Le baptême du feu

And the momentum continues to grow! Baptism of Fire keeps all the best parts of the series - moral debates with pretty progressive stances, a Geralt whose whole identity continues to allure with its complexity, Ciri and Yennefer taking new roads with questionable destinations. And a great final line. Sapokowski has really mastered the art of endings which leave you wanting more, in a good way. On to the next!

In my reading order, this is Witcher book 5. (And as an aside, after a lifetime of hemming and hawing, I have decided that I prefer reading books in publishing order, not by story chronology.)

I'm no longer surprised by the way in which this story is not solely a story about Geralt of Rivia. But he's in here and he's having a story arc. What I love about this book are the other awesome characters Sapkowski has introduced. There are still so many things I don't know about them. Like most readers, I do grumble when my favorite characters aren't mentioned for a hundred pages, but this is really an incredible fantasy book if you come into it with the right expectations or a very open mind.

Baptism of Fire resumes where The Time of Contempt left off.
After the events in Aretuza, and the brotherhood has fallen, a new organization takes its place.

Without spoiling too much, I think this is the best book so far.
The new characters fit perfectly with Dandillion and Geralt, just like Yennefer and Ciri do.
Geralt is reminded of the utter importance of working together, and he ultimately gives in and lets his companions travel with him.
The motifs of loneliness, the baptism of fire, secrecy, and even perhaps something others would conceive to be a 'not like the other girls' concept, I think it's also a book that speaks out against stereotypes of women, makes fun of myths, and of the false ideas in our society about various topics.

5/5.

Ciri is still missing and Geralt is still searching for her. He meets people along the way and things happen. The sorceresses are Up to Something.

Fun characters, fun setting, but this book suffers from being the middle book in the series. I imagine the next book will be more eventful.

Looking back on the last few Witcher stories I see that the plot is moving along, characters are in flight but nothing gets resolved. Each book continues to tell the same large story but I don't find there is much that stands alone book to book.

That said, the large story being told here is fantastic. I am comfortable with how Sapkowski is telling the story, the occasional shift in POV's and even how a chapter will be told in flashback. Now that I am more familiar with the characters, their unique voices and the struggles they are going through I am starting to appreciate everything a little more and will continue on with the series.

On to Tower of the Swallow next!

Finally Regis shows up in the series. And yes, I have a massive crush on him. This four star rating is for him.

There are some parts of this particular entry that annoyed me a lot. The author still treats women like absolute trash, and there’s some plot points involving Ciri and series newcomer Milva that are pretty disgusting for how much agency is taken from them.

And I’m sure this is probably the case of the English translation, but the constant title-dropping was really, really obnoxious

Geralt is traveling somewhere, and doesn't get there by the end of the book. Ciri is traveling somewhere, then gets somewhere that isn't necessarily where she was going. Not much of a plot.

I didn't really like it all that much. Geralt was featured in maybe 10 pages only, and in those he was largely useless. Ciri makes for an interesting heroine, and that is the books only saving grace.

Reseña completa: markapaginas.blogspot.com.es/2014/03/bautismo-de-fuego-andrzej-sapkowski.html

Tal vez con este volumen haya sido un poco más crítica que con los anteriores otorgando menos nota.

En primer lugar es un libro que encuentro bastante innecesario. Prácticamente no ocurre nada digno de mención, me esperaba algo más de acción (en el sentido amplio de la palabra).

En este tomo me ha gustado mucho la variedad de sucesos a los que hace mención el título, jugando mucho con el significado del bautismo de fuego y sus repercusiones para según quién. Es un detalle que me ha encantado.

Sin duda espero que en el próximo libro la trama avance un poco más rápido que en este y sea preludio de un gran final de saga.