Andrzej Sapkowski

[Larry.]

You're welcome. I'm planning on doing a feature in the next month or two on at least a few of the Spanish-language fantasy authors, but that'll depend on how much time I have left over once I start my new job next week.

[Vaiski]

How much is there in Sword of Destiny that directly relates to happenings in Blood of Elves?
Any chance that you who have read it could do a short summary?

[Larry.]

The parts I recall being important are Ciri and her destiny being introduced, as well as the reason why Geralt and Yennefer have separated when the novel series begins. The rest is background information, but then again, I haven't read books 5-7 yet.

[Calibandar]

I see Blood of Elves has been pushed back at the last moment, to 16 October.

[McLovin]

first reviews :

[url="http://www.dwscifi.com/reviews/2364-blood-of-elves"]http://www.dwscifi.com/reviews/2364-blood-of-elves[/url]

[url="http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Elves-Gollancz-Andrzej-Sapkowski/dp/0575083182"]http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Elves-Gollancz...i/dp/0575083182[/url]

a couple o misundrestandings here.

and a deeper reception, in spanish:

[url="http://www.gigamesh.com/criticalibros/andrzejsapkowski.html"]http://www.gigamesh.com/criticalibros/andrzejsapkowski.html[/url]

[Filippa Eilhart]

to anyone wondering, this
[quote]The occasionally anachronistic word choices - of which 'mutant' is the most annoying - leap out. As if to compensate, the translator also peppers the texts with obscure medieval terminology ('caparison'? 'cachalot'?).[/quote]

is not the translator's fault, it's the way the book was deliberately written.

cool reviews, thanks for the links :)

[Deedles]

So, it's out now. Have many people read it yet? How do you find it as a full lenght book?

I greatly enjoyed "The Last Wish" and intend picking this up, but am torn between hardback and paperback. Any advise?

[Amras]

I received it in the mail this morning. I bought the hardcover edition because I have "The Last Wish" in that format and I like the feeling of 'em in my hands, but I'd nearly say that the tpb's are the sturdiest (and cheapest).

Gonna start it right after I wrap up Toby Barlow's "Sharp Teeth". Which might mean... this weekend?

[Crannogman]

Just finished Blood of the Elves in the English translation. It's... well, I wasn't overly enamoured of the beginning, the prologue uses the words "black-caparisoned" -far- too often, and the setup with Dandelion was annoying. Also, this is one of those typical suddenly-stopping right in the middle setup books in which nothing much -happens- and nothing is resolved at all.

I also loved this book.

Unlike the short stories it's told from multiple points of view, and only rarely Geralts, and it works very well, the more major characters are interesting and vividly drawn, in my recollection without exception, and even if the translation does detract from the experience a little the writing is good and more noticably -fun-. Sometimes it's witty, sometimes the characters are, but between one thing and another it has been a long time since I laughed or at least chuckled at so many pages of a book. Also, Ciri is endearing. (though I imagine some will call her annoying instead)

I did somewhat feel the lack of not having read Sword of Destiny, and unfortunately both my English and my Spanish are nonexistent. Does anybody here know how the German translation is? I can get that one here cheap.

Actually, even if it's crap, I think I'll go buy it rather than be left with nothing, just to know the rest of the setup.

Either way, if you liked the stories for their characters rather than the monsters and action (of which not much features in this book) this one comes highly recommended. Even the lack of story progression didn't bother me in the least, mostly because the story isn't really what kept me reading until 3AM.

(Edit) PS: Loved the interview. More outspoken than I am used to.

[Rimmer]

Any know of an English fan-translation, or at least a detailed summary of the second book we're missing? I hate to skip part of the story.

[Filippa Eilhart]

the two background stories you should know are [i]the sword of destiny[/i] and [i]something more[/i]

detailed plot summaries (spoiler warning, obviously):

[url="http://witcher.wikia.com/wiki/Miecz_przeznaczenia_%28short_story%29"]http://witcher.wikia.com/wiki/Miecz_przezn...8short_story%29[/url]

[url="http://witcher.wikia.com/wiki/Co%C5%9B_wi%C4%99cej"]http://witcher.wikia.com/wiki/Co%C5%9B_wi%C4%99cej[/url]

[Crannogman]

Even not knowing it, having read the first story collection I could at least guess at what the backstory was. No doubt it detracted, but the book was still fun.

I still think I'll stick with trying for the german translation rather than reading spoilers.

Edit, and a completely random comment towards Filippa: Until reading this book I had always been reading your username as "Einhart". Curiously enough, when the character first appeared in the novel, my first reaction was "so -that-'s where the username comes from" and my second was "Oh, it's Eilhart, not Einhart."

[Filippa Eilhart]

But why is it Philippa in english? Or in fact, both Filippa and Philippa are used at different points!

[Mentat]

I'm now reading the sixth book (La torre de la golondrina) in Spanish and loving it. This is really one of the best fantasy I've most enjoyed reading. I can't wait for the last book (La dama del lago) to come out.

I'll also say that the translation into Spanish is, as far as I'm concerned, superb. The use of language to convey a magic-using medieval society with many different social segments is simply amazing.

[quote name='Dylanfanatic' post='1462621' date='Jul 30 2008, 20.18']Well, if you're looking for a Spanish-language story, from what I understand, Javier Negrete has had some outstanding books released during the past ten years. I placed an order last night for two of them, including [i]La espada del fuego[/i], and should receive them sometime next week from Madrid.[/quote]

Have you read any Negrete? I'm extremely sceptical of Spanish fantasy and sci-fi literature and would be interested to know if you think any of it is worth reading.

[quote name='Dylanfanatic' post='1462673' date='Jul 30 2008, 20.50']You're welcome. I'm planning on doing a feature in the next month or two on at least a few of the Spanish-language fantasy authors, but that'll depend on how much time I have left over once I start my new job next week.[/quote]

Could you review Laura Gallego and rip her to shreads? I really hate that woman and her take on fantasy.

[beniowa]

Very good book! Add me to the list of those wishing for the second story collection. Hopefully they'll print it at some point.

[quote name='Filippa Eilhart' post='1572178' date='Oct 30 2008, 07.19']But why is it Philippa in english? Or in fact, both Filippa and Philippa are used at different points![/quote]
I noticed that "Filippa" is used only once so it's likely a editing mistake though why they bothered to anglicize the name at all is beyond me. Nice to finally know the source of your handle. :)

[Larry.]

[quote name='mentat' post='1572188' date='Oct 30 2008, 07.43']I'm now reading the sixth book (La torre de la golondrina) in Spanish and loving it. This is really one of the best fantasy I've most enjoyed reading. I can't wait for the last book (La dama del lago) to come out.

I'll also say that the translation into Spanish is, as far as I'm concerned, superb. The use of language to convey a magic-using medieval society with many different social segments is simply amazing.



Have you read any Negrete? I'm extremely sceptical of Spanish fantasy and sci-fi literature and would be interested to know if you think any of it is worth reading.



Could you review Laura Gallego and rip her to shreads? I really hate that woman and her take on fantasy.[/quote]

Yes, I've read three of his books - [i]Buscador de sombras/La lluna quieta[/i], [i]La espada de fuego[/i] and the recent Premio Ignotus winner, [i]Alejandro Magno y las águilas de Roma[/i]. Out of those three, the epic fantasy one (the middle book listed) was relatively the weakest, but I enjoyed all three greatly, as Negrete writes very well and his characters are interesting.

As for reading/reviewing Gallego, I don't know, as if it's something I'm likely to dislike, I don't know if I want to spend the money to import any of her books from Spain :P As it is, I'm currently awaiting shipment of Sapkowski's [i]Bautismo de fuego[/i] to arrive. It should either tomorrow or by Wednesday at the latest.

[Mentat]

[quote name='Dylanfanatic' post='1574895' date='Nov 2 2008, 22.54']Yes, I've read three of his books - [i]Buscador de sombras/La lluna quieta[/i], [i]La espada de fuego[/i] and the recent Premio Ignotus winner, [i]Alejandro Magno y las águilas de Roma[/i]. Out of those three, the epic fantasy one (the middle book listed) was relatively the weakest, but I enjoyed all three greatly, as Negrete writes very well and his characters are interesting.[/quote]

Hmmm... Which one of those three would you recommend? What author I might know of would you compare him as far as writing style/story goes?

[quote]As for reading/reviewing Gallego, I don't know, as if it's something I'm likely to dislike, I don't know if I want to spend the money to import any of her books from Spain :P[/quote]

Well I live in Spain, so I only have to walk to the bookstore and pick it up, and I certainly wouldn't want to spend money/time/effort on such an endeavour. YMMV of course. I haven't got any solid data on me, but I'd say she's probably the best-selling Spanish fantasy author, though (proper book stores have her listed as young adult, but the line between both genres is blurry at best, for me it's fantasy if it features swords and dragons).

[quote]As it is, I'm currently awaiting shipment of Sapkowski's [i]Bautismo de fuego[/i] to arrive. It should either tomorrow or by Wednesday at the latest.[/quote]

Good stuff. To my great irritation, though, Alamut has made a re-edition (I own the first Bibliopolis one) with the most [url="http://www.alamutediciones.com/alamut/catalogo.htm"]fantastic cover art[/url] which I now crave. The problem is I feel guilty for buying the same book twice just for the cover art.

[Filippa Eilhart]

I looked at the other Alamut covers, and I really like the character portrayals. [url="http://www.alamutediciones.com/alamut/graficos/ultimodeseo_gr.jpg"]Geralt[/url], [url="http://www.alamutediciones.com/alamut/graficos/espadadestino_gr.jpg"]Yen[/url], [url="http://www.alamutediciones.com/alamut/graficos/tiempoodio_gr.jpg"]Ciri [/url]and Milva are spot on. [url="http://www.alamutediciones.com/alamut/graficos/sangreelfos_gr.jpg"]Dandelion [/url](I assume it is him, as he's holding a... lute?) totally isn't, but I think that's influenced by his portrayal in the comic book and the movie, both of which are totally counter to the actual book description. He's supposed to be hot, blonde, and elfish looking, ffs.

[Werthead]

CDProjekt are very excited at the moment because [i]The Witcher[/i] has just sold more than 1 million copies between its two editions. They've also basically said they're working on a sequel. It hasn't been officially announced but they did some rather blatant references to it on their website.

Congrats to them, and the resulting boost this will no doubt give to Sapkowski's books, particularly in the English-language market.

[Calibandar]

Stunning Spanish covers there, really nice. Geralt and Yennefer are my favorites.

That said I received my copy of Blood of Elves as well and the Gollancz are covers for this series are great as well. I wish they would bring these books out sooner than once a year since they've all been written anyway. I'm sure they'll have their reasons, but still...

US edition of Blood of Elves due in May I see.