Reviews with content warning for War - The Time of Contempt

Reviews tagging 'War'

The Time of Contempt by Andrzej Sapkowski

40 reviews

jaedia's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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eleniphant's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

I have such conflicted thoughts on this book and the series moving forward.

What I liked:

I loved the sequence of the banquet and the day that follows with the coup- these chapters with excellent and filled with intrigue, pieces came together for a larger picture and strongest part of this book so far
I loved the snippets we got of the Yennefer, Geralt, and Ciri family dynamic, I like the subversion of expectations and Ciri’s whole narrative.
His women aren’t the best written no idea how he managed Yennefer who is a favorite of all time to me- and Ciri because everyone else hahah yikes
But I love geralt and his philosophizing and the highlight about neutrality not really being an option.
I’m curious to see where the series goes but-

What I did not

So I don’t know if I should blame the translation but this book had chunks, far too many rambling descriptions easy to get lost in, and the politics at points got way too deep and unfocused from the heart of the narrative
Sometimes I wish the major events would be seen rather than casually monologued about.- second half of the book lost major speed
Ciri’s final plot points upset me. Greatly. I really don’t know what the intent was and if Sapkowski is commenting on the SA tropes in fantasy at the time- but it was disturbing, I don’t think I’m putting down the series but may need a little break- I know ciri is put through horrific things throughout and it deconstructs chosen one tropes and the costs but man… idk the was going from 4-5 stars to me kind of :/ at the last parts. May need to think on a bit- see where it leaves me in a few days

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hazelloretta's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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battlefieldpoet's review against another edition

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dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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opinkb's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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zams's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.25

This book was giving me nothing but a reading slump.
It dragged on over things that used to come to a clever twist later in the book in the previous parts, but simply usually didn't in this one.
It also had almost no cuktivation of any relationships, you're just fed dry passages instead of actual interactions that would lead up to the situations between the charcter, the most annoying one is Yennefer and Geralt's, but Ciri and Geralts was very weak too this time.
All in all I was just bored for about 90% of the book, the usual was nowhere to be found and the great action scenes and twists and details were more than lacking as well, but weird remarks and small things that almost feel like plot holes were sprinkled throughout.
I would have DNFed it if I didn't already own the next book, absolutely boring and disappointing.

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