{"id":11823,"date":"2017-03-16T15:28:58","date_gmt":"2017-03-16T19:28:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.darkainarts.com\/gamers\/?p=11823"},"modified":"2017-03-16T15:28:58","modified_gmt":"2017-03-16T19:28:58","slug":"if-you-love-the-witcher-read-blood-of-elves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.darkainarts.com\/gamers\/2017\/03\/if-you-love-the-witcher-read-blood-of-elves\/","title":{"rendered":"If You Love The Witcher, Read ‘Blood Of Elves’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blood of Elves<\/em> (available from Hachette Book Group<\/a>), the first full novel about Geralt of Rivia is a testament to how well written the games are. As backward as that statement sounds you need to remember that the novels came first. Written by Andrzej Sapkowski who began the tales in a submission to Polish sci-fi \/ fantasy magazine Fantastyka in the 1986. The submission was for a contest the magazine was running and Andrzej won third place! So while Europeans were first powering up the original Nintendo Entertainment System for the first time, an absolute legend in video game history was being born.<\/p>\n

While I realize these novels are translations of the original Polish publications, there is no way to deny the tone that Andrzej clearly inspired in the games is here. Blood of Elves feels like you’re experiencing the third Witcher game specifically. The game itself is fantastic and should certainly be added to your collection if it’s not already. Wild Hunt, the third game in the series, conveys dialogue and story in a masterful way that really hasn’t been so perfect in video games before. Not only that but the combat and action flow beautifully, better than ever in the series. What is most interesting is how at home players will feel reading Blood of Elves<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The novel gets right to it, introducing you to many of the series characters within the first fifty pages. It also drops enough names to fill any seasoned player of Wild Hunt with enough familiarity to draw them right in. Again, it’s incredible to realize just how reversed these references are. This isn’t a novel doing a video game justice. It’s a talented writer bringing his world to life in a way that inspired one of video games greatest titles ever! We’ve all heard Doug Cockle’s excellent rendition of The Witcher’s gruff voice as he’s spoken the myriad of locations, names, and terms that series fans know and love. Having an understanding of those pronunciations makes the novel flow like butter when reading through conversations between the characters.<\/p>\n

That doesn’t mean fantasy fans who aren’t into the games will be lost here. The book is well paced and eases readers into the world of The Witcher. References feel more like professional nods to various factions in other pop culture such as if you’d read a passing mention of the Empire in Star Wars without knowing who they are. It’s not a confusing jumble of terms and names, but instead a very well crafted acknowledgement of the world the characters live in making the novels worthwhile to read again for a deeper experience. Andrzej’s creation is well done and polished, even if this is a translation. It’s the spirit of the writing, the flow and overall storyboard that stand out. Much like the games, especially Wild Hunt, Blood of Elves<\/em> comes across as a hidden gem that is clearly a blockbuster.<\/p>\n

Much like The Witcher’s themselves, this series isn’t what it appears and within no time at all you can become familiar with it and see it for how amazing it truly is.<\/p>\n

Want to see for yourself?<\/strong> Read an extract from the first chapter<\/a> from Hachette Book Group!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Blood of Elves (available from Hachette Book Group), the first full novel about Geralt of Rivia is a testament to how well written the games are. As backward as that statement sounds you need to remember that the novels came first. Written by Andrzej Sapkowski who began the tales in a submission to Polish sci-fi […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11824,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[206],"tags":[1933,1930,1934,1932,1936,92,1935,1931],"class_list":["post-11823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","tag-andrzej-sapkowski","tag-blood-of-elves","tag-danusia-stok","tag-geralt-of-rivia","tag-hachette-book-group","tag-novel","tag-orbit-books","tag-the-witcher"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.darkainarts.com\/gamers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/BloodOfElvesNovel.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6HXYU-34H","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7434,"url":"https:\/\/www.darkainarts.com\/gamers\/2015\/05\/the-witcher-3-wild-hunt-reaches-over-a-million-pre-orders\/","url_meta":{"origin":11823,"position":0},"title":"The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Reaches Over A Million Pre-Orders","date":"May 11, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Needless to say, the continuing adventures of Geralt in an open world game seem to have gamers excited! Wandering the countryside, slaying monsters that are detailed and require thought to their weaknesses, and of course following a main story quest as well does make it sound like an awesome title.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.darkainarts.com\/gamers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/WitcherPreorders.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7524,"url":"https:\/\/www.darkainarts.com\/gamers\/2015\/05\/the-witcher-3-has-been-released\/","url_meta":{"origin":11823,"position":1},"title":"The Witcher 3 Has Been Released!","date":"May 19, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Today, you can experience the adventures of Geralt of Rivia as he begins a new quest in a land torn by war. Created over the course of three years by 200 dedicated people, it's an exciting and beautiful world to explore. Let alone with it's M rating the game captures\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.darkainarts.com\/gamers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Witcher3Gameplay.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5826,"url":"https:\/\/www.darkainarts.com\/gamers\/2014\/08\/join-geralt-as-he-helps-this-small-town\/","url_meta":{"origin":11823,"position":2},"title":"Join Geralt As He Helps This Small Town","date":"August 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The Witcher 3 is shaping up to be quite the adventure! In this latest released trailer, we follow Geralt to a small town on the edge of a swamp. Something has been tormenting the townsfolk and he wants the facts. Setting off into the darkness, he encounters what they fear\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "PC"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.darkainarts.com\/gamers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/TheWitcher3.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7345,"url":"https:\/\/www.darkainarts.com\/gamers\/2015\/04\/explore-the-world-of-the-witcher-3-in-this-new-trailer\/","url_meta":{"origin":11823,"position":3},"title":"Explore The World Of The Witcher 3 In This New Trailer","date":"April 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Wild Hunt, the latest installment in The Witcher series, has always seemed like an ambitious project. We've seen Geralt help a small town so far but this latest trailer shows just how sprawling the world of The Witcher is. Being able to travel from town to town in this open\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.darkainarts.com\/gamers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Witcher3Gameplay.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7702,"url":"https:\/\/www.darkainarts.com\/gamers\/2015\/06\/the-witcher-3s-dialogue-keeps-the-game-fun\/","url_meta":{"origin":11823,"position":4},"title":"The Witcher 3’s Dialogue Keeps The Game Fun","date":"June 11, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"It's been just over three weeks so far and like many reviewers I'm sure, I still don't know if I'm ready to write my coverage yet or not. The massive scale of the game just completely dwarfs so many other titles we've played. Many times we feel like we've just\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "PC"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.darkainarts.com\/gamers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/WitcherCharm.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7627,"url":"https:\/\/www.darkainarts.com\/gamers\/2015\/06\/lots-of-fine-fantasy-role-playing-right-now\/","url_meta":{"origin":11823,"position":5},"title":"Lots Of Fine Fantasy Role Playing Right Now","date":"June 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Both Game of Thrones by Telltale Games and The Witch 3: Wild Hunt by CD RED PROJEKT have given gamers a lot of fantasy role playing enjoyment right now. These titles feature moments when you can select your responses to the NPCs in game. It's moments like these and how\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.darkainarts.com\/gamers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/MayRPGs.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.darkainarts.com\/gamers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.darkainarts.com\/gamers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.darkainarts.com\/gamers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.darkainarts.com\/gamers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.darkainarts.com\/gamers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11823"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.darkainarts.com\/gamers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11825,"href":"https:\/\/www.darkainarts.com\/gamers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11823\/revisions\/11825"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.darkainarts.com\/gamers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.darkainarts.com\/gamers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.darkainarts.com\/gamers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.darkainarts.com\/gamers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}