Blood of Elves (The Witcher #1)

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. {goodreads summary}

While Blood of Elves is the first novel in the Witcher saga, it does follow on from the events in the short stories. If you haven't read those (or seen the TV show) there's no reason why you couldn't start with the novel, but I think the opening would be a bit disorientating if you didn't already know the characters and back story, so I would advise checking out the start of the tale first.

I've had a huge fantasy hangover since finishing The Witcher Netflix show late last year, so it was brilliant to return to this world and its characters, and to learn more of its backstory. 

The world building is rich, with complex history and politics woven throughout in a way that is endlessly fascinating and will be popular with anyone who enjoyed reading the Song of Ice and Fire series. The action scenes are fast-paced, fun and easy to visualise. The translation is also superb, and remains smooth and natural throughout.  

There are some excellent 'montage' sequences in Blood of Elves, where long periods of time are conveyed entirely through dialogue. The way Sapkowski conveys actions and description only using speech is clever and engaging, and I found myself picturing scenes perfectly even without any additional wording around the dialogue. 

I really enjoyed Blood of Elves and am looking forward to reading more about Geralt, Ciri and Yennefer's adventures.

I was provided with a review copy of Blood of Elves via NetGalley