Time of Contempt is second book to the Witcher Saga by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. These books form an ongoing fantasy story, they are not stand alone so if you are new to the series this is not the book to start with. I highly recommend reading them in this order with the two short story collections first which originally written for magazines before starting the saga:
1 -
The Last Wish
2 -
Sword of Destiny
3 -
Blood of Elves (The Witcher Book 1)
Onto the review! Time of Contempt carries on straight off the back of the first book with a large war potentially brewing between the Nilfgaardian Empire and several other kingdoms while at the same time the humans and elves are fighting amongst themselves over years of bitter race hatred. In the midst of these growing tensions the Witcher Geralt and the sorceress Yennifer do their best to protect Ciri, a young girl who is the focus of a prophecy who is being chased by factions of all sides who want to use her for their own gain.
Time of Contempt is a relatively slow burn reading wise, much like Blood of Elves it takes it's time building up the world and characters. As a fan who got into the books through the video games I enjoy that a lot as I am getting a bit more of an in-depth view into relationships between the characters and the ever shifting world. Geralt is a great character but I have found the focus on both Ciri and Yennifer far more interesting thus far. This is not to say there is not a lot of action as there certainly are moments with some pretty good build up especially towards the latter half of the book, though I can't say much without spoiling anything but there are some interesting scenarios that happen as the story builds.
The entire book is very well written, though it feels occasionally a little stilted probably due to the nature of the translation from Polish it works very well with the content I have found. It's pretty easy to read and clear with a mixture of emotional and funny moments spread throughout. It has the same issue as Blood of Elves though that while being a full novel still feels at times like several short stories with an ongoing story stapled together. Some of the breaks between chapters or story arcs aren't as smooth as i'd like and it finishes just kind of randomly but it's a small gripe to an otherwise enjoyable read, I recommend the series thus far. Looking forward to the next book
Baptism of Fire
+ Interesting characters.
+ Great setting and scenarios.
+ Well written.
- Ends kind of out of nowhere, some story arc breaks jump around a lot.
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I'm by no means bashing the book the witcher series is brilliant but my book arrived damaged! There is a slight tear on the spine of the book.
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