Baptism of Fire is the third novel in the Witcher saga. While I had not that positive reaction to Time of Contempt1, this time I loved every page.
We start where we left last time: Ciri joins Rats in the middle of nowhere, while Geralt tries to find her. Reads like every novel in the series. Andrzej seems to have a template for a book at this point.
But I loved this book. And it comes to who is it about. Yes, we’ve got Ciri. Yes, we’ve got Yennefer. They exist, but we spend almost the entirety of the book with Geralt, Jaskier and a band of mischiefs who form a fellowship. We’ve got Milva, an archer. We’ve also got Zoltanm, a dwarf. And we’ve also got Regis, a vampire.
Having spent quality time with an interesting, diverse crowd made it very enable ride. They even joke sitting by fire! I think lack of such interactions is why I disliked the last book. It was full of Ciri, Yennefer and other sorceresses while Geralt was ignored most of the time. And sorceresses are so up-tight and irritating, so it was not what I would call a nice time. Also, here, whenever the action moved to, either Rats or mages, my enjoyment went down significantly.
I don’t know why, as I generally don’t read fantasy. Maybe they are written poorly? I don’t know the standards. For sure the female characters here have nothing to show compared to Game of Thrones’s ones. It is very hard to write powerful characters who are also female. Most of the time, they are male characters in skanky clothes. R.R. Martin was able to create menacing woman, who were still woman. Sapkowski? Not so much. And they are not even funny!
They look as a poor rendition of older hits. As an example, the sorceresses have a multi-generational plan to mix genomes from selected people in order to create a very specific being. It’s Dune, but while Bene Gesrit so much more involved, twisted and multidimensional, here it comes out of nowhere (I think?) and disappoints.
But let’s ignore the woman for a moment, and we’ve got ourselves an awesome little book. I loved how, in one introduction to a chapter, we see the same legend told from both sides - Humans and Elves. This is where Witcher shines. It’s a great commentary about racism and hatred. No wonder it comes from Poland, with our complex history. It’s as subtle as a bulldozer, but it’s not that type of story. It’s obvious, blunt and takes no prisoners. History is never easy, there is never a clear split between the good and bad guys. Most likely everything you know is wrong, as it was written by victors. This is the overarching theme in the Witcher. Even a vampire may be a good person!
So, for me Witcher is a moral series dressed as fantasy. The magic system is barely there, no one explains how Witchers work. And I think it’s a plus. The meat of the story is not diluted by mechanics of the world. The fact that we’ve got that lovable bunch here is just icing on the cake.
Also, the ending here is much better. I finished my review of Time of Contempt assuming that I will get to know the Rats in the follow-up. I didn’t know anything about them (nor I cared about them), but I assumed they will be the focus. I was wrong. I still have no idea who they are outside superfluous facts the short burst of their story the book has. I know Regis and I want to spend more time with him.
So, I left very satisfied. I found charm and a lot of substance. I hope that Ciri’s plot will develop in interesting ways, as her teenage rebellion may be the end of me.