Baptism of Fire

I absolutely love whole series of The Witcher. Very interesting plot, full of surprises, Geralt is the best. You have to read it. I suggest to read it in order to be able to understand everything!
1. The Last Wish
2. Sword of Destiny
3. Blood of elves
4. Time of contempt
5. Baptism of fire
6. Tower of Swallows ( will be available in English in May 2016)
7. Lady of the lake (probably will be available in English in 2017)

As a HUGE Fan of the Witcher games, I’m excited that the complete series is being translated and published in the USA! The Witcher series is a world of high fantasy, with dwarves, elves, humans, sorcerers, kings, empires, knights, vampires, trolls, a complex plot, and realistic characters. Although the world is high fantasy, everything in it feels real. This is no small achievement.

Story
Geralt and Yennifer continue to look for Ciri, who is now riding with a band of bandits called the Rats. When news of Ciri’s Elder Blood reaches higher powers, the world’s elite begin searching for her in an attempt to harness her unique powers for their own goals. Geralt and Yennifer search out of love, while the others search to expand their power and influence.

This book focuses mostly on Geralt’s search as he meets new friends and they explore the war torn borders in search of Ciri.

Characters
The Witcher series features a unique cast of deep characters with complex motivations. Geralt is a witcher, a professional monster slayer. He is not a hero, and he won’t kill a troll because the farmers don’t feel safe at night. Geralt will investigate a troll if he is paid, he may let the troll live or die depending on how he feels about the troll in question, then he’ll probably spend his money getting drunk or in a brothel; which is what you’d expect from a monster slaying outcast who risks his life on a daily basis.

Geralt and Yennifer, a powerful sorceress, are involved in a volatile romantic relationship. At times they can’t stand each other. At times, she reads his mind. At times, she manipulates him. At times, he sleeps with other women… which is what you’d expect from a monster slaying outcast and a vindictive sorceress.

The emperor of Nilfgaard, a group of sorceresses, and a powerful wizard are also searching for Ciri, and employing their spies, assassins, mercenaries, and magic to find her because of her rare and powerful gifts.

What makes this series shine is that the characters are deep and complex, but the motivations behind their actions are always clear to the reader. Nothing is ever done for the sake of good or evil. Everything is about personal motivation from characters with grey morals.

Writing Style
The translation from Polish to English is excellent. At no point does this read like a book that was translated from another language. The writing style is descriptive, the characters are deep, the world is fascinating and built on European Folklore, the action is brutal, and the humor is dry and sarcastic.

Action
The books are action packed as Geralt and his group battle monsters, soldiers, wizards, fantasy creatures, and the elements themselves on their quest to locate Ciri. Although, Geralt is a witcher, an extremely deadly fighter, at no point does he feel like a superhero. The action, although fantastic, is always grounded in reality.

Maturity
These books feature violence, swearing, sex, and complex plots. They are definitely not for kids.

Overall
Game of Thrones is the most similar series, but instead of 4 family bloodlines converging on the Iron Throne, with over 100 side characters, the Witcher series is much more focused. The southern empire is invading the northern kingdoms, and they’re employing elven commandoes, magic, assassins, spies, diplomacy, and treachery to battle the north. The heroes never really have a bird’s eye view of their situation, so they’re often caught by surprise when the world changes, and they must battle their way out.

If you enjoy these books and love RPGs, you should definitely give the games a chance. If you love the games and want to know about the lore that inspired them, you should read these books.

If you want authors who write in a similar style, read David Gemmell and Joe Abercrombie.

From the little research Ive done, it seems as though Baptism of Fire is fourth in the Witcher series of books, but I dont know if thats right or not because there are two canonical books of short stories that precede the novels. Baptism of Fire is the third series installment, set after Blood of Elves and The Time of Contempt, and it makes more sense to call it that because it deals with the events surrounding Ciri, the Child of Destiny and focus of most of the events of Sapkowskis universe. The true protagonist of these books is Geralt of Rivia, the Witcher himself, and while the viewpoint is usually through his eyes, he is merely a player in events far larger. Ciri is the eye of those whirlwind plot points.

Baptism of Fire opens with Geralt wounded from a fight that occurred at the end of The Time of Contempt. He took on a wizard and lost horribly, which is the first time Ive seen that happen to Geralt. In the video games, death is common, and there is always one monster or another who gets the upper-hand. In the books, Geralt is combat-flawless, at least up to his meeting with Vilgefortz. We can presume that in his younger days he took a licking or two, information we can read from the scars covering him. Vilgefortz almost kills him, and we find him in Baptism of Fire recuperating in Brokilon, the forest of the dryads where very few people are welcome. Geralt again shows his worldliness in his associations with these odd creatures.

The main thread of the novel has Geralt leaving Brokilon and traveling in search of Ciri (fans of the third game will appreciate this), who disappeared from the worlds view at the end of the previous book. Readers know exactly where she is, and indeed a decent amount of Baptism of Fire has her marauding about with the bandit group who dub themselves The Rats. Her motivations for doing this are never clear, but I believe it is hinted that shes sick of being so damned important and wants to act out. This is an understandable reaction for a teenager; even one destined by prophecies.

I loved Blood of Elves and The Time of Contempt. They opened up the Witcher universe in ways that The Last Wish, Sapkowskis first book of short stories about Geralt, could never have done. They begin a saga, a real Game of Thrones style look at a world full of war, violence, political intrigue, and of course sex. Its dark fantasy at its near-best. Those two books move well, delivering action and lore at a good pace and never feeling weighed down. Baptism of Fire does feel weighed down, and in fact has been the most difficult Sapkowski book to read due to its plodding nature. It reminds me, in a way, of The Fellowship of the Ring, which many have criticized as being a travel novel in its second half. Baptism of Fire does something similar, and has us follow Geralt and his merry band all over the lands of Angren and its surrounds. There are breaks in which we visit the various sorceresses integral to the story, and of course our Ciri moments, but most of the book feels like its just moving from point A to an eventual B.

However, it occurred to me as I was thinking about this style of writing how necessary it is; and ultimately, how rewarding. In The Fellowship of the Ring, things happen during the fellowships march to Moria that are important, if not all that interesting to read. Tolkien is able to describe the landscape of Middle Earth in a way that no other method of storytelling would allow. He is able to have his characters interact in a way that only people not in immediate danger could interact. Hobbits are taught swordplay, Boromir is tempted by the Ring, etc. Baptism of Fire is similar, in that it allows for meaningful moments between Geralt and his boon companions, and this might be particularly important as Geralt is about as lone-wolf as protagonists come. This long march through war-torn lands and dense forests humanizes Geralt the Witcher in a way that none of the novels have done yet, aside from the parts where he shows love for Yennefer. We see Geralt get drunk in this novel, see him quarrel endlessly with Dandelion, watch as he reveals and then befriends what anyone else might consider one of the most evil creatures in the lore. These things would not have happened had the novel been an action packed set piece from start to finish. Baptism of Fire manages to mix its action and lore and character interaction better than the other books, and is maybe a more memorable experience because of that. Id be hard pressed to even tell you what happened in Blood of Elves or The Time of Contempt, outside of the big set piece events. The same might be said for Baptism of Fire, but I know Ill not forget those smaller moments that made Geralt less of an invincible monster slayer and more of a human.

Regrettably, Baptism of Fire means the temporary end of the Witcher cycle for me, at least in a progressive sense. I have Sword of Destiny, only recently published, to read, and it will be refreshing to see the origins of the Ciri story, but the two books that follow Baptism of Fire in the saga arent published in the U.S., and wont be for some time. I have two expansions of The Witcher 3 to play yet, and thats exciting, and Sword of Destiny will likely satisfy me, so not all connection is lost. Its been quite an experience, interacting with all of these Witcher mediums. Its hard to see anything else being quite so engrossing. Then again, theres always something else out there. Happy hunting!

My adventure with The Witcher novels continues at a breakneck pace as, like the previous books, I devoured this story in two days. This series has shown moments of utter brilliance but with certain plodding and info-dumping sections, it’s never quite ascended to the heights that it truly could have. Until now. So far this is the finest entry and it features everything I love from this series.

Following the finale of Time of Contempt Geralt is badly injured and was transported to Brokilon forest by the enchantress Triss. Under the watchful eyes of the Dryads he is slowly regaining his health. As soon as he feels anywhere near healthy enough he plans to rescue Ciri who everyone believes is in Nilfgaard. The truth is that Ciri has actually taken on the guise of a bandit with the pseudonym Falka operating in a Robin Hood-style posse. She’s become quite a celebrity amongst the common folk but her temper and blade-prowess have become legendary in a short space of time.

As well as series favourites Geralt, Ciri and Dandelion we are introduced to a plethora of new characters here that are some of the greatest of Sapkowski’s creations thus far. Milva the forest dwelling archer and Regis a barber-surgeon are two of the finest even though those descriptions give nothing away regarding what to expect from them in this narrative.

Unlike the last two books which have had a large amount of different point of view perspectives eighty-percent of this novel is following the Witcher on his mission to rescue Ciri. For the first time in these tales, which normally see Geralt on his own or with one companion completing missions, here, a fellowship/brotherhood is created with a very varied cast of players. Geralt is initially uninclined to let anyone share his burden but comradeship does succeed towards the finale. The conversation and banter between the members of this ensemble is excellently crafted as many of the characters are so different. Although his closest friend, Geralt, and Dandelion could not possibly be any more different and I often chuckled at their oddness reflected in their exchanges.

The other sections that we follow are what is happening to Ciri at the other end of the world. We also see a few scenes from the viewpoint of certain enchantresses who seem to have a scheme under development. A few moments feature Dijkstra who is the head of Redania’s secret service.

The war is raging all over the world, mainly Nilgaardians verses everyone else but in politics, things are never that simple, and with all the names of factions, King’s and noble houses I still occasionally get confused about who is fighting who, however; that actually suits the vibe in this book. As the fellowship are on their journey they come across many battles, fights, and skirmishes and Sapkowski’s skillful writing accentuates the confusion and unpredictability of war but also heightens the fact that the brotherhood are so isolated in trying to achieve their objective.

There are so many standout moments and set-pieces, character development is sublime, and relationships that are frosty at best transcend any predicted outcome as the Brotherhood fight for their life and for Ciri. This series is finally reaching the lofty heights that it has always hinted at and I can’t wait to start The Tower of the Swallow straight away. This entry is exceptional and as well as the finest story in The Witcher saga it is also probably in my top-20 books of all time.

What a company I ended up with, Geralt continued, shaking his head. Brothers in arms! A team of heroes! What have I done to deserve it? A poetaster with a lute. A wild and lippy half-dryad, half-woman. A vampire, whos about to notch up his fifth century. And a bloody Nilfgaardian who insists he isnt a Nilfgaardian.

Baptism of Fire is the third book to the Witcher Saga by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. These books form an ongoing fantasy story, they are not stand alone so if you are new to the series this is not the book to start with. I highly recommend reading them in this order with the two short story collections first which originally written for magazines before starting the saga:

1 –

The Last Wish

2 –

Sword of Destiny

3 –

Blood of Elves (The Witcher Book 1)

4 –

Time of Contempt (The Witcher Book 2)

Onto the actual review. The previous books have mostly focused on Ciri so far but this all changes in Baptism of Fire spending most of the time focusing on Geralt, what happened to him since the events at the Tower of Gulls and his continuing journey to find and rescue Ciri. The book has some great moments and a colourful cast of characters Geralt slowly draws to himself who want to help him rescue Ciri for a variety of reasons. I especially like Zoltan and Regis who are both quite unique and often entertaining to read whenever around. The book is pretty well paced with a nice mixture of character and world building but also plenty of action scenes which were exciting and well thought out in most cases. Despite enjoying both the cast and the continuing political background of the book I must admit this is my least favorite of the series so far. Plot wise it kind of meanders and outside of introducing more characters for Geralt to add to his merry rescue band doesn’t really go anywhere, it lacks a lot of focus but I’m hoping this is just building towards bigger events in the next two books.

In summary Baptism of Fire is a good read, if you’ve enjoyed the previous novels I’m sure you will like this one. As a fan of the games made from the books it’s great to see the introduction of certain characters from them and see their origin stories of meeting Geralt. Looking forward to reading the last two books of the series.

+ Introduction of some great characters, especially Regis and Zoltan.
+ Excellent political and lore world building.
+ Some great fights and action scenes.

– The narrative sort of meanders, the plot needs more focus.