The Time of Contempt

So I think this top portion will be the basis for my review for all five of the Witcher series (excluding The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny–Kind of, you'll see...)

I feel like it took me a long time to read these, when in actuality, I started the first one in January so that isn't really all that long. Some of the way I'm feeling may be based off a lapse in memory though because I read around 95 books around the reading of these so I may be hazy.

For starters, I think Andrzej Sapkowski is a phenomenal writer. Secondly, I think David French did an absolutely wonderful job translating these to English. And thirdly, I think the Gollancz paperbacks were amazing–great cover art, nice quality–I actually managed to read them all without breaking the spines.

Sapkowski has such a way about his writing that the dialogue in the novels can be truly captivating. He wields it so well that he has honestly created such a wonderful lush lore within his world that really carried the hundreds of pages he wrote. I think that overall, this attention to detail within every word uttered may actually have been in some ways at a detriment to his overarching story.

So to speak, his great characters, the companions of the Witcher, and even the enemies, all have this way of leaving you wanting more. However, if you were to pull away all of that and the world's lore, the series itself is kind of about... nothing. I did find myself more than once getting to the end of one of the novels and being like wait... nothing happened? Destiny has brought the Witcher and Ciri together, and yet they are also destined to never be together... it's just the kind of realization that stings. If you read the first book you can skip to the final book for the ending because the others are just more of the same. Luckily for me, as I've already stated, I enjoyed the dialogue and the world building, I drank that sh*t up. It's just kind of weird/funny to realize negative things like that about something you've rated pretty well. Despite all of that, I really enjoyed them.

Speaking of The Time of Contempt specifically, I really enjoyed the use of political movements in this one. This is a writer that really understands the world he was building and manipulating in this time of war. With that being said, I did find the attack of Thanedd Island to feel a little too convoluted. I know that it was in part to show how the characters are experiencing it, ie. they have no idea what's going on, but I do admit to finding myself more confused with what was going on than I would have liked.

Geralt giveth Ciri, Sapkowski taketh away...

Once again a good story for a fantasy book. There is some fighting, intrigue, spying and backstabbing.

War is coming again. Nilfgaard once tried to conquer the northern kingdoms, but a group of mages and sorcerers prevented their progress by setting aside their neutrality in human affairs and taking up arms against those who would disrupt the peace that they encharged themselves to keep.

Many of them died that day, but Nilfgaard was stopped for the moment. Now the northern kings are planning their next move, because they don't believe the invaders will give up their ambitions af conquest, even though they signed a peace treaty. They want to get ahead of the invaders and attack where they re most vulnerable, taking back Cintra in the process.

But they can't be the ones to break the peace treaty, else the mage counsel will turn against them. This is the background of Ciri and Geralt's adventures this time. She finds herself being a key part in it, whether because the prophecies regarding her powers are true or just the fact that she is of royal blood, the solo heir of Cintra's throne. This kingdom holds a key strategical geographical position in the war to come, and having a rightful claim to its control will make it much easier to rule it then by force.As such, both Nilfgaard's emperor Emhyr and the other kings are searching for her. Emhyr wants her alive at any cost, as he seem to believe in the prophecies as well as see her political value. The other kings however are more distrustful of mages, sorcerers and magic in general. They want her either on their side, or dead so she doesn't fall into enemy hands. Since they can't be sure of her loyalty even once found, they decide that is better that she dies. Dijkstra, head of Intelligence for the kingdom of Redanian is heading the search.Geralt hires the best detectives money can afford to find out more about Ciri's pursuers, and learns along the way more about her past and why she is so important for both parties in the conflict. He had previously entrusted Yennefer to take care of Ciri is but now he is worried for both of their lives, He is after all Ciri's destiny appointed protector, and Yennefer is the love of his life. He sets off to find them.On the way, he dispatches some assassins and tracks down the ones who hired them. The trace leads back to a mage named Rience. In order to find him, he gets help from his friend Dandelion, a medical student named Shani, joins forces with the kings sorcerer Philippa, and finally gets to fight the mage.The battle is brief and bloody. But when he is about to kill Rience, another mage comes to his rescue, by opening a portal and lending his power for him to escape. Geralt wants to pursue him, but Philippa stops him. She doesn't want him to find out who hired those assassins.Meanwhile Yennefer is teaching Ciri how to become a sorceress, how to control her powers and how to vanquish her nightmares. After learning more about Ciri's powers, she decides it is imperative she tells the other mages about it. She and Ciri leave the temple of Melitele where they have being staying.On the way the conclave, with plans to drop Ciri at a school of sorceresses, Ciri has some adventures involving a "fake" monster and the ghosts of the Wild Hunt.Eventually Geralt, Ciri and Yennefer all meet and proceed to the enclave, where the upcoming war is expected to be discussed. On a normal occasion they would discuss what they can do in order to stop unnecessary blood shedding, but there is a faction inside the Guild of Mages that believe that magic and power is all that matters, and this war is necessary to further their goals.Not knowing about this faction and what is about to happen, Ciri is brought to the conclave and spouts a prophecy while in a trance. Soon after all hell breaks loose, the mages start to fight each other. basically there is a faction of those loyal to the kings of the north and those loyal to Nilfgaard. Geralt, who doesn't care about either way, is caught in the middle.As Ciri is in the hearth of their dispute, Geralt fights his way towards her. Many mages die along the way, one or another by the hands of Geralt himself. Ciri is captured by soldiers of Nilfgaard, but manages to fight them off and escape, Geralt helps her.Once she is out of harms way, he goes back to help Yennefer. But then he finds his match in the hands of Vilgefortz, and is brutally beaten into near death. Triss Merigold with the help of Philippa take him to Brokilon to heal his wounds.Ciri escapes by entering a mysterious portal. She is teleported in the middle of a desert, goes trough hell but manages to escape it. She finds a safe haven with a group of bandits, and become one of them.The story ends with Yeneffer's fate unknown.

mild spoilers, you've been warned

yeah uh... the next book better explain what the hell all of that was, because you can't just have an entire war progress and have it covered in a chapter via dialogue

but otherwise, i enjoyed myself and i'm really looking forward to the next book. lots of fun yennefer & geralt moments in this book, and a lot of political navigation & trying to finally get to ciri's role in everything. that being said, i didn't appreciate the aforementioned chapter where an entire progression of the war was glossed over in a dialogue and would have rather have read about that for another 100 pages than be left with the bare minimum information to go off of (and even then, it didn't even seem that relevant to the rest of the book?)