I really enjoyed this book and I definitely enjoyed it more than the other books in the series. It had a nice cast of enjoyable characters, some new (Regis) and some old (Dandelion). Geralt thinks Ciri is in Nilfgaard and starts to journey there, but Ciri is really with the Rats she joined at the end of the last book.

Geralt ended in Brokilon with Milva and Dandelion. They start going towards Nilfgaard. Geralt ends up bumping into Zoltan Chivay and his group of dwarves who were guiding refugees from the war (they seem like they’re nice people but at the same time Zoltan claims he’s not virtuous as he’s still a simple theif robbing people). Cahir, the Nilfgaardian officer who’d been following them, ends up joining the group. Also Regis, an odd barber-surgeon, they found along the way joins the group. This little posse creates a nice road-trip vibe as they travel together.

There was this funny moment where a vampire character talks about how he quit drinking blood since blood is like alcohol and how he’d go into these crazy benders and parties with other vampires. He broke up with his vampire girlfriend and he became a bigger bloodoholic. One day he was “flying” under the influence and crashed into a well. He was then captured and buried alive by humans. He then decided to quit drinking blood. I just found it hilarious they had a story of an “alcoholic” vampire.

Sapkowski has a way with exploring philisophical ideas of choice and morality through dialogue between Geralt and other characters. With Nilfgaard at war with basically everyone else, Geralt is stuck with many questions where he must make choices whose answers are not black and white. The dialogue the characters engage in is creatively filled with humor and friendly banter while still tackling serious questions. This think this book is the strongest contender for my favorite book in the series so far, and it definitely makes the series worth reading.