Season of Storms – Andrzej Sapkowski's Witcher Standalone Novel

I’ve been trying not to anticipate what this novel could be, stilling my assumptions and pulling myself back from hoping for similarities to his short story works. Thankfully, I can say that Andrzej Sapkowski’s Season of Storms, the standalone Witcher novel, is funny, intriguing, and full of detail. Not only does it ring true to the kind of writing found in The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny, but it has a slightly different narrative trajectory given its full-length nvel status, making the plotting and character arcs more developed and well-balanced.

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…

This feels like Geralts personal version of A Series of Unfortunate Events where things go from fine, to bad, to worse, and never seem to get better for him. What it does mean though is a novel full of entertaining interactions, vivid fight scenes, building tensions, and dialogue that is fun, descriptive, and feels more fitting for the characters. One thing I think Season of Storms does really well is bring out Geralt personality, not just in what he has been doing and how that has shaped him, but in how developments and circumstances shape his persona, how vexing people grate his patience, and what this means for him and the dcisions he makes. It shows him as being not quite at the top of his game, with errors in judgement and misfortunes creating problems for him to wiggle out of. I really like this side of him, seeing how he acts and reacts, and getting a better sense of his character as a result.

The way this novel is laid out provides the perfect amount of time for simple exposition and scenery and landscape development, detailing the place and spae of the locations, conflicts, relationships, etc. in a way that doesn’t overdo it. The novel series, for me, felt like it was so exposition heavy and dialogue forward that there was no time to actually see the world without characters involved. There wasn’t time to observe, no introspection, but Season of Storms allows for that moment of reflection. The easiness of the story world and building up the various communal and social norms in how characters interact with Geralt and how they spend their time makes for great authenticity and meaning outside of the main plotline. It makes the land feel lived in, real, and like it functions outside of the Witcher’s visit.

I definietely recommend giving Season of Storms a read if you want to dig into the Witcher world. It has that adult fantasy feel to it that I like while also giving the right attention and balance to characters, setting, and plot. It has that well-developed feel without being too heavy, and it is so enjoyable to read. I even laughed more than a couple of times.