As I read Sword of Destiny, I realized that Sapkowski had woven a theme throughout the two books. In adventure after adventure things aren’t quite how they seem. The monsters aren’t really monsters. The rewards aren’t gratifying. Geralt has emotions that he shouldn’t. What looks like hate is love. I could go on but you get the idea.

Dudu: Five hundred bushels of cochineal, sixty two hundredweights of mimosa bark, fifty five pots of rose oil, twenty three barrels of fish oil, six hundred clay bowls and eighty pounds of beeswax. By the way, I got the fish oil very cheap, because it's a bit rancid. Oh, and I almost forgot: I also bought a hundred ells of cotton string. Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Dudu is a magical creature who has lived his entire life in the forests around Novigrad. He's also, without a doubt, the single-greatest venture capitalist the Continent has ever seen.

Tropes found in the book:

Worst thing is, I really really loved Ciri, and I think she is everything this series needed. We'll see about that. It's a shame her chapters were so weak. Law of Inverse Fertility: Continues to be a problem for Yennefer, who's willing to kill a dragon on the chance that it will allow her to have a child. Implied for Geralt as well, who invoked the Law of Surprise in A Question of Price and again in Something More for a chance to adopt a child, despite his own mixed feelings about destiny.

The trio rest for a night and Geralt discusses more with Ciri, discovering her parents died and her grandmother, the Queen, is her guardian. He does not realise who she is, but she explains how her nanny told Ciri that her mother was a witch and her father had magical properties. She was born to destiny. To help her rest for the night, Geralt tells Ciri a tale about a cat and a fox in a forest. Both Ciri and Braenn listen intently, about how the animals are hunted and only one survives, a moral of the story being run when you are in danger. The continue their journey the next day and Braeen informs Geralt he must be blindfolded if he wishes to continue. Ciri takes him by the hand and brings him along, telling Geralt of all the beautiful plants, animals, and fish she can see. The Witcher informs Ciri that this is Brokilon, and is where all the beauty is, and that's why it is known as The Last Place. She does not understand, and Geralt informs her that nobody does, and that nobody wants to understand. I believe this is in reference to Brokilon being the final place in existence where dryads live and defend their home for themselves, having not accepted the fate man would put upon them. I found the stories in The Last Wish more consistent but two or three of my favourites are from this entry. If you decide to read the short story collections first I'd truly recommend starting with The Last Wish and not Sword of Destiny. Two stories in The Witcher #1, one including Yennefer and one including a Queen and a Princess, add huge depth to the action and events that occur in this collection, especially with certain relationship complexities. Mars Needs Women: The only reason the Dryads let Frexinet live is so he can conceive them some children. Supernaturally Young Parent: In Something More, Geralt meets his mother, Visenna, who looks younger than him. Justified, because she's a sorceress.I think I need to mention that the translator did a very good job and translator efforts usually go unnoticed but I think that would not be fair here. Another thing I should mention is that Sapkowski has the typical white male voice of fetishizing women and describing their round heavy breasts *face palm* which I understand for a book published in 1992 but I don’t quite like! I hope the later books are better in that aspect!

Whether he knows it or not, Geralt of Rivia is getting closer to his fate with every step he takes in this unusual but enlightening collection of short stories. Dragons, mermaids, dopplers and dryads, this book challenges him in very untypical ways. Well, what can I say, it’s a base world,’ he finally muttered. ‘But that’s no reason for us all to become despicable.”I Need a Freaking Drink: When Vell suggests pouring some vodka down an injured Geralt's throat, Yurga says it's a stupid idea but he'll take it himself because he needs a drink. There are two audio versions available in Polish. Classic audiobook, lasting about 13 hours and read by Roch Siemianowski, was released by superNOWA (Polish publisher of Sapkowski's works) in 1990s. Yurga wakes Geralt up wondering why the witcher went up there, when he could have been told everything by Yurga. Geralt tests Yurga's memory by asking for the last name of the mage, it turnes out not to be who Geralt has thought. The scene ends by Geralt glancing at all the names on the menhir answering Yurga's question whether Geralt knew the last mage. The Bounds of Reason. A deconstruction of dragon-slaying epics. Our Dragons Are Different is prominent. Dandelion isn’t the only familiar face from The Last Wish . In The Last Wish Geralt saves a man from a curse and unites him with his princess love. The man offers him anything he wishes as a reward. Geralt invokes the Law of Surprise, claiming that which the man has, but doesn’t yet know he has. This ends up being a child that his lover is carrying. Geralt hoped the child would be a boy he could train as a witcher. After the exchange Geralt leaves, promising to return in six years to collect his boon. In Sword of Destiny, we learn what became of that Child of Surprise.

Geralt doesn’t try to attract women, he’s still too caught up on Yennifer, but they all throw themselves at him anyway. Something about his quiet power and complete confidence draws them in and convinces them that he’s worth chasing. I think that they secretly think that they’ll be the ones to finally capture his heart. So when it turns out that he will return their physical advances but never the emotional ones, they always break. Geralt leaves a string of broken hearts behind him without even trying. It’s sad. Both for the women and for him. After all, Geralt is always alone and sad because of how Yennifer toys with him, but he can’t change how he feels for her, and so he can’t try with anyone new. Joey Batey as Jaskier (aka Dandelion) in The Witcher season 2 (Netflix) How Sword of Destiny ties to The Last Wish I really enjoyed this short story collection, more so than the first The Last Wish. I think it helped that I had a better grounding in the lore and history of the world, and was less put off by the odd time jumps and pacing. I will say that the second half is a lot snappier in pace, and introduces the wonderful Ciri, which helped propel this to a 4 star read for me. Dandelion knew that few would believe the story told by the ballad, but he was not concerned. He knew ballads were not written to be believed, but to move their audience. Duke Agloval is far from impressed with Geralt's report of an intelligent race residing below the sea at Dragon Fang. Dismayed by the news, the Duke and his court discuss options including waging war on the sea creature's. He refuses to pay Geralt once again for the service the Witcher has provided, as in the Duke's opinion the job was incomplete. The Duke makes Geralt an offer to be the skipper of his armed guard until the problem is eradicated, in return for lodgings and warm food. Geralt refuses, and once the Duke claims Geralt to have no choice, Essi interjects. She exclaims to the Duke how he cannot buy Geralt, merely hire him to undertake work. He cannot own Geralt, and she imparts wisdom on the Duke not to interfere with the vasts of the ocean or what dwells below the waves at Dragon Fang. The Duke, with his usual stubbornness informs her that either himself, or his grandsons, or grandsons' grandsons will conquer the ocean as his ancestors did in the past, this time without requiring the Witcher's aid. With a gleam in her eye, Essi reveals the gravest of realities to the Duke, as at that moment Sh'eenaz appears. She has been transformed into a woman with legs and is capable of speaking the common tongue, having made a sacrifice of no longer being a mermaid so she can be with the one she loves. That Man Is Dead: Braen used to be a human girl named Mona before she became a dryad, and she suffers a Heroic BSoD after being reminded of it. By the end of The Sword of Destiny, she has finally let go of her previous identity and tells Geralt that "there is no Mona."Something More" was adapted into the two episodes that ended season one of The Witcher: "Before a Fall" and "Much More".