Whether he knows it or not, Geralt of Rivia is getting closer to his fate with every step he takes in this unusual but enlightening collection of short stories. Dragons, mermaids, dopplers and dryads, this book challenges him in very untypical ways.

You aren’t drawn to them, Geralt of Rivia. I’m neither blind nor deaf. It wasn’t at the sound of their name you pulled out that pouch. But I surmise…’ The anthology consists of six stories, loosely linked in chronology. They introduce characters that become major players in the later novels, which began with 1994's Blood of Elves and are known as The Witcher Saga. The titular story, "The Sword of Destiny", introduces the character of Ciri. The following story, "Something More", is a direct prequel to the novels. Fate Drives Us Together: Geralt towards Yennefer and Ciri. Geralt shows up in Cintra to collect the Surprise Child, only to give up his claim. Naturally, he later rescues Ciri from becoming a Dryad. Finally, the books final story has Geralt invoking the Law of Surprise once more, and ends with said Surprise once again being Ciri. This tale shows us the human side of Geralt, although it is not something we often consider with the Witcher, it becomes immensely apparent as the tale ensues. He is residing with Yennifer in a town known as Aeed Gynvael. The are residing together and we learn of an elven legend within the town regarding a "Winter Queen" who casts shards of ice from her sleigh as she roams the lands, piercing the souls and hearts of those she encounters. Geralt, initially unbeknown to him, is one of these such victims who has been pierced by the Winter Queen; Yennfier. He does not wish to remain in the town for long but Yennifer has other ideas, as she is constantly busy with an acquaintance known as Istredd. Flat-Earth Atheist: Geralt argues that golden dragons don't exist, even when he's standing looking at one.

Tropes found in the book:

Interspecies Romance: The mermaid and the prince from the A Little Sacrifice, which puts Geralt into the role of their translator. They are genuinely in love and each asks the other to magically transform into their species, which would solve problems with incompatibile biology. In the end the mermaid becomes a human, so they can be together. I have also previously written about the first book in the series, titled The Last Wish, which you can find here: The Witcher: The Last Wish The beginning of the first story sets it as one: some citizens are considering taking Geralt's properties, while Geralt himself is fighting the basilisk hunting their own town. Was Once a Man: Dryads will convert human girls by making them drink the Water of Brokilon if they can't find a man to breed with.

The Bounds of Reason. A deconstruction of dragon-slaying epics. Our Dragons Are Different is prominent. The Last Wish” and “The Sword of Destiny” are each a collection of short, inter-connected stories that read very much like a character study. A study of the witcher, Geralt of Rivia, and his tormented relationship with the concept of destiny. The stories are nonlinear, but the links are easy to follow, and not every story turns out the way you might think or expect. Geralt tells Agloval of the undersea race, but refuses to kill them, as they are intelligent. Agloval decides to go to war with the creatures, despite Geralt and Essi's pleas against it. However, Sh'eenaz arrives, having become human, so that she may marry Agloval and live with him. Geralt, Dandelion, and Essi leave and travel together, with Geralt and Essi eventually ending their affair. Dandelion composes a ballad the night before they part ways, about a witcher and a bard falling in love, but never performs it. Geralt and Essi never see each other again, and Essi dies in a smallpox epidemic a few years later, with Dandelion burying her with her lute and the pearl Geralt gave her. I am disappointed with Sword of Destiny, and hearing how many fans of the series hated the last book made me more reluctant to continue reading it. However, I will try to read one or two books in the main novels first before I finalize my decision. There's always a chance that Sword of Destiny is a one-time occurrence disappointment. Here's hoping that I will love Blood of Elves when I get to it this year. There are two audio versions available in Polish. Classic audiobook, lasting about 13 hours and read by Roch Siemianowski, was released by superNOWA (Polish publisher of Sapkowski's works) in 1990s.That Man Is Dead: Braen used to be a human girl named Mona before she became a dryad, and she suffers a Heroic BSoD after being reminded of it. By the end of The Sword of Destiny, she has finally let go of her previous identity and tells Geralt that "there is no Mona." Dandelion isn’t the only familiar face from The Last Wish . In The Last Wish Geralt saves a man from a curse and unites him with his princess love. The man offers him anything he wishes as a reward. Geralt invokes the Law of Surprise, claiming that which the man has, but doesn’t yet know he has. This ends up being a child that his lover is carrying. Geralt hoped the child would be a boy he could train as a witcher. After the exchange Geralt leaves, promising to return in six years to collect his boon. In Sword of Destiny, we learn what became of that Child of Surprise. A Little Sacrifice was okay, but the development and the conclusion of the character stories here felt rushed. It would have benefited more for not being a short story. And finally we arrive at the last two short stories: Sword of Destiny and Something More. We finally meet Ciri in the books for the first time in the titular title, Sword of Destiny. I liked this one. Ciri is one of my favorite characters in the games, and I am happy I get to see Geralt and Ciri's first moment of encounter. As for Something More, I feel the TV show adaptation did a better job on this part of the story. I still enjoyed reading the ending of this story, but overall, I feel like the execution in the TV show has more of an impact on me than this one. Special thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for giving me extra support towards my passion for reading and reviewing! Like the original book, Sword of Destiny is a collection of six novellas (minus a Framing Device) that continue the trend of merrily deconstructing your favorite fairy tales, though the motif of You Can't Fight Fate comes across even stronger.