Baptism of Fire: The Witcher, Book 3

many others did t seem to like this installment. I think that is because it jumps around. It tells multiple stories, all set in the and time. We find out was Ciri is doing, while what's happening with Geralt and hang. From reviews, people seem to only want Geralt. But we need backstory or a series just doesn't move. And when it does move, we won't really care. Time and POV jumping isn't a big deal, or maybe I'm just such a book and series whore, I'm used to it. I would like to add, love that Geralt's chosen cuz it sounds fancy name finally becomes given to him. I too bad a smile I could not hide.

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 Wish2. Sword of Destiny3. Blood of elves4. Time of contempt5. Baptism of fire6. Tower of Swallows ( will be available in English in May 2016)7. Lady of the lake (probably will be available in English in 2017)

One of the best fantasy novels I have ever read. Portrays war as terribly violent and often senseless yet still manages to be funny at points across the narrative. When Geralt and company getting hammered with mandrake moonshine, meeting Regis, and Zoltan all excellent moments. The range from satisfaction to horror stemming from the decisions Geralt and company make truly keep you guessing. Milva is another favorite character that I never met in Wildhunt. There are so many familiar and new ones in this book. Definitely need to reread it before I rank it among other favorites in the genre. Still clearly one of the best I've ever read.

I have been steadily reading the Witcher books after watching The Witcher on Netflix. Couldn't wait until the next season on Netflix. The books are better than the Netflix series.

I played the game series The Witcher and therefore went ahead and read the books Sapkowski wrote. His series reminds me of TLOR, where the author created a world and different countries referencing different cultures, and the adventure that occurs in this world. Many stories showed bright and dark side of humanities. Overall really love his writing and the story of Geralt. Awaiting other books from him. The third game of the series has already surpassed his writing speed. :P

What a crazy journey to the Nilfguardiaan Realm! Geralt meets some interesting characters on his way to save Ciri, while the sorceresses reveal their own plans on what to do with Ciri to save Magic! There is a lot of interesting background history that is also explained..like how the Elven Blood was passed down. The author made many references to the title "Baptism of Fire" which I am still pondering! This is such a great epic story, I can't wait to read the next book!!

I became a fan of these stories after seeing the Netflix series based on the books. Sapkowski writes a fast-moving, action packed, suspenseful novel.

Could be more tied to my experience with the game but this was my favorite and most captivating book of the series.

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, who’s about to notch up his fifth century. And a bloody Nilfgaardian who insists he isn’t 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. The Last WishSword of DestinyBlood of Elves (The Witcher Book 1)Time of Contempt (The Witcher Book 2)

This is where this series of books changed indefinitely for me personally. I thought blood of elves was alright but nothing extraordinary, then time of contempt foreshadowed something truly special. Which leads me to Baptism of fire which has delivered an intriguing follow-up from the last two books and has gained my interest. I can't praise this book enough, the characters were significantly more developed ( except for ciri ) as I found myself enjoying characters that only showed up for a couple of chapters in the book more than I thought I would, another great achievement for this series.Although the outstanding part of this book is how far Geralt being the so called mutant that he is, is willing to go to retrieve Ciri from harm's way ( this being the imperator). I found this to be a standout for Geralts character development as it shows how much he's grown from his younger witcher days, that deep down he has a soul and is willing to let more people into his life.Unfortunately Ciri is barely featured in this book and when she is there nothing significant happens, except for how powerful she will be in the future blah blah blah...A wonderfully written book and I highly recommend it for those who don't know what else to read, its better than nothing.

I've always loved reading, especially Fantasy/SciFi stories. I also like playing video games that tell such stories, like Skyrim, DragonAge, MassEffect and Witcher. I played 'The Witcher 3' video game recently, so I thought I'd read some Witcher backstory, spotted the Witcher books at a very reasonable price, bought books 1-3 for my kindle and started reading.Just finished book 3, having read books 1 and 2 over the past couple of weeks, so here's my impressions .......Try to read the books in sequence. It sounds a bit obvious, but if you see Book 2' alone in a sale don't skip Book 1. These books are very much one story, split over several books, not several different stories about the same character.Its quite slow reading. The books are about The Witcher, yes, but he is just one character in the story and the books are very much about the overall story not just The Witcher's story. In that sense, it feels like Frodo in 'The Lord of the Rings', its the companions, the place, the journey ...... not just Frodo's story. The book contains lots of exposition - by many characters - of the story world's races, conflicts, politics. This all provides interesting backstory to the Witcher games - so its what I was looking for - but be prepared for long sections where characters talk at length about whats happened, happening and planned in the wider world's backdrop.I'm replaying the Witcher 3 video game alongside reading the books and because of that the game's setting and story make much more sense this time around.The book is translated from its original Polish, which may be why it feels a bit stilted in places .- though arguably no more stilted than the original English of, for example, Howard's Conan stories or Lovecrafts's Cthulhu stories. Translation of novels is notoriously difficult so no surprises or complaints, but know what to expect.Books 1 and 2 had some obvious format/typo errors. I noticed hardly any any in book 3, so either they're getting better at proofing, or I'm getting used to the errors and better at ignoring them.I also found books 1 and 2 ended a bit abruptly for my liking, but book 3 ends at what feels like more of a 'natural break'.I haven't bought book 4 yet (I assumed it was a trilogy, duh) - and the sale is over - but as soon as the next sale comes around, I'll be buying it.So, overall, worthwhile as Witcher backstory - or, more generally, as an 'epic journey' tale of relatively vulnerable characters moving against a large multinational fantasy world backdrop.

I love the other books, but this one didn't do it for me. It felt like it was being dragged out, and I personally feel like there wasn't enough Ciri - who was clearly having a far more important and enjoyable adventure than Geralt and Co..I felt it could've had more progress. The entire book is the tale of Geralt trecking the world to get to Nilfgaard - sure, with interesting interactions, but compared to the other books it didn't feel like anything happened.I may change my mind, judging on the rest of the books.