Crossroads of ravens

A young witcher named Geralt, recently departed from training at Kaer Mordhen, stands accused of murder. He is rescued by a witcher of some local reputation, Preston Holt, who rides with him for a while--including a detour to a mine beset by monsters, where Geralt successfully fends off the creatures--and then, at a crossroads, offers Geralt a partnership: trade on Holt's reputation to get jobs but execute them with the benefits of Geralt's youthful vigor. Holt, of course, has his own motives, and it isn't long before Geralt learns that he's hiding something. The training Holt can offer is worth quite a bit, though, and Geralt learns how to effectively hunt monsters reasonably quickly, bringing in plenty of payments. Fortunately for the story, Holt's secrets come out, and Geralt finds himself embroiled in events with more human monsters--and faced with ethical quandaries and difficult tasks that will determine the course of his life. Fans of the Witcher series (as well as the Netflix adaptation) will enjoy the opportunity to experience Geralt's earlier days, and the stand-alone story will welcome new readers.

Bestseller Sapkowski returns to his Witcher series with this standalone prequel following an 18-year-old Geralt on his first ever adventure as he is pulled into a complicated quest for vengeance by an elder Witcher with a checkered past. Preston Holt rescues Geralt from an angry mob; trains him at his estate, Rocamora ("revenge" in the Elder language); and offers to continue on as his patron. But Geralt, suspicious of Holt's connection to the infamous Witcher massacre at Kaer Morhen, takes his leave, wandering off to find his own monsters to hunt. When other powers take an interest in the fledgling Witcher, however, Geralt gets sucked back into Holt's schemes to eliminate the anti-Witcher agents who threaten both them and their priestess allies. Sapkowski presents the young Geralt as a blank slate upon whom others feel free to write their own agendas, while keeping his base decency intact. Anyone wishing to learn more about Geralt's early years will be pleased to see the Witcher in action again, even as he stumbles a bit. This is a gift for series fans. Agent: Patricia Pasqualini, Patricia Pasqualini Literary. (Sept.)