A review by purelytheoretical
The Time Of Contempt by Andrzej Sapkowski

adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

something I'd forgotten between the first time I read this and this re-read is that this book (and a lot if not all of the rest of the witcher novels) has at most an episodic type of plot. when listening to the audiobook, I was shocked to discover that what felt like the climax of the story took place less than half the way through, and was not followed by any sort of higher-stakes "real" climax near the end. the plot is fine, but it just doesn't have the flow that a lot of us are accustomed to. I don't know if this is by virtue of its being thoroughly Polish in origin, maybe this is folktale vibes I'm getting? but it's certainly a trip to get used to.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, and Sexual assault

Spoiler

It's not clear what the age difference is between Ciri and her attackers, they themselves are probably late teens at the oldest, but they do describe her as a child so I thought I'd cover that base just in case. The rape is near the end of the story, and a fairly short scene, but it is with a pair of people Ciri has just decided to trust and one after the other in a very horribly manipulative way that will make you hate these characters when they come back in the following book(s).