"The Last Wish" is a compilation of short stories with a small framing device of Geralt recovering from the trauma of a hunt that almost went wrong. I read this because I needed something light after "Book of the New Sun", and I've wanted to see where it all began regarding the video games.

It's easy to see how this adapted perfectly to games, as each short story acts as a standalone quest much like what's in a standard epic fantasy game. But otherwise, I find this very difficult to go back to, and I would only recommend it for someone like me who's interested in the background of The Witcher series rather than these actually being good. The games sanded off much of the roughness of the 90s, fixed the writing issues, adapted the best ideas, and forewent much of the poorly-aged aspect, like how every woman is either stupid or must be assaulted, like the insipid "realism" people point to in defense of Game of Thrones. It's not "real", it's just crass, and you should read an actual history book.

Overall a meh experience. The translator problems are real; Geralt pirouettes more than a Bolshoi Ballet prima, and everyone is always locking eyes with each other while sneering. The fractured fairytales approach is so ingrained in modern pop culture (and wasn't new back then) that I find it difficult to care or find subversive.

There's a small part of me that would read "Sword of Destiny" as the next short story compilation, but I could also be fine with leaving my book experience of The Witcher here and sticking to the games, which are simply better in every respect.