Reviews with content warning for Genocide - Time of Contempt

The writing style is interesting. A lot of the action happens on the periphery of the narrative. That makes the world feel very alive. A lot happens away from the main characters. But that also makes it very complicated and difficult to keep track of what’s happening. The cast of characters is also very large, so keeping everyone straight can be tough. The plot is interesting and the characters are cool. I definitely want to know what happens next.

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billyjepma's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

A much better entry than the last one, though not without the typical bevy of "yeah, a straight white man definitely wrote this." The worldbuilding kicks back into high gear, and it rules. Sapkowski gets to dig into the politics of his cruel fantasy world and develop the different factions scheming against each other. I'm a sucker for that stuff, so obviously, it worked for me. His action scenes are also stellar, as per usual, and I don't think I'll ever get tired of how much specificity he invests in the quick but brutal bouts of combat.

Not all of the development lands, and Sapkowski would benefit from a slightly more ruthless editor. And, again, the way he writes his women characters is a big ol' mixed bag. Sometimes, it's really good, and I genuinely appreciate how complex his cast's morality and motivations are, men and women alike. He doesn't suffer from cliches in that way. What he does suffer from are many of the other problems that plague most fantasy penned by male writers. He relies far too heavily on the sexuality and violence the women are defined by or threatened with. These issues aren't as pronounced as in the last book, but they're still here, and I don't see them miraculously disappearing moving forward.

Still, I enjoyed this immensely, and my fascination and investment in the Witcher series are here to stay.

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alliswyattonthewesternfront's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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andromeda_1998's review

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adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

The time of contempt is the third installment of the Witcher series. My opinion of this series has been divided from the start. There are some element to the books that I love but the writer is one of the most toxic writers out there.

These books are filled with toxic masculinity and sexism. I decided to tap all toxic sentences that I could find. I ended up with 23 taps. It would have been more if I had included repeated remarks. Here are some of the sentences:

“On the chair sat a MIDGET with a huge head, set directly on disproportionately narrow shoulders”
“Not really” said the CRIPPLE, smiling.
“And if you rape any woman, do it on the quiet. Out of sight.”

The writer always finds a way to talk about breasts, nipples, whores, rape and it doesn’t even matter if the individual he describes is a child. He romanticized rape, makes a lot of fatphobic comments and he is insensitive towards handicapped people. These books are problematic and if you didn’t already make the mistake to buy them please refrain from doing so. The story isn’t good enough to make up for it.

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sauvageloup's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

mixed feelings on this!

pros:
- it really picked up sort of 2/3rds of the way through. Like, it focused on Ciri (and Geralt a bit) and there was tension and an obvious goal and a coherent narrative and it was great! why was it not like that the whole way through??
- occasionally it was funny, but a lot of the "joke" went over my head
- even though i respect that there were powerful female characters, there still felt like there was misogyny here, which i've seen in his other books too.

a lot of the female characters have backstories that involve rape or are threatened with rape. we get it, its a dark story! but quit with the troubled past = rape for women. there's also a lot of sexualising women. One aspect i did appreciate was when Ciri was assaulted, she couldn't protest and her attacker says 'she's not struggling is she?' to defend himself, but we're in her POV and *know* she doesn't want it. I appreciated the acknowledgement that whilst a person may not verbally speak it doesn't mean you have consent

cons:
- it was just really confusing. esp. the middle with all the politics going on. I had no damn clue who was who or why shit was going down or what was happening for a good 50 pages. it was clearly meant to be a bit unclear but i was just plain lost. it was also just not gripping at all for the first 2/3rds and i also DNF it. it just wandered about the place, with Geralt having long conversations that didn't seem to mean much. I can't even remember the first half.
- just too much random worldbuilding that added to nothing and was confusing

so i was prepared to give it 2/5 stars at best and to quit the series but the end got suddenly good and now I'm tempted to read the next one >.<

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rachaelbunny's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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