The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski

The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"The Last Wish" is a collection of stories about Geralt Rivia, the Witcher, whose occupation is to deal with monsters. This is a frame story in which other stories are the memories that the protagonist recalls as he recovers from a nearly fatal wound.

Readers who enjoy dark fantasy, fables, and fairy tales will love this book. The author retells some well-known fairy tales with ingeunity, such as "Beauty and the Beast" , "Sleeping Beauty," "Rapunzel", and "Snow White", and he also offers unique twists on ancient Eastern European legends such as the strigoi and rusalka, jinn, and even the Fair Folk, Fae or Elves. Some stories are pretty scary, and some are fairly humorous. Some have a little of both. All are written with loving care, with emotional depth, and plenty of action scenes.

Geralt, in my mind, is a hero, but he might be considered an antihero as well. I think he's a hero because he has a very good moral compass, and he makes tough decisions for the overall good. He's not driven by greed, but instead a desire to help people. But he also shows empathy and isn't unncessarily cruel. Even as a monster hunter, he doesn't kill them indiscriminately. His BS detector is well-honed as he deals with crooked humans who want to manipulate him. He's a well-developed character who struggles with the issues all humans face, despite his superhuman qualities.

This series is begging to be a movie, or even better, a cable network series. A thoroughly enjoyable read. I'm excited to continue this series.

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Fairest Volume 2: The Hidden Kingdom by by Bill Willingham, Lauren Beukes, Iñaki Miranda (Illustrations)

Fairest, Vol. 2: The Hidden Kingdom by Bill Willingham

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars


Once again, Bill Willingham and company have created a fresh spin on a fairy tale. And he takes Rapunzel to a very adult and at times disturbing journey to the Land of the Rising Sun. 

Rapunzel has been looking for her children for many, many years.  Even though she was forced to forget them, she never really does.  That was a poignant note in this story.  An interesting touch was that Rapunzel's hair grows continually, and she experiences very rapid growth spurts of her hair under strong emotion.  You can guess how that plays into the story! Her companion is one of the Crow brothers, who is also her hairdresser.  Her time in Japan opens the doorway to a story full of Japan's very imaginative, and in some ways very frightful folklore. 

If you're like me and Japanese horror movies scare the you know what out of you, you might find this volume therapeutic.  There is an interesting twist on the drowned maiden in the well.  And I will never look at hairballs the same way again. 

There are some dark elements in this one, probably the most out of all the Fables/Fairest volumes I've read, so reader beware.  Having said that, I loved it just as much as the other ones. Rapunzel is both sympathetic and at times, really kind of scary.  I've never thought much about her, so this volume definitely has me seeing her in a different light.

Overall rating: 4.5/5.0 stars



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