Reviews

The way this author writes is ... different. There is a LOT going on in this saga and it is sometimes difficult to keep track of characters, their allegiances, and the timeline. I still love it, though. It is chock full of interesting characters (good and bad) and unexpected occurrences, and I have a hard time pausing the story to do other things. I'm listening to it all on audio-book and the narrator does such a great job it makes it even more difficult to stop the story. I know I'm going to be so depressed when it is all over.

absolus's review

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

ider's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.75

The previous book really turned me off the series. As well as the Netflix disaster — not wanting to continue that, which was previously a motivation to read the books. So it was really odd that looking in my shelves for my next read I gravitated to this book. I didn’t have high hopes and was absolutely not looking forward to reading about a relationship that started out of rape. However I also really wanted to read, not really to give the series another chance but more so to be done with it (as I bought all the books it did make me sad to abandon the series. And I do only want to make final judgements about the whole series if I finished it).

And so I read it. Quite quickly, because that is one thing about these books that hasn’t changed for me. They’re easy and fast to read. (Although the chapters are so long?!) But I really don’t like the writing. I got used to it, but in the first half of the book it often took me out of the flow. Also it’s so often so vulgar for no reason? But that’s a personal preference, I guess.
I don’t really care about the plot, I think. The characters are 50/50 for me. In this book I did like Milva and Regis though. They kinda carried it through for me. And there wasn’t as much stuff about the Rats, which I was afraid of, so that was fine. The world and the politics are 50/50 as well. Sometimes I care and find stuff interesting, other times I couldn’t care less.

But I still feel this weird need to finish the series, so I’ll probably do that rather soon.

bigleebowski's review against another edition

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3.0

Still a little too soon to tell, but this might be my least fave of the Witcher books thus far. After the climactic schism of events in Time of Contempt, Baptism of Fire already started on a disadvantage of matching the same epic scale. Baptism starts a bit slow to match Geralt’s state from the previous outing, but feels light on the story aside from some team building for our Witcher, his trusty bard companion, and some familiar faces along the war torn path to Nilfgaard. In contrast to bouncing around a myriad different groups around the Continent, Baptism tends to primarily focus on Geralt and his new company of allies as they journey through danger towards Ciri. That said, those more curious about Ciri, will be very disappointed with this entry.

It’s cool to see the forming of The Lodge, having played the games already allowing me to pinpoint the majority of the sorceresses. But the true surprise here was the introduction of a game fave character, Regis, of which I won’t spoil any further for those who are not in the know.

onecheesetoasty's review

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4.0

Of all the ones in the series, this one feels the most out of place. Don't get me wrong, it was still an excellent novel. But this one almost seems like a side quest and I have to remind myself of the main objective before picking up the next one.

staceyjl's review

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adventurous dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

susannahnah's review

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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