I borrowed an e-copy of Andrzej Sapowski‘s The Time of Contempt through my local library. (Links to my reviews for The Last Wish and Blood of Elves are below.)

Description from Goodreads:

Geralt is a witcher: guardian of the innocent; protector of those in need; a defender, in dark times, against some of the most frightening creatures of myth and legend. His task, now, is to protect Ciri. A child of prophecy, she will have the power to change the world for good or for ill — but only if she lives to use it.

A coup threatens the Wizard’s Guild.
War breaks out across the lands.
A serious injury leaves Geralt fighting for his life…
… and Ciri, in whose hands the world’s fate rests, has vanished…

Review:

I have to be honest, if I’d started this series here I wouldn’t be continuing. I liked the short stories (The Last Wish) and enjoyed book one (Blood of Elves), but I struggled to finish this book. I found the writing really stiff. I don’t know if that’s the fault of the author or the translator, but it was no fun to read. I struggled to keep the characters and locations straight and there was too little indication of changing POVs. So, I often didn’t know what was happening, since I didn’t know we’d changed characters. Then to top it all off, the last quarter starts in on all the cliched man-writing-fantasy BS. Suddenly it’s wench this and rape that, etc. And it ends on a cliffhanger. I will give this series one more book because I’m interested in the overarching storyline. But if it doesn’t improve (at least to the quality of book one) I’m calling it done.