The Witcher Omnibus

[cornerofmadness]

The Witcher Omnibus by Paul Tobin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


It claimed to be a good entry point for those unfamiliar with the source material. To that I can say maybe? I've not read the books/seen the show and felt that lack often, especially in the first two stories (which are the stronger of the four). I don't know why a witcher's eyes are different or what exactly a witcher is beyond the obvious: a monster slayer.

That said I didn't really need to know in order to enjoy these. The art is better than the cover art would imply (sorry, did not love that art). Based on the art the stories are culled from various points in Geralt's life from a younger man to obviously much older.

The House of Glass the first story is pretty close to being a straight up Gothic haunted house sort of tale and I really enjoyed it. Fox Children is also interesting, dealing with the issues of greed and misogyny as they have to deal with a fox spirit after her kidnapped daughter. Killing Monsters was a rather forgettable one shot. Curse of Crows is where I felt my lack of Witcher knowledge most keenly because it deals with Yennefer and her obvious importance in his life along with Ciri. It wasn't that I couldn't figure out what was going on but it was something I hadn't expected since there was no build to it (which fair enough, if I had a passing knowledge of the source material this wouldn't be an issue). The story deals with half truths, the horrible aftermath of war and rage.

Overall, I can see why Tobin is an award winning graphic novel author. The stories were engaging and I've been talking about reading the books (not by Tobin) for years. Now seems like a good time to start.



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