Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - Die Zeit der Verachtung

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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madmichele's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

this is definitely my favorite one so far, but I wish there was more written about geralt & ciri’s relationship. I know these characters so well because of the show & what I know about the game, but I feel that their relationship isn’t very fleshed out in what I’ve read so far, even though it’s obvious they care for each other and are a family (including yennefer. yen & geralt’s and yen & ciri’s relationships are clearly defined and have been a focus so far, but I don’t feel the same has happened for geralt & ciri.) perhaps I’ve missed it but I just find it a bit odd. hopefully there’s more with those two in particular in the following books. I still loved this though

also… why there isn’t a single map in any of these books is BEYOND me. smh

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lqne's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.0

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camoo3032's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

The author is a genius at choosing which perspective to write from. It's this creative storytelling that makes it so interesting to read

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anni_swanilda's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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onyxx's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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tilo's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

5.0

Wie immer: Unglaublich gute Fantasy und die Story ist fesselnd.
Besonders spannend finde ich nach wie vor wie facettenreich die Charaktere sind, denn hier kommen so viele verschiedene Motive aufeinander, Gruppierungen mit unterschiedlichsten Interessen und trotzdem hat jeder mit jedem irgendwie zu tun, wodurch ein faszinierendes Netz gespannt wurde.

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billyjepma's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

A much better entry than the last one, though not without the typical bevy of "yeah, a straight white man definitely wrote this." The worldbuilding kicks back into high gear, and it rules. Sapkowski gets to dig into the politics of his cruel fantasy world and develop the different factions scheming against each other. I'm a sucker for that stuff, so obviously, it worked for me. His action scenes are also stellar, as per usual, and I don't think I'll ever get tired of how much specificity he invests in the quick but brutal bouts of combat.

Not all of the development lands, and Sapkowski would benefit from a slightly more ruthless editor. And, again, the way he writes his women characters is a big ol' mixed bag. Sometimes, it's really good, and I genuinely appreciate how complex his cast's morality and motivations are, men and women alike. He doesn't suffer from cliches in that way. What he does suffer from are many of the other problems that plague most fantasy penned by male writers. He relies far too heavily on the sexuality and violence the women are defined by or threatened with. These issues aren't as pronounced as in the last book, but they're still here, and I don't see them miraculously disappearing moving forward.

Still, I enjoyed this immensely, and my fascination and investment in the Witcher series are here to stay.

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