This was a long awaited reread that I'd been meaning to get to ever since I denounced the show, and finally, I committed myself. Having the illustrated edition was a helpful enticement, because of course I wanted to see Geralt and co in all their illustrious glory.

Anyway. Let's get to it. The first time I read this book, I was obviously very new to the series. The show had just come out, and of course there were the games, but I wasn't really familiar with any of it. So I don't think I was prepared for how dense the story can be in terms of its worldbuilding. I also wasn't prepared for the way the stories are structured. I knew this one had short stories in it, but I wasn't expecting the interlude chapters in between and didn't realize at first how all of those connected. Now that I am much more familiar with the world, having read all the books and played some of the games (and multiple times at that), the structure was much easier to follow, and the world made a lot more sense. I understood the politics better. I knew how to pronounce some of the stranger names. I could visualize the monsters and the characters. I could figure out how events connected and who meant what to who. I even had a voice to imagine Geralt using, thanks to the game. For that reason, I enjoyed this much more the second time around, and bumped up my rating from a four to a five. But I am also biased, because I adore the Witcher and everything to do with it (sans the show...which we won't talk about).

I'm going to break down my review by story, something that I didn't do the last time.

I guess I will start with the overarching bit, The Voice of Reason. I remember when I first read this how confused I was at first. I didn't realize that all these bits, broken up by the short stories, were connected at first. And I didn't see how each section that came before the short story related to said short story. Now I do, and I think it's a great way to bridge gaps and provide some background on what's happening or why the short stories are relevant. Especially as we will see this location and some of these characters again later in the main saga.

The Witcher: This is the story of the striga. And for whatever reason, I'm very interested in the striga as a whole. Anyway, it was so much easier to understand what was happening and why, this time around. I understood how the characters were related, why the striga existed to begin with, and just how messed up things can be in this world. This may not be the truest example of what a witcher does with monsters, because this time, Geralt does not aim to kill unless he absolutely has to. But it's a very close representation to what people may be used to if they're only a little bit familiar with what a witcher is. All in all, I think this was a great introduction to the series. It shows off what a witcher can do, who Geralt is, and also gets us into The Voice of Reason.

A Grain Of Truth: This is the story of Nivellen and the bruxa. For whatever reason, I often forget about this story, but I quite like it. We definitely see where Geralt's curiosity can take him, and the lengths he will go to get to the bottom of things when he realizes something is up, especially if someone wasn't quite truthful with him. This one may not be the most memorable for me, but it's no less enjoyable. I also quite like the setting and how the house changes at Nivellen's will.

The Lesser Evil: If you've ever heard Geralt being called The Butcher of Blaviken, this is where that title comes from. This one is also pretty good. I feel like it plays out a little differently than I remembered, but maybe that's due to the show's influence. Either way, the lesser evil quote from Geralt is a pretty relevant one and I really enjoyed this story. For it being in the middle, it didn't feel like a slog at all, the way short stories sometimes can by this time.

A Question Of Price: This one is all about the Law of Surprise. This one was probably the most confusing to me the first time I read it. Now that I have read all the books already and have played the games a bit since, I'm finally able to recognize who these people are more, and I love that. It's so much easier to follow and understand. Things make sense to me! I do still question Geralt's initial intentions for the law of surprise at the end, but I have no qualms there because I know what comes out of it.

The Edge Of The World: Here, we finally meet Dandelion. I like this story a little bit less than some of the others, but it's still a perfect introduction to Dandelion's character and his friendship with Geralt.

The Last Wish: The story where we meet Yennefer. It's interesting to me how important Yen is as a character, and how we really don't meet her until the end of the books. But I can see why. This is the longest and maybe the most climactic of the stories. I remember when I first read this, I didn't like Yen at all. Now that I've read the whole series, I've grown to love her and don't hate her quite as much as I initially did in this story. But she's still pretty horrid here. I'm not sure what makes Geralt fall for her, but hey, it all works out in the end. Now I actually understand "the last wish" too. Which is neat.

So yeah. I really loved this. I will continue to love it. And I'll likely be rereading the next book soon. The fact that I love this even more the second time around speaks a lot for how highly I think of this series. I can't wait to get to the next.