The Lady of the Lake (The Witcher #5)

Author: Andrzej Sapkowski

Rating: 2/5

Well. The conclusion to The Witcher series which just seemed to drag on and on. (And on.)

Spoilers ahead.

Detailed Summary

A knight sees Ciri bathing in the lake. He thinks she’s the lady of the lake but she isn’t. She tells him what happened to her. Cut away to Condwiramurs learning with Nimue about Ciri and Geralt’s story. Condwiramurs seems to dream/have flashbacks about things? Yennefer is imprisoned by Vilgefortz and Stefan Skellen. Geralt and gang (Dandelion, Regis, Milva, Angoulême, and Cahir) have been relaxing in Toussaint. Geralt sleeps with Fringilla Vigo, a sorceress who works for the Lodge. Geralt learns where Vilgefortz is and gets the gang going. Dandelion decides to stay with Duchess Anna Henrietta. Ciri, meanwhile, had arrived in the elf world. She meets elves (the ones to remember are Avallac’h and Eredin Breacc Glas) and learns more about unicorns! She agrees to bear a child with Auberon, the elf king, because of her Lara gene on the condition that she’s set free. Eredin tries to give her an aphrodisiac because Auberon just can’t seem to get it on with Ciri. Ciri is frustrated and rides Kelpie as far away as possible and meets unicorns who spares her because she saved Ihuarraquax (the one from the desert). She returns to the castle to find Auberon had drunk the vial of liquid and died. Ciri escapes on a boat but Eredin finds her. She injures him and runs away with the unicorns. She teleports. Jarre, the scribe who had a crush on Ciri, joins the army, part of the PFI. There’s a LOT about this battle and how the medical tents are overrun by injured soldiers but Nilfgaard is defeated by the Northern alliance.

Ciri, meanwhile, keeps teleporting to the wrong place and eventually teleports to Nimue’s world who sends her to the right portal. Ciri goes to Vilgefortz’s castle to save Yennefer. Geralt arrives with the gang and kill as many of Skellen’s people as possible. Milva is shot dead. Geralt and Regis search for Yennefer while Cahir and Angoulême search for Ciri. Bonhart finds Ciri but the girl flees and runs into Cahir. Cahir fights Bonhart and is killed while Angoulême dies of her wounds. Ciri fights Bonhart and defeats him. She runs to find Geralt and Yennefer. Meanwhile, Geralt, Regis and Yennefer fight Vilgefortz. Regis is killed by Vilgefortz who freaking MELTS him. Geralt defeats Vilgefortz using the medallion Fringilla Vigo gave him. Ciri finds Geralt and Yennefer and together they make their way down, calmly killing anyone in their way. When they reach the courtyard, Emhyr (the emperor) is leading the Nilfgaardians and ransacking the castle. Geralt and Emhyr talk and it’s revealed Emhyr is Duny, Ciri’s father. Pavetta had a bad feeling about him and she made Ciri stay on land while she boarded the ship which led to her death. Emhyr wants to impregnate Ciri (yuck) and since Geralt and Yennefer know this information, they are to be killed. Emhyr allows the two to commit suicide in a bath. Ciri finds them later and tells them Emhyr had left. She had started crying and that moved Emhyr to not do anything gross.

The trio goes around the land to places Ciri had adventures, paying respect and getting revenge. Yennefer has a meeting with the Lodge. Geralt and Ciri go to Touissant where Dandelion is going to be executed for cheating on the duchess. He is saved when the duchess changes her mind last minute and escapes with Ciri and Geralt. Ciri goes to meet the Lodge who tells her she has to marry a prince and bear his child. Emhyr married the fake-Ciri so Ciri doesn’t have the right to Cintra anymore. Ciri says she’ll think about it and asks permission to meet Geralt with Yennefer. The Lodge votes in favour and the two leave for the rendezvous point–Rivia. In Rivia, Geralt meets with his dwarf friends–Yarpen Zigren and Zoltan Chivay–and there’s a riot. Geralt had wanted to retire from being a witcher but decided this would be his last time wielding a sword. He’s impaled by a pitchfork. Ciri, Triss Merigold and Yennefer are on their way and they rush to the site. Yennefer tries to heal Geralt and becomes unconscious. Ihuarraquax comes along and helps Ciri heal Geralt? Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri go on a boat and Geralt and Yennefer wake up in a peaceful place together.

Ciri ends the story which Galahad has been listening to. She says she wishes the story ended with Geralt and Yennefer married. Galahad invites her to Camelot and they ride, hand in hand.

Plot and Pacing

Finales are always hard to write and there’s bound to be some people who hate it with every fibre of their being. Unfortunately, that was me with The Lady of the Lake. It put me off reading so much that I actually preferred studying for my upcoming exam instead and that’s absurd! I did find an audiobook on YouTube which made me get back into the book primarily because the narrator had the most Scottish accent ever while narrating Ciri’s bits. I found that very entertaining. The main reason I stuck around until the end was because I had grown attached to Milva, Cahir and Regis. Oh, and Dandelion of course because for all his flirtatious behaviour, he really is loveable as hell. Imagine my dismay when the majority of the book had nothing to do with them! And the only bit that they really showed up for, every single one of them (except Dandelion because he only makes an appearance near the end of the book) ends up bloody well dying. Answer me this: what the actual hell?

There was this one ginormous chapter about the war featuring Jarre and Shani. I did appreciate the attention to the medical side. A lot of the books I’ve read solely focus on the clamouring of swords and the gore. The injuries and infections often go unnoticed. But I still found it really boring. My thoughts wandered far and wide and, to be quite frank, I didn’t bother re-reading the parts I didn’t remember. I guess Sapkowski was attempting to show how pointless and brutal war really is. I vaguely remember Jarre staring at a poster with a soldier pointing a finger at the viewer and it was oddly reminiscent of the Uncle Sam poster. There are also several scenes where characters end up discussing politics and which system would be the best. Geralt is spying on Vilgefortz’s men in this cave or something and he listens to them ramble on about how democracy isn’t ideal but neither is an absolute monarchy. As fascinating as the arguments are on both sides, the characters spoke drily and as though they were regurgitating information from Wikipedia.

The only chapter I truly enjoyed was chapter nine. That’s where everything happens–the final battle between “good and evil.” It pained me that Milva, Cahir, Regis and Angoulême died almost immediately but I absolutely loved how that battle wasn’t the end. Many authors conveniently finish up their books immediately after the revolution or war has been won. Some are even so kind as to give us “x years later” scenes. But Sapkowski completely blew that out of the water. The Nilfgaardians won the war at Vilgefortz’s castle and that pretty much screwed everything up. Except it doesn’t because destiny is an interesting thing, as Emhyr notes when he lets his DAUGHTER go–also, we need to talk about this. The riot that takes place in Rivia–I think that was realistic. Just because one battle has been won doesn’t mean prejudices die and discrimination ends. I hated that Yennefer and Geralt both died but at least they’re together in…wherever they are. I think they’re meant to be in Avalon? That would make sense since Galahad and Camelot magically appear out of nowhere.

I did not like how everyone was obsessed with having Ciri’s child. I understand she has the Lara gene but it’s disturbing. Emhyr’s storyline was particularly disturbing. The girl he does settle for, the fake-Ciri is also only sixteen years old and the fact that he’s attracted to her because she reminds him of his daughter? That’s wrong on so many levels. It was a jaw-dropping plot twist that Emhyr turned out to be Duny but not one I particularly thought was necessary.

Also, I really don’t understand the deal with the unicorns. I felt they were haphazardly thrown in back when Ihuarraquax appeared in front of Ciri. I don’t quite understand what their role is in the story.

Characters

Everyone’s obsession with Ciri’s uterus annoyed me and made me despise almost all the characters. Ciri, on her own, isn’t that bad of a character. I liked that she was strong and fiercely independent. I loved her rebellious spirit. And when she defeated Bonhart, well, I couldn’t be prouder. But I didn’t like how she was distilled down to having only one role–a means of passing down the Lara gene. It felt like Sapkowski was giving her all these amazing abilities just to make up for that very central plotline.

Yennefer’s realisation of love for Geralt made me want to wring her by the shoulders and yell, “I TOLD YOU SO.” It’s clear in the previous books that she stops taking Geralt for granted but I think Sapkowski highlighted her feelings for Geralt really well in this book. The way she did everything in her power to save Geralt from dying shook me. Triss Merigold comments (in her head) that she’s impressed Yennefer was still spitting spells because they were so energy-draining. I choked with a warm kind of grief because I didn’t want Geralt to die but I loved how Yennefer refused to believe he was going to die.

I was absolutely devastated when Geralt died. Throughout the series, Geralt gradually loses his position of neutrality and with that, loses the desire to kill. Being a witcher, I guess Geralt didn’t really have an option to even have an opinion on death but a slaughter like that at Vilgefortz’s castle would sober even the worst psychopath. I really wanted him to survive. When he sees the pitchfork heading towards him, I was hoping Geralt would deflect it with his sword. I mean, he deflected a goddamn arrow! I reread his getting impaled several times because it just wouldn’t sink in.

Emhyr–well, I think my feelings about him are quite clear. He was a creep. At least he was kind to the fake-Ciri? Well, not even that kind.

Cahir, Milva and Regis didn’t get enough screentime and I’m irritated with Sapkowski for that. As for Dandelion, part of me was proud of the bard for FINALLY settling down with someone. I thought it showed a lot of development and maturity on his part. That impression was brutally ripped away when Dandelion is on the executioner’s block. I was disappointed in him for cheating on the duchess but then again, this is Dandelion we’re talking about, womaniser of all. He could charm a goddamn rock if he wanted to. So, as much as it disappointed me, it does show consistency on Sapkowski’s part.

Writing Style

Ooof. A few days ago, I had started a DNF review of this book because I didn’t need the additional stress of finishing this book on top of all the COVID-19 confusion and perpetual exam panic mode which has invaded my conscience. But I kept going because I am keen on watching the TV show and the guilt wouldn’t have rested well if I had watched it without finishing the books. I also kept going because I’d made it this far already and it would have been lousy to not reach the finish line. I’m glad I pushed through even though I caught myself skimming a lot of the pointless dialogue. Overall, words can’t convey how disappointed I am with this series. It has almost put me off fantasy altogether. It’s a shame because the first book had me on a high. I was so totally immersed in the world-building and Geralt’s gallivanting around the land with Dandelion for company.

As I said in my previous review, I don’t know if it’s the translation which sucks or if the source material is equally boring but this series was meh and I almost wish I could have all those hours reading back.