The Last Wish

“The Last Wish” introduces Geralt of Rivia through seven loosely linked stories, many of them dark reworkings of fairy tales. Held together by a frame in which he recovers from his wounds, it is the natural way into the Witcher series and gives a quick feel for its world. Opinion is sharply split, though: some devoted readers love the characters, while others find Geralt himself flat and object to the way women are portrayed.

Worth knowing The Last Wish is where the Witcher starts, and it is not a novel: Andrzej Sapkowski’s first Geralt stories appeared in the Polish magazine Fantastyka from 1986, and the 1993 collection strings six of them on a frame in which Geralt recovers at the temple of Melitele. The striga of the first story, the Blaviken massacre in The Lesser Evil, the princess who turns out to be a different fairy tale than expected, and the djinn in the title story, which is how Geralt meets Yennefer, are all here; the novels that follow assume you know them. The English translation came only in 2007, long after the games had made the name famous abroad. Start here, then Sword of Destiny, then the novels.

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