The saga fell out a bit for me with this one. I didn't enjoy it as much as the previous ones. I got completely lost with the big battle. Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention, who knows? ( )

The fallout from the first Nilfgaardian war is affecting politics and future war plans only for a certain white-haired individual to interfere. The Time of Contempt is the second Witcher novel by Andrzej Sapkowski sees Geralt, Yennifer, and Ciri come together at a conclave of magicians only for things to go to hell.

Throughout the book there is a sense that things are happening but the characters and thus the readers only see what’s happening to them until everything hits the fan. Sapkowski builds the events up slowly as the main characters come together on the Isle of Thanedd for a conclave of mages when two coups, one supported by the Nilfgaardians and the other by the Northern Kings who are planning covert action about the Nilfgaardians as well. The entire book feels more coherent than Sapkowski’s previous outing as the main narrative took over 60% of the book while aftermath took up the rest especially as Ciri makes an important decision near the end of the novel. Though there is a quick succession of point-of-view narratives across the continent, they are framed in a conversation between Dandelion and Geralt providing a better flow than the previous book. Thanks to a series by the YouTube channel Wizards and Warriors, I have a rough idea of the political and physical landscape of the continent which helped to understand where things were because there is no map which is the only thing that takes away from Sapkowski’s world building. Overall, this is a better book than the previous novel and makes me look forward to the rest of the series.

The Time of Contempt is an improvement on the opening novel but with the same great action and character development thus making me interested in where Andrzej Sapkowski takes things. ( )

Do you want a miserable time? Then have I got the book for you! Sure, it should be obvious from the title, but maybe you've made the mistake of thinking you're interested in this story universe and just want to read all the official materials, titles be damned!

There is no particular topic this book tackles in a way that approaches enjoyment, poignancy, or something like "makes you think". It's just... grimness, a world filled with characters you don't care about probably getting into fights you don't care about, a lot of sexism, a lot of rape threats, descriptions of and allusions to rape... and that's it, really. Yes, it's a translation. Maybe the original Polish is a truly beautiful tale worthy of being retold by the heavens themselves. I don't know. This is the official English translation. It's not fun. In fact, it's rather terrible. I'd rate it lower if Goodreads let me.

I think this summarizes much of how Sapkowski writes women: “The first was a middle-aged but vigorous man in extremely modest woollen clothing. At his side strode a tall, sharp-featured woman with dark, smoothly combed hair.
‘That is Gerhart of Aelle, also known as Hen Gedymdeith, the oldest living sorcerer,’ Yennefer informed Geralt in hushed tones. ‘The woman walking beside him is Tissaia de Vries. She isn’t much younger than Hen, but is not afraid of using elixirs to hide it.”

For you see, even in fantasyland, men are allowed to age. Women are ridiculed whether or not they attempt to hide their age. If they do hide their age, and show off, they are ridiculed. If they don’t show off, they are ridiculed. Women ridicule each other. Men rape them or threaten to rape women. That is the way this world functions. I really doubt any of this was done with awareness. Maybe there's something to be had here about patriarchal structures in typical fantasy, but it just doesn't really say anything? The lot of women is shit in this universe. That's all. And it's hardly original. I mean if you like misery porn with a ton of sexism, sure, this is the book for you!

Shortly after this conversation, some women joke about raping someone, potentially multiple people. At one point, a rape survivor saves Victim from an in-progress rape, and then the first rape survivor rapes Victim. And Victim is... I don't even know. She kisses rape survivor while rape survivor is sleeping. I literally don't know what to do with any of these scenes.

I’m also quite certain this book contains some of the most embarrassingly bad descriptions of sex I’ve ever read. But it’s nice to know Geralt gives good head, I guess.

One thing this series has made me realize is that I am so tired of men and their obsession with infertility. In this series, there’s a strong theme of “people who try to become/do magic become infertile” just… because. You could argue that part of it is the theme that humans weren’t meant to do magic, so by trying to become/do magic they are defying nature’s apparent rule that they do magic, and so a sacrifice is made.

Which is strange when you consider one plot point in this book: that a magical parent is required to become a sorcerer. I forget if this infertility thing only applies to women or not. It probably does. Because you see, only men can be trusted in the procreation process in magical fuck-off land, I mean, the world of the Witcher.

But anyway, Ciri gives herself a magical orgasm somehow and it's implied maybe she's infertile now? I don't know.

I don't care about any of the characters in this story. Well actually, Rayla's cool, I guess. She's a bit character who shows up in two scenes. Again, there are a couple cute moments between Geralt and Dandelion, of all things, and Geralt has some nice quips, although any of his monster hunting is done from afar... And a lot of familiar names die or get injured and it's just all very yawn-worthy honestly. The story opens with a sexist messenger we don't care about and only gets worse from there. Four books in and I still do not care about this story universe. I'd really, really like to care, but I don't.

Also, the cover art is hideous. As far as I can tell this is art from the second game, apparently depicting Geralt standing in front of a monster. It is one of the uglier pieces in a series of ugly art.

Overall, miserable story. Skip it. Watch the 2019 show, which has a lot of issues with how it depicts women and dialogue and all that, but it's still somehow better than this. If you want a story about magical adults teaching magical minors, read Tamora Pierce's "Circle of Magic" series. That series touches on surviving in poverty, plagues, invasions, cross-cultural sharing, lots of different kind of magic, trauma, how a child deals with committing murder, confronting systemic sexism, and heck, "Battle Magic" features a child ruler. You want a decent story about a unicorn? Read "The Last Unicorn", or watch the movie. Or do both. You want grimdark (with humor) fantasy? Watch seasons 1-2 of the "Castlevania" anime. You want political intrigue fantasy that's grimdark and deals with child prostitution, trauma, angry mobs, magic, and skullduggery? Read Sarah Monette's "Doctrine of Labyrinths". Skip this. ( )

still very good, but not as good as the previous three ones. ( )

3.6 ( )