The Time of Contempt

July 15, 2013
This crowded sequel to the Polish bestseller Blood of Elves mashes up political intrigues, military maneuvers, magic duels, and monster hunts. Geralt, the Witcher (a magic-boosted warrior), and his beloved, the sorceress Yennefer, try to protect Princess Cirilla, heir to a conquered land, from the Empire of Nilfgaard as it attempts to absorb all the Northern Kingdoms. The Nilfgaardian Emperor Emhyr var Emreis sends hunters to pursue Ciri and to disrupt a conclave of mages while his troops roll over his squabbling neighbors. Ciri is forced to flee on her own through an unreliable portal, facing a variety of ordeals while Geralt searches for her. French’s translation piles on clichés and contemporary English slang (“raining cats and dogs,” “have a butchers”) to play up Sapkowski’s fondness for anachronisms such as mages arguing over the killing of endangered species. Sapkowski moves the plot quickly amid a welter of names and lightly sketched histories, giving the world depth but also confusing the reader at times.