Sword of Destiny

I really love the way these stories play with fairy tales. Inverting them and subverting them. The characters are incredibly genre-savvy, and there are so many winks at the audience. It's the best part about this collection of stores, the hook that brings you in and keeps you interested while the world slowly comes into focus around the fairy tales.

This collection spends more time with characters other than Geralt. We get more of Dandelion/Jaskier. More Yennefer. And we finally meet Ciri. The background for the main story is established, as the war is started and Geralt and Ciri finally unite.

We also get the surprising and tantalizing knowledge that Geralt's mom was a sorceress. If she was able to have a child, there might just be hope for Yennefer. And maybe Geralt will be the key in her finally achieving her heart's desire.

The structure of this series has been interesting. The short story collections allow the author to introduce everyone and everything before the story starts, without it ever feeling like an info-dump. We know many of the main players, how they relate to each other. We understand the basic rules of this world and it's magic. And now that the plot is finally about to show up, we can hit the ground running.

I'm really excited to see where the main thrust of the story goes. To spend more time in this world and with these characters with a grander purpose.

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