sections and moments of action, exploring themes such as the nature of magic, the neutrality of war, and the exploitation of racism and fear for power gain. The story progresses through interconnected short stories, offering insights into Ciri's journey and her interactions with various characters, including Geralt, Yennefer, and Triss, while delving into the political landscape and Ciri's prophecy of the Blood of Elves.

Characters:

The characters are richly developed, with Ciri emerging as a strong protagonist while Geralt supports her from the sidelines. Secondary characters also play significant roles in her journey.

Writing/Prose:

Sapkowski's writing is characterized by a strong emphasis on dialogue and character interactions, blending humor with intricate world-building, though the narrative can occasionally feel fragmented.

Plot/Storyline:

The narrative revolves around Ciri's growth within the Witcher society, intertwined with political intrigue and the challenges she faces as factions vie for her. It unfolds through episodic encounters and character introductions.

Setting:

The setting is a medieval fantasy world teeming with political conflict, influenced by Slavic culture, presenting a rich backdrop against which the characters develop.

Pacing:

The pacing becomes dynamic, balancing slower segments focused on character growth with moments of action and tension, culminating in a cliffhanger that leads to further developments.
Verily I say unto you, the era of the sword and axe is nigh, the era of the wolf’s blizzard. The Time of the White Chill and the White Light is nigh, the Time of Madness and the Time of Contempt: Tedd...

Notes:

The Witcher saga was originally a series of short stories before becoming a full-length novel series.
Andrzej Sapkowski is a Polish author and the Witcher series is known for its deep ties to Slavic folklore.
Ciri, a key character in Blood of Elves, is the first female to be trained as a Witcher.
The narration of the audiobooks is done by Peter Kenny, whose performance is highly praised.
Blood of Elves marks the first novel in the Witcher series, following two short story collections: The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny.
The story combines elements of fantasy, political intrigue, and character-driven narratives.
The narrative style includes a heavy use of dialogue, sometimes omitting detailed descriptions in favor of conversations.
Many readers found the plot to be episodic and lacking a traditional climax, given that it's part of a larger series.
The Witcher series explores themes of destiny and morality, often portraying characters with complex motivations.
The book series has led to successful video games, which have contributed to its popularity outside of Poland.

Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings

Content warnings include violence, war-related trauma, and themes of misogyny and sexual violence that appear prominently in character interactions.

Has Romance?

There are romantic elements present, particularly involving Geralt and his relationships with various female characters, but the romance is not the primary focus of the plot.

From The Publisher:

The story of Geralt of Rivia continues as war rages on in this epic fantasy-now, the story of The Witcher continues in the saga that inspired the second season of the Netfix series.

For over a century, humans, dwarves, gnomes, and elves have lived together in relative peace. But times have changed, the uneasy peace is over, and now the races are fighting once again. The only good elf, it seems, is a dead elf.

Geralt of Rivia, the cunning assassin known as the Witcher, has been waiting for the birth of a prophesied child. This child has the power to change the world-for good, or for evil.

As the threat of war hangs over the land and the child is hunted for her extraordinary powers, it will become Geralt's responsibility to protect them all. And the Witcher never accepts defeat.

Witcher story 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

The Malady and Other Stories: An Andrzej Sapkowski Sampler (e-only)

Hussite Trilogy

The Tower of Fools

Warriors of God

Translated from original Polish by Danusia Stok

Ratings (108)

Incredible (18)
Loved It (42)
Liked It (30)
It Was OK (14)
Did Not Like (4)

Reader Stats (181):

Read It (109)
Currently Reading (1)
Want To Read (54)
Did Not Finish (8)
Not Interested (9)

5 comment(s)

Did Not Like
3 weeks

Sadly, not as good as the first.

 
Loved It
3 months

I'm not great in finding fantasy that I like just yet. Still a bit intimidating genre for me, bit I was pleasantly surprised by this. I enjoyed it and liked the way it was written, but I think I should have read the beginning short stories more recently to fully enjoy this one but I still had a good time.

 
Loved It
4 months

This is the first book in the “Witcher Saga” proper. The books leading up to this one are short story collections that set up the characters and relationships while also building out the world.

The funny thing is, this book still felt a bit like several novellas stitched together, like the old-fashioned fix-up novels from the golden age of sci-fi. The end result is a novel that still feels fairly episodic. It works, but it doesn’t build to much of a climax.

Instead, it’s a series of stories about Geralt’s ward, Ciri, her early training, and the dangers she faces from the outside world. Geralt isn’t even the viewpoint character for most of the book, with Dandelion, Triss, Ciri and Yennifer all getting their turns at the helm. I like that this book kept things fairly small-scale. I’m assuming the series only builds in scope from here.

 
Loved It
1 year

Enjoyable fantasy read - but don't start the series here.


Most readers recommend starting your Andrzej Sapkowski journey with the short story collection The Last Wish. I, however, picked up Blood of Elves randomly while browsing a bookstore. Going into Blood of Elves, I had a general understanding of the author's world and characters from playing the Witcher 3 video game and also watching the Netflix show, but as far as the books go, Blood of Elves was the first Sapkowski novel I read.


I did find sections of Blood of Elves quite confusing, especially halfway through it. Names are dropped and characters burst into scenes without much, if any, introduction. This is of course not unusual for a high fantasy novel, but seen as how this is the first instalment in a series it did surprise me and I found it a bit jarring to read.


Having said that, I found the character development in Blood of Elves to be excellent. While the famous Geralt of Rivia is something of an enigmatic, shadowy figure throughout the narrative, the main protagonist, Ciri, is explored in great detail through her interactions with other, well-fleshed-out characters.


The narrative itself is a slow burn. At the same time, you're inundated with historic information which can at times be difficult to follow. As I previously mentioned, I have a basic knowledge of the world-building thanks to the third video game and the Netflix series, and therefore I picked up on some of the characters and past events mentioned quite quickly, but even so, there were many paragraphs I had to reread to make full sense of them. Perhaps that sounds silly, as long info dumps and in-depth world-building is something you come to accept as the norm with high fantasy novels, but there were times as I was reading Blood of Elves when I frustratedly wondered why the author didn't show the events he was referring to rather than relegating them to topics in a conversation.


I know my review has been quite negative so far, and perhaps I'm focusing too heavily on the cons of Blood of Elves. Despite the negatives, I still thoroughly enjoyed the reading experience. Something Andrzej Sapkowski does really well is to lure you into his sense of place with rich world-building and believable characters. I particularly enjoyed the chapters that included the bard character, Dandelion, and the sorceress, Yennefer.


Overall I would score Blood of Elves 3.5/5, although I will doubtlessly read more from Andrzej Sapkowski.

 
Loved It
2 years

All of the Witcher books I've read offer an interesting take on the place of magic in their culture. In my view, magic should not be simply an 'abracadabra'. Like other skills, it should have to be learned and understood. I have been told by readers that my book series offers an interesting blend of the Witcher series with The Game of Thrones series. In my On the Trail series, I have attempted to create similar excitement with twists and turns in the plots and interesting characters.

 
 
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