Operation Backlog Completion 2024
Jun 232017
 

When we last left the characters of the Witcher saga, Ciri was running wild as a bandit and Geralt embarked on an urgent mission to find her with an unlikely band of heroes.

The Tower of Swallows handles its storytelling a bit differently, with interesting results.

The book begins with a hermit finding a girl with grievous injuries–Ciri. From there, it’s a frame story, partly told by Ciri as she explains what happened to her, and partly through a court investigation.

Other sections follow characters outside of the frame story, although everything ties together into the overall plot. The Tower of Swallows has some of the best pacing in the series, as well as moments of humor to break the grim tone. Even though its structure means you know how things will end up, it’s still an intense journey to reach that point.

Among other things, it introduces one of the scariest guys in the series, Leo Bonhart, a nearly unstoppable bounty hunter. An unarmed Bonhart is deadlier than a group of armed men.

(The end of the book also includes one of my favorite scenes in the series, when Ciri confronts her pursuers on the ice.)

It still is only part of a larger story, and the Wild Hunt continues to pop up with vague hints about their goal, but it’s a strong story in its own right, with many interesting moments. And, since I know how the saga concludes, I also noticed some nice pieces of foreshadowing that I missed when I read the fan translation.

Click for Lady of the Lake spoilers
Yes, you read that right, this bit of foreshadowing will imply a revelation in The Lady of the Lake, the next book in the saga. If you don’t want spoilers for the next book, don’t read this.

The foreshadowing that stood out to me the most was Crach’s report that Calanthe said, “It would be better for the girl’s blood to flow over the cobbles of Cintra than for it to be defiled.” He then questions what she meant by “defiled.”

Yennefer dismisses it as not wanting Ciri to marry a Nilfgaardian, but in retrospect, this is a clear hint about Emhyr.

In short, if you’re interested in the Witcher series, The Tower of Swallows is a must-read. That only leaves us with one book to go, the saga’s conclusion The Lady of the Lake.

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