edluback's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
briical's review against another edition
2.0
I think at this point I should just accept that i prefer watching the Witcher to reading it.
YET AGAIN, this book screams “written by a man” and I’m just so very tired if it.
Yennefer and Geralt finally confess their love to each other (quite randomly at a banquet, I may add) and then a page- ONE SINGLE PAGE- later he is ogling all the other sorceresses boobs. Of which we get vivid, detailed descriptions. Because every sorceress is wearing a see-through shirt. I’m not even exaggerating.
I am so tired.
The narrative style is still something I do not vibe with. There is so much telling and not showing, and, at certain points, its as if someone told the author this and he attempts to fix it- poorly. We get people TELLING other people about events, with interjected flashbacks of those events from the POV of characters you often will NEVER SEE AGAIN. It is already confusing enough to keep all the kingdoms and important players straight, THIS ONLY MAKES IT WORSE.
Speaking of things that are confusing, the POLITICS. A large chunk of this book is about wizard politics and it just did not make sense. I had to google it, read some reddit posts, ask a friend, and read the wikipedia plot to puzzle it out. Basically a coup takes place and then another coup takes over, backed by ANOTHER COUP of elves… its impossible to keep straight and figure out who is on what side.
I STILL do not know Yennefer’s motivations/ stance in this entire plotline. It makes no sense.
This book ends with Ciri in almost the same place she started, except now she has a gang and knows how to kill people. The end section has her ONCE AGAIN estranged from Yen and Geralt, trying to survive. But this time she is eating bugs with a unicorn in the dessert so it’s DIFFERENT. And she is again wanted across kingdoms so people keep capturing her to cash in the reward - but it’s DIFFERENT because she ends the book in a GANG! The best part is that I know in the grand scheme of things, none of these random kids who become her friends are going to matter at all. So why did I need to slog through pages of their rushed shenanigans?
Why do Yen, Geralt, Ciri, and my boy Dandelion all need to be separated? I am TIRED of it.
So what did I like about this book?
At times, the humour. There was a joke about a cabbage that made me laugh out loud at one point, because Geralt is such a sarcastic grump.
I liked Ciri training and her being pulled in two directions by her “parents” - sorcery with Yen or becoming a witcher with Geralt.
I just can’t get into this writing. At times its way too subtle and others its way too on the nose. The character depth fluctuates from annoying/ repetitive (Ciri) to absolutely nonexistent (Yennefer).
At what point do I give up on this series? Will it ever “get good”?
YET AGAIN, this book screams “written by a man” and I’m just so very tired if it.
Yennefer and Geralt finally confess their love to each other (quite randomly at a banquet, I may add) and then a page- ONE SINGLE PAGE- later he is ogling all the other sorceresses boobs. Of which we get vivid, detailed descriptions. Because every sorceress is wearing a see-through shirt. I’m not even exaggerating.
I am so tired.
The narrative style is still something I do not vibe with. There is so much telling and not showing, and, at certain points, its as if someone told the author this and he attempts to fix it- poorly. We get people TELLING other people about events, with interjected flashbacks of those events from the POV of characters you often will NEVER SEE AGAIN. It is already confusing enough to keep all the kingdoms and important players straight, THIS ONLY MAKES IT WORSE.
Speaking of things that are confusing, the POLITICS. A large chunk of this book is about wizard politics and it just did not make sense. I had to google it, read some reddit posts, ask a friend, and read the wikipedia plot to puzzle it out. Basically a coup takes place and then another coup takes over, backed by ANOTHER COUP of elves… its impossible to keep straight and figure out who is on what side.
I STILL do not know Yennefer’s motivations/ stance in this entire plotline. It makes no sense.
This book ends with Ciri in almost the same place she started, except now she has a gang and knows how to kill people. The end section has her ONCE AGAIN estranged from Yen and Geralt, trying to survive. But this time she is eating bugs with a unicorn in the dessert so it’s DIFFERENT. And she is again wanted across kingdoms so people keep capturing her to cash in the reward - but it’s DIFFERENT because she ends the book in a GANG! The best part is that I know in the grand scheme of things, none of these random kids who become her friends are going to matter at all. So why did I need to slog through pages of their rushed shenanigans?
Why do Yen, Geralt, Ciri, and my boy Dandelion all need to be separated? I am TIRED of it.
So what did I like about this book?
At times, the humour. There was a joke about a cabbage that made me laugh out loud at one point, because Geralt is such a sarcastic grump.
I liked Ciri training and her being pulled in two directions by her “parents” - sorcery with Yen or becoming a witcher with Geralt.
I just can’t get into this writing. At times its way too subtle and others its way too on the nose. The character depth fluctuates from annoying/ repetitive (Ciri) to absolutely nonexistent (Yennefer).
At what point do I give up on this series? Will it ever “get good”?
shinumi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
elladan's review against another edition
4.0
Me enseñaron a matar diciendo que de esa forma podría salvar vidas. Era una gran mentira, Caballito. Me mintieron.
4/5.
Sigo sin poder darle 5 estrellas... Siempre le falta algo, siempre hay una parte aburrida, incluso dentro del caos que se ha formado en este libro, siempre hay una parte que sobra. Así que se queda en 4, que sigue siendo una puntuación alta.
¿Qué decir? Nos quedamos en un punto interesante en La sangre de los elfos y en Tiempo de odio recuperan la misma línea temporal. En algunas partes se hace un poco lioso, especialmente cuando en vez de narrar "en directo" lo que ocurre, entremezclan el pasado con un relato en el presente, como cuando Jaskier informa a Geralt de lo que ocurrió mientras él estaba en el bosque. De todas formas, cómo no, en el último 20% es cuando empieza a ponerse interesante. Protagonizado por Ciri y su experiencia en La Sartén, el libro deja muchas incógnitas otra vez sobre el paradero de los personajes, que creo que en Bautismo de fuego rescatan y explican con más profundidad.
En cualquier caso, he leído sagas mucho peores que ésta. Y, poco a poco, parece que va a ir hacia arriba, tanto en historia como en desarrollo. Tengo ganas de ver cómo sigue, considerando que ya he leído la mitad de la saga. Albergo expectativas de que sea Ciri quien salve estos libros. Veremos.
4/5.
Sigo sin poder darle 5 estrellas... Siempre le falta algo, siempre hay una parte aburrida, incluso dentro del caos que se ha formado en este libro, siempre hay una parte que sobra. Así que se queda en 4, que sigue siendo una puntuación alta.
¿Qué decir? Nos quedamos en un punto interesante en La sangre de los elfos y en Tiempo de odio recuperan la misma línea temporal. En algunas partes se hace un poco lioso, especialmente cuando en vez de narrar "en directo" lo que ocurre, entremezclan el pasado con un relato en el presente, como cuando Jaskier informa a Geralt de lo que ocurrió mientras él estaba en el bosque. De todas formas, cómo no, en el último 20% es cuando empieza a ponerse interesante. Protagonizado por Ciri y su experiencia en La Sartén, el libro deja muchas incógnitas otra vez sobre el paradero de los personajes, que creo que en Bautismo de fuego rescatan y explican con más profundidad.
En cualquier caso, he leído sagas mucho peores que ésta. Y, poco a poco, parece que va a ir hacia arriba, tanto en historia como en desarrollo. Tengo ganas de ver cómo sigue, considerando que ya he leído la mitad de la saga. Albergo expectativas de que sea Ciri quien salve estos libros. Veremos.
bosstweed's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
While the prose left some to be desired at points, the way that the story was told and the pacing was excellent. It felt like a darker and bigger continuation of Blood of Elves while not feeling too ridiculous or like it was just fulfilling everything set up by its predecessor. The book has genuine emotional moments, more so in the latter half of the book, which I wasn’t expected and displayed a depth of characters and story that I hope continue into the rest of the series.
vjeverica's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Rozumiem już dlaczego ta seria jest tak popularna. Świetnie się czyta, a raczej słucha, bo dodatkowo audiobook jest nieziemski.
Nie przeszkadza mi nawet tak dużo przeskoków do różnych bohaterów, wszystko układa się w jedną całość.
Nie przeszkadza mi nawet tak dużo przeskoków do różnych bohaterów, wszystko układa się w jedną całość.
starship9's review
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
softstarrynights's review against another edition
4.0
Time of Contempt is the second novel in The Witcher series of fantasy books which follow, Geralt of Rivia. When I read the previous novel I was a little disappointed, so it took me a while to want to pick this one up. When I finally did I couldn't understand why I'd left it so long because it seemed that the issues I'd had with the dry writing style were no longer present. After a quick investigation, I realised that this one actually has a different translator to the previous book, and it really made a difference. I don't read a lot of translated fiction, so I've never had to give much thought to translations, but after this book, it is definitely something that I will be more aware of in the future. This was a much easier read than the first book, despite the fact that the political side of the plot is still very heavy. The only real issue I had was the pacing of the book because towards the end I started to lose sight of where the plot was going. Up to the final chapter or two, this was such a great addition to the series, and seeing that the next book has the same translator I can't imagine I will leave it as long to pick that book up.