The Last Wish

Fantasy · Dark comedy

First published: 2007
Print length: 352 pagesOrbit, 2021

Description

While recovering at a temple, Geralt of Rivia looks back on contracts and encounters that established his reputation as a witcher. He hunts creatures for money and uses swordcraft, spells, and careful investigation, yet his strict code makes him reluctant to kill whenever a curse or conflict might be resolved another way. The linked stories send him after a princess transformed into a monster, into an enchanted manor inhabited by a dangerous beast, and toward a reckless wish that brings him together with the sorceress Yennefer. Andrzej Sapkowski reshapes fairy-tale patterns into morally ambiguous confrontations in which human prejudice and political appetite can prove worse than supernatural threats. The collection introduces Geralt through choices that continually unsettle the boundary between monster, victim, and hero.

Reading profile

About this profile

Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).

Writing: How much attention the sentences and language require.
Ideas: How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
Structure: How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
Background knowledge: Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
Emotional intensity: Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.

Writing style

Atmospheric · Dialogue-driven · Direct · Witty

Pace

Brisk

Tone

Atmospheric · Dark · Philosophical · Wistful

Structure

Episodic · Framed · Linked collection

Focus

Character · Ideas · Plot

Emotional intensity

3 / 5

Reading complexity

1–5 · higher means more demanding

Writing: 3 / 5
Ideas: 3 / 5
Structure: 4 / 5
Background knowledge: 1 / 5

Themes

IdentityKnowledge and truthLoveMoralityOppressionPower

About Andrzej Sapkowski

Andrzej Sapkowski is a Polish fantasy writer whose fiction joins monster hunting, political conflict, and moral argument. In the Witcher books, he draws on Slavic mythology and recasts fairy-tale patterns within a world where conquest has displaced older peoples and divided kingdoms prepare for war. His characteristic method is to place a practical problem, such as a curse, contract, pursuit, or negotiation, before characters whose motives complicate any clean distinction between human and monster. The prose is direct, witty, and driven by dialogue, while the structure moves from linked short adventures toward an expanding saga of war, lineage, and competing claims to power. The Last Wish introduces Geralt of Rivia through retrospective episodes that emphasize investigation and reluctant judgment as much as swordcraft. Sword of Destiny uses expeditions and encounters to press on his professional code and uneasy relation to Ciri. In Blood of Elves, that personal bond enters a wider contest over Ciri’s ancestry, magical potential, and political value.

Series

The Witcher · Book 0.5

Blood of Elves Apple Books

Book details

For the print edition listed above.

Publisher: Orbit
Language: English
ISBN: 9780316333528

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