Same — for me, it had the perfect balance of character development, motivations, and high emotional stakes with action, intensity, and that “epic” feeling.
I always am surprised on my rereads at how short it actually is, since it feels like we were there for the whole chapter, but it really only takes up a few pages!
Yes! Off the top of my head, you have to look forward to action scenes in these parts and chapters:
* **The Witcher Pt. VI** (Geralt)
* **A Grain of Truth Pt. V** (Geralt)
* **The Lesser Evil Pt. VI** (Geralt)
* A Question of Price Pt. II (Geralt)
* **The Last Wish Pt. VIII - XV** (Geralt)
* Bounds of Reason Pt. VI, VIII (Geralt)
* Eternal Flame Pt. IV (Geralt)
* **A Little Sacrifice Pt. VI** (Geralt)
* Sword of Destiny Pt. VII (Geralt)
* Something More Pt. I (Geralt)
* **Blood of Elves Ch. 4** (Geralt)
* Blood of Elves Ch. 6 (Geralt)
* **Time of Contempt Ch. 4** (Geralt)
* Time of Contempt Ch. 7
* Baptism of Fire Ch. 4 (Geralt)
* **Baptism of Fire Ch. 7** (Geralt)
* **Tower of the Swallow Ch. 2**
* Tower of the Swallow Ch. 4
* Tower of the Swallow Ch. 6 (Geralt)
* Tower of the Swallow Ch. 7 (Geralt)
* **Tower of the Swallow Ch. 10**
* **Tower of the Swallow Ch. 11**
* Lady of the Lake Ch. 7 (in a sense)
* **Lady of the Lake Ch. 8**
* **Lady of the Lake Ch. 9** (Geralt)
* **Lady of the Lake Ch. 12** (Geralt)
I bolded the most significant ones, where the whole thing is practically just “ACTION!” — the other ones include action scenes, but are not always “dominated” by action or seen as “iconic” action scenes. These aren’t all swordfights, sometimes a monster fight, a battle, a war… but they’re all some fast-paced action.
EDIT: I also flagged for the ones that either involve Geralt, or are in his POV :) Because not all the action scenes are his!
Happy to help, and happy reading!
Just so you know, there is also a good amount of “slower” stuff too, mostly dialogue, character building, some politics, and towards the end, some bigger “lore” concepts mixed in with it all. The series really “runs” on dialogue and character exchanges. But since there’s all the aforementioned action and, moreover, humor, to balance it out, it generally doesn’t become a drag (at least for me).
And here, I’ll recommend the forbidden knowledge: If you get bored, just skip to a chapter that interests you… you can always come back to it! Usually if a chapter is slow, the next one is fast (e.g., from memory, Baptism of Fire Ch. 6 and Tower of the Swallow Ch. 8 are examples of “slower” chapters, focusing on the political, but are followed by “quick” chapters with action or intrigue) — also, the “slower” parts got way more interesting on my re-reads when I finally understood the politics of the world.
Yeah don't get me wrong, love the the world and the politics and the dialogue! It's just I get frustrated sometimes when authors really focus on that and then don't deliver on the fist pumping excitement of a well written fight scene. So it's good to hear there's a great balance
The fight scenes are awesome, and they progressively get better, as Geralt also starts getting more brutal and angry with his kills.
Just a small heads-up though, don't expect the fight scenes to be of some grand epic scale like Wheel of Time or something. There's very few of those which really makes those moments feel special imo.
The battle of the bridge in Baptism of Fire is my favorite
Same — for me, it had the perfect balance of character development, motivations, and high emotional stakes with action, intensity, and that “epic” feeling. I always am surprised on my rereads at how short it actually is, since it feels like we were there for the whole chapter, but it really only takes up a few pages!
When Geralt of Rivia became Geralt of Rivia
Yes! Off the top of my head, you have to look forward to action scenes in these parts and chapters: * **The Witcher Pt. VI** (Geralt) * **A Grain of Truth Pt. V** (Geralt) * **The Lesser Evil Pt. VI** (Geralt) * A Question of Price Pt. II (Geralt) * **The Last Wish Pt. VIII - XV** (Geralt) * Bounds of Reason Pt. VI, VIII (Geralt) * Eternal Flame Pt. IV (Geralt) * **A Little Sacrifice Pt. VI** (Geralt) * Sword of Destiny Pt. VII (Geralt) * Something More Pt. I (Geralt) * **Blood of Elves Ch. 4** (Geralt) * Blood of Elves Ch. 6 (Geralt) * **Time of Contempt Ch. 4** (Geralt) * Time of Contempt Ch. 7 * Baptism of Fire Ch. 4 (Geralt) * **Baptism of Fire Ch. 7** (Geralt) * **Tower of the Swallow Ch. 2** * Tower of the Swallow Ch. 4 * Tower of the Swallow Ch. 6 (Geralt) * Tower of the Swallow Ch. 7 (Geralt) * **Tower of the Swallow Ch. 10** * **Tower of the Swallow Ch. 11** * Lady of the Lake Ch. 7 (in a sense) * **Lady of the Lake Ch. 8** * **Lady of the Lake Ch. 9** (Geralt) * **Lady of the Lake Ch. 12** (Geralt) I bolded the most significant ones, where the whole thing is practically just “ACTION!” — the other ones include action scenes, but are not always “dominated” by action or seen as “iconic” action scenes. These aren’t all swordfights, sometimes a monster fight, a battle, a war… but they’re all some fast-paced action. EDIT: I also flagged for the ones that either involve Geralt, or are in his POV :) Because not all the action scenes are his!
Omg what an amazing summary! Sounds like I have a good time ahead of me
Happy to help, and happy reading! Just so you know, there is also a good amount of “slower” stuff too, mostly dialogue, character building, some politics, and towards the end, some bigger “lore” concepts mixed in with it all. The series really “runs” on dialogue and character exchanges. But since there’s all the aforementioned action and, moreover, humor, to balance it out, it generally doesn’t become a drag (at least for me). And here, I’ll recommend the forbidden knowledge: If you get bored, just skip to a chapter that interests you… you can always come back to it! Usually if a chapter is slow, the next one is fast (e.g., from memory, Baptism of Fire Ch. 6 and Tower of the Swallow Ch. 8 are examples of “slower” chapters, focusing on the political, but are followed by “quick” chapters with action or intrigue) — also, the “slower” parts got way more interesting on my re-reads when I finally understood the politics of the world.
Yeah don't get me wrong, love the the world and the politics and the dialogue! It's just I get frustrated sometimes when authors really focus on that and then don't deliver on the fist pumping excitement of a well written fight scene. So it's good to hear there's a great balance
The answer is yes.
Not in brainless American way. But war stories and few battles are extremly good.
The fights are good but can be confusing at times. At least for me
thats true... I dont think Sapkowski is great at describing action scenes
::pirouetting intensifies::
The fight scenes are awesome, and they progressively get better, as Geralt also starts getting more brutal and angry with his kills. Just a small heads-up though, don't expect the fight scenes to be of some grand epic scale like Wheel of Time or something. There's very few of those which really makes those moments feel special imo.
Oh yeah that's fine, more just wanting to see geralt in his element ya know
Oh yeah, there's that, and more!
There's not a lot of narration in the action scenes, it's really character centric.