"The Time of Contempt" by Andrzej Sapkowski
Rating:
I understand that the whole point is that they’re entering the “Time of Contempt” (insert title screen) but it was a little heavy handed having more than one character go “we are truly entering a time of contempt” twice a chapter. That said I didn’t actually track how many times it was said so my brain may have caught on to it as being more present than it actually was.
Nitpicks on mild amounts of cheesiness aside, I really enjoyed this book. It delves deeply into the theme of agency — particularly in the lack thereof — primarily for Ciri but also for Geralt. It’s not that these characters don’t have individuality or desire, but that it’s being stripped away from them. Control and agency are central themes and this is very directly spelled out; despite her (novice) abilities and training in sorcery and witchery, Ciri’s prophesied destiny is focused on the potential of her unconceived son, rather than her own actions or potential. In a similar fashion Geralt is often subject to the whims of those around him, with Codringher even commenting that he’s a dog on Yennefer’s leash. This scene is positioned immediately after he has spent his time being exhibited by Yennefer at the sorcerer’s gathering. While I don’t think there’s anything malicious about her behavior, nor did Geralt hold it against her, it’s still fresh in the reader’s mind while Ciri overhears Codringer and Fenn’s conversation. And on her part, Ciri is often dragged around by everyone around her. Sometimes quite literally. Ciri battles a never-ending fight for agency over her own person and body, pushing against both present adversaries and her own trauma that remains from the sacking of Cintra.
The narration also takes the opportunity to disparage Geralt’s claims and attempts at neutrality, both through the narrated observations itself and through Vilgefortz and Dijkstra’s observations that he will not be able to maintain his neutrality without forsaking the people he cares about. As the narration notes, “Had it not been for the foolish scruples of the Witcher, and his impractical principles…the history of the world would have unfolded in an alternative way. But the history of the world unfolded as it unfolded, the sole cause of which was that the Witcher had scruples.” (p.160) Though Geralt claims to not choose sides, he has been doing so for the entire series due to his adherence to his own moral code.
Much of the book is spent slowly building up to the promise of an incoming conflict, with everything suddenly crashing down — a time of contempt where men and elves hate and slaughter elves and men — as Nilfgaard invades. It’s certainly slow at the start and it’s been long enough since I read “Blood of Elves” that I’m a bit hazy on some of the details of characters’ relationships, so it took me a bit to get back into the swing of things. As stated I really enjoyed it, and I thought this book in particular was thematically really direct and interesting in a way that the previous three were not. It doesn’t beat “Sword of Destiny” in my personal rankings, but it’s a solid second.