Blood of Elves

From the Blurb:

“For over a century, humans, dwarves, gnomes, and elves have lived together in relative peace. But times have changed, the uneasy peace is over, and now the races are fighting once again. The only good elf, it seems, is a dead elf.

Geralt of Rivia, the cunning assassin known as the Witcher, has been waiting for the birth of a prophesied child. This child has the power to change the world — for good, or for evil.

As the threat of war hangs over the land and the child is hunted for her extraordinary powers, it will become Geralt’s responsibility to protect them all. And the Witcher never accepts defeat.”

Review:

Blood of Elves is the first novel in The Witcher series, an epic fantasy by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. Despite there being two volumes previous to Blood of Elves, these are short story collections but they do provide significant character and world-building details. It is not necessary to read these short story collections beforehand as the amazing world-building and storytelling by Sapkowski more than sets the scene.

The protagonist in the Blood of Elves is young Ciri, an orphaned heiress to the conquered kingdom of Cintra and consequently prophecy links her fate to the mutant assassin and mercenary, Geralt of Rivia. Despite his monstrous career and profession, Geralt is incredibly protective and kind to Ciri, attempting to raise her in the way he sees best. While the forces of Nilfgaard continue to hunt for her and the looming darkness that threatens to bring chaos to the world edges closer, Ciri grows into early adolescence in relative peace. But she cannot remain as a Witcher child, not initiated into the poisons that have robbed Geralt since childhood of his mortality and humanity nor stay hidden from the world forever. Reluctantly, Geralt gives Ciri into the care of the sorceress he trusts and fears the most, his former lover the Lady Yennefer. Forbidding and beautiful, Yennefer will see to Ciri’s education as a young noblewoman and begins to notice a magical talent lying dormant within the child. For Geralt the task falls to make enquiries into growing unrest between the races, where humans, elves and dwarves have begun to break the centuries old truce which threatens to spill into outright war just as the advancing armies of Niflgaard pressure the border kingdoms.

Final Thoughts:

Blood of Elves was a wonderful beginning to a serious epic fantasy. The scope of the detail and the world-building in this single volume alone was impressive. The rich folklore inspired from Sapkowski’s Slavic heritage lends true weight to the world-building and the detail throughout is exquisite. The political and social intrigues highlighted in the novel are at times amusing and others, dark with the history of Eastern Europe.

My Conclusion?

An absolute gem of a book. Epic fantasy at its best. Highly recommended!