Buy Book "The Witcher. The sword of destiny. Book 2" in Ukrainian

Well, after watching the Netflix series The Witcher, I decided to continue my acquaintance with Andrzej Sapkowski’s universe, even after I didn’t like the first collection of short stories about Geralt of Rivia very much.

So, The Sword of Destiny is the second part of the series, which is also a collection of short stories. Each story here is a relatively independent story, but sometimes you can see familiar locations or references to characters that have already been seen before. However, I didn’t get the “wow” effect from reading it again. It seems that the Witcher series is not really “my” story after all. In particular, I found Sapkowski’s style with its rather choppy narrative style and a lot of continuous descriptions a bit difficult to accept.

Therefore, I do not plan to return to this series in the near future, but anything is possible in the future. I’d give it only 4/5.

Before reading the main Witcher series, I was told that I had to read the first two books, which are essentially collections of short stories.

Although I’m not a fan of short story collections, I really enjoyed both the first book and this one, The Sword of Destiny. Although each chapter is a separate story, they give you the opportunity to learn more about the main characters. I also thought that the Witcher series was a dark fantasy with a lot of fighting, but who knew that it was essentially a love story between Gerald and Yenifer, in a magical fantasy setting.

This collection contained both quite serious stories, where Gerald and his friends went in search of a dragon, and the story of the Sword of Destiny itself. But there were also funny stories, for which Buttercup is responsible.

Buttercup is still the funniest and most favorite character here for me. He is responsible for the jokes, and the Herald is responsible for courage and strength.

At the end of the book, the author introduced, as I understand it, the last main character, Ciri. Now the girl has been taken under the wing of the Herald, and he has to make her the next Witcher. If I understood everything correctly.

I hope that the full-length novels of this cycle will be as good as the first two collections of short stories.

The continuation of the story of the famous Geralt of Rivia.

This is where we meet the Beautiful Golden Dragon – Wilentrettenmert (it’s sooooooo cool, especially among fans, if you can ever pronounce it correctly).

We delve a little deeper into the difficult, sad, but romantic love story of Geralt and Jenefer.

And, oh, finally! This book for the first time intertwines the paths of the strong-willed and unpredictable Princess Cintra, the Second Rim of Destiny for our hero – Cirilla Fiona Aep Rhiannon and the famous witch – the White Wolf, the Butcher of Blaviken – Geralt of Rivia.

Wonderful, fantastic, even sometimes funny stories about the witch are beautifully written by Andrzej Sapkowski. Each character is written so vividly that only the reader has to figure out whether he or she is bad or good.

Although, in my opinion, there are no truly negative or positive characters in these books. Everything here is vital, you seem to plunge into this world and live the whole story together with them.

You experience losses, laugh at jokes, rejoice in victories.

This world is so big that it cannot be covered at once. These books need to be re-read, and each time you find something new, something that was not significant the first, second, etc. time.

I know that most people paid attention to the books after they were adapted by Netflix.

So be it. I wish more people could experience the incredible Witcher’s World!

The second book of the saga of the witch Geralt of Rivia continues the style of the first book, with short stories, each about a separate adventure, fighting a monster, earning money, and traveling. However, in this book, the stories are already presented chronologically, albeit often with a large gap. In some of them, Geralt will meet his acquaintances from the previous stories, even some of those whom he both wanted to see and avoided.

The second book of the series tells more about the world in which Geralt lives and earns his living with his sword, in which the beautiful Jennifer conjures, in which the poet Lyubistok composes his ballads. You will meet dryads and dragons, understand the eternal confrontation between elves and humans, and see other races that inhabit this world. You will learn the history of Cintra and be horrified by the bloody, brutal war that the southern empire of Nilfgaard started. Together with Geralt, you will avoid your Destiny and search for it, be afraid to learn the truth and strive for it. And definitely, you will fall in love with the little Ciri right away – she has so much enthusiasm, fighting spirit, and openness.

The second book of the series is still just a prelude, it opens the door to a bigger, global, epic story.

I liked the second book in the witch series much more than the first. Whether I’m used to all the stories going in a chaotic order, or whether the characters themselves have become close to me, it’s hard to say yet.

The first story did not surprise me. It is all due to the same TV series. The final scene was predictable. But it was still interesting to read.

Also, this part was pleased that the relationship between Heralt and Jennifer gets a new twist. Insanely touching was the second story, where Geralt defended his right to be with his beloved. At the same time, she herself is undecided between the witch and the wizard Eastredd, with whom she has a long and very close relationship not at all of a friendly nature. Oh, what heated dialogues there are between the rivals! They’re both equally pitiful, though I did give my preference to Geralt. Naturally. Who would have doubted it?

But, for the life of me, I don’t understand why Geralt and Ian are meant for each other, but they’ll never be together? It’s their destiny to constantly drift apart and come back together. How is that possible? I think it’s the sorceress’s flightiness and inability to settle down. And, of course, the nature of the witch, in which he scorched all feelings and made a tool for killing monsters.

By the way, the essence of witches is very well revealed here, where they come from and what they become. Experiments are put on children. They go through the hardest trials, in which three to four boys out of ten survive. It’s brutal!

And the dryads? Sapkowski was able to show their whole essence in one story! Honestly, I’ve never seen them from that angle. They remind me of Valkyries, independent women defending their right to just live in their lands among the ancient forests. The destruction of the Dryads as a separate race led to even more fierce resistance. And the decrease in numbers led to the capture of human girls and using potions to turn them into dryads. Fascinating!

And yes, Ciri finally makes an appearance. A militant little girl with a strong character. She is the very Destiny of Geralt that he refuses to believe in.

I also really got into the story of Queen Kalante, Qiri’s grandmother. How majestic, courageous and desperate she was! How she defended her family and her state! And Buttercup’s account of the battle… It gave me goosebumps!