The Tower of Swallows (The Witcher Book 6 / The Witcher Saga Novels Book 4)

This is the 4th book in the series of 5. There are 7 books in the Witcher Universe. Do not read this book out of order because the Saga books pick up exactly where the previous books left off. You wouldn't Start Watching Game of Thrones in Season 4, would you? The short story books are: The Last Wish and The Sword of Destiny, which set up the world and the main characters. The Saga books are: Blood of Elves, Time of Contempt, Baptism of Fire, The Tower of Swallows, and Lady of the Lake. Read these in order! In this book Geralt and his party continue to look for Ciri, who is on the run and has been gravely wounded by bounty hunters. There have also been cataclysmic supernatural events occurring on Samhain as a ghostly cavalcade of wraiths, known as the Wild Hunt, appear. I'm a HUGE fan of the Witcher video games and books, and Geralt may be my favorite video game character of all time. I also really like Ciri from Witcher 3. If I did NOT like Ciri, I would not like this book because the entire book is centered around her. So, if you're looking for stories about Geralt killing monsters, you're much better off playing the games. With all of that said, Tower of Swallows is an exciting, fast paced adventure, where Ciri and her fellow gang of bandits is on the run from professional bounty hunters. They ride across the country, while being hunted down. It almost feels like a western. The writing style is engaging, the action is brutal, and there are many twists and turns. If you've been a fan of the series so far, this book doesn't disappoint... unless you want a book about Geralt killing monsters. Speaking of which... I am downloading the Witcher 3 Blood and Wine DLC as I write this. I’m really looking forward to the final book, The Lady of the Lake.

This book deserves a five star rating. Sapkowski's storytelling is fantastic, and reading it flows like a smooth river - or it would, if it had been properly translated. I cannot speak for accuracy as I do not speak, let alone read, Polish. As far as I know, he may have translated it perfectly. But somewhere along the line, whether it be the editor or just French himself nodding off, he gave up on having any degree of spelling consistency or respect for grammar. This is a problem noticeable since Time of Contempt, where the translation suddenly shifts the spelling of several names, as French clearly gave no regard to the standards put in place by Danusia Stok (who, by the way, did a stellar job in Blood of Elves). Not only that, but he constantly contradicts himself by switching the spelling of names from Y to V, from J to Y, and sometimes even blatantly changing the sound of a word entirely. Within a single paragraph. Not to mention the growing number of grammatical errors that any degree of proof-reading could have caught. It has been an issue since reading Time of Contempt, but it has reached a point where I simply must comment on his shabby work. Not five pages go by without a preposition or apostrophe missing, which completely shatters the flow of the reading. I strongly recommend that Orbit Books do a better job with their pre-publishing work, and I beseech Sapkowski and all other authors to pay very close attention to these kinds of things. To make it absolutely clear, I will even state that the edition I have is of May 2016, and beg that Orbit please revise it before doing any more printings. Typos are not okay in an industry where your entire career is based around reading the same thing dozens of times to make sure it is correct.

The sixth book of The Witcher saga is chaotic, frenetic and fun. The story centers around Ciri, though there are updates about what Geralt and Co. are up to. Sapkowski also touches base with Yennifer and Triss. A significant portion of the book happens from the POV of new(er) characters and how they interact with important events that occur around the time of the equinox. This staggered/fractured presentation of story is a style Sapkowski makes frequent (and good) use of. As other readers have pointed out, the frequency of those interspersed POVs is at all time high, but this isn't a bad thing. In fact, once the reader adjusts to this change in presentation, s/he will have a much better understanding of the impact and scope of the forces at work around Ciri. Recommended for: those already taking the ride and wanting to see it through. Where, oh where, will this fateful journey lead our intrepid hero- er, protagoni- er, characters of note? 'No one wants to suffer. But yet it is our lot. And some suffer more. Not necessarily by choice. The point is not the bearing of suffering. The point is how it is borne.' "On the way to eternity everyone will tread their own stairway, shouldering their own burden." "It's impossible to utterly destroy humans and cockroaches; at least one pair always remains." 'It isn't the evil and indecent who are flung down into the depths, no! Oh, no! The evil and decisive fling down those who are moral, honest and noble but maladroit, hesitant and full of scruples.'

The world is at war and Ciri, the child of prophecy, has vanished. Having taken the disguise of a bandit, Ciri believed herself to be free from her enemies and her destiny, but her freedom is short lived as friend and foe alike search for her. The witcher Geralt is scouring the land in search of the princess with help from a band of allies. Mercenaries have been hired from both sides of the war to find and capture her. There is only one place left for Ciri to run to: the tower of swallows. The ever-talented Andrzej Sapkowski has released yet another wonderful addition to his epic fantasy series with 'The Tower of Swallows'. While it does not hold as much action or humor as its predecessors, Sapkowski’s fourth installment still holds plenty of fantastical action while taking a more serious route. The war that has been foreshadowed has finally arrived and readers get to learn more about what is to come. The story as a whole is, once again, well-written and well-executed. As with previous books of the series, the characters really help to bring this story to life. Most of the main characters readers have come to know have equal amounts of spotlight time; however, one character receives more spotlight time than any other: Ciri. Ciri has been a vital part of the series since 'The Last Wish', but has only been given minimal attention. It is a pleasant surprise the amount of spotlight time Sapkowski gives to Ciri and readers will thoroughly enjoy learning more about her, even though her tale is not an entirely pleasant one. Even with the more serious route 'The Tower of Swallows' takes, there are still plenty of excellent action sequences and also more storytelling that will fascinate readers. The 'Witcher' series is known for incorporating well-known tales and legends within its books and more mythological tales are revealed in this one. The impending Frost that has been briefly mentioned in earlier books of the series is nearly upon the land as is the war. This is finally explained more in depth through what seem to be stories from Norse mythology. This is a wonderful addition to the tales and legends already hinted at within the series and one fans of mythology will love. The only somewhat downside of the story may be that parts can become confusing at times. Similar to the second installment of the series, 'The Time of Contempt', readers are given more politics about the war that can either be confusing or drawn out to the point of monotony. Also, many characters are mentioned whose names may sound familiar, but may be difficult for readers to place who said characters are. Regardless of how readers take this information, it is vital information to know for the main plot of the 'Witcher' series. Master storyteller Sapkowski has yet to disappoint in his epic fantasy series. With more information revealed to the readers about the war, the so-called “end times,” and the princess who is destined to bring about or stop that time, 'The Tower of Swallows' is an excellent addition to The 'Witcher' series. Readers will keep reading, longing for the time to come when Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri can be together as a family and for the time when Sapkowski’s amazing fantasy world is no longer at war. The story does end in a way that will make readers wish to read the next in the series, 'Lady of the Lake'.

This series keeps getting worse, and I am done with it. By this point in the series, the author has become overly dependent on narrow, lucky escapes and cliffhangers, which are hallmarks of bad fiction. Two of the three main characters have been captured, but narrowly escaped twice. The third has been captured for the second time at the end of the book. It's a cheap and annoying way to build suspense that makes the story increasingly unlikely even within its own setting. The book series as a whole has an unusual obsession with the mistreatment and abuse of women in a medieval setting. This book extends that odd fascination to the two female main characters (the third main character being Geralt), who end up in the clutches of sadistic men, which sets the stage for an even longer and more uncomfortable examination of what I assume is an unhealthy obsession of the author. When I stared reading this series, I was hoping to read about Geralt slaying unusual and fascinating monsters based on legends and folklore. What I got was a book about inequality, racism, suffering protagonists, war, intrigue, and sexual violence.

I think this was my favorite of the whole series of Witcher books. This book was far more focused on Ciri and the people pursuing her (Ciri is the main character of the series after all), while there was of course some good action on Geralt’s side as well but to a lesser extent. Light spoilers are ahead. I think I liked this one so much for the same reason that Wizard and Glass is my favorite book from the Dark Tower. This one almost reads like a western and follows a similar structure of a character telling a “story within a story”. Unlike in Wizard and Glass with Roland telling his companions a story of his youth long ago, Ciri tells a much more recent story in Tower of Swallows. Gravely injured, she is rescued by a reclusive scholar and narrates the actual meat of the book to him in the same way that Roland tells his ka-tet the story of his journey to Mejis to make up the bulk of Wizard and Glass. This book used more of some of my favorite writing techniques, such as the incremental repetition at the end of each Ciri chapter. This, as well as the extremely precise timeframe and plot layout made for a fast, exciting read. I seriously finished this book in a single day. Hurray for covid-19 and the extraordinary amount of free time I currently have. There are two great new villains in this one. Vilgefortz is still conducting his machinations from behind the scenes, but his catspaw Rience stirs up some trouble in this one. Vilgefortz, being the archvillain and final boss of the series doesn’t come back until the next one. The two new villains are Leo Bonhart and Stefan Skellen. Bonhart is a sadistic and deadly headhunter (with uncanny similarities to Eldred Jonas from Wizard and Glass, down to the watery eyes) and Skellen is an overly ambitious upstart skilled in covert operations. As some others have suggested, there is a lot of intrigue, mostly precipitated by Skellen. I really enjoyed the intrigue, since in this book it focused almost entirely on the Nilfgaardian side. Geralt and Ciri have separate, and equally exciting, climactic endings, and the setup at the end for the final book really leaves you wanting more. This has been one of the most enjoyable reads I’ve undertaken in a long time, and wouldn’t be surprised if I gave this particular installment a second read.

I’ve read two or three of the other books of the series. They were very good. I enjoyed each of them . This one was absolutely terrible and I paid ten dollars for the experience. The story line jumped back and forth in time , back and forth from character to character. . The story had no rhythm or grace in the telling of it. I know as a reader when I fail the author of a story . I also know when the author has failed me the reader. The author failed not only me but he failed his his story also., I don’t know who the editor was on this travesty but for the Writers sake , I hope they are replaced. This was simply awful the way it was put together..

I have read the five Witcher books that end with Lady of the Lake. They all have the same strengths and weaknesses. The potential for a great story is there. Some great characters but some major storytelling flaws. Sometimes I skipped through nearly an entire chapter of banal conversations. Overly complex names. Tries too much to show some linguistics by mentioning multiple names for a single location. Names have odd and difficult to pronounce spellings, so good luck having a conversation about some characters. My hope is that the screenwriters for the television version are given liberties to clean up a story that has some great characters to build on.

Thus far I've loved the Witcher books, but this one was the first book to be difficult to get through. I don't tend to have trouble following alternate viewpoints in books. I did with this novel because it felt like time periods were jumping back and forth, and I didn't have a clear timeline in my head. This is mostly a tale of what has happened to Ciri, as Geralt's part in this tale is probably only 1/4 to 1/3 of the book. I just didn't feel like it had the truly masterful plotting of the previous books. It felt like it jumped around and wasn't very focused. There wasn't a lot of payoff from some of the side plots with Triss and Yennefer, though maybe those will come in future books.

Just finished the book, I have read all the books in the witcher series and I am an avid fan. I was attracted to this series after I played Witcher 3 and man this universe is amazing. I am a fanboy of Geralt and he is my favorite videogame character. This book like others was a roller coaster of a ride and loved every minute of it. Man I hate that I don't know polish language and was appalled that I will have to wait till Sep 2017 for the next book 'Lady of the Lake' in English, how infuriating. Well nothing I can do , so I will wait anxiously. Highly recommend this book and all in the series. PS: These books make the game even more enjoyable.

This is the 4th book in the series of 5. There are 7 books in the Witcher Universe. Do not read this book out of order because the Saga books pick up exactly where the previous books left off. You wouldn't Start Watching Game of Thrones in Season 4, would you? The short story books are: The Last Wish and The Sword of Destiny, which set up the world and the main characters. The Saga books are: Blood of Elves, Time of Contempt, Baptism of Fire, The Tower of Swallows, and Lady of the Lake. Read these in order! In this book Geralt and his party continue to look for Ciri, who is on the run and has been gravely wounded by bounty hunters. There have also been cataclysmic supernatural events occurring on Samhain as a ghostly cavalcade of wraiths, known as the Wild Hunt, appear. I'm a HUGE fan of the Witcher video games and books, and Geralt may be my favorite video game character of all time. I also really like Ciri from Witcher 3. If I did NOT like Ciri, I would not like this book because the entire book is centered around her. So, if you're looking for stories about Geralt killing monsters, you're much better off playing the games. With all of that said, Tower of Swallows is an exciting, fast paced adventure, where Ciri and her fellow gang of bandits is on the run from professional bounty hunters. They ride across the country, while being hunted down. It almost feels like a western. The writing style is engaging, the action is brutal, and there are many twists and turns. If you've been a fan of the series so far, this book doesn't disappoint... unless you want a book about Geralt killing monsters. Speaking of which... I am downloading the Witcher 3 Blood and Wine DLC as I write this. I’m really looking forward to the final book, The Lady of the Lake.

This book deserves a five star rating. Sapkowski's storytelling is fantastic, and reading it flows like a smooth river - or it would, if it had been properly translated. I cannot speak for accuracy as I do not speak, let alone read, Polish. As far as I know, he may have translated it perfectly. But somewhere along the line, whether it be the editor or just French himself nodding off, he gave up on having any degree of spelling consistency or respect for grammar. This is a problem noticeable since Time of Contempt, where the translation suddenly shifts the spelling of several names, as French clearly gave no regard to the standards put in place by Danusia Stok (who, by the way, did a stellar job in Blood of Elves). Not only that, but he constantly contradicts himself by switching the spelling of names from Y to V, from J to Y, and sometimes even blatantly changing the sound of a word entirely. Within a single paragraph. Not to mention the growing number of grammatical errors that any degree of proof-reading could have caught. It has been an issue since reading Time of Contempt, but it has reached a point where I simply must comment on his shabby work. Not five pages go by without a preposition or apostrophe missing, which completely shatters the flow of the reading. I strongly recommend that Orbit Books do a better job with their pre-publishing work, and I beseech Sapkowski and all other authors to pay very close attention to these kinds of things. To make it absolutely clear, I will even state that the edition I have is of May 2016, and beg that Orbit please revise it before doing any more printings. Typos are not okay in an industry where your entire career is based around reading the same thing dozens of times to make sure it is correct.

The sixth book of The Witcher saga is chaotic, frenetic and fun. The story centers around Ciri, though there are updates about what Geralt and Co. are up to. Sapkowski also touches base with Yennifer and Triss. A significant portion of the book happens from the POV of new(er) characters and how they interact with important events that occur around the time of the equinox. This staggered/fractured presentation of story is a style Sapkowski makes frequent (and good) use of. As other readers have pointed out, the frequency of those interspersed POVs is at all time high, but this isn't a bad thing. In fact, once the reader adjusts to this change in presentation, s/he will have a much better understanding of the impact and scope of the forces at work around Ciri. Recommended for: those already taking the ride and wanting to see it through. Where, oh where, will this fateful journey lead our intrepid hero- er, protagoni- er, characters of note? 'No one wants to suffer. But yet it is our lot. And some suffer more. Not necessarily by choice. The point is not the bearing of suffering. The point is how it is borne.' "On the way to eternity everyone will tread their own stairway, shouldering their own burden." "It's impossible to utterly destroy humans and cockroaches; at least one pair always remains." 'It isn't the evil and indecent who are flung down into the depths, no! Oh, no! The evil and decisive fling down those who are moral, honest and noble but maladroit, hesitant and full of scruples.'

The world is at war and Ciri, the child of prophecy, has vanished. Having taken the disguise of a bandit, Ciri believed herself to be free from her enemies and her destiny, but her freedom is short lived as friend and foe alike search for her. The witcher Geralt is scouring the land in search of the princess with help from a band of allies. Mercenaries have been hired from both sides of the war to find and capture her. There is only one place left for Ciri to run to: the tower of swallows. The ever-talented Andrzej Sapkowski has released yet another wonderful addition to his epic fantasy series with 'The Tower of Swallows'. While it does not hold as much action or humor as its predecessors, Sapkowski’s fourth installment still holds plenty of fantastical action while taking a more serious route. The war that has been foreshadowed has finally arrived and readers get to learn more about what is to come. The story as a whole is, once again, well-written and well-executed. As with previous books of the series, the characters really help to bring this story to life. Most of the main characters readers have come to know have equal amounts of spotlight time; however, one character receives more spotlight time than any other: Ciri. Ciri has been a vital part of the series since 'The Last Wish', but has only been given minimal attention. It is a pleasant surprise the amount of spotlight time Sapkowski gives to Ciri and readers will thoroughly enjoy learning more about her, even though her tale is not an entirely pleasant one. Even with the more serious route 'The Tower of Swallows' takes, there are still plenty of excellent action sequences and also more storytelling that will fascinate readers. The 'Witcher' series is known for incorporating well-known tales and legends within its books and more mythological tales are revealed in this one. The impending Frost that has been briefly mentioned in earlier books of the series is nearly upon the land as is the war. This is finally explained more in depth through what seem to be stories from Norse mythology. This is a wonderful addition to the tales and legends already hinted at within the series and one fans of mythology will love. The only somewhat downside of the story may be that parts can become confusing at times. Similar to the second installment of the series, 'The Time of Contempt', readers are given more politics about the war that can either be confusing or drawn out to the point of monotony. Also, many characters are mentioned whose names may sound familiar, but may be difficult for readers to place who said characters are. Regardless of how readers take this information, it is vital information to know for the main plot of the 'Witcher' series. Master storyteller Sapkowski has yet to disappoint in his epic fantasy series. With more information revealed to the readers about the war, the so-called “end times,” and the princess who is destined to bring about or stop that time, 'The Tower of Swallows' is an excellent addition to The 'Witcher' series. Readers will keep reading, longing for the time to come when Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri can be together as a family and for the time when Sapkowski’s amazing fantasy world is no longer at war. The story does end in a way that will make readers wish to read the next in the series, 'Lady of the Lake'.

This series keeps getting worse, and I am done with it. By this point in the series, the author has become overly dependent on narrow, lucky escapes and cliffhangers, which are hallmarks of bad fiction. Two of the three main characters have been captured, but narrowly escaped twice. The third has been captured for the second time at the end of the book. It's a cheap and annoying way to build suspense that makes the story increasingly unlikely even within its own setting. The book series as a whole has an unusual obsession with the mistreatment and abuse of women in a medieval setting. This book extends that odd fascination to the two female main characters (the third main character being Geralt), who end up in the clutches of sadistic men, which sets the stage for an even longer and more uncomfortable examination of what I assume is an unhealthy obsession of the author. When I stared reading this series, I was hoping to read about Geralt slaying unusual and fascinating monsters based on legends and folklore. What I got was a book about inequality, racism, suffering protagonists, war, intrigue, and sexual violence.

I think this was my favorite of the whole series of Witcher books. This book was far more focused on Ciri and the people pursuing her (Ciri is the main character of the series after all), while there was of course some good action on Geralt’s side as well but to a lesser extent. Light spoilers are ahead. I think I liked this one so much for the same reason that Wizard and Glass is my favorite book from the Dark Tower. This one almost reads like a western and follows a similar structure of a character telling a “story within a story”. Unlike in Wizard and Glass with Roland telling his companions a story of his youth long ago, Ciri tells a much more recent story in Tower of Swallows. Gravely injured, she is rescued by a reclusive scholar and narrates the actual meat of the book to him in the same way that Roland tells his ka-tet the story of his journey to Mejis to make up the bulk of Wizard and Glass. This book used more of some of my favorite writing techniques, such as the incremental repetition at the end of each Ciri chapter. This, as well as the extremely precise timeframe and plot layout made for a fast, exciting read. I seriously finished this book in a single day. Hurray for covid-19 and the extraordinary amount of free time I currently have. There are two great new villains in this one. Vilgefortz is still conducting his machinations from behind the scenes, but his catspaw Rience stirs up some trouble in this one. Vilgefortz, being the archvillain and final boss of the series doesn’t come back until the next one. The two new villains are Leo Bonhart and Stefan Skellen. Bonhart is a sadistic and deadly headhunter (with uncanny similarities to Eldred Jonas from Wizard and Glass, down to the watery eyes) and Skellen is an overly ambitious upstart skilled in covert operations. As some others have suggested, there is a lot of intrigue, mostly precipitated by Skellen. I really enjoyed the intrigue, since in this book it focused almost entirely on the Nilfgaardian side. Geralt and Ciri have separate, and equally exciting, climactic endings, and the setup at the end for the final book really leaves you wanting more. This has been one of the most enjoyable reads I’ve undertaken in a long time, and wouldn’t be surprised if I gave this particular installment a second read.

I’ve read two or three of the other books of the series. They were very good. I enjoyed each of them . This one was absolutely terrible and I paid ten dollars for the experience. The story line jumped back and forth in time , back and forth from character to character. . The story had no rhythm or grace in the telling of it. I know as a reader when I fail the author of a story . I also know when the author has failed me the reader. The author failed not only me but he failed his his story also., I don’t know who the editor was on this travesty but for the Writers sake , I hope they are replaced. This was simply awful the way it was put together..

I have read the five Witcher books that end with Lady of the Lake. They all have the same strengths and weaknesses. The potential for a great story is there. Some great characters but some major storytelling flaws. Sometimes I skipped through nearly an entire chapter of banal conversations. Overly complex names. Tries too much to show some linguistics by mentioning multiple names for a single location. Names have odd and difficult to pronounce spellings, so good luck having a conversation about some characters. My hope is that the screenwriters for the television version are given liberties to clean up a story that has some great characters to build on.

Thus far I've loved the Witcher books, but this one was the first book to be difficult to get through. I don't tend to have trouble following alternate viewpoints in books. I did with this novel because it felt like time periods were jumping back and forth, and I didn't have a clear timeline in my head. This is mostly a tale of what has happened to Ciri, as Geralt's part in this tale is probably only 1/4 to 1/3 of the book. I just didn't feel like it had the truly masterful plotting of the previous books. It felt like it jumped around and wasn't very focused. There wasn't a lot of payoff from some of the side plots with Triss and Yennefer, though maybe those will come in future books.

Just finished the book, I have read all the books in the witcher series and I am an avid fan. I was attracted to this series after I played Witcher 3 and man this universe is amazing. I am a fanboy of Geralt and he is my favorite videogame character. This book like others was a roller coaster of a ride and loved every minute of it. Man I hate that I don't know polish language and was appalled that I will have to wait till Sep 2017 for the next book 'Lady of the Lake' in English, how infuriating. Well nothing I can do , so I will wait anxiously. Highly recommend this book and all in the series. PS: These books make the game even more enjoyable.

I am a HUGE fan of this series. The Tower of Swallows combines the stories of at least 5 different people that all seem to connect the more you read. The story grips you and keeps you wanting more. I have a hard time putting this book down. From Geralt's jolly party, to Ciri's ill fated journey and all the politics of The White Flame's war in between. If you are thinking about reading this then I already don't have to tell you how good it is. Sapkowski's world is brought to life with vivid imagery and a perfect blend of epic fights, light romance, hopelessness, tragedy, comedy, and the occasional horror.

Spoilers ahead... This is truly a book about Ciri. She meets an Archnemesis who throws what little bit of semblance and order she has found upside down in a traumatic way. She finds refuge with an old hermit who listens to her tale and we are like flies on the wall hearing it along with him. She goes to seek her destiny and shows those who wish to do her harm in her path that She is true to her chosen name of Falka and lives up to that bloody mantle. The Witcher series has quickly risen to one of my favourite series I've read and I've read quite a few.

Please know that the reading order for these books is different on Goodreads. Very good world building, however all the different kingdoms, rulers, spymasters, and other characters take away from the main story & main characters. Author goes into long convoluted political dissertations that really take away from the book. Expect to skip long passages of the political stuff. It really gets you nowhere in the end. Spymasters will be spymasters and their political machinations just muddy these books. And now, lets ad some Arthurian legends into the mix.

Sapkowski's fantasy world has everything which even some of the most famous fantasy universes lack: moral ambiguity, complex and highly developed characters that make it difficult to discern heroes from villains, and mature themes. The author is daring in his decision to constantly employ different narrative devices, and in Tower of the Swallow, he gets especially creative. I find the variety refreshing. At times you feel you have a birds-eye view. At times you feel as though you are literally sitting by the hearth fire listening to a story. The point has to be immersion, and its effective. These features are all accessories that accentuate the greatest aspect of the books: the characters. Sapkowski is a MASTER at creating unique, believable characters, who each have their own parlance, their own world view, and who's dialogue when put to page is authentic and true to these characters. You know its good when there are about ten characters whom, if I were to ask my peers their opinion on them, I would wager half would hate them with violent passion, and the other half would love them so much to the point of emulation. Surely we have all read authors who fail at captivating us with properly written characters. Furthermore, its clear that the author has an impressive grasp of philosphy, abstract thinking, politics, morality and ethics, social issues and more. I can promise you that you will be intellectually stimulated while reading these books, and you will be introduced to more angles and ideas and subjects with modern application than you ever thought possible from a fantasy series. I was never gratified in this way by LOTR or Harry Potter, or any other fantasy series. Pick up this book if you want the Tour De Force in fantasy. If you find the black and white, good vs. evil paradigm of LOTR or Harry Potter dreadfully boring, and are more of a Game of Thrones purveyor, then this is the series for you.

I’ve read Last Wish, Sword of Destiny, and the first 4 of the 6 book series. This one is definitely the least enjoyable to read of all of them. The rest of the series is decent. The writing is only mediocre in my opinion, but I think some of that has to do with things being lost in translation. For the books translated by Danusia Stok were a better read than those translated by David French (such as Tower of Swallows). The overall story and the world building are pretty good for an epic fantasy series. I do wish they made up a map of the “world” and included it like most high fantasy books do, but that might not bother some people. I, personally, like to know where the characters are in relation to everything else as well as when depicted events are taking place on the timeline of the story arc. Which leads me to the problem I have this book in particular. The timeline jumps around CONSTANTLY! And I don’t mean there’s just the main story and then flashbacks throughout. That I wouldn’t mind. In this book, there’s constant bouncing around on the timeline. And while sometimes dates are offered within the narrative or dialogue, they aren’t stated straight out at the beginning of the scene and since the timeline jumps around multiple times each chapter, it can be easy lose when the scene your reading is taking place unless you’re vigilant about keeping track. In my opinion, this heavily detracts from the reading experience and only serves as a distraction. If the book were set up in a more linear sense with only a couple flashback character arcs, that would be a much easier read. While this book is my least favorite of the series so far, it was still decent overall and I liked the ending. The character arcs end with enough suspense to make me look forward to the next book, but also ‘stops’ at a point where the conclusion of the book is satisfying. Despite the issues I had with this particular installment of the series, I still intend to read the last 2 books. For if nothing else, I can’t stand leaving a story unfinished. ...Plus, I really want to see Vilgefortz get his ass kicked.

The Tower of Swallows is the low-point in the Witcher saga, which is unfortunate as it is the penultimate novel. Its saving grace is that it ends with a satisfying climax, but the scene that I speak of makes me wonder how much better the novel would have been with had it featured more sequences with heroes rather than zeroes. Those who wish to complete the series will have to endure this novel; if someone asked me which book in the Witcher series could be skipped to save time, it would be this one.

I enjoyed Tower of Swallows but didn’t love it. There are a LOT of loose ends to wrap up in the final book, so it will be interesting to see how well this is accomplished. This book is much more about Ciri than the other main characters and the way it is written (jumping around in time and between multiple narrators) is sometimes hard to follow. Ciri becomes a real badass by the end and a couple of bad guys get their just desserts, but a new very bad guy makes his presence felt. But if you’ve made it to this point in the Witcher saga, you need to read the last two.

Sapkowski is hard to figure out when it comes to writing style -for me at least. His books come across as a mash-up of different formats, and occasionally he also heads away from his "signature"-writing. Not to say I didn't thoroughly enjoy this book, though, it comes across as a more focused, narrative-driven event, compared to Sapkowskis many ironic, satire-driven stories. I also detect a blend that shines through even more in the next book, The lady of the lake, where the narrative shifts between different times in history, different styles (narrative-driven novel interspersed with novella or even short-story formats. Good read, but harder to keep track of all the different names and roles of the great and varied character-roster, and many will probably be turned off by all the politics included.

Is it odd the reason I'm dinging this book a star is also a reason I like the book? If this is your first Witcher book, put it down, look up the order to start reading these stories (starting with the two books of short stories) and then catch up to this one. Tower of Swallows is the first novel in this series that brings back the feeling of the original short stories for me. Although in the novel format, it can get a bit confusing the way he bounces around but as always Andrezej is a master story teller, the kind of stories you'd want to hear around a campfire. Now I can't wait for the final book to be translated. Well I can I guess, I don't want to take a chance with a fan translation.

I think the cost was ridiculous, I could go to a bookstore and get 25-30% off, i wondered why it was SO much, now I know! Amazon charges full price! From now on I'll be going to B&N or Boarders, or other local shops! That said, these are nice, thick, books, and i REALLY hope my son reads and appreciates them, they were a Christmas wish!

Playing the games kind of ruined the experience with the books, since, in a general perspective, the gamer knows everything that will happen in the book. But maybe those “spoilers” are actually allowing me tonoay attention to other aspects of the books. The stoytelling, as usual, is simplistic in a pleasent way. It feels like a dark fairy tale, albeit heavy on subconcious historic dramas of World War Poland, there’s always enough comic relief from most characters. This book in particular, however, gives quite a twist as it abandons p, for the most part, Geralt’s journey and focuses on Ciri as she grows from a cunning small time criminal, to a high priority individual with a most convoluted past.

Best one yet. Well, tied with Baptism of Fire. The only thing that I can think of that is a negative is that there gets to be so many characters that you really need the search function of an e-book to keep track who is on who's side and what their motives are and why they are doing what they are doing. I wouldn't read this in paperback. E-book all the way.

I eagerly await reading these books. Each one brings you one step closer to what happens in the lives of Ciri, Geralt, and Yennefer. This books has surprising changes for Geralt and unfortunate consequences for Yen. Ciri faces more trials, but also becomes more confident in her abilities and her vision of the world around her.

After completing The Witcher game series, I started diving into the books for a little bit of additional content from the series. and what I found was the humor that I enjoyed so much and the third game, as well as a lot of world-building that informed much of my enjoyment in replays of the game. If you enjoyed the games you will enjoy the book series so much!

As an avid reader of both fantasy and Eastern European fiction (especially Dostoevsky and other existentialists), I love these books. I've heard complaints that there's too much time spent on philosophical dialogue, but I love the blend of history, politics, philosophy, and innovative fantasy that Sapkowski balances perfectly to keep the pages turning and leave me feeling like I learned something about myself and this world as well as the world of the Witcher.

Although it’s a bit difficult to keep track of all the characters (much like Game of Thrones) the story and complexity keeps me going for the next book in the series. Amazing to see Ciri progress from a spoiled brat to an amazing heroine. Very good read.

I ordered 2 of each Witcher Books 1 son in jail the other in prison they live the books they pass them to others like a book exchange barrow type thing the men in the jail/ prison kept asking when is your mom going to order you the next book. LOL

I see this series is starting to go the way of almost all good ones. The writer is over writing the main story, getting caught up in meaningless side stories and starting to muck it up. Still salvageable but I think the next book will be a disappointing mess. Why do writers do this?

The saga will, as a collection, likely never be quite as good as the individual stories, but they are still magnificently written. Sapkowski lacks the shock and awe that writer's like Martin command, but this is essentially a story about 2 people. Geralt is the medieval equivalent of a Ghostbuster, but is frequently sucked into politics. I've grown quite attached to Geralt, and to a lesser extent, Cirilla. As I near the end of Lady of the Lake, a sadness has begun to form, knowing this may be my last adventure with them.

I know these books are The Witcher series, but Geralt is often a secondary character. This is definitely one of those books. This one is all about Ciri. It's about the search for Ciri , and her story is told in her voice.

There's much happening in this book, with the story concentrating more on the main three characters. The story turned even darker, with significant damage being done to many, physically as well as mentally.

Was much better than a time of contempt, but not much happens. A lot of political moving, tertiary characters, and a lack of plot progression. This is basically a spy thriller, with a lot of intrigue and visceral violence.

Another very good installment of the Witcher series. It is good heroic fantasy, but quite dark and brutal. I get the impression that some of the myths that are woven in may be familiar to eastern Europeans, but some are quite new to me, which ads to the appeal. If you like fast paced heroic fantasy with a definite bitterness of reality this is good. The nice guys usually end up suffering, much like reality. Not the deepest and most developed characters, but pretty much better than typical in modern writing.

Fantasy novels are all about the plot. The first 3 books in the series advance the plot in a great direction. This book is non-linear and honestly really does nothing for the plot. I'd recommend skipping this book and/or reading a few spoilers as nothing really happens.

This series gets better with each book. At first it is a slow and frustrating read but the author improves with every book, no longer sequal baiting. However I would like more Geralt.

Leo Bonhart is both a truly terrifying and utterly contemptible villain. This story shows that the ultimate monster does not have fangs or leathery wings, drink blood, or breathe fire. In this book he totally eclipses Vilgeforts as the character that you want to see get their comeuppance. It was also nice to see Ciri evolve from being basically a talking football to a formidable and consequential female lead character.

This novel contains some of the best fantasy writing ever penned. Chapters eight and nine stand out to me as the best examples of what contemporary fiction can be. I will not forget this book.

Anyone who loves the series will love this part of it as well. As usual, Sapkowski delivers an exciting story in his unique universe. And Geralt is simply the coolest guy in the world of Fantasy literature.

Though a little choppy and the translation can be a little wonky, nothing can take away from the gripping tale spun by the author. If you played the games and want the full backstory, you will NOT be disappointed. Enjoy!

Actually, there aren't a lot of characters that are wholly likable. Still a great story and good characters. I'll keep reading the series. I can recommend. Gbash

I enjoyed her strength. Her vengeance. Her figuring out how she will survive. So pleased yennifer did not give her up. I sure hope she is able to find both Yen and Geralt in the final book.

All characters good or evil have an identity, they have a story, they have a reason to be in the book. They are not mere extras or burglars, they are someone and you want to know what will happen to them; you want to know if they will be victorious or if they will finally hang from a noose

my husband loves this series and this was a gift for him. he was over the moon to get it and hasn't put it down since he got it!!

If you're reading this, chances are you've already read all the others. Let's say that they start off with the "alternating perspectives and timelines" writing style right off the bat. ...and if you're wondering how this timeline fits with the Witcher 3 game (if it's not already clear enough), this brings those timelines ever closer together.

The entire Witcher series of books by Andrzej Sapkowski are some of the best fantasy novels ever written in my humble opinion. You can't go wrong with any of the books in the series though I would recommend starting at the beginning and working your way through them all from first to last. Start with the Last Wish and go from there I believe at least one or more of his books in the series has yet to be translated from Polish to English but you can find unofficial PDF translations online like I did when I first started getting interested in these books. It is great writing told from the perspective of Geralt of Rivia's, the Witcher, best friend and traveling companion Dandelion who happens to be a bard and poet himself. If your into this sort of thing and you know if you are then just buy the books get the entire series and start reading. I couldn't put them down and I doubt you will be able to either.

This has been my least favorite book in this series. It is an "alternative perspective" timeline shifting mess in general. That being said it does provide necessary information to move on in the series. I have just started the next book and hope it is better than this.

I read these book years ago and decided to buy them for my own collection. Great author and wonderful stories. Very reminiscent of Michael Moorcock and Fritz Lieber. If your on the fence do youself a favor and try one, you wont be disappointed.

Having read the trilogy, I bought this to continue to the end of the story. It takes awhile to get there, but there is actually a climax to this book that feels very good to reach. It is still not the end, however, as Lady of the Lake comes next.

The adventure continues and we see more action and learn more about what is going on in the world. Great read!

It’s a good story with very strong characters. However, the author goes off on too many tangents and it’s easy to lose the thread. A good editor could clean this story up and make it much more palatable. Worth a read but just be prepared to skip ahead when the author decides to puke out a ton of unnecessary words.

This book was needed to push the story forward so it's mainly about other characters but I can feel the climax coming along.

From a mediocre beginning, the series has gotten better and better As it goes on. I am now actually really enjoying this!

I did enjoy this. Parts of the story are in the Witcher 3 video game so some of plot was old news. There was a little padding during the book. Especially about no one being able to hear Ciri's side of the story she told in the swamp.

I have been looking for all the books in the Witcher series- hard to find so I was happy to get this well-made copy!

Volume 4 of the series had a lot of jumping between storylines and times, but in the end it all made sense. The end is quite open, but volume five will be translated to English in a few month, so it's fine with me, I can happily wait a little bit to read on. And continue playing "Witcher 3". :-)

I saw some critical reviews for this book, and I personally think they're really wrong in the sense theyre making out to be. Nothing in the writing changes, honestly gets better and the story really begins to pick up. The only difference compared to the others is that most of the book (a little more than half) focuses on other characters journeys outside of geralts; like tawny owl/mercs, yennefer/triss, ciri/vysogota, dijkstra/Esterad Thyssen. If anything, it's similar to the first two books but with a consecutive timeline of events. Cant wait to finish.

With English not the original language this was written in, some of the names were hard for me to pronounce. You could say I cheated a bit by using the audio version, but it’s an awesome audio book :-) I will definitely miss these characters when the series is done.

Book was in great condition and arrived well packaged.

The ending left me tearing out of excitement, literally breath taken by the magnificent descriptions laid out by the writer. May every person in hardship at these dreaded times be filled with the same feelings as I had immersing myself in this story.

Books are great,love the witcher ,but it's a 50/50 everytime I order one of these books,pages are folded or creased. Why im giving a 4 star,please dont sent your customers creased up and folded paged books,it suppose to be new.

A truely captivating tale but the constant shifting of perspective and changes in writing style detracted and distracted from the story.

Great read, I have all the books in the series and totally worth the investment!

Book arrived in excellent condition. Brand new book.

As of the writing of the review, this is the most recent publishing in the series. Continues the story well, and sats up for the next installment :D Potential buyers should already be familiar with the previous installments, and if you've gotten this far, The Tower of Swallows WILL NOT DISAPPOINT!! Enjoy!

My wife stated it was worth the read.

Good read, though these books are a bit short in comparison to similarly priced works in the genre.

Truly a captivating read. So many plot threads are masterfully woven together and each one has sitting at the edge of your seat craving more.

Love to read a lot. The book is great.

Such a pleasure to read! Absolutely Loved it! Will recommend it strongly. Can’t wait to read the Lady of Lakes!

Great book. Love all the witcher books.

I really am enjoying the Witcher book series.

I have really enjoyed this series but this book is slowwwww. Lots of history and explanations, not very much of Geralt being a Witcher. I've made it through 62% of the book and an putting it down which is unusual for me. Maybe the last 38% would be worth it. I'll probably pick this back up later and find out but right now I just can't bring myself to read another chapter.

Loved it. Such an immersive world

Good read

Perfect

Love this book and the series but OMG THE TYPOS.

My son read this. Said he really enjoyed the plot. He is excited to have the next one in the series

would recommend all of these books

Good Book

Great follow through, although it had way to many sub stories and too many characters. But overall good read. Also don't like the down play of the main characters. Witchers can slay monsters but have trouble with humans, ain't buying it. ..

I keep enjoying the action but some of the politics and schemes get slow and uninteresting.the geralt chapters were some of the boring ones,he's just traveling so looking forward to him actually doing something.

Great books, arrived in perfect condition. If you enjoy the games or just a world of brilliant, dark fantasy filled with monsters and magic, do yourself a favor and read this series.

The books start out slow, and I feel that by the time you reach this book you will feel that the story has picked up and that the author's ability to convey substance has drastically improved. I would say that this is my favorite book in the series.

Very little of Gerald in this one, but Cori keeps the story going. Bonhart is a real bad guy as are the usual cast.

Great book!

Great price, quick shipping, quality books!

Liked

My order came quickly. Love this series.

one of the greatest book that i've read in a long time. on a par with Wheel of Time and Lord of the Rings.

Started strong then in the middle really slowed down, just when it was really starting to bore me, it got crazy 3/4 of the way and hold strong till the end

If you loved The Witcher video games, you'll love the books. At least I think so, and I'm some guy on the internet! I've read all the books leading up to this one, and I believe it stays true to the dark mood and good pacing of the previous novels. I'm definitely pre-ordering the next book in the serious, "Lady of the Lake"!

Really like almost everything that has to do with the witcher, but I have been reading this books for weeks and have trouble reading more than a page at a time. Way too much dialogue and nearly no description of action. If there is something interesting that happens, it usually is recounted in more dialogue, not described. Just lazy writing in my opinion, or perhaps the style is just not for me. Also, I feel like there was very little progression throughout nearly 500 pages. Hope the next is a bit better.

A tad drawn out and disjointed... but still excellent overall plot and character development. Do not, I repeat DO NOT read this book out of sequence. It is NOT a stand alone book...

I really got into it. Ciri starts becoming more like she is in the video game toward the end. You really get a sense for how much others just want to use her.

The series as a whole is nearly the best I've ever read in fantasy literature; the author makes you feel things not only for Geralt, our protagonist, but for the lesser characters too. Most all are fully developed, and endearing.

good quality and fast delivery

This is the darkest of the books in the series. Sapkowski adds a few new characters that you will love to hate. Ciri became one of my favorite characters in this book. It is a story of survival and sorrow for Ciri. Geralt and his band of misfits are back. They all grow as characters as well. Regis became one of my favorite characters of all time in this book. As always, Sapkowski's ability to set a scene and project a mood to readers is really exceptional.

So good. Gotta read. CIRI! YES, CIRI!!! So good. Much excitement. You go read it now. Gotta read it. High recommend.

Great read. Extremely depressing and leaves you waiting for the final book in this epic series. My only complaint is therected is some inconsistencies with translation. Avallac'h is sometimes translated as Ayallac'h, which is not that big of a deal it's just a little annoying. Regardless if you've read the other books you'll want to read this one as it continues Ciri's story.

My son purchased this series of books and absolutely love them but he's 19 years old and does a lot of reading but he absolutely loves the series of books.

Great book read in a few days. Book sadly came with the back few pages bent I think the box was too big for the book. Other than that very happy with my purchase.

I bought these for my son. He loves them.

Loving the book, I've read all the translated books in the series thus far. Tower of Swallows is great and has more human interaction amongst our heroes than other books in the series which has a lot of politics (like Game of Thrones). If you are a fan of The Witcher games I recommend this book and series but read them in order as you can't just jump in this one.

I thoroughly enjoyed all the books in the Witcher series. My only complaint is how the author makes a lot of the content sexual/sensual in some form or fashion. That being said, this is a very good series.

This book has a major focus on Ciri and her life as a fugitive, full of twists as expected and by far the most spectacular ending and cliffhanger of all the books in the series! This book will keep you on the edge from start to finish, it's gripping and suspenseful, I simply cannot wait for the next book, pre-ordered instantly!

Really good novels

I found chapter 8 hard to get through. The rest was fine.

I can not believe how this tale has unfolded. I only wish the stories were longer! I am finished with this one and now open the next.

Truly love these books.There isn't a chance I could do this author a service by trying to come up with a snazzy review. But I truly cannot put these Witcher books down till I get all the info from them.If you are a fantasy book reader and haven't tried Sapkowski's books, you are truly denying yourself a terrific series.

Excellent

Muy buen producto

Love the books and series. Good price as well.

Great book, really engaging, and filled with adventure, not much of Geralt on it, however Ciri on this book is pretty badass.

Great story. Really liked the last few chapters. Off to go play the games again and read the next book.

I enjoy the interweaving of history with the European folklore, horror / fairytales.

His writing style is a bit spastic but over all a great series with incredible character depth for a fantasy novel

Great Series - looking forward to the next book!!!!!

Enjoyed the book

For the first time the series seems to be running out of ideas. There's a distinctly heroic exceptionalism that normally doesn't exist in this series. Trying to put ciri in danger so many times makes her seem invincible and somewhat of a monster.

Bought for husband. He loved it.

Bought as a gift. The recipient is very pleased, says it keeps the high quality of writing and plot as the earlier ones.

Great book, came quickly and with no damage. If you haven't read this series and you're a fan of fantasy, you definitely should!

. A lot of story development... some of which was on characters I really did t need to know about.

Great series! Fast shipping thank you!

Love this series. Played the game and wanted more lore. It is slow at times and reading about the traveling can be daunting. Thoroughly enjoying this book though.

Very good book. I would recommend the entire series.

The book was slightly damaged on the corners.

I'm a huge fan of Andrzej's writing. I think it is gritty, grim and sometimes funny. His world building is top notch. This series is one of my favorites.

Just LOVE these books! Great action adventure stories...

Amazing writing. Amazing story. I love the Witcher series.

I’m just basing my rating off of the shipping time and the condition it came to me in which was great! I can’t say much for the story because it is a gift for my bf.

Love the Netflix series read the books.so much more inside. What a wonderful read I finished this book in two days.

Love the Witcher series!!

great story, but the plot goes a bit off

This is a great zeroes and I am really enjoying it. I an looking forward to the next book to be repeated

Every time I finish reading one of these books I can't help but think, 'I can't belive it's over'.

Loved the detail, you can truly picture yourself there in person. Almost as if your the one telling the their story.

My 15 year old loves this book series. One of his favorites.

I am so glad I bought this series! I love the politics, the dark atmosphere and the continuation of a great story!

If there's one book series any fantasy fan should read, it's this one. Do yourself a favor and pick up this series. I promise regrets will not be had.

Fun read, good story line, good development of characters. Enjoyable blend of magic, intrigue, and fantasy.

Fun read, another excellent entry into the Witcher series

Great book and arrived fast!

Not as much action as the previous books. This book mainly sets up the next book in the series "Lady in the Lake". Great read for fans of the series and are continuing the series.

Still takes too long to get to the point. For a quarter of the book nothing happened, in a time where you really want to know what happens next. Very frustrating to read

Love these books!

love this series

Translation is better. Story flows better. Characters are rich. The story is a good one. Pick up this rich fantastic fantasy series.

The book tended to drag in parts. But overall was a good read.

This book jumps from page 220 to 253. Can I get a replacement?

Great condition

All the Witcher books are fantastic.

The translation is a bit rough, but great story

Had a few slow parts but overall my favorite witcher book so far!!

Translate the rest of the series faster please