The Lady of the Lake

This book has me torn. Once again, Peter Kenny performs an awesome read. I cant say anything bad about his reading of any of the novels - absolutely fantastic. Sapkowski on the other hand, delivers a good book, but i think is trying too hard. I stead of staying true to the story, he introduces a wild new twist at the beginning and the end of the story that really has no bearing on the plot and ends up distracting and disappointing. I also find his treatment of Ciri confusing - on the one hand shes this strong and independent woman who’s slayed beasts, survived at odds, joined a gang, been almost killed, taken on enemies and won, and yet when Geralt or Yennifer are around they treat her like a 6 year old. Its just too far of a gap to bridge between them. This book also splits off considerable amounts of time to nit even secondary or tertiary characters but beyond and even new characters, none of whom actually advance the story in a meaningful direction. They’re great stories and Sapkowski does a great job telling the stories, but most are sadly a distraction from the actual story. Again, sadly, the ending seems rushed like he ran out of time to tell the real story (go figure), and most story lines are poorly wrapped up. I feel like its a good book, and the narration certainly makes up for what the book is lacking, but overall this book could be so much better!

While the author frequently takes too long to move the plot forward, Peter Kenny is the best narrator I've listened to. I sometimes forget it's just one person talking. He has an incredible ability to voice a large number of diverse characters.