Blood of Elves

By: Andrzej Sapkowski

Narrated by: Peter Kenny

Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Watch for the signs! What signs these shall be, I say unto you: first the earth will flow with the blood of Aen Seidhe, the Blood of Elves....

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.

Following The Last Wish, Blood of Elves is the new novel starring Geralt of Rivia, the inspiration for the critically acclaimed videogame The Witcher.

©2015 Andrzej Sapkowski (P)2015 Hachette Audio

A great start to a Promising Series

Let me start by saying that Blood of Elves is technically not the start of the series. From what I have found out and read is that The Last Wish, wich is on Audible and Sword of Destiny, wich is not on Audible preceed this novel. Both are short story collections, neither directly impacts the story, but they provide background information on the characters in the series. They are not necessary to read in my opinion, but they do help a bit. Now to the novel, it is very well written with skillful prose and a decent plot. Because this is the first novel in the series, the plot is still being fleshed out so not that much significant happens, but that does not make the novel boring. The pace is steady and the characters are very well developed. The author does something rather unique wich I appreciated very much. Large sections of the novel are strictly dialogue between the characters with almost no description. Therefor, it is as if the reader is sitting in a different room from the speakers, and can here the conversation between them. I found it refreshing and enjoyable. Finally, the narrator does a fantastic job with both differentiation of characters and portraying their emotions correctly. Overall, I enjoyed this book very much and I look forward to the next one being put on Audible.

Excellent first novel in a series!

It's not the best Witcher novel, but it introduces the world and those important within it admirably. If you've never read a Witcher story before, read "The Last Wish" first; it is, in my opinion, a more rewarding, shorter read that, if enjoyed, should wet your appetite for what "Blood of Elves" provides. Be warned, however, this is a much quieter read more concerned with world- and character-building than action and suspense, and the ending is not an ending at all but more of a lead into the next in the series, "A Time of Contempt." Patience required! Still, a wonderful read filled with memorable characters that left me wanting to see what will happen next. Highly recommended!

Need the next book on audio!! Excellent story.

Loved it! ! next please on audio can't wait to long between books but otherwise awesome

Excellent start to an epic series

The Narrator does an exquisite job of making the characters come to life. The story is compelling and addictive.

Solid Listen

If you could sum up Blood of Elves in three words, what would they be?

Fun, Informative, Captivating

What other book might you compare Blood of Elves to and why?

The Last Wish - Because it has to do with Geralt of Rivia as well.

What does Peter Kenny bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Very distinguishable character voices.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Very much so.

Any additional comments?

Do yourself a favor and listen to this audiobook.

The Jane Austin of Fantasy

As other reviewers have pointed out, the pacing of this novel is rather slow. While some of the slow pace can be attributed to character development, there is no denying that the story loses its sense of direction at times. There is some humorous character development at times (hence the Jane Austin reference) and I especially enjoyed the “dear friend” section. The narrator does an excellent job with all of the voices.

Witcher

I really like the story of geralt. I always try to recommend the books to those who play the video games. Excellent start to the story of Geralt and Ciri.

The story starts

It is a little slow in the middles of the story. You might get annoyed with Ciri but I enjoyed her learning the ways of magic. This book lays out her and yennefer' relationship.

Took about half the book for me to settle in

I struggled most with the narrator, he gets better after a while but it's hard to listen to at first. I really didn't care for how he voices Ciri. It also took me a bit to get used to the writing style. It's still a good book that I'd recommend, especially to people looking for some content in the same spectrum as D&D or for someone looking for more backstory on the shows or games.

a great overall fantasy story and novel.

one of the best narrators I've ever heard. once again another great witcher novel. I'd suggest it to everyone. this series is simply awesome.