WiC Reads: The Witcher Saga—Time of Contempt by Andrzej Sapkowski

Chapter Five

Time of Contempt plays some catch-up in Chapter Five, which mashes together lots of the little vignettes that Sapkowski loves so much. We’ve got Jaskier trying to march bravely into Brokilon Forest even as every nerve in his body screams at him to run away, some face time with Emperor Emhyr var Emreis of Nilfgaard, and a series of story snippets that fill us (and Geralt) in on how the war for the Continent is going: badly.

I liked the first vignette the best. I liked how many layers it worked on: we catch up with Jaskier as a group of soldiers escort him to the border of Brokilon…only they aren’t willing to approach the place on account of how warlike the native dryads have become. Jaskier uses his actorly training to put on a brave face for them, and it works; we even hear some of them praising Jaskier’s valor as he makes his way towards Brokilon, scared out of his wits. But he is brave, because he fights through the fear to deliver his message to Geralt, who has been healing in Brokilin since his brutal run-in with Vilgefortz last chapter.

It’s funny, touching, and deep; it’s the best character stuff for Jaskier in a while. I liked his interactions with Geralt as well, to the point where I was a little put off that they kept getting interrupted by the latest news from the front. I understand we have to learn about who’s beaten who and which kingdoms have fallen and which have stuck deals with Nilfgaard, but also…I dunno, do we? Or at least, do we have to hear about the details at such length? Most of these vignettes star characters who are introduced and die in the space of a few pages. It’s a barrage of names and places I’m not likely to remember much about later. I would have liked less of that and more of Geralt and Jaskier reconnecting.

That said, I do want to pour one out for Tissaia de Vries, who we learn takes her own life in the wake of the disaster at Thanedd. She’s obsessive-compulsively adjusting place settings with angels now.

And then there’s the final stretch where Emperor Emhyr meets Ciri…or at least, a girl who a couple of charlatans tried to pass off as Ciri, I assume in exchange for a reward. Although he doesn’t say it in front of her, Emhyr knows this isn’t Ciri; the real one is still out there somewhere, and he’s still determined to find her.

We only find out what Emhyr knows at the end of the chapter, which makes for a nice little twist. How could he know what the real Ciri looks like? Well, the Netflix show let that cat out of the bag early, so I’ve been spoiled, but were I not spoiled, this would be an intriguing mystery.