The Last Wish

A collection of short stories, none of which is exceptional, but they're interesting enough to scratch that fantasy itch. I'm reminded of Conan in the style, if not exactly in the quality.

The world is a low magic setting. Sorcerers are few and magic is feared and revered by the common folk. Geralt of Rivia is a Witcher, a human magically enhanced as a child and brutally trained to hunt down monsters. He is a wielder of some basic spells, and his mutated body posses increased strength, agility and eyesight.

His profession was once crucial to humanity, for when they first arrived in this world, monsters and other races dominated the land. The Witchers were created to exterminate the more powerful and evil monsters, while the rest of the humans took care of exterminating the other races, being they good or bad.

The Witchers are taught to be neutral regarding human affairs. Men and women may kill and rape each other in bar brawls or wars that may bring kingdoms down, they ought to not interfer. A Witcher's neutrality is essential for their profession, otherwise a king might not allow him to enter his lands to hunt down a monster otherwise.

But time has passed, and there are no much more monsters left. A Witcher is left with some hard choices to make, because in order to make a living they need to exercise their trade, the only thing they know how to do, ingrained in their minds from childhood. This knowledge emboldens their potential employers to make some moraly dubious propositions, such as to hire him as a mercenary or an assassin.

Geralt struggles with questions of morality, whether he should use his powers to help the defenseless against all evil or just the monsters he was told to slay. He is a relic of the past struggling to find his place in this new world. He is despised and distrusted by most humans because he is a mutant, as are all other races despised as well.