Baptism of Fire (The Witcher, 5) Paperback – June 24, 2014

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.StoryGeralt 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.CharactersThe 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 StyleThe 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.ActionThe 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.MaturityThese books feature violence, swearing, sex, and complex plots. They are definitely not for kids.OverallGame 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 RPG’s, 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.

Finally, in this installment some of Ciri's secrets come to light. Not all, but enough that the motivations behind every character's actions start to make more sense. War has broken out, and no one is safe. Ciri has disappeared and is on her own, and the Witcher Geralt is determined to go find her. In my estimation, the Witcher has fallen a great deal since the first book where I almost idolized him for his steadfastness and skill. More and more, as the series goes on, he loses that heroic sheen, and turns into a flesh-and-blood man. In that sense, I suppose it's more realistic, but when times get tough, heroes are supposed to rise, not fall. Geralt has become much less self-reliant, and much more... irrational. He makes a lot of bad decisions, and that, in some ways, makes the plot more complicated and epic than just the Witcher and Witcheress. Basically, by this point, the world in which they live is tearing itself apart, and everyone is just trying to survive. Still a great series, but I am deducting a star because it's taking on an unpleasant pattern: Most of the book drags a bit, pulling in side stories from everywhere to build a big picture (and long descriptions of everything), but nothing much happens in them until almost the very end when the plot suddenly picks up and leaves you hanging. I can't help feeling a little cheated by that.

I've enjoyed all the books in the Witcher series & saga enormously, and this one was no exception.. I've found them all to be exquisite in their combination of fantasy and satire, story tales of old and parody, and don't understand the negative reviews this book has received.The charm of the world Sapkowski has created for Gerlat of Rivia and co., that makes it so different (and so much richer and more entertaining, from my point of view) from the Lord of the Rings, for instance, is the moral ambiguity, the shades of grey, the lack of clear, over-simplified, unambiguous themes (good vs. evil, for instance). The Witcher's world is much more nuanced, complex, and often confusing - much more "realistic", in a sense, if such a term can actually be used when speaking of fantasy. The "good guys" aren't always all that good, nor are there motives necessarily dignified, transparent or known to the readers or the characters themselves. Rulers' and players' moves and alliances are often the result of strategic geo-political decisions; characters' intentions are often veiled, serving individual ambitions, personal agendas or deceitful plots. Random events change the course of the story, characters doubt, fear, adapt, change, learn, mature...And then...there's the SATIRE. The mocking of all the real-world or fantasy-world stereotypes and clichés, which personally, I just can't get enough of. Perhaps this one IS a bit more slow-paced than some of the previous books in the saga, but definitely not less interesting. If you're reading these books just for the monster-slaying, the parries, pirouettes and humming of Geralt's blade, you're missing out on the best part of these books.If you're read the first books of this saga and are wondering whether to buy this one or not, just judge what you're into the saga for, and how much you value fast-paced action, as opposed to well-constructed atmospheres, great, witty dialogues and tons and tons of irony.***SPOILER ALERT***From the elves' far from idyllic nature and ultimate cooperation with Nilfgaard to the Regis' refusal to cave into his vampiric addiction to blood or the Sorcerers' elitist group and centennial conspiracy to get one of their own on the throne , I found this book to be as funny and stimulating as any of the others. I also enjoyed Geralt's internal struggle, the sociological and psychological hints about cooperation and teamwork, as opposed to individualism, or the crudity and cruelty with which war is portrayed - far from the glorious battles in LOTR.Really hoping Gollancz/Orion house will choose to translate the next book in the saga, hopefully SOON. Not sure whether I could wait, I checked out the Spanish edition (all 7 books of the saga are already in Spanish), but they're nowhere near the kind of rich language David French has endowed his English translation with. I don't speak Polish and haven't read the original, but you can tell he's put a lot of hard work into his translation, and has done a fantastic job!