Book Review of Warriors of god by Andrzej Sapkowski (trans David French)

     

Name of Book: Warriors of god 

Author:  Andrzej Sapkowski (trans David French) 

ISBN: 9780316423717

Publisher: Orbit 

Part of a Series: Hussite Trilogy (sequel to The Tower of Fools, prequel to Light Perpetual) 

Type of book: Poland, historical fiction 1427-1429, some fantasy, Hussite wars, battles, endless Latin, romance, damsels in distress, spying, loyalty, revenge, determination 

Year it was published: 2004 (2021) 

Summary:

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Reynevan—scoundrel, magician, possibly a fool—travels into the depths of war as he attempts to navigate the religious fervors of the fifteenth century.

When the Hussite leaders entrust Reynevan with a dangerous secret mission, he is forced to come out of hiding in Bohemia and depart for Silesia. At the same time, he strives to avenge the death of his brother and discover the whereabouts of his beloved. Once again pursued by multiple enemies, he must contend with danger on every front. 

 

Full of gripping action replete with twists and mysteries, seasoned with magic and Sapkowski's ever-present wit, fans of the Witcher will appreciate this rich historical epic set during the Hussite Wars. 

 

Praise for the  The Tower of Fools,  book one of the Hussite

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

Characters:

It definitely feels as if the characters had little to no growth, and at least multiple times I felt frustrated with Reynavan. Reynavan is an average guy survivor who seems to be connected with everyone and everything. Literally, everyone has heard of him and knows him as well as his situation. He is good with healing and medicine. In this books the readers who are fans of Reynavans friends do get to know them and their back stories. 

Theme:

I read this from cover to cover and I don't have an idea what it should be. Be careful in intrigue? 

Plot:

The story is in third person narrative from everyone's point of view. I am honestly unsure if the novel begins where previous one left off, or perhaps time has passed. Story begins in 1427, with Reynavan plotting, in one way or another to rescue his new beloved ladies as well as trying to figure out how to help his friend Samson and also meet a mystery lady who has helped him in previous book. Again, lots of implausible adventures, lots of Latin and wars and battles pepper these pages. Aside from fictional characters, I literally had no idea who other characters were, and yes there were a ton of them. 

Author Information:
(From goodreads)

Andrzej Sapkowski, born June 21, 1948 in Łódź, is a Polish fantasy and science fiction 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:

I am definitely sorry but same problems I had with Book I weren't resolved in this one either. I understand it's a translation, but considering the fact that in school in USA no one was taught Polish or Central European history, I highly feel that a character sheet would have been beneficial for me, as well as perhaps an appendix or two detailing the situation in more detail. There is plenty of Latin words and it seemed to me as if Reynavan was seeking a girl to love rather than sticking to one girl. ( one did not work out, let's go with second, etc.) 

This was given for review 

2 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.)