Sapkowski is an able writer. You know how I know? Because he gets away with literary techniques that I've before disliked such as: under or over explaining things, long passages without a clear indication of who's speaking, minimal description between said passages, and so many more. But I was never bored and mostly enjoyed piecing the story together (I laughed out loud at the "Dear friend" letter). I think it's because of my familiarity with the world and characters so I could situate myself a lot more easily. I would kill for a map though. You don't miss them until they're gone.

It's inevitable but I found myself comparing the different mediums. Fortunately the Netflix show, games, and books are all quite distinct so while there are overlap in themes, places, and characters, the stories themselves are fairly different.

Blood of Elves contains 4 discrete parts: Kaer Morhen, on the road, Oxenfurt, and the Temple of Melitele. Each do a solid bit of fleshing out the world and characters. Of particular note were the sections with Dandelion and Geralt and Ciri with Geralt or Yennefer. There's nothing like a surrogate child to help you warm up and realise things about yourself and the world. Of particular sweetness is seeing the aloof and stern Yennefer's growing affection for her. Ciri also shines in this. It's hard to write children convincingly but Sapkowski does a good job of conveying Ciri as a convincing adolescent.

It's hard to put into words on why this is good. The structure is unusual: the "climatic" fight, an otherwise usual ending for a book like this, happens 70 pages before the end. Instead, the ending is about Yennefer and Ciri's relationship and understanding the magic of this world.

Good stuff. Damn good stuff.