Title: THE LAST WISH
Publisher: Gollancz
Author: Andrjez Sapkowski
Edition released: 2007
ISBN: 978-0-575-07782-9
280 pages
Reviewed by: Adam Donnison

Geralt is a witcher. He hunts demons. But time hasn't been kind to him and the work is getting harder to find as rationality, and the success of his kind, have pushed the demons out to be replaced by more human horrors.

During his travels he is constantly on guard against evil and to protect the innocent. It is becoming increasingly difficult to tell evil from innocent though, and even his elixir-driven superhuman speed and strength are tested to their limits. When demons are on the rampage, he finds himself welcomed, but where the new rationalism has taken hold he is despised and feared.

THE LAST WISH is an incredibly intricate tale with a depth of interwoven messages. There is also a great deal of subtle humour and irony, with many of the situations Geralt finds himself in mirroring well-known fairy tales, but with a twist. Geralt is the outsider in a world he is finding harder to understand, and his support mechanisms are being increasingly strained. The outer quiet and strength cover an inner turmoil and fragility.

Geralt looks at love in its various guises, but never seems to be able to figure out how to make it happen for himself. In fact, on one level THE LAST WISH explores how love can blind us to horrors and can make us into monsters.

A truly fascinating tale, THE LAST WISH has been translated from the original Polish text of Andrzej Sapkowski by Danusia Stok, and I doubt a better job could have been done. Well worth the read.