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Andrzej Sapkowski – Sword of Destiny | Review

Title: Sword of Destiny

Author: Andrzej Sapkowski

Type: Fiction

Page Count: 394

Rating: 4/5

It’s been six months or so now since I read the first Witcher book, and while I did enjoy it, there was also something about it that kind of held me back from fully committing. But it was one of those books that really stuck with me, and I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about it. By the time that the Netflix adaptation came out, I’d realised that I wanted to carry on with the series. Then I got an Amazon voucher for Christmas, and the rest is history.

This second book is also a collection of short stories, and indeed the first novel is the next one, book three in the series. I’m not sure how I’ll feel about that, and I guess I’ll see when I get there. I’ve read enough short stories now that I just sort of associate them with Sapkowski, and so it might be weird to go from short stories to a full-length novel. I guess we’ll see.

But the short stories are a great little introduction to the world of the witcher, not least because they tend to be set in different locations and with different creatures, so we can get more of a sense of a full world being built. We get to learn more about the Witcher, too. Better still, it’s never explicitly spelled out for us and we don’t have to suffer through extended flashbacks and other overused literary devices. We get to know the Witcher through the things he says and the actions he takes.

That combines with the fact that he’s a pretty unique sort of anti-hero, a flawed but fully three-dimensional character who it’s a pleasure to read about, even though he himself isn’t always the most pleasant of people. But what do you expect? He’s a witcher.

Overall then, I preferred this book to the first one even though I suspect that the two of them are pretty equal when it comes to quality. It’s just that I was in a much better place for this one. I was looking forward to it and then when I finally picked it up, I didn’t feel disappointed. Now I’m looking forward to getting to the next one. I’d definitely recommend the series.

Learn more about Sword of Destiny.

Peter James – Need You Dead | Review

Title: Need You Dead

Author: Peter James

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 502

Rating 4/5

It’s been a while since I’ve read a full-length Peter James novel, although I picked up The Perfect Murder, a standalone novella, towards the middle of last month. I actually picked this one up because I filmed a YouTube video where my cat picks my TBR, and this is one of the books that Biggie chose.

The story here follows an investigation into a murder where there are a bunch of different suspects, some of them more plausible than others. We also get an insight into what happens when the police are forced to investigate one of their own. Peter James does a hell of a lot of research and so you can bet that the stories he tells are grounded in reality.

This is also a relatively recent addition to the Roy Grace series, and while you can read the books as standalones, it’s a better idea to read them in order if you can. Don’t do what I did and just pick them up from charity shops as and when you see them because you can end up spoiling yourself on some of the backstory that’s continuing to develop alongside each of the cases that the Brighton police force takes on.

For example, in this book, Roy Grace has to deal with an important funeral and he also ends up basically taking in a son that he didn’t know he had. That also reminds me that there were a few bits that didn’t quite tie up here, like the fact that the assistant commissioner can speak German but isn’t comfortable with Grace knowing that. I can only assume that he’ll deal with it in a future release, and I look forward to finding what it’s all about.

As for this book, I don’t think it’s James’ best and there were a couple of points at which my mind started to wander and I wasn’t wholly absorbed by the story. With that said, on the whole I thought it was still pretty good, and it can only be a good sign that it only took me a couple of days to read it. And I would of course recommend it, but I’d also suggest following the series in order if you can.

Peter James is also an approachable guy on social media, and he even has a YouTube channel where he interviews other authors and talks about his books. It’s through his Instagram that I learned that he has his own chickens, and it was pretty cool to see that Roy Grace has them, too. I think the main thing that I like about reading Peter James is that you can see how his real life experiences go into his writing, and I feel like I can learn from it.

If you haven’t read any Peter James – and any of his Roy Grace books in particular – you should.