The "Sword of Destiny" is the second book in the Witcher Saga by its internal chronology, although most of the stories have been written before the ones in "The Last Wish". These stories are longer, more convoluted and less exciting than the ones in the previous collection.
"The Bounds of Reason" is about a dragon-hunter dragon who is also a human and a couple of sexy female bodyguards who seem to have been lifted straight out of a Conan story.
"A Shard of Ice" is about Yennefer's and Geralt's relationship and the promiscuous life Yenn used to lead, and still leads to some extent. After all, a couple of hundred years in a young, enhanced female body coupled with magical powers is probably a strong motivator for any female to play the field as much as physically possible.
"A Little Sacrifice" is about a mermaid being in love with a human (a local nobleman asshole, go figure), and starving Geralt working for free because he has to much principle and dignity to slaughter every self-indulgent prick who insults him (as he justly should). He is also too principled to take a woman's heart (and body) while knowing he cannot reciprocate long-term, even though the woman is also a smart and talented bard (Little Eye) who would want nothing more in the world. Dandelion is pretty cool here too.
"The Sword of Destiny" is starting the Ciri Saga which will be the main theme for the rest of the 6 volumes. She is 14-15 here and abducted (kind of) by the Forest Dryads who are getting ready to make her one of their own (as they steal human children and mutate them through poisons and potions to increase their ranks). Eventually Geralt gets her out and their lifelong adventures begin. Their banter is priceless.
"Something More" concludes the collection and it is about Ciri becoming entangled with Geralt forever. A theme before was that "Destiny is not Enough", but here Ciri says to Geralt "I am your Destiny" and Geralt replies "You are Something More". Pretty cool.
Overall this collection is weaker and worse written than "The Last Wish" but definitely better than "Blood of Elves" as nothing can be as bad as that one. I read a bunch of reviews moaning how sexist the book is - newsflash - the entire saga happens in 12th century Poland when women were treated as something marginally better than furniture or livestock. Imposing 2018 standards on the past is moronic. The past is what it was and it should be fully described as such, not embellished or "updated".
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