This is the third Witcher book I’ve read, and the second story collection. I would have to go back and remind myself what happens in the first novel, and as of right now, I am enjoying the short stories a lot. This collection has six stories to it, and the bulk of them have that off-beat sense of humor, world-building, and relatively small scope I like from the stories. The novels I will have to wait and see, but one of the things I like about the stories is the reminder that being a Witcher is basically a job. Geralt says as much in one of the stories that he’s just a guy with a set of skills who has a professional code and that’s what he’s trying to do. The video games have a “world-saving” part to them, but given that most of the games are spent fetching flowers for potions, killing ghouls, and de-ghosting houses, the world-saving parts barely feel like part of the game. And that’s how the stories work here too.
In one, we find Geralt getting roped into hunting a dragon, which goes awry when it turns out to be a rare gold dragon. In another, he’s singing to a mermaid in order to deal with a local aristocracy who’s fallen in love with her, but can’t like, you know, fertilize her eggs. In another, we have a shapeshifter turning into a local halfling and improving his business. And finally we get two stories that introduce us to Ciri and explain the origins of their relationship.
(photo: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25454056-sword-of-destiny)