Review: Season of Storms (The Witcher #0)

Author: Andrzej Sapkowski
Started reading: June 13th 2018
Finished the book: July 6th 2018
Pages: 419
Genres: Fantasy
Published: May 22nd 2018
Source: Kindle
Goodreads score: 3.88
My score:

Synopsis
Geralt of Rivia. A witcher whose mission is to protect ordinary people from the monsters created with magic. A mutant who has the task of killing unnatural beings. He uses a magical sign, potions and the pride of every witcher -- two swords, steel and silver. But what would happen if Geralt lost his weapons?

In this standalone novel, Geralt fights, travels and loves again, Dandelion sings and flies from trouble to trouble, sorcerers are scheming ... and across the whole world clouds are gathering - the season of storms is coming...

My thoughts

Thanks to Arjen for introducing me to this series and for doing a buddyread with me. I have been playing The Witcher games, but I did not know that there were books about Geralt too. I was excited to immerse myself into his world, but I did not like it as much as I hoped and I'm not sure if I'll continue this series.

Pros

• Unpredictable: This book was kinda all over the place, but it also made sure I had no idea what was going to happen next. The book is unpredictable and I liked that!
• Lurid: I LOVE me some bloody scenes and that's what made this book an adult book for sure. There were some gory parts and once in a while I just need to watch movies and read the books that have the shady scenes in it.
• Action: SO much fun to read! I know from the games that it involves a lot of action and fighting and the book did not let me down on the action. The scenes were described vividly and I had no trouble at all to picture the fighting in my head.

Cons

• Writing style: The writing style made this a very slow book for me. I was reading through and never really felt the urge to read another chapter. I wasn't that curious how the story would evolve, just because the writing style wasn't appealing to me. 
• All over the place: It's a pro that you don't know what is going to happen next, but at some parts the story didn't really make sense, and I felt that some of the chapters weren't necessary for the story. The book could've been so much shorter if the author would just tell the story.
• Characters: I had no connection with any of the characters whatsoever. Geralt was very hard to fathom for me as a main character and the side characters weren't that fun and I wasn't able to find a connection, sadly.

Overall

I do realize that this book is #0 in a series. It could definitely get better. I think this book should have just been written as a novella, a short story and not cover all the 400-something pages. If you liked The Witcher games you could try this book, or maybe just start with book #1.

Other opinions on this book

"The universe of Sapkowski's The Witcher is one of the most detailed and best-explored in modern fantasy, offering endless opportunities for fresh ideas... Complex character relationships enrich this already complex world; this is the sort of series fantasy fans will cherish."

- B&N

"Like a complicated magi spell, a Sapkowski novel is a hodgepodge of fantasy, intellectual discourse, and dry humor. Recommended."

- Time

Memorable quotes from this book

"A story is a largely false account of largely trivial events, fed to us by historians who are largely idiots."

Thanks for reading!

I'd love to talk books, so let me know what you think about this book/review.