A Question of Price is probably the most important bit from The Last Wish. The Lesser Evil is about Geralt's most well known exploit, so I'd read that. The Edge of the World introduces Dandelion and the Scoia'tel. The Last Wish itself is about Geralt meeting Yennefer.
I assume the one you're skipping is A Grain of Truth. I'd agree, that's probably the low point of the book, and I didn't enjoy it much either, though it does set up Geralt's relationship with most intelligent monsters, and his slight unwillingness to kill them outright. He'd rather undertake his own investigation in such matters to determine whether the monster is really evil or not.
Ciri herself doesn't show up in any of the stories collected in "The Last Wish." I'd look up a fan translation of "Sword of Destiny" for some more quick information on Ciri, and an extension of Yen and Geralt's relationship. The Saga is where the real meat of the Geralt and Ciri stuff comes from.
I assume the one you're skipping is A Grain of Truth. I'd agree, that's probably the low point of the book, and I didn't enjoy it much either, though it does set up Geralt's relationship with most intelligent monsters, and his slight unwillingness to kill them outright. He'd rather undertake his own investigation in such matters to determine whether the monster is really evil or not.
Ciri herself doesn't show up in any of the stories collected in "The Last Wish." I'd look up a fan translation of "Sword of Destiny" for some more quick information on Ciri, and an extension of Yen and Geralt's relationship. The Saga is where the real meat of the Geralt and Ciri stuff comes from.
sword of destiny seems weird. it skips ahead and I have no idea what happened between the wish that bound yen and geralt to the bitter reunion @ the dragon storyAtleast the german translation of the books is very good. Not sure why everybody is bashing the translation so much.
But yes as many stated:
1.) The Last Wish
2.) Sword of Destiny
After that the saga:
3.) Blood of Elves
4.) Time of Contempt
5.) Baptism of Fire
6.) Tower of the Swallow
7.) Lady of the Lake
The books you should definitly read are the first two! They lay the foundation for most of the things to come and introduce every important character. They are also a great read and very well writtenThey are also not too long. So you can finish them before the game launches if you are a quick reader.