There are eight books written about The Witcher: The Last Wish, Swords of Destiny, Blood of Elves, Time of Contempt, Baptism of Fire, The Tower of Swallows (also known as The Swallow’s Tower), Lady of the Lake, and Season of Storms. If you are interested, I suggest following this order when reading the books.

The Last Wish and Swords of Destiny are a collection of short stories. However, they should still be the first books to read before the following five-book series. The last book, Season of Storms, is a book that can be read before or after the series but I suggest sticking to the order making this your last book to read.

In this post, I will talk about the very first book, The Witcher: The Last Wish. It was originally written in 1993 but its English edition was published in 2007. This book is a collection of six stories that are focused on the main character, The Witcher Geralt of Rivia, who is a white-haired mutant with incredible healing powers and heightened senses. His main job is to hunt monsters and help people get rid of creatures in exchange for money.

Major Spoiler Alert!

Below, I will provide a summary of the book, story-by-story. If you are interested in reading the book, please keep in mind this summary will most likely spoil key moments.

The Witcher: The Last Wish

The Voice of Reason

The book follows the main story, The Voice of Reason, throughout the entire book while providing other short stories in between. The story begins with a very brief encounter between Iola and Geralt. Iola wakes Geralt up at night to make love to him. After the encounter, Geralt falls asleep again. The story then jumps into the first short story, The Witcher.

The Witcher

Geralt enters Vizima and goes to a bar. There, he is approached by three men who ask him to leave immediately. The men decide to attack him after he refuses to leave. Given his skills, Geralt has no issues fighting the men and kills them. He is then escorted to the Castellan of Vizima, Velerad. Once he gets there, he is told the story of King Foltest. The king got his sister, Adda, pregnant. When his daughter is born, Adda and the baby die. The king decides to bury them both in a sarcophagus beneath the palace instead of burning or burying the baby in the forest like he was supposed to do. After seven years, the daughter awakes as a striga, killing the guards of the castle at night.

When Geralt meets with the king, he is asked not to kill the striga but rather reverse the curse. The king was advised by a wizard that the curse could be broken if the striga is prevented from returning to her sarcophagus by the third crowing of the rooster. However, he asks the Witcher to kill the striga if the curse is irreversible.

On the night that Geralt spends at the palace, Lord Ostrit, a magnate, tries to convince Geralt to run away by bribing him. The Witcher refuses and decides to tie him to use him as bait for the striga. When Geralt is aware that the striga is awake, he cuts Ostrit loose who immediately runs away. Soon, Geralt finds Ostrit killed by the striga.

Geralt finally meets the striga and fights her, being careful not to kill her. He is able to scare her away and jumps inside the sarcophagus to wait until morning comes. Once he wakes up, he finds her on the floor next to the tomb now in the form of a girl, naked and dirty. He gets close to her to check her teeth to make sure she’s not a striga anymore. When he reaches for her hand, he knows it is too late. The striga opens her eyes and cuts his neck with her talons. He wrestles her as she is trying to attack him. He manages to knock her unconscious. Aware of his injury, he ties a piece of cloth around his neck, knowing that he will soon faint due to the loss of blood. At a distance, a rooster crows for the third time. When he regains consciousness, he is greeted by Velerad, who assures him that he will receive his reward and his silver sword. He then falls asleep again.

The Voice of Reason

The story goes back to The Voice of Reason. Geralt is awaken by Nenneke, the priestess of Melitele. Geralt attempts to talk to Iola, who accompanies Nenneke, about what happened the night before but Nenneke told him it is pointless to talk to Iola because she does not speak. Nenneke checks Geralt’s neck and encourages him to take part in a trance. Geralt refuses arguing that his lack of faith wouldn’t allow it. At this point, the next story is introduced.

A Grain of Truth

Geralt spots two bodies as he travels in his horse, Roach. The woman, who has no face or throat, wearing a blue dress. The man, who lays face down, died from a blow to the neck. Upon further examination of the bodies, Geralt notices that the woman has bite marks on her neck that were not those of a wolf.

The Witcher, looking for the creature that attacked the merchant and the woman, arrives to what seems to be a deserted mansion. However, Roach gets uneasy. A girl is watching them. When Geralt greets the girl, she disappears into the forest. As Geralt enters the house, the owner asks him to leave immediately, otherwise he would tear him to pieces. Geralt refuses to leave and instead asks the owner for water.

The owner accepts Geralt’s request and is invited into the house. Once inside, the owner, a monster named Nivellen, provides Geralt with something to eat and drink. Nivellen mentions to Geralt that his house in enchanted and it does what he asks. He proceeds to tell him about his curse and how he was turned into a beast by a priestess. However, the curse could be reversed but Nivellen doesn’t remember how. All he knows is that it has something to do with blood and love. He has had relationships with women but with no success, though Geralt knows Nivellen is not living alone.

Nivellen tells Geralt about his current partner, Vereena. Before Geralt leaves, he warns him that she could be a rusalka, a water nymph.  Although Nivellen suspects that as well, he doesn’t want to break the curse because rusalkas do not have contact with humans and he has come to love her.

As Geralt is ready to depart, Nivellen and Roach interact. He mentiones that animals like him and Vereena. Once Geralt leaves the manor, somewhere on the road, he notices that Roach is uneasy. At first, he tries to calm Roach with The Sign but then remembers what Nivellen said, “animals like me.” Geralt immediately goes back to see Nivellen and is confronted by Vereena, who is actually a bruxa, a vampire-like creature. They start to fight each other, Geralt with his silver sword, the bruxa with her telepathic abilities and loud screams that would hurt Geralt’s ears and head. Suddenly, Nivellen appears and forces a sharp pole through the bruxa’s chest. The bruxa presses herself against it. She confesses her love to Nivellen but then tries to kill him. As Nivellen is trying to push her away, Geralt delivers the final blow. The curse is broken and Nivellen is now a young, handsome man.

The Voice of Reason

The story goes back to The Voice of Reason where Geralt meets Count Falwick and the knight Tailles, both from the Order of the White Rose, who were there to escort Geralt out of the land by order of Prince Hereward. Geralt mentions he will do so in three days. Tailles insists that Geralt leaves immediately but Nenneke interrupts him stating that Geralt is her guest and will stay in the temple for as long as he wants. The Witcher addresses Falwick, who seemed calmer, and tells him he will leave in a few days. Falwick addresses Nenneke ordering the departure of Geralt per the prince orders but without success, both knights leave cautioning that they will return.

The Lesser Evil

The Witcher arrives at Blaviken with the body of a kikimora in possession asking Caldemeyn, the town’s alderman, if there is any reward for it. Although there is none, Carrypebble, who is one of the town’s guards, suggests taking the kikimora to the wizard of the town, Master Irion, to see if he would pay anything for it. Although Geralt doubted the wizard would pay anything, he agrees to pay him a visit.

When they arrive at Irion’s tower, the wizard is more interested in having a conversation with Geralt and invites him in. Caldemeyn and Carrypebble leave and the kikimora is sent to the cesspool. When Geralt enters, he finds out that the wizard is Stregobor, who he last saw in Kovir. The Witcher inquires why the change of name. After some conversation, Stregobor admits that he is hiding from a monster who has been hunting him and asks Geralt to kill it. He also confesses that the monster is a woman born under the Curse of the Black Sun. Geralt refuses to help him and leaves.

Geralt goes back to The Golden Court, the town’s inn, where he finds out that six men and a woman carrying swords have come for the market. Geralt goes to meet with Renfri, the woman who arrived with the six men. Renfri tells Geralt the purpose of her visit and shows a letter of immunity from the king stating that they can’t be touched.

When Geralt goes to his room to sleep for the night, he finds Renfri there. She goes on and tells him her story and speaks of the wizard as a monster. She proposes the same deal to Geralt as the wizard did, to choose the lesser evil. Geralt refuses and asks her to forgive the wizard. Although she refuses, she makes it seem like she will leave with her band and will take care of the wizard some other time. Geralt and Renfri end up making love that night.

The next morning, Caldemeyn tells the story of Tridam and Geralt realizes Renfri’s plans. Every wizard has a duty to protect the people of the town. Renfri and her band’s plan is to use the market to kill as many people as possible to draw the wizard out of the tower so that she can have her revenge and kill him once and for all.

Geralt goes to the market to prevent the massacre. He sees the six men approaching and once face to face, they deliver Renfri’s message, who at the moment is trying to get Stregobor out of his tower. Geralt refuses once again to side with Renfri and kills them all before they can hurt anybody. When Renfri returns, she finds out that Gerals has killed the men and decides to fight the Witcher with no success.

The wizard arrives after the fight is over and asks Geralt to help him take Renfri to his tower to perform an autopsy but the Witcher refuses and warns him not to touch her body. Geralt asks him to leave and the wizard mentions he will return to Kovir. The people of the town start to throw stones at the Witcher but Caldemeyn stops them. He then asks Geralt to leave and to never return.

The Voice of Reason

Back to The Voice of Reason, Geralt tries to talk to Iola. Although she does not say a word, Gedralt tells Iola who he is and the mutation that he underwent to become a Witcher. After telling her some of his early encounters with monsters, the story goes into A Question of Price.

A Question of Price

Geralt is invited to Cintra, as the guest of honor, to the party organized by queen Calanthe. With her husband dead and her daughter, Princess Pavetta, turning fifteen years old, the queen organizes a party to find a suitable man to marry her daughter. As expected, many show up to the party as contenders for her hand.

Geralt, who is seated next to the queen, asks her what she thinks about witchers and their profession. He thinks that the intention of the queen is to ask Geralt to kill someone. However, he makes it clear that he would never just kill people for money.

After a feast and joyful atmosphere, it is time for Pavetta to be called. She makes her appearance causing everyone to go quiet and to admire her. Once Pavetta is seated, conversations resume amongst the guest. Suddenly, an armored guest enters the hall. Apologizing for the feast interruption, he introduces himself as Urcheon of Erlenwald. The queen requests to have his helmet removed but Urcheon insists that he must remain with his helmet on until midnight strikes. The queen grants his request and asks him what is the motive of his visit.

Urcheon starts to tell the story of how fifteen years ago, he saved King Roegner from dying. However, his help didn’t come without a price. He asked the king to give him “whatever he had left at home without knowing or expecting.” When the king returned, he found the queen in labor. Urcheon was there to claim his reward after fifteen years… Pavetta’s hand.

All the guests start an uproar wanting proof of his words. Geralt senses that something is wrong as his medallion starts to stir. Urcheon points out that the queen’s face is proof enough of his truthful words. The queen is questioned if what the armored man says is true. When she asks what if it were true, the consensus is that she must honor the promise made by the king. The queen, reluctantly, verifies that what the man says is true but is hesitant to give him Pavetta’s hand.

Geralt intervenes and proposes that Pavetta should only leave with Urcheon if she wants to. At this point, midnight strikes and the knight is asked to remove his helmet. When doing so, it reveals a beast with fangs. The queen turns to Pavetta and asks her if she’s willing to leave with Urcheon. To her surprise, Pavetta accepts. The queen looks at Geralt, almost as if commanding him to kill the beast but Geralt does not move. In fact, he is feeling a strong force that is almost crushing his temples. The queen then orders the guards to kill Urcheon.

A fight breaks as the guards try to kill Urcheon. Geralt and the uncle of Crach an Craite, a suitor, jump in to help Urcheon. Pavetta then cries loudly, making everything fly around and chatter against the walls. Geralt knows that Pavetta must be restrained because she doesn’t know how to control her force. After she is restrained, a moment of silence falls in the hall. Slowly, the guests start to raise from the rubble. Crach an Craite’s uncle, who was secretly in love with the queen, went to Calanthe’s aid. Urcheon’s features slowly turn into a man’s. Pavetta runs to him, calling him Duny.

Duny explains his curse; from midnight to dawn he is a man and from dawn to midnight a beast. The queen finds out that Duny and Pavetta have, in fact, been seeing each other for about a year. The queen agrees to give Pavetta’s hand to Duny, which then breaks Duny’s curse. Eist Tuirseach, Crach an Craite’s uncle, accepts the queen’s proposal to marry her. Duny, who feels in debt with Geralt for saving his life, tells the Witcher to ask for anything. To this, the Witcher replies “that which you already have but do not know,” pointing out what was not known by anyone, that Pavetta was pregnant. Geralt requested for their child to be raised as a Witcher.

The Voice of Reason

The story goes back to The Voice of Reason. Dandilion, Geralt’s friend and a troubadour, stops by to see Geralt. He asks Dandilion how he knew where to find him and the troubadour responds that he heard about the striga. They both engage in a conversation where they talk about how the demand for a Witcher is less and remember the old adventures. This is where the next story is introduced.

The Edge of the World

Geralt and Dandilion go into an inn looking for work. After they hear the stories of the locals, they realize that there is no work there and decide to leave. While on the road, Dandilion tells Geralt that someone is following them in a cart. The man who was following them, Nettly, catches up to tell them that he saw them speak to the alderman at the inn and that he wishes to hire Geralt. They agree to follow him to the village to continue the conversation about what the job will be.

Once they get to the village, Nettly introduces them to Dhun, an elder who proceeds to tell them about the “deovel” or devil that can be found in the fields who helps fertilize the land and takes care of it but who also has become a problem. Dhun and Nettly ask Geralt to get rid of the creature but without killing it. Geralt agrees even though Dandilion thinks this is just another imaginary monster because, according to him, devils do not exist.

Geralt and Dandilion go to the fields to find the devil. Upon their arrival, they notice bowls with seeds in them as offerings for the devil. The devil finally appears and sends them both away. They exchange words that upsets the devil who, as a reaction, starts throwing fireballs at them causing them to leave.

When Geralt and Dandilion get back to the village, they meet again with Nettly and Dhun, along with another old woman and a young girl. Dhun mentions they have tried to send the devil away following a book that has been in the family clan for many years. The book addresses how to deal with mystical creatures. When Geralt and Dandilion see the book and notice it is written in an ancient language, Dandilion asks the old lady how she can know what is written on the book if she doesn’t know how to read. The old lady mentions that the oldest woman of a village always knows what’s on the book and teaches it to a young girl. Duhn mentions that the old woman chose Lille to teach her about the book.

Geralt asked Lille why they are providing offerings to the devil but she didn’t answer. Duhn told the Witcher that the girl was strange and wouldn’t answer him. Geralt then asked why they hadn’t attack the devil and asks if Lille forbade it. Dhun tells the girl and the old woman to leave. Once they do so, the Witcher learns that it is forbidden to kill the creature and that Lille is a prophetess.

Geralt goes back to the fields to try to talk to the devil who, after all, is a sylvan. The sylvan refuses because he knows he is a Witcher and is convinced he has been hired to kill him. Geralt expresses his wishes to just have a conversation to come to an agreement but the sylvan refuses. However, he proposes to play a game but Geralt refuses this time. The devil tries and tries until they start to fight. The devil breaks loose and runs through the hemp and the Witcher follows. Geralt hears a horse approaching thinking it is Dandilion and yells that they are in the hops but the rider knocks him down. He gets up only to get knocked down again. Once on the ground, he feels someone hit him in the back of his head and loses consciousness.

As he slowly regains consciousness, he finds himself tied up, facing the ground. At a distance, he hears a conversation in the old language, which was used by elves. He sees that one of them, an elf, is being addressed as Galarr. The other one, Torque, is the sylvan. Geralt tries to turn around and hears Dandilion, who is also tied up. When Galarr notices that Geralt is awake, he signals the other elves to check on him and the troubadour.

Dandilion asks the elves what they want from them. An elf finds Dandilion’s flute and breaks it, she then turns to Geralt, insulting him, asking him what he was looking at. She gets so close to the Witcher that he is able to knock her down and hit her with his forehead so hard that it breaks her nose. The other elves separate them and as one of them is ready to kill Geralt, Torque jumps in to stop him. Another elf by the name of Filavandrel appears and orders them to tie Geralt and the troubadour to a tree. Although Torque wants to advocate for the Witcher, the elf has not intentions to listen to the devil. Torque apologizes to Geralt because he didn’t want any of this to happen.

Geralt finds out that Torque has been stealing to give to the elves. After Filavandrel tells Geralt the current elves’ situation of starvation and annihilation, he orders the other elves to kill the Witcher and Dandilion. As the elves raise their bows, Lillie shows up, this time in the form of the Queen of the Fields. The elves lower their bows and kneel before the queen. Torque cuts the ropes to free Geralt and Dandilion, who at this point fainted due to the fear of dying. The elves leave by command of the queen, though she doesn’t speak a word. Dandilion receives a new flute as a replacement for the broken one and Filavandrel tells Geralt that he will look for him when they return. At the end, Geralt and Torque converse as Dandilion plays his new flute.

The Voice of Reason

Nenneke asks Geralt to stay for a few more days but says to her that he must go. Nenneke mentions that Yennefer was there two months ago. Geralt then gives Nenneke some stones. Some of them are meant to be kept for the temple and the rest given to Yennefer. Nenneke asks him how he met Yennefer. This leads to the next story, The Last Wish.

The Last Wish

The story starts with Dandilion and Geralt fishing. However, instead of catching fish, Dandilion ends up catching a jar that contains a djinn that fulfills wishes. Geralt advises Dandiliion not to break the seal but Dandilion insists on having his three wishes granted. They scuffle and the jar falls into the sand releasing the djinn. Dandilion goes on to tell the djinn his wishes but when he is about to announce his third, the djinn attacks him. Geralt immediately attacks the djinn with his silver sword and the smoky being drops Dandilion to the ground. Geralt finds a seal and picks it up. When the djinn tries to attack him again, Gerlat squeezes the seal and screams an exorcism. The djinn stops as the seal grows hot in Geralt’s hand and leaves. When Geralt goes to see if Dandilion is okay, he finds out that Dandilion cannot talk; his throat seems to be badly hurt as he vomits blood.

Geralt tries to get help for Dandilion by taking him to Rinde but he is denied access through because it is not allowed to cross at night. Geralt and Dandilion wait inside the gatehouse until sunrise. There, two elves, Chireadan and Errdil, and a knight Vratimir keep them company. Geralt explains to them what happened with the djinn. Vratimir mentions that a spell is needed in to cure the troubadour. The knight, however, warns that wizards are hard to come by due to high taxes on spells. Chireadan tells Geralt that there is a sorceress in town, Yennefer of Vergerberg, who stays with a merchant ambassador named Beau Berrant.

The next morning, when Geralt reaches the merchant’s home, he is told by Cerberus, the guard at the door, that Beau Berrant is still sleeping. Geralt mentions that he does not wish to see the merchant but the lady instead. Being sent away by Cerberus, Geralt has no option but to knock him out. The Witcher then makes his way in and finds Berrant, naked and drunk, asking for apple juice. Berrant told the Witcher he needs the juice for someone. When Geralt finds the apple juice to give it to the merchant, he finds him unconscious. Geralt decides to go looking for the sorceress and, although hesitant at first, enters her chambers to give her the juice she was asking for. Yennefer then asks the Witcher who he is and what he wants. Geralt makes a sarcastic comment and Yennefer shoots a golden lightning bolt at him but he is able to block it with the sign. The Witcher says to the sorceress that he’s come in peace asking for her help. He tries to explain to her what happened with the djinn but she tells him to meet her in the bath chamber where he can continue with his story while she takes a bath. She suggests for him to take one as well.

Once in the bath chamber, Yennefer finds Geralt just finishing his bath. She then goes into hers not before casting an invisibility spell so that Geralt can’t see her. Geralt goes on explaining what happened the day before with the djinn while she bathes. Geralt learns that his exorcism was just an indecent saying and Yennefer suggests not to use it again. After getting ready, Yennefer opens a portal to go to where Dandilion is. Although Geralt hates portals, he has no choice but to jump in with the sorceress.

As Yennefer helps Dandilion, Chireadan warns Geralt not to trust her. Sorceress know how to use their charms to get what they want. Yennefer then calls Geralt into the room to let him know Dandilion will be fine. When Geralt walks into the room, he finds himself trapped. Yennefer asks for the seal that Geralt possesses. He gives it to her but she mentions it is only part of her payment. The Witcher is then paralyzed by a spell. Yennefer instructs him to go and he walks out of the inn as if he were possessed. He does not remember what happens after that.

When Geralt finally wakes up, he finds himself in the dungeon with Chireadan. Geralt finds out that, while under Yennefer’s spell, he went on attacking authorities and anyone who offended Yennefer. Their conversation comes to an end when four guards sent by Councilor Laurelnose come in to seize Geralt. One of the guards starts to punch Gerlat in the stomach. He then asks the Witcher if he has any wishes and Geralt responds that he wishes he burst. To everyone’s amazement, the guard does burst.

The storm is finally coming down on Rinde. Geralt and the elf are brought to Neville, the mayor, and Krepp, the priest. The priest deducts that both, the Witcher and the elf, do not have enough power to do what they did; it is all the doing of the sorceress. Suddenly, Dandilion makes his appearance in the middle of the hall claiming that the Witcher is innocent. A loud roar is then heard outside. As they look, they find the djinn destroying the town as Yennefer is trying to capture it. She thinks she can bind the djinn to the inn but the djinn is much more powerful than expected.

Geralt asks Krepp to bring back the portal where Dandilion came out of. Once back up, Geralt jumps in to go help Yennefer. Geralt find himself in a communal hall, looks around and finally finds Yennefer. He tells her that he is there to help her but she sends him away saying she doesn’t need his help. The roof of the inn comes off and Yennefer realizes that the djinn has found her. She opens a portal for Geralt to escape. As he falls into it, he pulls Yennefer with him. They land in the middle of a ball, which infuriates Yennefer because she thinks she almost had the djinn. She struggles with the Witcher and manages to jump back into the portal. The Witcher follows.

Back in the commotion of destruction, Geralt wrestles with Yennefer trying to stop her from going after the djinn but she manages to break loose again. He then goes and tells her that the djinn is not fulfilling Dandilion’s wishes but his. The first wish was granted when Geralt tells the exorcism to the djinn, which sends him away. The second when the guard bursts. But there is still one more wish remaining. Yennefer asks that he makes his last wish fast because they are running out of time. The ceiling opens to reveal the djinn who is ready to launch at her. In that moment, before the djinn could get to Yennefer, the Witcher makes his last wish. The house collapses, the djinn is finally free and the town is quiet again. Yennefer heard the Witcher’s last wish and wonders why her. They both embrace each other, caress each other, and end up making love.

The Voice of Reason

Dandilion and Geralt are met by Falwick, Tailles, Cranmer, and other guards. Falwick says to Geralt that he musts fight Tailles and if he refuses, he will be hung. Dennis Cranmer, the captain of the guards, explains to Geralt that he must fight Tailles until he is helpless. Falwick adds that the Witcher must not touch him. If he’s to touch him, he will be arrested and taken to punishment. The Witcher agrees and the fight begins. As Tailles launches at the Witcher, Geralt hits Tailles’ sword with such strength that it hits Taiiles in the face as a result. Falwick runs to aid Tailles and orders the guards to seize the Witcher. Dennis Cranmer orders them not to seize the Witcher. He goes on explaining how the Witcher never touched Tailles and sets Geralt free.

Geralt and Dandilion go to say farewell to Nenneke and Iola. The young girl brings the Witcher his chest with his replenished elixirs and hands it to him. She wants to say something but the words don’t come out. The hands of the Witcher and Iola briefly touch, causing Iola to have visions. The girl collapses and Nenneke goes to her aid. The priestess asks Geralt to stay but he insists that he must go. Nenneke finally says farewell without looking at Geralt.

If you really like mythical creatures or find the videogame interesting, I really recommend you read this book. I am not sure if I found it more interesting because I pictured the characters from the videogame as I read the story but it kept me engaged. I am looking forward to the other books and I hope they are as interesting.

If you are interested in buying the game and/or the book, you will find the links below.

The Witcher: Wild Hunt

The Witcher: The Last Wish

I will be posting more summaries of books in the future.

I hope you enjoyed this summary and like always, happy writing.

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