Book 2, The Time of Contempt: The Witcher

Very interesting book following the two initial books of the book is a bit dense on politics (many many characters, Dispute for power etc....). I preferred the first two books because they were more focused on Geralt is his quests.

If you played the games and you want an expansion on the world, read the books. They are well worth the money.

It's so easy to get lost in one of the books from this series, its really sad.. because you start reading and your done with a book before you know it! and then .. you gotta wait on the slow (insert curse word for butt here) publisher to get the next book in the series out.. which isn't until sometime in 2014. The wait is the most horrible part of this all since from what I understand the book is already done, it just needs translated to english.

Happy with my purchase, well worth the money.

The weird thing about these books is that even if they don't quite go the way you want them to, they still keep you reading more. I've been giving this series solid five stars throughout. This one falls a little short for me for one reason: it gives more page-time to the relationship between Geralt and Yenefer, and kind of ruins the characters for me. Both of them become less likable, less realistic. The level-headed, always cool under pressure Geralt turns into a lapdog whenever he's with Yenefer, and she, for her part, seems even crueler in contrast. I don't know why that happened to stick in my craw so much, but it did. Nevertheless, I did love all the other characters, especially Ciri and Dandelion (who never fails to amuse). On to the next!

Hands down the most enjoyable fantasy series I've read. The characters are complex and interesting. Their interactions really suck you in and all the intrigue keeps you reading to find out what's going to happen next.

The Time of Contempt (The Witcher)

The Witcher series is so amazing to read. I played the games before getting involved in the books..and kind of wish I hadn't now. I replayed the games and made entirely different decisions after becoming familiar with the characters and Geralt's personality.

The ratings I gave as far as violence and such are what I consider it to be. The "sexual content" for instance involves the author talking about the love making and the way Yennefer's breasts look at some points, and the intimacy. It's not a porno. Coming from watching the scenes in the games, this isn't much. Your experience may differ.

This is the 3rd Witcher novel. Or maybe the second. In the first novel, the witcher fought lots of neat East European monsters in a collection of short stories. In the second novel, there was a plot and supporting characters and the type of things you sometimes find in things that are novels and not short stories. Gone were the monsters, front and center was politics. Why these two books were considered to be in the same series i'll never know.

And now this book. It is a continuation of the second (politics, not monsters) book. It differs from the previous novels in two ways. First, it assumes you read the previous novel. Yesterday. Certainly not several years ago. If you didn't, prepare to be confused, because bringing you up to speed, ain't no one got time for that. Second, do you want me to ruin me to ruin the ending for you? You do, right? OK, so here's the spoiled ending - at the end of the book, everyone gets separated, the witcher going one way, his girlfriend going another, his ward a third, and it's bad and oh lord what's going to happen, the end? What do you mean the end? You're in the middle of the story, the story only really started maybe two chapters ago (it takes a while to get going), you can't end here! If it's anything like this time, it'll be another decade or so before the next book comes out, by which time you'll be thinking, who are these people?

It's not a bad book, although i don't know why they bother to call it The Witcher since his being a witcher is about as important to the story as what he had for breakfast that morning (why don't they make a real sequel to the first book?). There is one monster. It goes like this: "why are we waiting?", "there's a monster up ahead", "i will kill it for $50", "no", "yes", "do you think he will kill it?", "hey guys, i'm back, where's my $50?". i can't remember what the monster was, perhaps because the monster wasn't actually in the novel, it was 20 pages of negotiating a price and then he disappears and comes back saying it's done. Why? Why have you done this? Your first book was nothing BUT monsters, now you're one city council meeting away from Star Wars.

There are wizards in it. They even cast spells. Possibly as many as three (i can't remember the exact sentence where it happened). But mostly you get to go to their city council meetings too. Which are important because they probably affect something that happens in the book they'll eventually write. Maybe.

If you liked the second witcher novel, you might as well read this. If you thought it was boring, it doesn't get better here. If you didn't read the last one, don't even consider reading this. And if you liked the game... The game had a witcher in it, didn't it? He should write a book like that.

I discovered the Witcher series through playing the video game and wanting more. This series is an excellent one and I am very pleased with the story so far. I highly recommend the series if you love swords and sorcery fantasy series.

The book was amazing, the story was fresh, and the characters develop in a manner that is both surprising and predictable.The story unfolds in such a fashion that keeps you guessing what might possibly come next. The next book will be the culmination of the series and one that truly will be the pinnacle of its genre.