Most people who know the Witcher series are familiar with it through the Netflix series. Others have interacted with it through the video games. I couldn’t watch even the first season of the TV show and have never played the games. Instead, I started reading the books before the franchise really took off here in the US and enjoyed Andrej Sapkowski’s story.
For that reason, when the new Witcher book, Crossroad of Ravens, was published at the end of September, I put it on my reading list and finished it a little bit ago. The novel is a prequel, which can have some issues (in particular with continuity) that tells the story of a young Geralt who is mentored by a old witcher.
I don’t want to get into spoilers, so I’ll just say the old witcher has an agenda of his own and doesn’t exactly always play by the rules. The guy also has a checkered past.
That’s contrasted by the young Geralt, fresh in the world and having a more idealistic view of his role. But it’s the older witcher who rescues him after Geralt gets in over his head, teaching him how to better hunt monsters and protect himself from those who would see him eliminated.
To be honest, I was a little apprehensive about what the book might be like. In my experience, many times when authors finish a series, then later revisit it after what they work on later doesn’t do that well, the resulting work is inferior.
This book had a nice theme to it about the destructive nature of revenge, although Sapkowski also contradicts that at times, perhaps thinking that makes his writing smart. It dulls the force of the message, muddying the waters, although not too much.
Of course, the translation sprinkles in some expletives and Sapkowski includes a few sordid details of his fantasy world, which do emphasize how brutal the society is, so it doesn’t feel entirely gratuitous. But I read the books despite those elements, not for them.
There are parts of the story that didn’t feel fully fleshed out. Perhaps Sapkowski didn’t want to dig deeper, or maybe he was trying to meet a tight publication deadline. Either way, that weakened the reading experience some. So did some typos, which sadly will sneak through even large and well-trained editorial staff (I know from experience).
Overall, I would give this book an eighty percent. I was good, not great like some of the books from the original Witcher series, but it was entertaining enough I didn’t regret my purchase. If you’re a fan of the series, you definitely need to read it.
Image via Orbit Books
Steven Symes 