Rating: 4 out of 5
I wish Mr Sapkowski would have an easier time writing a happy ending. I like his style which could be characterized as acerbic and occasionally callous (especially the intra-character interactions), but this seems to translate into the journey of the protagonist as well. I had much the same thoughts when finishing the Witcher books which made me comment on this now, having finished the Hussite trilogy.
That said, it was a very interesting experience to read something centered on the Hussite Wars, which normally gets ignored in English historiography, not to mention the historical fiction setting. Allowing for the trade offs to create a story out of disparate characters whose personalities are (mostly) unknown, as well as the trade offs to fit the protagonists journey into a large number of events, this is a very good book of historical fiction.
Sharley is the one I would have liked to see more of, but unfortunately he was somewhat on the back stage for this volume. Samson was also relatively sparse throughout the book though it must be said he’s one of the best proponents of Alighieri I have ever heard of—making me put it back on my reading list though perhaps with a bit of research into translation quality beforehand.
I liked it, don’t get me wrong, I really did. You can tell that by me carrying enough to wish it would have ended some other way.
