Lady of the Lake by Andrzej Sapkowski

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Book Review

Ciri has traveled to an elven world. One that appears to be a place of tranquility, but hides a terrible history. Time does not exist in this world and Ciri must escape. For the elves want something from Ciri, something she is not willing to give them. And with each denial, their darker sides begin to show. Meanwhile, Geralt has never stopped searching for Ciri. Even if it kills him he will pursue the girl and try to bring her to safety. Destiny has much in store for the characters of the Witcher.

Ciri’s character development had me worried at the start of this novel. The tough take no-nonsense witcher girl began to backslide. She never seemed to use her experience and skills to think of ways to escape. As the story progressed, I started to see the Ciri I knew she was, and yet many of her choices confused me. The number of times she tried to give her body away instead of fighting or attempting infiltration was shocking. It also left me feeling a bit disgusted that this theme of giving yourself away was used. I did have to stop reading this book about halfway through and branch off to other novels because I was so frustrated. If this weren’t the last in the series I would have most likely DNFed this book.

I will say though that Andrzej Sapkowski is thorough when creating villains. As each adversary appeared, both old and new, their wickedness was written into every part of their character. From their ideologies to their despicable thoughts and actions, it was clear how malicious their intent was. And not every villain was the sword-wielding, action prone type. Some hid in the shadows and manipulated behind the scenes, or used their misguided wants and needs to redirect the protagonists. However, I wish more time had been spent with the protagonists versus the antagonists.

When the protagonists were on the page their parts were fast-paced and engaging. However, the majority of this tale returns to politics and backdoor deals. There was also an emphasis on building up minor characters readers met in previous books and giving them a completed character arc. But when it came time to end the character arcs of the protagonists, and even some of the secondary characters close to the main storyline, their endings were cut short and some even glossed over. After such an epic journey throughout this series, I expected more out of the last book.

Does Lady of the Lake tie up the Witcher series? Yes, it does bring everything to an end, whether well developed or not, and it gives readers information that has never before been revealed. Certain pieces click into place and you’ll find yourself thinking back over the previous books and rethinking certain scenes or characters. I just wish our heroes had been given more page time and certain areas of the writing style allowed for a more detailed plot for everyone.

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