Leaving the Sea
Book
A bold new short story collection from one of the most exhilarating and innovative writers of our...
Tales of the Thieftaker
Book
A pre-dawn fire that nearly destroys the colonial city of Boston. A young witch in the town of...
A Beautiful Place to Die
6.0
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A pensioner with advancing cancer is kicked out of her home with her dog. She doesn’t want to die...
Reader, I Married Him
Audrey Niffenegger, Francine Prose, Tracy Chevalier, Tessa Hadley, Patricia Park, Joanna Briscoe and Nadifa Mohamed
8.0
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'This collection is stormy, romantic, strong - the Full Bronte' The Times A collection of short...
Ross (3284 KP) rated Season of Storms in Books
Apr 23, 2018 (Updated Apr 25, 2018)
To my knowledge, the books of The Witcher are split into the short story collection prequels (one of which I have read) and the full books (which I have not read). This book is somewhere in between being neither strictly a collection of short stories nor a focussed standalone novel in its own right. Chronologically, this book falls in between the stories contained in The Last Wish) though it is impossible to say quite where it falls (as mention of the stryga is made near the end, which begins the Last Wish I have to assume it comes after the flashback stories from that tome but before the overarching story linking them all).
It may be because I haven't read the full novels, but I find the Witcher to be a thoroughly bland and unexciting character and I have no connection with him. He has next to no personality and contributes nothing to the dialogue of the book. Similarly, all other characters are very disposable - they are either supposedly strong-willed sorceresses (who smell of flowers and throw themselves at the Witcher and are bedded instantly) or they are otherwise instantly forgettable.
I think Sapkwoski was trying to give the sorcerers a sense of academic snobbery but they frequently use Latin phrases, which just gets irritating very quickly. Similarly French words and phrases are thrown in willy-nilly without translation which gets annoying as well. This seems even more unusual when you realise the story was written in Polish and translated into English, with some parts kept in French or Latin. And then further when it is meant to be in a different world where French wouldn't be a thing.
The story essentially follows Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher) who loses his swords and goes on a quest to get them back, and just happens along the way to meet people who need his skills (like on Neighbours where one character leaves and another comes in through the door at exactly the same moment). This aspect makes me think this was meant to be a series of short stories stitched together. But unfortunately here those short stories are not finished up within themselves and you have a number of unsatisfying loose ends in the back of your head throughout.
As with The Last Wish, I found the ending very confusing and had no idea what had happened. It may be that other works fill in the gap and I will have that filled in time, but if so that makes this not a satisfying read in its own right.
Overall, I don't mind Sapkowski's writing in general, other than a few irritating bad habits and I like the overriding idea of the stories but find the execution, character development and overall world-building somewhat clumsy and throw-away. But as I say, this may be because (I think) I have read these in chronological order, rather than published order. I will fill in the gaps and work out if that is the case.
Binocular Vision
Clare Skeats and Edith Pearlman
Book
Edith Pearlman's Binocular Vision are the collected stories of an award-winning author who has been...
A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories
Book
ONE OF THE GREATEST AMERICAN SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS In 1955, with this short story collection,...
Russian Emigre Short Stories from Bunin to Yanovsky
Book
Fleeing Russia amid the chaos of the 1917 revolution and subsequent Civil War, many writers went on...
Wait Till You See Me Dance
Book
“Deb Olin Unferth’s stories are so smart, fast, full of heart, and distinctive in voice―each...
Fiction
Suswatibasu (1702 KP) rated Florida in Books
Jan 17, 2018
I particularly enjoyed the story of the mother who takes her two young sons to France to escape the tropical summers and her restless life. It is detailed and you get a sense of her edginess throughout, worried that something may happen to her children or to have an unpleasant encounter with their overbearing landlord.
My only gripe would be that because each story is not clearly signposted, the flow of the stories become confusing and it takes a minute to realise you've begun a whole new chapter. It is a bit jarring, so shorter stories became completely unmemorable as a result. However, it is a pleasant read overall, I enjoyed her writing style.