Season of Storms (2018)
Author - Andrzej Sapkowski
Source
When I discovered Season of Storms, I was somewhat disoriented and had to go through a couple of wiki pages and Goodreads to figure out where did this come from. Because as far as I was concerned, the Witcher saga ended with Lady of the lake and that is the seventh and the final book.
It turned out, Season of Storms is a new book, published in 2013 in Polish, that is almost 14 years after the publishing of Lady of the lake. The book was translated in 2018 into English, so when I first reading the series, I naturally didn't hear anything about it.
While new, it is not a continuation of the Witcher tale, rather a prequel. More accurately, a midquel as it takes place between the events of The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny. Ciri isn't introduced yet. Geralt had a falling out with Yennefer, just within the first year of their relationship.
I read it immediately after finishing Lady of the lake, but it didn't feel obsolete at all, rather it brought about the air of freshness for me. The lore is further inspected and fortified. Additionally, I always liked Geralt going on about his witcher business. Unfortunately, things didn't go so well as he thought they'd be.
This time, he was having trouble with the law. Charges of money embezzlement against him, he's thrown into jail. His weapons, the legendary two swords, one made of steel, one made of silver, to cut down humanoids and monsters respectively are confiscated. When a mysterious unknown person bails him out, he learns that his weapons are stolen from the treasury.
And so begins the hunt for the stolen swords that would take the witcher on an epic journey. Witcher's swords are special in every single way, even though the rumors around them are mostly false, spread by the witchers themselves to keep thieves away.
While The lodge of sorceresses is quite dominant in the books and the games, The Chapter, the organization of male sorcerers isn't all that regular. They make a firm entry in the book. Apparently, they are the ones pulling the strings in the shadow to force the Witcher to deal with a demon from another realm. On top of that, they are actively creating genetically modified monsters that ransack villages, kill people—of course for research purposes.
The whole thing revolves around a debate that has sprouted roots time and time again. Do we sacrifice our moral sense for the advancement of science and humanity in general? I would assume the answer is an easy one. But it is not. For me at least. When seen from the victims' perspectives, who'd be subjected to the cruel treatment any devastating research would require, any scientist would appear as the monsters and agents of mindless destruction. Yet, I crave the success of genetic modification and any breakthrough that would allow me or humanity as a whole to conquer death. And to make it happen, we undoubtedly need human test subjects. And then comes the question of laws and ethics. The dilemma is a strong one.
Anyway, the book also comes with a new romantic partner for Geralt, a sorceress by the name Lytta Nyed, although for a brief period in the beginning. I remember the character appearing at the end of Lady of the Lake. She's one of the fourteen who fell in the war against Nilgaardians.
The book also complements older, withdrawn Geralt seen in Lady of the lake with a very contrasty younger Geralt, always ready to jump in for people in need. Kinda makes the years truly lived—as the witcher gets worn down by the cruel indifference of the world.
It felt to me, the witcher video games and their playstyle somewhat influenced Sapkowski. He made use of the signs way more in this novel than the rest of them. In fact, I scarcely remember Geralt using them in fights! I think it was a move in the right direction. More and more people are interested in the witcher books because of the games, especially the epic RPG Witcher 3, so it's natural they'd expect to see some of the fighting choices made in the game, in the book too.
I've finished playing Witcher 3 with all the expansions by the way. Thinking about starting a new game plus. Maybe I will stream some of the gameplays!
Read it in polish and its pretty meh ( dissapointing) , fanfics and stories set in universe (published in other book ) made by other authors was even better sometimes ....
It fell short no doubt, considering the first two books. And the long break and popular media surely brought about some changes in Sapkowski's writing.
Especially the motivation of the villain was pretty disappointing and juvenile. But the prose wasn't all bad. A light read I'd say.
Starting a new series will
Be intimidating :). I heard about this though and I like the cover. Let’s see.
I believe this one will be a bit less intimidating. The first two books (The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny) are not exactly novels but bits and pieces of short stories into the Witcher's world.
While they add up to a central story, by no means do they require you to keep at it!
The strength of Witcher series is that it breaks away from usual fantasy tropes. You will see NO young, indestructible hero with a kingly visage!
I think you'll enjoy it!
Happy reading dada