Crossroads of Ravens is a prequel novel and the ninth book in the iconic ‘Witcher’ series. This story opens on young Geralt of Rivia meeting Preston Holt, a mysterious former Witcher. Geralt has graduated from Kaer Morhen and is new to slaying monsters, and Holt wants to take him on as his successor. The majority of the book is a series of fights with various creatures, villains and ne’er-do-wells, interspersed with an extremely unsettling side plot of a group of assassins stalking Holt, seeking revenge for a past crime.
It may be a side effect of the translation from the original Polish into English, but Sapkowski’s writing felt very simple, sparse, and deadpan – completely at odds with Tolkien or George R R Martin’s flowery prose. This meant the story is incredibly easy to get into. There isn’t much to the plot; each chapter is episodic with a different monster to fight, and some are more memorable than others. For example, there is a cursed family suffocating in enchanted black slime.
Geralt’s youth and inexperience is the main focus in this story, as he is still trying to navigate a world that is fundamentally prejudiced against Witchers. I really enjoyed his personality; he was quiet, but could also be snarky and downright sassy. Underneath it all, he has a heart full of justice and the will to do good.
A simple and engaging narrative, perfect for newcomers interested in the ‘Witcher’ series or want an entry-level fantasy story.
Reviewed by Rachel Denham-White
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ABOUT THE AUTHORAndrzej Sapkowski was born in Poland in 1948. He is a major heroic-fantasy writer: his oeuvre has received Poland’s Janusz A. Zajdel prize five times, as well as Great Britain’s David Gemmell Award for Fantasy, in 2009. In 2016, he received the World Fantasy Award-Life Achievement in the United States.
What has made Andrzej Sapkowski’s style so successful is the unique blend of folk tales and very contemporary realism.
With a good bit of violence, a rogues’ gallery of endearingly imperfect characters, and a smattering of sex, the whole is leavened with irony and dark humour.
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