Publisher's Weekly Review

Jarring anachronisms, such as references to an electoral college and rounding up the usual suspects, intrude into the preindustrial fantasy world of Sapkowski's sixth Witcher novel (after The Lady of the Lake). Geralt of Rivia, the legendary monster-hunter known as the Witcher, is considered "a mutant, beyond the margins of human society." Following his slaying of an idr, a multilegged terror that "only lived to kill," he inflates his fees and is accused of embezzling from the crown. After he manages to get released on bail, Geralt learns that his two unusual swords disappeared while he was in custody, setting him on a quest to retrieve them. Sapkowski makes some odd choices to break up the narrative, including a detailed recipe for potato soup. There are some notable moments, such as Geralt's guilt for having set up the idr's intended victims as bait without successfully protecting them all, but they are the exception in an otherwise standard story, and Sapkowski fails to make these adventures of a supernaturally powerful loner memorable. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.