Talk:Essi Daven/@comment-36562732-20180812184041

Wow, just wow. Been a Witcher fan for years from the games, but only recently decided to read the books and build upon my already great love for this world and characters. Loving these books so much I read through both short story novels in 4 days, but I must say I've never felt quite the level of emotion from text, as I experienced after reading the short story on Essi Daven.

If not for the final few lines you would have expected that entire short story's intention to be the introduction of a character close to Dandelion and who became close to Geralt. Who would obviously be referenced and perhaps even make appearances in the books. Yet, wow what a 180 with not just killing her off, but doing so in such a fashion. Died young, suddenly, heartbroken, and relatively alone as it's not even clear if Dandelion was there for her passing or simply arrived and buried her after she has already passed. She was a well woven character with another excellent example of fantastic writing leading to the expected result of liking her and respecting her not just as a woman, but as an individual.

Between the books and games Geralt has "known" a lot of women, but few (other than Triss and Yennefer) ever touched him in a way such as Essi did. The fact she did so over so short a period of time was even more remarkable. One of mt favorite aspects of The Witcher world is how well it simulates a dark, gritty, sad medieval world, but this was one instance I didn't expect and could have gone without.

I immediately had the response to go online and look more into Essi to see if she was referenced in the books and if Dandelion ever told Geralt what happened to her. I always liked Dandelion as a side character, but this tory and especially the ending gave him more credit and respect in my eyes than most if not all of his others combined. The comments didn't lie, this story has stuck with me for days and I expect it to keep popping into my mind for the next several weeks as I read through the rest of the books.