History Literature / TheLastWish

* SlashedThroat: In ''The Witcher'' Geralt only just survives having his neck ripped open by the still-partially-a-striga Princess Adda. He got lucky: The claw swipe in question missed the ''really'' important bits, and he got medical attention quickly. He still spent a few months in a temple-cum-hospital.

* LostInTranslation: ''The Edge of the World'' ends up with Dandelion thinking aloud about the title of the ballad describing their adventure. Geralt suggest [[TitleDrop "The Edge of the World"]], which the bard scoffs off as banal. In the final line of the short story, Torque the devil says goodnight. This is a play on Polish idiom, "where devil says goodnight", meaning a middle of nowhere or a place such as edge of the world.

* LostInTranslation: ''The Edge of the World'' ends up with Dandelion thinking aloud about the title of the ballad describing their adventure. Geralt suggest [[TitleDrop "The Edge of the World"]], which the bard scoffs of as banal. In the final line of the short story, Torque the devil says goodnight. This is a play on Polish idiom, "where devil says goodnight", meaning a middle of nowhere or a place such as edge of the world.

* ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne: in''The Edge Of The World'' the villagers that Geralt and Jaskier take up with have a massive book more or less cataloguing all the potentially dangerous monsters... [[FantasticRacism witchers included]]. Geralt listens [[TheStoic stone-faced]] to all the slander, but when the text mentions the relative pittance witchers should be paid with, he tells the villagers that if that's what they're expecting they have another think coming.

* RealityEnsues: A running theme of the books is realistic consequences to actions in stories, like a girl rescued from bandits throwing up at all the bloodshed.

* TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody: Nivellen suspects his mind might be slowly deteriorating due to his curse and beast form. Geralt agrees this might be the case and promises to "[[UnusualEuphemism help]]" once the time comes. [[spoiler: Turns out the bruxa was responsible, trying to brainwash him into a mindless beast and a perfect lover for her]].

* FracturedFairyTale: The entire book is more or less a bunch of variations on Grimms Fairy Tales with Geralt thrown into them.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: We never find out if Renfri was a Black Sun princess or not.

* CoversAlwaysLie: The second mass paperback edition run of the American printing of the book by Orbit features Geralt fighting a dragon. At no point in any of the vignettes does such a scene take place. Hell, the art in question is taken from concept art for the second ''Witcher'' game.

* AnachronicOrder: ''The Voice of Reason'' is set immediately after ''The Witcher'', which is chronologically the last of the adventures Geralt recalls. The rest of the adventures recalled in the book don't necessarily follow each other either. ''Literature/SeasonOfStorms'' [[RetCon establishes]] that ''The Last Wish'' actually takes place before ''The Witcher''.

* ITakeOffenseToTheLastOne: in''The Edge Of The World'' the villagers that Geralt and Jaskier take up with have a massive book more or less cataloguing all the potentially dangerous monsters... [[FantasticRacism witchers included]]. Geralt listens [[TheStoic stone-faced]] to all the slander, but when the text mentions the relative pittance witchers should be paid with, he tells the villagers that if that's what they're expecting they have another think coming.

* ITakeOffenceToTheLastOne: in''The Edge Of The World'' the villagers that Geralt and Jaskier take up with have a massive book more or less cataloguing all the potentially dangerous monsters... [[FantasticRacism witchers included]]. Geralt listens [[TheStoic stone-faced]] to all the slander, but when the text mentions the relative pittance witchers should be paid with, he tells the villagers that if that's what they're expecting they have another think coming.

* ''The Lesser Evil'': An InNameOnly deconstruction of "Literature/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs". Geralt is contacted by a wizard to protect him from bandits led by a former princess.

* CradlingYourKill: [[spoiler: Renfri]] invokes this to Geralt when she's dying, mentioning [[ImColdSoCold how cold it is]]. [[spoiler: It's a ruse, only that Geralt isn't falling for it - once Renfri dies for good, a stiletto slips from her stiff hand]].

* TheMagicGoesAway: Filavandrel suggests this is the reason why land no longer simply gives to elves what they need and of course all of this was caused by humans, who harmed nature to the point it stopped giving and now food can only be taken by force (read - farming). [[spoiler: The truth is a bit more complicated - it's the effect of slowly incoming Ice Age and the plants elves were using died out due to already shifting climate]].

* OldManMarryingAChild: Pavetta is going to pick her husband on her 15th birthday and in the end decides on [[spoiler:Duny]]. Since he [[spoiler:saved her father's life in battle around the same time she was born]] he has to be at least twice her age, probably even older than that. Oh, and [[spoiler:she's already pregnant]].
** This creates a rather funny OlderThanTheyLook moment in ''VideoGame/TheWitcher3WildHunt'': because [[spoiler:Duny]] is really [[spoiler:Emhyr var Emreis, TheEmperor of Nilfgaard, by the times of the game he should've realistically been around sixty, but is portrayed as a middle-aged man no older than forty-something.]]
* PropheciesRhymeAllTheTime: This is one of the arguments Geralt uses to discredit the Black Sun prophecy, which suggested that Renfri was a bloodthirsty mutant. It speaks of "sixty women in crowns of gold, which will fill the rivers with blood". As Geralt points out, it obviously can't be a proper prophecy: it doesn't rhyme.
** The [[EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Ithlinne Prophecy]] on the other hand does rhyme, at least in the original Elven...
* RealityEnsues: A running theme of the books is more realistic consequences to actions happen all the time like a girl rescued from bandits throwing up at all the bloodshed.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Nenneke is one of the nicest characters in the series.

-->“[[ImColdSoCold I... am... cold...]]”
-->He did not answer. [[spoiler: Renfri]] moaned again, curling up even more. Little torrents of blood were quickly filling the cracks between stones.
-->“Geralt... embrace me...”
-->He did not answer. She turned her head and went still with a cheek touching the cobbles. An extremely thin-bladed stiletto, so far concealed under her body, slipped from her stiffening fingers.
* TooDumbToLive: The elves from ''The Edge of the World'' are too busy boasting how great and superior they are over humans to notice they are a DyingRace. They openly refuse to trade or cohabit with what they consider lesser beings, ignoring the fact that this is driving them to extinction.

* TrueCompanions: When Geralt is negotiating with Filavandrel to at least let Dandelion live - out of purely pragmatic reasons rather than pity or mercy - the bard has none of it and insults the elves, daring them to rather kill him or face his revenge for harming his friend. Considering Dandelion's massive social clout and the popularity and reach of his songs, his threat is very much real.

* EvilVersusEvil: ''The Lesser Evil'' is appropriately about a murderous bandit versus an utterly ruthless wizard.
* FairyTaleFreeForAll: DarkerAndEdgier DeconstructorFleet variant; Geralt is involved in a bunch of well-known {{Fractured Fairy Tale}}s.
* FantasticRacism: A running theme in the book, as always.

* ContinuitySnarl: Filavandrel really should know better why nature no longer feeds elves, but Ithlinne's Prophecy didn't start to play any role in the verse until Literature/BloodOfElves.

** ''The Witcher'' short story again. Witchers are said to be a novelty, not a relic of the past. Vizimir is called king of Novigrad. Magic is closer to traditional folklore, not MagicAIsMagicA. The most notable difference is the social position of sorcerers - they are travelling pariahs not unlike witchers.

* ChainmailBikini: A downplayed example gets deconstructed in ''The Lesser Evil''. Renfri dresses in an outfit that [[ShowSomeLeg exposes her legs]] and continues to do so when she fights Geralt. This leaves her with [[AttackItsWeakPoint an easy target]], which Geralt takes advantage of, ultimately causing her to bleed to death. Notably, in ''Series/TheHexer'' adaptation, she wears a functional armour over her torso... which obviously still doesn't reach to her lower thights.

* ''The Edge of the World'': A deconstruction of OurElvesAreBetter, among other things.

* TakingYouWithMe: Attempted by Renfri in her dying breath

-->He did not answer. Renfri moaned again, curling up even more. Little torrents of blood were quickly filling the cracks between stones.

** The [[EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Ithlinne Prophecy]] on the other hand does rhyme, at least in original Elven...

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Geralt gives an absolutely brutal one to the elves in ''Edge of the World'' which explains, at length, why they're all going to die out due to their own refusal to coexist.
* RevengeBeforeReason: Renfri intends to kill Stregobor even if innocents get caught in the crossfire. Geralt is really annoyed by this as his sympathies are clearly with Renfri rather than Stregobor but he wants to protect the town.

* TooDumbToLive: The elves from ''The Edge of the World'' are too busy boasting how great and superior they are over humans to notice they are DyingRace. They openly refuse to trade or cohabit with what they consider lesser beings, ignoring the fact this is driving them to extinction.
* TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening: Hiring Geralt to kill the boyfriend of a latent sorceress [[spoiler:Pavetta]] might have been a bad idea.

* TrueCompanions: When Geralt is negotiating with Filavandrel to at least let Dandelion live - out of purely pragmatic reasons rather than pity or mercy - the bard has none of it and insults the elves, daring them to rather kill him or face his revenge for harming his friend. Considering the massive social clout and simple propaganda Dandelion has on his disposal, his threat is very much real.

* WildChild: Geralt warns king Foltest this will be a very likely case with Adda even if he manages to lift the curse. Turns out he was right, as there was simply nobody to raise the princess for all those years.

* TheMagicGoesAway: Filavandrel suggests this is the reason why land no longer simply gives to elves what they need and of course all of this was caused by humans, who harmed nature to the point it stopped giving and now food can only be taken by force (read - farming). [[spoiler: Truth is a tiny bit more complicated - it's simply the effect of slowly incoming Ice Age and the plants elves were using died out due to already shifting climate]].
* MakeMeWannaShout: [[spoiler: Bruxa's screams toss Geralt through air like a rag doll]]. Not even Signs are capable of blunting the hits.

* TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody: Nivellen suspects his mind might be slowly deteriorating due to his curse and beast form. Geralt agrees this might be a case and promise to "[[UnusualEuphemism help]]" once the time comes. [[spoiler: Turns out the bruxa was responsible, trying to brainwash him into a mindless beast and a perfect lover for her]].
* MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels: Geralt was originally told that the phrase he shouted at the genie was an exorcism spell. [[spoiler:After he uses it, Yennefer informs him that it actually means "[[PardonMyKlingon Go fuck yourself]]", which because of Geralt getting three wishes, the genie was forced to do ''literally''. No wonder it was pissed.]]

* NotWhatItLooksLike: After his transformation, Nivellen panicked and entered a state of amok. When he finally calmed down, everyone still alive fled, convinced he turned into a mindless monster. With nobody to attest he is sentient and perfectly fine mentally, but just looks like a beast, he end up stuck in his mansion. Rumour already spread around about the vicious monster, making it only worse.

* OldManMarryingAChild: Pavetta is going to pick her husband on her 16th birthday and in the end decides on [[spoiler:Duny]]. Since he [[spoiler:saved her father's life in battle around the same time she was born]] he has to be at least twice her age, probably even older than that. Oh, and [[spoiler:she's already pregnant]].

* PropheciesRhymeAllTheTime: This is one of the arguments Geralt supports his disbelief in Renfri being some kind of bloodthirsty mutant with - the Black Sun prophecy speaks of "sixty women in crowns of gold, which will fill the rivers with blood". It's obviously not a proper prophecy: as Geralt points out, it doesn't rhyme.

* KavorkaMan: Despite being a mutant DeadpanSnarker of questionable means and appearance, Geralt ends up having sex with no less than three staggeringly beautiful women over the course of this book.

* AffablyEvil: Nivellen is a rapist and bandit but is surprisingly congenial company. Despite being a RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil sort of fellow, in general, Geralt acts as if his curse is more than enough punishment. See CursedWithAwesome for why this is somewhat questionable.

* AnachronicOrder: ''The Voice of Reason'' is set immediately after the ''The Witcher'', which is chronologically the last adventure Geralt recalls. The rest of the adventures recalled in the book don't necessarily follow each other either. ''Literature/SeasonOfStorms'' [[RetCon establishes]] that ''The Last Wish'' actually takes place before ''The Witcher''.

* BigEater: Due to his sheer size, combined with his previous gluttonous nature, Nivellen eats few dishes for a single dinner, including a whole partridge, in a single bite. From his perspective, that was just a snack.

* ChekhovsGun: At one point in the framing story, the priestess Nenneke mentions the climate starts to change and many plants have already gone extinct. Guess how important it is for the saga.

* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: Yennefer on her detractors in ''The Last Wish.'' She magically compells Geralt into delivering them stinging and overly poetic rebukes in public, including humiliating beatings, knowing anyone who tries to protect them will get their asses kicked. [[spoiler: It works, until Geralt goes to beat up a priest, who was less than polite when talking about Yennefer in his sermons. The priest dispels the Yennefer's spell and Geralt gets knocked unconscious. Later Yennefer tries to use a genie's magic to let Geralt get off scot-free; it doesn't work, but the authorities let him go anyway.]]

* CorruptedCharacterCopy: Renfri's story is a darker retelling of Literature/SnowWhite. She was a princess whose stepmother foresaw that she would become a danger, and hired a thug to kill her. Renfri was raped by the man and fell in with some gnomes, became a notorious bandit, got with a prince...and then hunted down the sorcerer who ruined her life.

* CursedWithAwesome: A robber baron[[note]]As in, a literal noble who lives off as a highwayman, rather than an oldtimey CorruptCorporateExecutive, that is.[[/note]] is cursed to become a beastly monster in a direct homage to ''Beauty and the Beast.'' The thing is, the curse comes with innate magic catering to his every whim and he quickly finds out that most women are won over by his wealth and charming personality more often than not. Given the crime he committed was raping a priestess ([[NotHelpingYourCase of an evil Temple, he defends]]), this seems like MoralDissonance.

** ''The Witcher'' short story again. Witchers are said to be novelty thing, not relic of the past. Vizimir is called king of Novigrad. Magic closer resembles traditional folklore, not MagicAIsMagicA. The most notable difference is social position of the sorcerers - they are travelling pariahs not unlike witchers.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: ''The Witcher'' really hammers in what being a witcher is all about, what methods they use, and what CrapsackWorld they operate in. The events in this short story were so iconic, the developers of the [[VideoGame/TheWitcher video game adaptation]] put them into the opening cutscene, even though it had only tangential connection to the main plot.

** In ''The Edge of the World'' Geralt quickly gets simply tired of all those elves gloating how better they are and how inferiors humans are, leading to a chilling TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, which even mentions the pitfull gloating.

* HauntedHouse: During the initial period of his curse, Nivellen was intentionally playing up such image to get rid of intruders, suddenly closing all the shutters few times or howling to scare people off.
* HeroWithBadPublicity: The events in ''The Lesser Evil'' is what earns Geralt the reputation of "the Butcher of Blaviken." By killing Renfri and her band in an unprovoked attack, the townspeople see Geralt as a murderer, unaware that he did so to prevent Renfri from massacring the townspeople.

* IfICantHaveYou: [[spoiler: Vereena is very possessive with her love. When she's dying, she tries to take Nivellen with her]].

** Geralt does this when forced to duel with a knight. His choices were: (1) refuse the duel and be executed on the spot; (2) fight, but if he lays his weapon on his higher-class opponent, he'll be arrested and executed in even more horrible fashion; (3) "fight" and let his opponent wound or maybe maim him. [[ImplausibleFencingPowers So Geralt parries in such a way the guy is hit with his own weapon.]] He gets away with this because the duel's arbiter, a dwarf, was sick of the other side's cheating and racism.

It consists of six short stories [[FramingDevice framed]] by a seventh narration. While not an immediate part of "The Witcher Saga" (which spans books three through seven), it introduces most of its protagonists (Geralt, Yennifer, Dandelion) and foreshadows Ciri's origin.