5. Sword of Destiny (The Witcher Short Stories #2)
Sword of Destiny is the second of Sapkowski’s Witcher short story collections. If The Last Wish serves primarily as an introduction to the main characters, Sword of Destiny is a runway into the broader novel series. Sapkowski sets up Geralt and Yennefer’s tumultuous romance and the witcher’s fated connection with Ciri, as well as the overall political landscape of the Continent.
Despite all that, many of the stories in Sword of Destiny still stand quite well on their own, such as the doppler story “The Eternal Flame” and Geralt’s encounter with mer-creatures in “A Little Sacrifice.” The former is one of the best examples of how Sapkowski uses The Witcher to explore themes of xenophobia, as dopplers are widely regarded as horrible monsters even though they really aren’t all that dissimilar from humans and often look identical to them. The latter packs a punch straight to the heart as well as some great action and creature work.
But Sword of Destiny really shines when it leans into The Witcher mythos and gets us primed for the subsequent novel series. “The Bounds of Reason,” which features Geralt and Yen on an ill-fated dragon hunt, is a standout story. And the final two stories in the collection, “Sword of Destiny” and “Something More,” excellently set up Ciri’s entry into the saga.
If Blood of Elves is a Witcher book that feels like Sapkowski’s short story format crammed somewhat awkwardly into a novel, Sword of Destiny is the opposite: a short story collection which has the arc and breadth of a full-length book.