Ciri lies badly hurt in a hut in the marshes, telling her story to an old hermit named Vysogota, and the book moves between her account and the present. Geralt's company keeps pushing south through a country at war, picking up enemies as it goes, while Yennefer heads off on a search of her own that takes her to Skellige.
What this adds if you've played the games
The darkest of the five novels, and the one that shapes the Ciri you play in Wild Hunt. What she goes through here explains the hardness and the guilt she carries in the game. Yennefer's chapters spend time with the an Craites, Skellige's ruling family, whose children you meet in the third game. The timeline jumps around and some readers find it slow going, but the Ciri chapters are worth it.
Where it fits
- Read afterBaptism of Fire
The fourth novel follows Geralt's company and Ciri straight on from Baptism of Fire. Read them in sequence; this one reveals where the previous book left everyone.
- Comes beforeThe Lady of the Lake
The saga's conclusion, carrying on from The Tower of Swallows and resolving what the five novels set up. Read it last of the five.
Editions
Orbit paperback
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