Book Review of Light Perpetual by Andrzej Sapkowski

 

Name of Book: Light Perpetual

Author: Andrzej Sapkowski 

ISBN: 978-0-316-42375-5

Publisher: Orbit 

Part of a Series: The Hussite Wars (The Tower of Fools and Warriors of God are prequels) 

Type of book: Poland, Hussite Wars, 1429-1430s, Eastern Europe, magical realism, narrative, anti-Jewish instances, spirits, satire, wars, ugliness, quest, major events, religion 

Year it was published: 2022 (Original in 2006)

Summary:

From the globally bestselling author of The Witcher comes the final book in the rich historical epic, the Hussite trilogy. Join Reynevan—scoundrel, magician, possibly a fool—as he embarks on a last great adventure across the war-riddled landscape of 15th century Bohemia.

After his adventures in The Tower of Fools and Warriors of God, Reynevan is on the run again, harried by enemies—some human, and some mystical—at every turn. These are cruel and dangerous times for a man such as Reynevan, and to survive, he must set aside his history as a peaceful healer and idealist and play the brutal role of Hussite spy as crusades sweep through Silesia and the Czech Republic, and the world around him is forever changed.

Praise for the Hussite Trilogy:

“A ripping yarn delivered with world-weary wit, bursting at the seams with sex, death, magic and madness.” —Joe Abercrombie 

"This is historical fantasy done right." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

 

“A fantastic novel that any fan of The Witcher will instantly appreciate.” —The Gamer

  

“Sapkowski's energetic and satirical prose as well as the unconventional setting makes this a highly enjoyable historical fantasy.” —Booklist

Translated by David French

Characters:

Main character is Reynevan, a sorcerer-healer who has a big goal of finding his love, Jutta. Quite often Reynevan is also known as Reinmar Bielawa. Reynevan is principled, loyal and determined to finish jobs. He also has history of appearing in major battle events. Scharley seems to be the brains and is best described as cynical and intelligent as well as loyal, although he does have limits on what he can and cannot do. Samson Honeypot is often referred as a spirit and, by, Rixa, a dybbuk who has a passionate romance and is the brawn, or so I believe. He is also loyal and wants to fulfil promises as best as he can. Rixa is a Jewess who only wants a simple life but because of who she is she finds herself aiding Reynevan and her motives are mysterious. There are bad guys and major historical players, but unfortunately there isn't a list of characters of who's real and who's fake. 

Theme:

Every journey is worthwhile

Plot:

The story is in third person narrative, primarily from Reynevan's point of view, and continues from the last two books, I believe. The chapter headings are written in old fashioned style, summarizing for the reader what is going on in that particular chapter, and reminded me of the 1700s chapter titles. (Chapter One: "In which Reynevan, trying to pick up the trail of beloved, encounters much adversity. To be precise, he is accursed. At home and abroad, standing, sitting and doing his work. And Europe, meanwhile, is changing. Developing new forms of warfare." (7)) There also seems to be a dark sense of humor at play in the chapters regarding some characters, and yes, traditional fantasy elements of a story are highly present too, especially the rescue mission, the magic, the journey and the goal. Perhaps also its a tongue in cheek a sort of parody of old knightly legends like King Arthur myths? 

Author Information:
(From goodreads)

Andrzej Sapkowski, born June 21, 1948 in Łódź, is a Polish fantasy writer. Sapkowski studied economics, and before turning to writing, he had worked as a senior sales representative for a foreign trade company. His first short story, The Witcher (Wiedźmin), was published in Fantastyka, Poland's leading fantasy literary magazine, in 1986 and was enormously successful both with readers and critics. Sapkowski has created a cycle of tales based on the world of The Witcher, comprising three collections of short stories and five novels. This cycle and his many other works have made him one of the best-known fantasy authors in Poland in the 1990s.

The main character of The Witcher (alternative translation: The Hexer) is Geralt, a mutant assassin who has been trained since childhood to hunt down and destroy monsters. Geralt exists in an ambiguous moral universe, yet manages to maintain his own coherent code of ethics. At the same time cynical and noble, Geralt has been compared to Raymond Chandler's signature character Philip Marlowe. The world in which these adventures take place is heavily influenced by Slavic mythology.

Sapkowski has won five Zajdel Awards, including three for short stories "Mniejsze zło" (Lesser Evil) (1990), "Miecz przeznaczenia" (Sword of Destiny) (1992) and "W leju po bombie" (In a Bomb Crater) (1993), and two for the novels "Krew elfów" (Blood of Elves) (1994) and "Narrenturm" (2002). He also won the Spanish Ignotus Award, best anthology, for The Last Wish in 2003, and for "Muzykanci" (The Musicians), best foreign short story, same year.

In 1997, Sapkowski won the prestigious Polityka's Passport award, which is awarded annually to artists who have strong prospects for international success.

In 2001, a Television Series based on the Witcher cycle was released in Poland and internationally, entitled Wiedźmin (The Hexer). A film by the same title was compiled from excerpts of the television series but both have been critical and box office failures.

Sapkowski's books have been translated into Czech, Russian, Lithuanian, German, Spanish, French, Ukrainian, and Portuguese. An English translation of The Last Wish short story collection was published by Gollancz in 2007.

The Polish game publisher, CD Projekt, created a role-playing PC game based on this universe, called The Witcher, which was released in October 2007. There is also a mobile version of the game which has been created by Breakpoint Games and is being published by Hands-On Mobile in Western Europe,Latin America and Asia Pacific.

The English translation of Sapkowski's novel Blood of Elves won the David Gemmell Legends Award in 2009.

Opinion:

First of all, I read it without reading the previous two books, and yes it can be read as a stand-alone, although I have a strong feeling that I'd enjoy it more if I read the prequels. The best way to describe it is grit and grime where beauty can be for the weak. The story is also more of history than fantasy, so sort of a magical realism? Its also embarrassing to admit that I come from former Soviet Union, am a proud history major and up until reading this book, I never even HEARD of Hussite Wars! I also will warn that the time period and its hatreds towards certain groups is very alive in this novel too. There is definitely an addictive quality to the novel, considering its length and the fact it took me a week or two to finish it. 

This was given for review

4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)