Title: Baptism of FirePublisher: Gollancz
Year: 1996 (2020 Gollancz)
Pages: 343
ISBN: 9781473231108
Series: The Witcher #3
Genre: Fantasy
Reading Time: 20 Mar - 10 Apr
Binding: Paperback
Goodreads
Stars:
★★★★☆
Blurb:
The Witcher is supposed to be a guardian of the innocent, a protector of those in need, a defender against the monsters that prey on men in dark times.
But now that dark times are here, Geralt lies gravely injured. As he recovers and learns that Ciri may be in the Nilfgaard court, he sets out through a war-torn land to find her.
Review:
Only on opening up this book did I realise quite how lost I got amidst the action in the closing chapters of Time of Contempt. I opened the page, wasn't immediately drawn into the first chapter and then put this book down for a few days or even weeks as COVID-19 took hold of us. When I picked it up again I couldn't really remember who had done the damage of what to our main characters. Obviously, don't read this review without having read the previous books in the Witcher series.
Geralt begins in Brokilon where we meet Milva, a new badass female lead who's nifty with a bow and arrow. We get a lot of page time with Geralt in this one to make up for what was missed in Time of Contempt. He's as grumpy and determined to protect Ciri as ever. Dandelion is also very present along with further attempts to introduce Cahir and one of my new favourite characters; Regis. The company Geralt has in this book is great, throwing me back to The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny. It's like the good old days for him except he has far more purpose.
How about our other characters? Ciri and Yennefer. Well. Don't expect to see much of them in this one, though I admit what we were given was enough for me to be satisfied in this book. Ciri hasn't landed herself in great company and is not the sweet girl Geralt was previously training. Yennefer better get a chance to kick some ass pretty soon!
In terms of pacing and plot. For a book that doesn't move the plot of the series along at all, I couldn't have enjoyed it more. As I said above, it took me back to the great short stories of Geralt in The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny, it was great. There is a bit more world building and first hand experience of the war, allowing us to actually experience the fighting and those that are opposing Nilfgaard. Something we've only really read of in discussions.
Having noted odd things on what is remarked about females in this series so far. Mentioning women's periods in Blood of Elves, describing revealing clothing in Time of Contempt, I'm not surprised that Milva added something else to the list. An interesting if brief trouble for our little gang to deal with.
Swiftly on to the next book I go, that last paragraph or so just made me smile so hard.
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