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    Blood of Elves
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    Blood of Elves
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    Blood of Elves
    Audiobook10 hours

    Blood of Elves

    Written by Andrzej Sapkowski

    Narrated by Peter Kenny

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    The New York Times bestselling series that inspired the international hit video game: The Witcher.

    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.

    Blood of Elves is the first full-length Witcher novel, and the perfect follow up if you've read The Last Wish collection.

    Witcher novels
    Blood of Elves
    The Time of Contempt
    Baptism of Fire
    The Tower of Swallows
    Lady of the Lake

    Witcher collections
    The Last Wish
    Sword of Destiny

    Translated from original Polish by Danusia Stok
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateJun 2, 2015
    ISBN9781478904724
    Unavailable
    Blood of Elves

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    Reviews for Blood of Elves

    4/5

    382 ratings21 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Good read intro of a great saga.
    • 4/5
      An enjoyable read. I am looking forward to the next book which will hopefully include more of Geralt.
    • 3/5
      "Blood of Elves" is set in the fantasy world popularized by the Witcher video game series. Unlike many of it's counterparts, the books preceded the video games, thus this series gives a deeper perspective and understanding to the world portrayed in the games.I have enjoyed playing the video games spawned by these books, and was hopeful the books would be even better. To say I was completely underwhelmed would be a massive understatement. Perhaps my expectations were set too high to ever be completely attained.The book starts out in chaos - disjointed segments and memories from Ciri, the princess Cintra, whose capital had been decimated by the invading Nilfgaardians. Normally, starting a book like this isn't a problem as the gaps are filled in during the course of the novel. Not so in this book. There were questions aroused in the first chapter that were never answered to my satisfaction.. Who was the Black Knight? What did he do to Ciri? How did she end up with Geralt? Why did Geralt think she was the child prophesized to change the world, for good or evil? What is the connection between Dandilion the bard and Geralt?Also, there is very little action in this offering. The title not withstanding, there is only one small skirmish with the elves. Instead, the book concentrates more on Ciri's training and Triss' providing her the mothers touch she so obviously is lacking, as well as the political machinations of the various factions involved. Still, I think these mundane portions had to be included for a greater overall understanding, but maybe less of these would have sufficed. Also, my copy did not have a map, which would have been especially useful when the differing factions were making their plans I had no idea where these different areas were or what factions were in close proximity of them.And then there is Geralt. His actions did not disappoint. Possessed of uncanny fighting ability, his quiet demeanor made him seem all the more dangerous. Also, I never realized just how much of a stud he was. It seemed his mere presence would cause many a wench to drop her knickers. Triss, Yennefer, and Shani all succumb, and Ciri is also willing even though she is only 13.Overall, only an average read in my opinion. Not enough action and too much politics. Also, the ending was so very much unsatisfying for my taste, screaming "sequel" so loud it hurt my ears. I don't mind books in a series so much, but the good ones can be read as stand alone novels if one chooses not to read the whole series. Not so with this book. With the ending and so many unanswered questions, one must definitely read further for the story to be satisfying. I don't think knowledge of the video games is critical to enjoying this novel, but familiarity with the games would certainly add to the enjoyment. I did enjoy the video games, and this book did help somewhat with the background to those games, but I felt it could have been handled much better.
    • 4/5
      Different than the story collections of the first two, but still very entertaining.
    • 4/5
      Read this after playing the Witcher 3. Glad to see that the game represented the book fairly well. As for the book, the scenes are described in a different fashion than usual, i.e. often only through the dialog and not as descriptive text. A bit unusual, but worked well in this context. Overall, quite enjoyable, although the ending of this volume leaves a bit to be desired.
    • 3/5
      Fantastic Fiction had listed Blood of Elves as the official first in the Witcher Series. In the book, we meet Ciri, a princess saved during a war, and brought to the safety of the Witcher Stronghold, Kaer Morhen. Being trained by Geralt, and advised by Tris Marigold, Ciri learns how to fight and be one with her Destiny. I love the video games, and The Final Wish, but BoE, at least to me, was a tad boring. I felt there wasn't enough action in the book. There was a lot of political backstory, and Ciri coming to terms with her Blood of Elves prophesy. I kept wondering "where are the monsters?" Maybe in the next book?
    • 3/5
      So... much... conversation. There are pages of this book that are 100% conversation, which would be all right if the conversation was actually useful, descriptive or productive, but many times it is just people talking. Not nearly enough description of people, places, history, events, setting, anything. There's also a lot of missed history, as I did not read the first book and it tells in this one.
    • 5/5
      Really good! Little light on the action and pretty heavy on the dialogue, but it's all really good!
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed the first book by this author which described how Geralt came to be and some short stories of monster hunting. This was a pretty good book but not much monster hunting and I enjoyed those parts as they revealed interesting stories.
    • 4/5
      When Ciri and Geralg travelled.
      it was good stuff. yup
    • 2/5
      No need to read further.
    • 4/5
      From reviews, it appears the Witcher series is a little like marmite. While I found some passages in this book duller than any of the previous titles, those parts were necessary to the overall narrative. I like that these books come together with never the same pattern. A kind of tapestry of short stories that makes the Witcher so different. In this book we learn more of Ciri and what happened to her where the Netflix series left off.
    • 3/5
      The book is mostly dialogue. It's as if the author forgot that he has to put effort into setting the scene. The last 15 pages or so read like a rough draft. If I hadn't seen the show, I probably wouldn't read the next book.
    • 5/5
      Is the third book of the Witcher saga a good book? You bet it is! Is it a renewal of the genre as some say? No, I don`t think so. But the first novel of the Witcher saga is a very well written, entertaining political fantasy mainly building the foundations of the following volumes.
    • 4/5
      3.5/5 This book starts and ends pretty suddenly. It's set in a very rich world full of interesting characters, but you should o not think that since this is the first novel in the series that you can just skip the short story collections - they are the real start of this series. And to be honest this book reads like a its a number of linked short stories anyway.
    • 5/5
      Lots more background with a plot line coming together following The Last Wish.
    • 4/5
      I remember being thrilled when I discovered that The Witcher saga by Andrzej Sapkowski was available in audio format. As a big fan of the video games which were adapted from this series, I was of course interested in reading the books, but as waiting for the English translation from its original Polish already required a bit of patience, I never really dared hope that the audiobooks would be coming too.As of this writing though, English versions of The Last Wish, Blood of Elves and The Time of Contempt are now available in audio. In time it would be amazing to see the entire saga get the same treatment, and not least because I think the books stand up quite well in this format. They’ve chosen a very good narrator in Peter Kenny, whose voice lends itself perfectly to telling this type of story. His performance style can be described as almost “bard-like”, which really highlights the book’s opening scene in which the charming minstrel Dandelion holds a crowd rapt by reciting the heroic exploits of the legendary Witcher, Geralt of Rivia.As a Witcher, Geralt is part of a society of enhanced fighters and monster-slayers. Taken as children, they are subjected to intensive training and a ruthless regimen of alchemical and mutagenic compounds intended to alter their physiology and prepare them to hunt their prey. Although Witchers are meant to remain neutral in matters of politics, Geralt has taken an orphan princess named Ciri into his protection, hiding her from spies and assassins sent to find her. He believes that she is the prophesied child meant to bring great change to the world, not only because of her royal heritage but also because of the magic that flows in her veins – the blood of elves.The narrative follows Geralt and Ciri on various adventures. The young princess, taught sword fighting and other martial arts by Geralt and other Witchers, learns about supernatural monsters and how to kill them. She also begins training in magic with the sorceress Triss Merigold. But on the way to a school were Ciri will receive a more normal education, the party encounters all kinds of obstacles, including illness, encounters with monsters, Scoia’tael ambushes, and attacks from Nilfgaardian agents. As Ciri’s magical potential becomes more powerful, Geralt realizes he will need the aid of some friends and unexpected allies in order to continue protecting and training her.It’s important to note that while Blood of Elves is advertised as the first of the series, it is technically preceded by two short story collections in terms of chronology: The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny. It’s not really necessary to read either before tackling Blood of Elves, though it would probably help fill in a lot of the background information. The book is very heavy on world-building elements, and while Geralt is arguably the star of the series, he doesn’t appear as much as you would expect. His character is often seen through the eyes of others, or is talked about in others’ perspectives. On top of this, the switching points-of-view and various flashbacks may make this story feel confusing and disjointed. Having read The Last Wish as well as played The Witcher video games might have familiarized me with a lot of the characters and the setting because I managed to follow without getting too lost, but it might pose a challenge for readers going in blind. It’s probably worth considering The Last Wish as a starting point instead.In spite of this, the plot was wildly entertaining. One can never be sure how much is lost in translation, but there is some humor that managed to come through. Also, the author sometimes employs an interesting storytelling style where entire scenes are almost completely made up of dialogue, and it often amazed me how much of the atmosphere and plot came through via conversation alone. Again, this is where Peter Kenny’s narration shines, because someone less skilled with differentiating voices would probably have a lot of trouble pulling off these scenes.Sapkowski definitely has a flare for writing adventure and action, even experienced through the lens of translation. The pacing is strong, despite various breaks in the plot to focus on character development or to explain the political situation. The highlights were of course the scenes of Geralt fighting off enemies and monsters. The book does leave us hanging a bit, but this is after all the first full-length novel in the series and does spend a lot time establishing the premise and setting things up nicely for the next one, The Time of Contempt. I’ll have to seek that out very soon.If you’re a fan of the games and can’t get enough of Geralt of Rivia, I highly recommend these books. They could also be good for fantasy readers looking for a somewhat different kind of sword and sorcery. The translation is decent, but what I was really impressed with was the way the narrator read for this audiobook. Can’t wait to experience the rest of the series.
    • 2/5
      This book really frustrated me. It's well written, and far more ambitious than The Last Wish. But it ends in the middle of nowhere. Nothing is resolved. No story has been fully told. It's like the author went on vacation, and the publisher happened to stop by and pick up the manuscript and publish it. I really don't recommend picking this up until the next Witcher book comes out in August 2013.
    • 5/5
      Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski is the second book of the ‘Witcher’ series to be released in the US. The EU and several other countries have had them in various languages for years, but we’ve only started getting them since CD Projekt released their stellar RPG, The Witcher, here in the states.It seems important to note that one should probably read The Last Wish, which is the first book of this series to be released in the US – and is a compilation of short stories starring Geralt of Rivia – before embarking on Blood of Elves. It’s a good idea to have a feeling for Sapkowski’s writing style (well… maybe it’s really the translator’s writing style, I’m not sure) before embarking on this novel.Blood of Elves is exactly the kind of fantasy that I love. It takes the tired fantasy tropes, including elves, dwarves, halflings and gnomes, and actually creates a believable “medieval” style world around them. It’s very easy for the fantasy tropes to get turned into a “Dungeons-and-Dragons-style” world, where everything’s pretty okay and it all has sort of a shiny veneer on it. Sapkowski’s world, instead, is violent, brutal and very real. It has its flaws, but they are few and far between compared to the usual elf-and-dwarf fantasy.The author is adept at describing action scenes, and his characterization is good, if not stellar. Geralt of Rivia, the eponymous Witcher, is easily the most developed of the characters. Triss Merigold and Yennefer are both strong females with individual personalities. Ciri, the young girl who Geralt takes on to train, is hotheaded and headstrong, but a real personality begins to show through by the end of the book.The book ends somewhat abruptly, making way for the next one… and unfortunately, the next book in the series STILL has not been translated and released state-side. So, if you’re going to be disappointed that the next book isn’t immediately available, you might want to wait on this one.Overall, this book nicely harkens back to the days of swords & sorcery in the able hands of Robert E. Howard & Karl Edward Wagner, two of my favorite authors, and two of the biggest influences for my novel, Elegy.Final Score: 4/12 out of 5 stars. Highly recommended.
    • 3/5
      After a selection of short stories which introduced this fantasy setting (The Last Wish) Sapkowski pens a full length novel with the witcher Geralt as one of the main protagonists. Sapkowski's style takes time to develop characters, potentially at the expense of thriils and tension within the story. Blood of Elves is not a single volume either, finishing midpoint of a story which could span many volumes to come. The world is well described and the attention to detail is expertly narrated, never distracting from the story. Unfortunately Geralt does not hold centre stage and the story follows a handful of characters as the plot unwinds; a shame since his character has so much to offer. Although a highpoint in polish fantasy ficion, Sapkowski's work is almost bland compared to some of the giants in the genre. It's a solid read, there are far better options out there.
    • 4/5
      The original source book for the PC game The Witcher. Although Sapowiski's works were famous in poland before the copmuter game I'm not sure they'd have made the translation into english without it. I certainly wouldn't have read this without playing the game first, and as such some of my expectations are marked by the game. Which is exclusively focused around one Geralt The Witcher, unlike the book which spends a lot of time focused on Ciri a child princess of a city now overrun by barbarians. Ciri flees and is eventually brought to the Witcher's outpost where she undergoes training to become a witcher - the first girl ever to do so. This has it's own problems and eventually the witchers decide they need female help. The only competitant women they know are two of Geralt's ex-girlfriends. Both of whom are enchantresses, and neither is pleased to be summoned. However when Ciri starts displaying unusual magical tendencies they all become concerned about prophecies involving her and them. All is fine so far we have introductions and world building which adequetly describes a fairly interesting if standard fantasy world, peopled with the eldest (elves) a few dwarves and a scattering of other races and halfbreeds - and the usual human problem, That being that they breed to fast, outcompete the elder races by sheer numbers if not wit intellect or strength. The narrative then starts jumping around. We follow a bard for a bit, back to Ciri displaced somewhere, Geralt doing boat duty for no reason, back to Cirir, off to some kings and all over the place with little structure or form. And then it ends. It's a fast read, and if you are basically familiar with the fantasy tropes set against a world plunged into war fairly predicatble, although not badly written - apart from the jumping around. None of the characters have much depth which is a shame becasue there isn't that much dialog to keep you interested either. The enchanctresses are all cold and aloof, the children annoying brats and the witchers cold and efficiant. There is some attempt at moralising over both the terrorists/ freedom fighters and the proper response to dealing with them. Apart from the exceptionally annoying cliffhanger ending it's a quick and enjoyable read, but not exceptional - although how much this is down to the translation is hard to tell. A must read for game owners, and sufficiently worthwhiel to pick up the sequel when it's going cheap, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else particularly. ..................................................................................................................Actually this makes more sense now that I've readthe prequel - the Last Wish, which is the actual book the PC game is based on - this is more tales in the same world.