The Last Wish: Introducing the Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski

There are seven short stories in this book woven together by Sapkowski using a frame narrative telling the story of Geralt of Rivia as he recovers from a wound. The heading for the framing story, "The Voice of Reason", appears at the beginning of each chapter followed by a section break and the introduction of the flashback. Each story draws influence from a variety of legends and folktales, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, and other stories from the Brothers Grimm serve as inspiration for characters and events that occur throughout the book. Most modern retellings of fairy tales are targeted towards YA, but that isn't the case here, Sapkowski presents an unashamedly cynical take on mankind. The standout quote from the book to give you a sense of what it's all about goes like this:

“People," Geralt turned his head, "like to invent monsters and monstrosities. Then they seem less monstrous themselves. When they get blind-drunk, cheat, steal, beat their wives, starve an old woman, when they kill a trapped fox with an axe or riddle the last existing unicorn with arrows, they like to think that the Bane entering cottages at daybreak is more monstrous than they are. They feel better then. They find it easier to live.”

For those interested in reading the novels that inspired the Netflix show, it's a bit of shock. While the show definitely maintains the idea that humans are the real monsters, the version of Geralt presented on screen is much more likable than the one introduced here. It's hard to tell if this version of Geralt is supposed to be morally gray or have a strict black and white view of the world, he tells a story of saving a girl from being raped and her response of fear taught him not to "interfere in situations like that" while the rest of the stories presented describe Geralt repeatedly choosing to get involved with affairs of normal humans.

True to the tales that inspired the short stories, most of the monsters are women and if you're looking for well-written female characters, you aren't going to find them here. The foundation for great characters exists and the worldbuilding, while minimal by the nature of short stories, is interesting so the later installments have a lot of opportunity to be better than this.