A Time for Training

So I don’t really want to keep talking about the NetflixOriginally started as a disc-by-mail service, Netflix has grown to be one of the largest media companies in the world (and one of the most valued internet companies as well). With a constant slate of new internet streaming-based programming that updates all the time, Netflix has redefined what it means to watch TV and films (as well as how to do it). television adaptation of The Witcher while discussing these books, but for this third volume in the series I feel like I at least have to discuss it a little. When I watched the first season of the series, I loved it. It was a great fantasy adventure that managed to tie together an overarching storyline with episodic, monster of the week stories. It was a breath of fresh air after Game of Thrones and all the other shows that came along that wanted to be the next Game of Thrones. And then the second season came along and it felt like Netflix, along with the creative team, killed everything that was fun and interesting about the series, sanding it down into the safest, most Game of Thrones version of the show they could get.

At the time I was told that this was necessary because while the first two books in the series, The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny were short story collections that lent themselves well to episodic storytelling, the books after were one long story that had to be approached differently. The first season of the television series had to be different from later seasons because the books were different, and to adapt them properly the show had to change. There was no other way around it.

I’m here to state that’s false. While, yes, the first two books in the run are short story collections, The Witcher didn’t magically turn into a different kind of novel series altogether with its third book. This third title, Blood of Elves, is still episodic in nature, with focused chapters taking place at different times, in different places in the world. It’s no more or less a collection of stories than the previous two books, it’s just that this time the story is focused towards a specific saga and a tighter storyline instead of tales meant to flesh out a world. The world is fleshed out now, so let’s get into the real meat of things.

Blood of Elves is focused on the training of Ciri, last surviving heir to Queen Calanthe, the Lioness of Cintra. Her grandmother was killed in the invasion by Nilfgaard, and Ciri was forced to flee, eventually ending up with her destined caretaker, the witcher Geralt, who could keep her safe and oversee her further education. For a witcher that meant taking Ciri to Kaer Morhen, the home of the witchers where they trained new recruits and used their special magics to turn boys into witchers. But they’d never had a female trainee before, and they also realized that there was something different, something special about Ciri.

What Ciri needed wasn’t just a female perspective but also a magical one. Geralt first turned to a sorceress he knew, Triss Merigold, who could advise on what was going on with Ciri and how to help her with weird powers growing inside of her. But when Triss was unable to fully help the girl, Geralt had to turn to his sometimes lover, sometimes foe, Yennifer, who was powerful enough to aid Ciri in her training. And training she needs because there are outside forces that want Ciri, either for her blood or her power or simply to eliminate her and free up control of Cintra. Dangers are coming for the girl, and without the help of Geralt and Yennifer all could be lost.

Functionally Blood of Elves takes place in five or so locations. The primary ones are Kaer Morhen, the home of the witchers, and then Temple of Melitele, where Ciri could be guarded by Geralt’s ally, the high priestess Nenneke. Each location saw Ciri training in different ways, with her first learning about the ways of witchery (fighting, survival, monster lore) before then taking on arcane knowledge at the temple. And then when Yennifer arrives at the temple to guide Ciri further, that’s what her magical powers grow even more.

In a way, despite Geralt being a major figure of the book (and the titular character), the story really isn’t about him at this point. He’s the primary piece moving around the board, searching out information and fighting bad guys, but his story is really all about Ciri. She’s the focus of the tale, the one everyone is fighting for, and what happens to her dictates where the story can go next. This is a shift from the first two books, which were focused almost exclusively on Geralt, but it’s a shift that adds to the scope of the story, which allows the saga to really get moving.

Curiously, it also means that for much of the story our major players aren’t in the same places. The opening section has Geralt and Ciri together, but after a wagon ride towards the temple (which is its own set piece that helps us understand more of the players active in the world and where their major plotlines could be going), Ciri and Geralt separate. They have to, as having Geralt around her only draws attention to the girl. People can believe she’s a bastard daughter of some lowborn noble, but only if the famed Witcher isn’t around. They have to stay away for her safety.

It also means that Geralt and Yennifer, major players in the stories leading up to this (and major players together in the television series) don’t even see each other at all in this novel. Geralt leaves Ciri at the temple, Yennifer arrives later, but they two don’t have a single scene together to develop their relationship. Geralt staying away means that he can’t see his fated lover, no matter how much he wants to. A couple of letters filled with longing and regret are the closest we get, which does help add to anticipation for when they finally can reunite.

All of this is in service of a story that is only just developing. We get major players on the board, but it’s hard to know where everything is going or, even more importantly, what any of it really has to do with Ciri. Everything about her is still draped in mystery, and the book is slow at doling out information. It’ll still be a book or two yet before we get real answers, giving us another kind of anticipation as well. So it’s a good thing that the characters are so well developed, that readers at this point are hooked on finding out what happens next. Blood of Elves is a slow burn without a definitive conclusion, one small part of a larger narrative that is only getting going. Reading the first two books is essential, not just for needed background but also so you know these characters and want to stick around. On its own this third book would be an awful place to start reading the whole saga.

I don’t think commenters are entirely wrong, mind you: there are elements of this story that would lend themselves to a Game of Thrones. There are major players, different factions, and a lot of people vying for control over the world. But its episodic nature means that this story feels very different from your standard fantasy adventure in 2026. It’s a long saga, but it’s told in bite-sized pieces that develop into their own stories. Each small segment had a conclusion, even if the larger tale is still going. We see these moments and see what they build to, and that makes us want to continue onwards so we know what happens next time. It’s like a cliffhanger adventure, a serial in multiple parts, and we’re only now getting into the first full act of the adventure.

It makes for a book that’s easy to pick up and read, going a section at a time without getting mired in long political discussions or tedious moments waiting for things to happen. Blood of Elves, despite being the first real book in the ongoing saga, is still a fast read that hooks you and keeps you going. You want to see when Geralt and Yennifer and Ciri will come back together. You want to know who is trying to kidnap the girl. You want to know what happens next. It reels you in and doesn’t let go, and its episodic structure keeps it all flowing lithely.

It’s better than the television series that came after because it embraces the episodes to tell a better story. If only the producers on the TV show could have learned that lesson instead of trying to make just another fantasy series.