Andrzej Sapkowski

David A. French

Baptism of Fire

Chrzest ognia

Feuertaufe

Anna 

Justin Staack

7 Punkte
Die Bande der Ratten und die Gespräche der Zauberloge kosten es 3 Punkte. Regis rettete dieses Buch noch auf eine 7.

Geralt of Rivia is on a mission to save his ward, Ciri, and with her the world, in this third novel in the bestselling Witcher series that inspired the Netflix show and video games. The Wizards Guild has been shattered by a coup and, in the uproar, Geralt was seriously injured. The Witcher is supposed to be a guardian of the innocent, a protector of those in need, a defender against powerful and dangerous monsters that prey on men in dark times. But now that dark times have fallen upon the world, Geralt is helpless until he has recovered from his injuries. While war rages across all of the lands, the future of magic is under threat and those sorcerers who survive are determined to protect it. It's an impossible situation in which to find one girl - Ciri, the heiress to the throne of Cintra, has vanished - until a rumour places her in the Niflgaard court, preparing to marry the Emperor. Injured or not, Geralt has a rescue mission on his hands. Translated by David French.

Witcher 3 – Now a major Netflix show

Ending was so abrupt I thought my digital copy must have been missing a few chapters. Did anything even happen in this one? 

sarah

Geralt the Witcher is on a mission: to save his ward, Ciri, and with her the world ... The next story in the bestselling series that inspired the world-famous WITCHER games! The Wizards Guild has been shattered by a coup and, in the uproar, Geralt was seriously injured. The Witcher is supposed to be a guardian of the innocent, a protector of those in need, a defender against powerful and dangerous monsters that prey on men in dark times. But now that dark times have fallen upon the world, Geralt is helpless until he has recovered from his injuries. While war rages across all of the lands, the future of magic is under threat and those sorcerers who survive are determined to protect it. It's an impossible situation in which to find one girl - Ciri, the heiress to the throne of Cintra, has vanished - until a rumour places her in the Niflgaard court, preparing to marry the Emperor. Injured or not, Geralt has a rescue mission on his hands.

C. J. Daley 

So I think this top portion will be the basis for my review for all five of the Witcher series (excluding The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny--Kind of, you'll see...)

I feel like it took me a long time to read these, when in actuality, I started the first one in January so that isn't really all that long. Some of the way I'm feeling may be based off a lapse in memory though because I read around 95 books around the reading of these so I may be hazy. 

For starters, I think Andrzej Sapkowski is a phenomenal writer. Secondly, I think David French did an absolutely wonderful job translating these to English. And thirdly, I think the Gollancz paperbacks were amazing--great cover art, nice quality--I actually managed to read them all without breaking the spines. 

Sapkowski has such a way about his writing that the dialogue in the novels can be truly captivating. He wields it so well that he has honestly created such a wonderful lush lore within his world that really carried the hundreds of pages he wrote. I think that overall, this attention to detail within every word uttered may actually have been in some ways at a detriment to his overarching story. 

So to speak, his great characters, the companions of the Witcher, and even the enemies, all have this way of leaving you wanting more. However, if you were to pull away all of that and the world's lore, the series itself is kind of about... nothing. I did find myself more than once getting to the end of one of the novels and being like wait... nothing happened? Destiny has brought the Witcher and Ciri together, and yet they are also destined to never be together... it's just the kind of realization that stings. If you read the first book you can skip to the final book for the ending because the others are just more of the same. Luckily for me, as I've already stated, I enjoyed the dialogue and the world building, I drank that sh*t up. It's just kind of weird/funny to realize negative things like that about something you've rated pretty well. Despite all of that, I really enjoyed them. 

In terms of Baptism of Fire specifically, I loved the introduction of Milva. I think she was a great dynamic character and since my younger days of falling in love with the Lord of the Rings, I love me an archer. 
Also I love the pure absurdity of Geralt of Rivia--not really being from Rivia--then getting knighted by Queen Meve of Rivia... aka Geralt of Rivia is now legitimate and Geralt in the book itself reflects on that absurdity. That's just Sapkowski having fun and I enjoyed it.

David French

Witcher 5

Carla Hill

DNF at p122

Couldn’t get into this series very well, left this book untouched for about a year before deciding to give up on it.

Catalina Petre

So far this has been my favourite book in the series.

Eugene

The Witcher is supposed to be a defender against the powerful and dangerous monsters that prey on men in dark times. But a deadly coup within the Council of Wizards has left Geralt gravely injured. Dark times have fallen upon the world, and Geralt is helpless until he has recovered.
While war rages across the lands, the future of magic is under threat, and those sorcerers who survive are determined to protect it. Ciri, heiress to the throne of Contra, seems to have vanished — until a rumor places her in the Nilfgaardian court, preparing to marry the emperor. Injured or not, Geralt now has a rescue mission on his hands.
Baptism of Fire is the third novel in the Witcher saga, following Time of Contempt.

The Witcher Saga 3

Jiji

NOW A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES A deadly coup within the Wizard's Guild leaves the Witcher, Geralt of Rivia, gravely injured, and his ward Ciri missing in the third novel of Andrzej Sapkowski's New York Times bestselling series that inspired the hit Netflix show and the blockbuster video games. The Wizards Guild has been shattered by a coup and, in the uproar, Geralt was seriously injured. The Witcher is supposed to be a guardian of the innocent, a protector of those in need, a defender against powerful and dangerous monsters that prey on men in dark times. But now that dark times have fallen upon the world, Geralt is helpless until he has recovered from his injuries. While war rages across all of the lands, the future of magic is under threat and those sorcerers who survive are determined to protect it. It's an impossible situation in which to find one girl—Ciri, the heiress to the throne of Cintra—until a rumor places her in the Niflgaard court, preparing to marry the Emperor. Injured or not, Geralt has a rescue mission on his hands. Look out for The Tower of Fools, book one of Andrzej Sapkowski's Hussite Trilogy, available now! Witcher collections The Last Wish Sword of Destiny Witcher novels Blood of Elves The Time of Contempt Baptism of Fire The Tower of Swallows Lady of the Lake ​Season of Storms Hussite Trilogy The Tower of Fools The Malady and Other Stories: An Andrzej Sapkowski Sampler (e-only) Translated from original Polish by David French

François Declercq

The Wizards Guild has been shattered by a coup and, in the uproar, Geralt was seriously injured. The Witcher is supposed to be a guardian of the innocent, a protector of those in need, a defender against powerful and dangerous monsters that prey on men in dark times. But now that dark times have fallen upon the world, Geralt is helpless until he has recovered from his injuries. While war rages across all of the lands, the future of magic is under threat and those sorcerers who survive are determined to protect it. It's an impossible situation in which to find one girl - Ciri, the heiress to the throne of Cintra, has vanished - until a rumour places her in the Niflgaard court, preparing to marry the Emperor. Injured or not, Geralt has a rescue mission on his hands. This is the third of the Witcher novels by Andrzej Sapkowski

Baptism of Fire

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