There is good, bad, even controversial content in the Witcher series, but Blood of Elves can be summed up as being utterly boring. Bo E is the worst book in the franchise, and that is bad unto itself for several reasons. Among them is that people frequently mistaken this book for being the first of the series. It’s a bloated exposition-filled mess, even when read in order.
Ciri overshadows everyone else in this book, as Bo E’s main purpose is to boost her general capabilities to one step below Geralt's as a sword and sorcery protagonist. It would not be so bad, if the series did not waste its chance to build Geralt and Ciri's relationship. Ciri splits her training among the other witchers in Geralt's home base, but almost none of these characters ever show up for the rest of the series. What interactions Geralt and Ciri do have together are one-sided and predictable, as the book does not contrast Ciri's positive traits to Geralt's negative ones. However, Ciri's relationship with Yennifer is much more interesting. They develop a mother-daughter relationship, in contrast to Geralt's stiff "Do what I say" attitude. The plot of the sequels has Geralt trying to find Ciri after getting separated from her, yet the relationship between Yennifer and Ciri is much more immersive. Triss makes a strong introduction in this book, but midway through the story she is shoved to the background, and never quite recovers what charisma she had in the first third of the story.
Sapkowski excels at writing short stories, but his overarching plots between books is hit and miss. This book is much worse if you reread it after finishing the series, as you start to see subplots the author either gave up on or resolved with mundane answers that discourage further explanation. The book seems to imply there is some extradimensional sentient force connected to Ciri and the concept of fate in general, but this idea never progresses to the sequels. Similarly, Ciri has this power to fortell the future, which vanishes in later books.
Elves don't really matter in this book, and the dwarves who share the same plight, are relegated to a single subplot midway through the book. There is some discussion of rebellion vs reform when it comes to combatting racism, which is a decent subject, but one that's covered far too briefly. Instead Geralt dedicates his time to banging a medical student named Shani, whose 17, which is two, possibly three years older than the girl he's adopted as a surrogate daughter. Geralt also chases an evil wizard, whose been already utterly trounced by Yennifer at the start of the book. Its noir caper that lacks mystery and suspense.
If you can tough out Ciri going through two extra long 80's montages with a smattering of plot in middle, you should probably read Bo E, because at least a few details do make it into further books. However, there are too few good qualities to outnumber the bad. The series is mostly uphill after this book. Mostly.
The One in Which Triss Treats Bad Dreams with Witcher LSD.
There is good, bad, even controversial content in the Witcher series, but Blood of Elves can be summed up as being utterly boring. Bo E is the worst book in the franchise, and that is bad unto itself for several reasons. Among them is that people frequently mistaken this book for being the first of the series. It’s a bloated exposition-filled mess, even when read in order.
Ciri overshadows everyone else in this book, as Bo E’s main purpose is to boost her general capabilities to one step below Geralt's as a sword and sorcery protagonist. It would not be so bad, if the series did not waste its chance to build Geralt and Ciri's relationship. Ciri splits her training among the other witchers in Geralt's home base, but almost none of these characters ever show up for the rest of the series. What interactions Geralt and Ciri do have together are one-sided and predictable, as the book does not contrast Ciri's positive traits to Geralt's negative ones. However, Ciri's relationship with Yennifer is much more interesting. They develop a mother-daughter relationship, in contrast to Geralt's stiff "Do what I say" attitude. The plot of the sequels has Geralt trying to find Ciri after getting separated from her, yet the relationship between Yennifer and Ciri is much more immersive. Triss makes a strong introduction in this book, but midway through the story she is shoved to the background, and never quite recovers what charisma she had in the first third of the story.
Sapkowski excels at writing short stories, but his overarching plots between books is hit and miss. This book is much worse if you reread it after finishing the series, as you start to see subplots the author either gave up on or resolved with mundane answers that discourage further explanation. The book seems to imply there is some extradimensional sentient force connected to Ciri and the concept of fate in general, but this idea never progresses to the sequels. Similarly, Ciri has this power to fortell the future, which vanishes in later books.
Elves don't really matter in this book, and the dwarves who share the same plight, are relegated to a single subplot midway through the book. There is some discussion of rebellion vs reform when it comes to combatting racism, which is a decent subject, but one that's covered far too briefly. Instead Geralt dedicates his time to banging a medical student named Shani, whose 17, which is two, possibly three years older than the girl he's adopted as a surrogate daughter. Geralt also chases an evil wizard, whose been already utterly trounced by Yennifer at the start of the book. Its noir caper that lacks mystery and suspense.
If you can tough out Ciri going through two extra long 80's montages with a smattering of plot in middle, you should probably read Bo E, because at least a few details do make it into further books. However, there are too few good qualities to outnumber the bad. The series is mostly uphill after this book. Mostly.