下载应用程序
desertcart.com: Sword of Destiny (Audible Audio Edition): Andrzej Sapkowski, Peter Kenny, David French - translator, Orbit: Audible Books & Originals Review: Destiny is unavoidable and amazing - Review 5 stars I’m attempting to remain chronological in reading and reviewing Andrzej Sapkowski's absorbing books about Geralt of Rivia, although I first met the White Wolf in The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt video game. I also know that there are some shorts that might not fit this chronology. However, the six short stories in this second collection are on the one hand standalone but on the other, there are strong threads linking them – not least the White Wolf himself, Geralt of Rivia. Some see him as emotionless and ruthless, but his potion-subdued emotions emerge, and he is torn by his heart and by his destiny. Sapkowski creates an evolving and complex character who has a code, relationships, habits, quirks, dreams, nightmares…and destiny. That destiny unfolds in the stories – and I know in later books. However, the author doesn’t use a linear style for the plot, weaving the threads with flashback memories, nightmares and encounters. Some readers might find this approach confusing, but when the pieces fall into place, I sat back and admired the craft, grinning with pleasure. Each story deals with an event in Geralt’s journey, introducing both new characters and old ones, like Dandelion, the bard and Yennefer, the sorceress. From the opening story, The Bounds of Reason, when we encounter the mysterious Borch Three Jackdaws, we realise that this is neither a black-and-white world nor classical fantasy, but a multi-faceted and richly-visualised world of many hues, some grey and muddy, some earthy and verdant, and some red as blood or purple as lilacs. Each character in this and the other stories has levels of complexity, none more so than the child called Ciri in the last two stories – The Sword of Destiny and Something More. I could write about all six stories, but other reviewers can do that better. Do I focus instead on Yennefer’s devious attractions or Dandelion’s humorous escapades? Not this time – even if they are both play memorable character-driven episodes. Ciri is the person who fascinated me most, watching her cope with events as a child, her raw emotions and reactions, seeing her encounter Geralt and struggle together with Destiny. The whole plot comes together in their story, with seeds sown in one of the key stories within The Last Wish collection and continued in the novels (and games). Everything takes place in a world that mirrors issues that our society still struggles with, like prejudice and racial segregation. Pogroms directed against elves and dwarves echo the horrors that the Jews suffered, totally – and witch burnings were for real. And the persecution of ‘minorities’ continues. People even dislike Witchers so abuse and exploit them – so why not send all Moslems back where they belong. Geralt's world is filled with monsters, and sometimes the human ones are the worst – as in ours. Sapkowski takes folklore and cleverly twists it, posing dilemmas. What side do you stand with, Order or Chaos? Are all dragons evil because a knight-errant must rescue maidens in distress? Sapkowski also raises topical issues, such as the struggle to preserve the natural world, vanishing species struggling to survive. Do we have a right to their land? I have just taken a few enjoyable steps exploring Sapkowski’s creation, even if I’ve visited the world others built from his imagination. Playing the Witcher 3 game and reading the early books creates moments of ‘understanding’ about this complex world. The depth originates in Sapkowski’s mind, so I must keep reading. Story – five stars Setting/World-building – five stars Authenticity – five stars Characters – five stars Structure – five stars Readability – five stars Editing – five stars Review: Great - This book is great, lots of good stories. Read it if you enjoy fantasy. The whole series is reccomended for fantasy fans.
R**E
Destiny is unavoidable and amazing
Review 5 stars I’m attempting to remain chronological in reading and reviewing Andrzej Sapkowski's absorbing books about Geralt of Rivia, although I first met the White Wolf in The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt video game. I also know that there are some shorts that might not fit this chronology. However, the six short stories in this second collection are on the one hand standalone but on the other, there are strong threads linking them – not least the White Wolf himself, Geralt of Rivia. Some see him as emotionless and ruthless, but his potion-subdued emotions emerge, and he is torn by his heart and by his destiny. Sapkowski creates an evolving and complex character who has a code, relationships, habits, quirks, dreams, nightmares…and destiny. That destiny unfolds in the stories – and I know in later books. However, the author doesn’t use a linear style for the plot, weaving the threads with flashback memories, nightmares and encounters. Some readers might find this approach confusing, but when the pieces fall into place, I sat back and admired the craft, grinning with pleasure. Each story deals with an event in Geralt’s journey, introducing both new characters and old ones, like Dandelion, the bard and Yennefer, the sorceress. From the opening story, The Bounds of Reason, when we encounter the mysterious Borch Three Jackdaws, we realise that this is neither a black-and-white world nor classical fantasy, but a multi-faceted and richly-visualised world of many hues, some grey and muddy, some earthy and verdant, and some red as blood or purple as lilacs. Each character in this and the other stories has levels of complexity, none more so than the child called Ciri in the last two stories – The Sword of Destiny and Something More. I could write about all six stories, but other reviewers can do that better. Do I focus instead on Yennefer’s devious attractions or Dandelion’s humorous escapades? Not this time – even if they are both play memorable character-driven episodes. Ciri is the person who fascinated me most, watching her cope with events as a child, her raw emotions and reactions, seeing her encounter Geralt and struggle together with Destiny. The whole plot comes together in their story, with seeds sown in one of the key stories within The Last Wish collection and continued in the novels (and games). Everything takes place in a world that mirrors issues that our society still struggles with, like prejudice and racial segregation. Pogroms directed against elves and dwarves echo the horrors that the Jews suffered, totally – and witch burnings were for real. And the persecution of ‘minorities’ continues. People even dislike Witchers so abuse and exploit them – so why not send all Moslems back where they belong. Geralt's world is filled with monsters, and sometimes the human ones are the worst – as in ours. Sapkowski takes folklore and cleverly twists it, posing dilemmas. What side do you stand with, Order or Chaos? Are all dragons evil because a knight-errant must rescue maidens in distress? Sapkowski also raises topical issues, such as the struggle to preserve the natural world, vanishing species struggling to survive. Do we have a right to their land? I have just taken a few enjoyable steps exploring Sapkowski’s creation, even if I’ve visited the world others built from his imagination. Playing the Witcher 3 game and reading the early books creates moments of ‘understanding’ about this complex world. The depth originates in Sapkowski’s mind, so I must keep reading. Story – five stars Setting/World-building – five stars Authenticity – five stars Characters – five stars Structure – five stars Readability – five stars Editing – five stars
B**O
Great
This book is great, lots of good stories. Read it if you enjoy fantasy. The whole series is reccomended for fantasy fans.
M**H
Good as a whole
The Bounds of Reason - Definitely one of the better stories featured in the book and a great opener. Geralt and many familiar characters find themselves tagging along with a king's caravan as the king attempts to slay a local dragon terrorizing the land. It's everything you want in a Witcher story. 5/5 A Shard of Ice - Geralt and Yennifer spend time in a town often visited by Yen and Geralt deals with many conflicts with the town's local inhabitants throughout their stay. It provides a pretty in-depth look at the complexity of their relationship and arguably my favorite story of the book. 5/5 Eternal Flame - Geralt and Dandelion help out their friend Dainty, who currently is being troubled by a mimic named Dudu who is causing havoc in his work-life and is close to bringing him to financial ruin. All in all, It's not a bad story but it can be quite uneventful and I felt it ran a bit too long. 2.5/5 A Little Sacrifice - While helping a Duke in a relationship with a mermaid, Geralt also finds himself dealing with relationship trouble as he kindles a romance with a minstrel named Essi. I think if anything this story does a great job at showing Geralt's flaw of keeping others a distance while also showing that his connection with Yen will never truly go away no matter how hard they run from it. Aside from that, This is another story that tends to run a bit long but it's more tolerable than the previous story. 3/5 Sword of Destiny - The titular story finds Geralt, while on a mission to deliver a message to the queen of the dryads, discovers a couple of characters in the forest that the dryads protect. One of them is Ciri, the child of destiny from the previous book who keeps her identity secret from Geralt until later on in the story. This one keeps up with the theme of Geralt always wanting to run from his destiny rather than embrace it. It's an interesting story but not as satisfying as I hoped it would be, especially after a slow start. 3/5 Something More - The final story of the book brings us full circle with Geralt finally learning to embrace destiny rather than run from it. He is gravely injured following a fight and deals with a series of hallucinations that lead him to accept fate as it is. It's really a great way to end the book and makes me excited to see what happens next. 4/5 Overall: 4/5 There are definitely a couple of slow stories here but for the most part, Sword of Destiny is a satisfying book that makes me want to continue on with the series.
S**E
Secondo libro di short stories nella saga di Geralt, successivo a the last wish e che precede blood of elves, che è il primo romanzo. Fortemente consigliato a tutti gli amanti dell'heroic fantasy. Geralt ha più di qualcosa in comune con Elric di Melniboné, il che è un gran complimento. Decisamente atipico e fuori dai canoni del fantasy tradizionale. Sono storie brevi slegate tra di loro, ma nella loro successione seguono un filo logico e cronologico; la figura di Geralt viene delineata non attraverso decrizioni ma tramite il racconto diretto degli accadimenti. E' un espediente interessante. Ne viene fuori un quadro a tratti scarno ma sicuramente vivo e potente. L'ultimo racconto è meraviglioso. Che altro dire, va letto.
C**H
Je continue ma lecture de cette série de livres pour avoir au moins atteint le tome 1 correspondant à la sérié télé qui va sortir et toujours autant de plaisir: on retrouve tous nos personnages, avec leurs défauts qui s'affichent au grand jour, et on s'approche petit à petit de l'intrigue principale qui va ressortir. On retrouve moins les rapports aux contes de fées du précédent tome et on attaque directement avec beaucoup de personnages autour de l'attaque d'un dragon, le temps pour l'auteur de se moquer de certains tropes classiques de ces personnages. On retrouve aussi beaucoup de dialogues, personnellement j'ai trouvé ces parties très drôles. On en apprend un peu plus sur les witchers et un peu tous les personnages. Le seul qui m'agace est Dandelion, trop caricatural sans doute. La fin nous prépare au roman suivant qui commence la trilogie associant Geralt et Ciri. Et j'ai déjà commencé ce premier tome qui nous en apprend encore un peu plus sur qui sont les witchers. Bref, je recommande sans hésiter pour les amateurs de fantasy grim dark et qui attendent un peu d'humour en prime autour.
G**A
Gran libro, apasiona hasta el final , y sobre todo a mi joven hijo , espero continuar comprando lis que faltan pronto
J**.
I am absolutely in love with this fantasy series. I devoured the first book (The Last Wish) and now also this one. I loved the stories. The language and style of writing is so good and smooth, I only want to read as fast and as much as I can. I only wish some stories were told a bit more chronologically, because like this, I had to google out some events and facts to make sure I am following the story properly and correctly. But apart from that, I love everything about this book.
F**D
The book is great and the series is fantasy at it's best!