This collection of short stories introduces us to Geralt of Rivia, the Witcher. As inspiration for the video games by CD Projekt Red, they are a nice proof of how well they managed to adapt the tone and style of the books.

The short stories are set in the Witcher's dark world, where normal people are sometimes far far scarier than the monsters the Witcher gets paid for to kill them. In the collection of short stories, Grimm's fairy tales are picked up and re-told, and thus Snow White is hardly the damsel in distress, but a cast out princess who got terribly abused and has come for vengeance. Thus, we learn why the Witcher is the Butcher of Blaviken in the story The Lesser Evil.

We also get to see the first ever meeting between Yennefer of Vergerberg and Geralt, in The Last Wish, which is picked up again in Witcher 3 in a quest of the same name. I really enjoyed that.

If you like the games and would like to read about the world, this first book of the series is an excellent start.