'The Witcher' series by Andrzej Sapkowski is one of my favourite fantasy series, and 'Season Of Storms' is a very welcome return to world of the Witcher.
The story is a standalone and is set before the main saga of Ciri and the Blood Of Elves, and has the Witcher, Geralt of Rivia, having his swords stolen and imprisoned on a trumped up charge. Once released, Geralt tries to track down his swords and the culprit who stole them. Along the way, the usual Witcher hijinks ensue; seducing beautiful sorceresses, slaying monsters, dealing with mad wizards and of course, saving his friend Dandelion at least once. Add in some of the intrigues of the court of the King, and some supernatural goings on, and it's good return of 'The Witcher'.
As always the world building in the medieval setting is very much in depth and always a joy to read, as is the writing, which is full of the humour, sarcasm and horror that I know and love from from the rest of the series.
It's a great and enjoyable read and a good addition if you're a fan of the series. But if you've not read any of the books yet, I'd recommend starting with the short story books first; 'The Last Wish' (my favourite of the series) and 'Sword of Destiny' as an introduction to the series, before diving into the rest of the books.
If you go for the audiobook option, it's once again read by the awesome Peter Kenny. His narration adds a whole lot more and really brings the story to life, and is absolutely recommended!
As the main story of The Witcher, Geralt of Rivia finished with the book 'Lady Of The Lake', as author Sapkowski has said (although the videogame 'The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt' is set after the books), I hope it's not the end of stories featuring Geralt, Dandelion, Yennefer, Triss Merigold and more, and we get to revisit more of their adventures in the future.
Available from
Amazon,
Waterstones,
Audible Audiobooks and all good bookstores.
