I had a much harder time getting in to this book than I did with The Witcher books. I felt that the initial pacing was a bit slow. Other than that, it was enjoyable.

The first book in a trilogy, Tower of Fools is set in 15th century medieval Eastern Europe. Reinmar of Bielawa, or Reynevan, is caught by the Stercza brothers making love to one of their wives. As he flees the brothers, rumors of his witchcraft reach the Holy Inquisition and soon he is a wanted man. He is joined on his journey by Scharley, a penitent out on parole, and Samson Honey-Eater, an otherworldly being accidentally summoned by Reynevan during a fake exorcism. Meanwhile, a shapeshifter called the Wallcreeper is up to something nefarious and Reynevan's poor choices in love lead him closer to imprisonment in the Nurrenturm, or the Tower of Fools. Full of dry humor and rich details, this historical fantasy is a good fit for fans of Game of Thrones and Sapkowski's other series, The Witcher. The Tower of Fools promises more monsters, heretics, and bloody crusades in the books to come.

The Tower of Fools is a mesmerizing historical fantasy that plunges you into a world of magic, politics, and religious upheaval. Set against the backdrop of a 16th-century Europe in turmoil, the story follows the journey of Reinmar of Bielawa, a young medical student who finds himself embroiled in a complex conspiracy. The intricate plot weaves together elements of mystery, humor, and political intrigue, while the characters are both flawed and endearing. The Tower of Fools is a captivating start to a promising series that will leave you eagerly anticipating the next book.

The Tower of Fools is a fantastic historical fantasy novel that will appeal to fans of both genres. The author's attention to historical detail, engaging characters, and thrilling plot make for a compelling read. If you're looking for a novel that will transport you to another time and place and keep you engaged from beginning to end, then The Tower of Fools is definitely worth your time.
Full review on my YouTube channel.

I requested a digital copy in order to sample the prose on my phone (since I don't have a eReader) before requesting a physical copy for review. My review will be based on the physical ARC I read (if I qualify)

I requested this thinking it would help me get into Andrzej Sapkowski's writing before I tried picking up The Witcher. Unfortunately, this wasn't what I was hoping it would be and I don't think I enjoyed it as much as I was hoping I would.

Sapkowski uses the 15th century historical landscape of Poland, using the religious sphere, language, and writs to anchor his story. What I enjoy about his writing is that he doesn't shy away from domestic drama, humour, family feuds, dark creatures, and other machinations that always make his books a good read.

He captures the spreading influence of the Holy See and their attempts to stamp out anything they consider heresy, as well as the prejudices held of Jews and natural 'magic', all while telling an entertaining story of misplaced love, male "honour", and revenge.

I enjoyed the jaunts of our main character as he tries to keep one step ahead of his pursuers, receives advice, meets witches, and garners a protector as he is positively hapless when it comes to defending against physical attacks.

My only grievance with this book is that certain parts seem bloated and this story would have been just as engaging with 100 or so less pages.

Tower of Fools starts a new series by the author of the popular Witcher series. It was published in 2002 in Polish and has just now (in 2020) been translated to English. Tower of Fools is less fantasy and more historical fiction, place in the early 1400s. It is the time of the Hussite Wars between Poland an the Czech republic. You may recognize some well known historical figures, other characters are real, or based on lesser known historical figures. The hero, Reinmar of Bielawa, is fleeing the country after getting caught sleeping with a married woman. He makes one stupid decision after another - getting himself and his eventual companions in trouble. This is quite a different book from the Witcher novels - perfect for anyone who enjoys epic fantasy or historical fiction. Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC.

I was set to like this book. Even though I didn't finish the author's original great work - the Witcher series - I thought I would give this a try. While the first chapter did put me off, I tried to go through it but I don't think that I gelled with the story. Historical fiction is a hit or miss with me, even mixed with my love of the fantasy genre - and this was a clear miss for me. The reimagined Europe was a nice touch but not enough to hold me for the rest of the book. The idea with the werewolves was again, a nice touch, but not something that I would stick around for. Also, I don't think I was in the mood for a violent fantasy, which I will like depending on the writing style and the overall themes of the book - so I might try a re-read when book 2 is translated into English.

I understand that this is a historical fantasy but it was heavy on the history. I think it was too political for me, but I know people will enjoy it. I really wanted to love it as much as the Witcher series but sadly I didn’t.

Thank you to the Publisher and Netgalley for the advanced e-reader copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

The Tower of Fools reminded me of when I first started reading fantasy - it harkened back to McCaffrey, Tolkein, Goodkind and the like - very traditional in density, length and pace. I enjoyed the story overall, but struggled a bit, having since become accustomed to a more modern pace in my epic fantasy (a la Sanderson, Rothfuss and the like). Definitely one that a traditionalist would enjoy, and anyone who really enjoyed the Witcher series (the books, and maybe the games; the show has done a nice job of trimming and edging the plots into more easily digestible chunks).

DNF. I tried to love this but I found this to be a very old fashioned fantasy that doesn't move along fast enough for me. I think this will appeal to fantasy readers that love the old stuff from the 90s but there's really an emphasis on a certain type of hero in this book. By this I mean that the old macho hero that is overtly descriptive of women's bodies, in almost a violent way, and I found that particularly unappealing.

Sapkowski's newest offering since the Witcher series is the start of a new trilogy, best described as historical fantasy set in the 1400's. Fans of Sapkowski's work will recognize his distinctive writing style, and the same translator worked on this book and the Witcher books. I personally had a harder time with this one as historical fantasy is not the easiest genre for me to read, but overall enjoyed it. The characters are multi-dimensional and have a great backstory.

This book was very heavy in history and light on the fantasy/magic bits. I kinda wished that it was the other way around but I feel like I really got to know some of the history in Europe that I was not familiar with before with the Hussite Wars. It did take me longer than usually to get through this, mostly because it was so detailed. I did rail at Reinmar, usually know as Reynevan, for most of the story as he kept being stupid about going after Adele, he supposed one true love (and the reason he got into trouble in the first place). I much preferred Scharley and Samson who were much more reasonable about their plans and were always coming to the rescue of Reynevan.

I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was good but didn’t necessarily grab me. I’m glad I read it and have a few library patrons in mind to recommend it to. I am undecided on whether or not to purchase the title for my library.

I was not able to finish this book in the time allotted, however the portion that I did read was quite enjoyable. the concept of adultery, and an epic journey is a concept that will resonate with fans of adventure, romance and even mystery.

I wanted to love this book set in Europe in the 1400s, with a mix of traditional and magical Middle Age elements. There was humor, a journey, magic. But halfway through, I was still waiting for excitement. I kept waiting for the epic quest that was going through the Tower of Fools. I also had trouble keeping track of characters. There were names tossed here and there, and I had trouble figuring out if I should store this person in my memory for later.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with the ARC for this book.

I am a fan of Andrzej Sapkowski via his Witcher books, which I read after the show aired on Netflix. I enjoyed his prose and character work with Geralt and am a big fan of that series, which is why I was very excited about receiving this book.

I ended up listening to the audio of this, from my local library, and the narrator is the same as The Witcher. He's wonderful. Definitely makes the story more enjoyable.

All of that being said, although the plot of this book was very intriguing, the execution was not my taste. The first chapter hooked me but my interested began to dwindle as I continued on. With this being a historical fiction/fantasy crossover, I understand the necessity to explain the political climate and the war currently happening, but it made for a dry read, with info dumping. Overall, it was very dense and even though I liked the plot, it was a struggle to get through.

I think this is a classic case of "it's not you, it's me." I do not think this book is bad at all, I just couldn't get into it. This was a lot more historical fiction than I was expecting and I do feel a little misled by the summary and title. The group ends up in the Tower of Fools in chapter 27. There are 29 chapters in this book. Most of the book is completely separate from that and it just didn't hook me. It had a really absurd tone that was really interesting but not enough to invest me. This reads like a series of separate vignettes to me which could have been interesting but everything felt so laden with detail and exposition that it felt hard to wade through. I think a lot of people will enjoy this book and I know some of my Goodreads friends DO like this book but this just wasn't for me and I don't see myself continuing with this series.

The Tower of Fools is the first book in The Hussite trilogy by Andrzej Sapkowski. First published in 2002 (in Polish), this reformated English translation from Hatchette on their Orbit imprint is 560 pages and available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a well written, complex, character driven story with fantasy elements set in medieval Europe. I found myself floundering early on and felt like I was dropped headfirst into the narrative (with a vast cast of supporting characters). The prologue sets the stage (complete with a bewildering array of characters and history) rapidly followed by the juxtaposition of a graphic sex scene alongside hymns from the Latin version of the Ad Sextam Officium Beatae Mariae (the offices of the Blessed Virgin). Apart from the doorstop appearance of the book and the fact that most onlookers would assume it's another book in the prolific author's Witcher series, this is -emphatically- not safe for work reading and should probably be in a plain brown wrapper.

It's supremely irreverant and occasionally raunchy. There are glimmers of humor (profane sexual comparisons abound) and quite a lot of graphic violence (both of the sexual and garden variety). Once the story found its pace (or once I found *my* pace in the story), it unfolded at a canter. I never got over the feeling that it was literature in translation; the writing has an uneven off-kilter feel in English. I wish I could have read it in Polish. If I had to compare it, I would suggest that the rhythm and pace of the words reminded me a lot of Umberto Eco in translation.

There's a lot to like here. The story is interwoven onto a skeleton of actual history and it's not always clear what is real and what is fiction. I would recommend this one to fans of Eco, Katherine Arden's Winternight Trilogy (with a lot more sex and ribald dialogue), and other sort of hardcore historical fantasy realism.

Three and a half stars. (I strongly suspect my rating would be 4+ if I could read Polish).

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.