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| -rw-r--r-- | content/blog/2024/andrzej-sapkowskis-time-of-contempt.md | 71 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | content/me/now.md | 33 |
2 files changed, 89 insertions, 15 deletions
diff --git a/content/blog/2024/andrzej-sapkowskis-time-of-contempt.md b/content/blog/2024/andrzej-sapkowskis-time-of-contempt.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d9c5213 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/blog/2024/andrzej-sapkowskis-time-of-contempt.md @@ -0,0 +1,71 @@ ++++ +title = "Andrzej Sapkowski's Time of Contempt" +author = ["Michał Sapka"] +date = 2024-03-24T22:27:00+01:00 +categories = ["blog"] +draft = false +weight = 2001 +abstract = "Saga continues" ++++ + +It's a stain of my honor - I am a Pole, but I've never read The Saga. +It's not that I've never read any of The Witcher, but somehow I always stopped after the short stories. +Last year I've decided to finally fix this. +I am a proud nerd for crying out loud! + +{{< img-r "sapkowski-time-of-contemt.jpg" >}} +The classic cover +{{< /img-r >}} + +_Time of Contempt_ is the second part of The Witcher Saga, but it's also the 4th book about Geralt and his world. +Let's ignore the short stories for a second and let's talk about this book in context of The Saga. +Here it suffers from being the middle child: Andrzej is developing the characters and story, but it lacks a impactful begging and an end. +I haven't felt like that after finishing the _Blood of Elves,_ as it had a _begging_ and the ending was emotional. +Geralt reunited with Ciri. +The story is clearly not over, but we have a kind of closure. +We know she is safe and ready for what's coming next. + +Here? +Here we have no beginning as it follows the last book. +It was to be expected. +But I fail to notice anything new created here. +Yes, we've got _amazing_ development of Ciri (I can't wait what how her blood heritage will screw over everyone), but nothing more. +It just moves from scene to scene[^fn:1], not spending any meaningful time anywhere. +After 300 pages of this, it ends with Ciri joining some random group. +I guess I will get to know them in _Baptism of Fire_, but I am not yet there. +Are they good? +Are they cool? +Who the hell they even are? +For me it was a huge let down. + +But the biggest thing missing in The Saga is humour. +Both, _Sword of Destiny_ and _Last Wish_ were hilarious. +It was not on Pratchett's level of humor, but Geralt was amazing when it came to deadpan. +Moreover, I have no idea how well it translated to other languages, as it was based on Polish humour, but: +the books were written for Polish reader who was expected to know _Szewczyk Dratewka,_ and therefore the way Geralt dealt with dragon was a funny refernce. +But this aspect is now completely missingm[^fn:2], but it was what made the short stories for me. + +The biggest problem for me however was the fact I saw two seasons of The Witcher TV Series[^fn:3]. +It was terrible and had nothing to do with the book (luckily for me!), but the TV versions of Ciri and Yennefer were irritating at best. +Their book counterparts are not like that - Ciri is extremely cool and Yen is, well, not so bad - but the visual image is etched in my brain. +I finally start to have a separate personnas for them, but it was difficult. +Yes, to some extent Netflix ruined the books for me. + +I was never a fan of _fantasy_, as I always preferred _SciFi_. +Give me a blaster or give me death[^fn:4]! +If I found _Time of Contempt_ as a random book, I would not care for the rest of the series. +It was ok, but nothing to write home about. +Sapkowski has a great style and I very much want more, but he has not told anything interesting here. +I will continue reading The Witcher, but mostly because it **is** The Witcher. + +I liked reading _Blood of Elves_ much more. + +I give it 3.5/5. + +[^fn:1]: ... _No one had a chance to interrupt_. + _It was really quite hypnotic_. +[^fn:2]: We've got **huge** reference to _Enemy Mine_ in the single best part of the book, but it's not funny at all. + Sad, scary - sure; but not funny. Just like the movie. +[^fn:3]: And not an episode more. + It was already too much. +[^fn:4]: If you get the refence know, that I am no longer that type of a person. diff --git a/content/me/now.md b/content/me/now.md index 8bd24bd..51ac576 100644 --- a/content/me/now.md +++ b/content/me/now.md @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ +++ title = "Now" -author = ["Michal"] +author = ["Anderson Guy"] date = 2024-02-02T19:28:00+01:00 draft = false weight = 1001 @@ -30,8 +30,9 @@ The following is a short list of things I do _right now_. ### Reading {#reading} -- [Absolute FreeBSD](https://mwl.io/nonfiction/os#af3e) [since Dec 2023] -- Andrzej Sapkowski's [Time of Contempt](http://www.andrzejsapkowski.pl/timeofcontemptus.html) [since 2024-02-12] +- + + - Userfriendly archive [since 2024-01-31] @@ -42,18 +43,20 @@ Starts in February 2024 Rating is in a scale 1-5. -| Title | Type | Dates | Rating | Extra | -|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------|-------------------------|----------|----------------------------------------------------| -| Weekend at Bernie's (1989) | Movie | 2024-01-13 - 2024-02-27 | 3.75 | rewatch | -| [Persona 5 Strikers](https://www.atlus.com/p5s/) | Computer game | 2023-12-01 - 2024-02-25 | 2 | dropped, [review](/blog/2024/persona-5-strikers/) | -| [3rd Rock from the Sun](https://web.archive.org/web/20020726125436/http://www.3rdrock.com/) [season 2] | TV Series | 2024-01-13 - 2024-02-26 | 3.25 | rewatch | -| Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) | Movie | 2024-02-24 | 4.24 | [review](/blog/2024/colossus-1970/) | -| Lawmower Man 2 (1992) | Movie | 2024-02-22 | 2 (3.75) | rewatch, [review](/blog/2024/lawmower-man-2-1996/) | -| Lawmower Man (1992) | Movie | 2024-02-17 | 3.0 | rewatch, [review](/blog/2024/lawmower-man-1229/) | -| Hardware (1990) | Movie | 2024-02-15 | 3.5 | [review](/blog/2024/hardware-1990/) | -| Terry Pratchett's [Interesting Times](https://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/books/interesting-times/) | Novel | 2024-01-31 - 2024-02-11 | 3.75 | [review](/blog/2024/interesting-times/) | -| Ghost in the Machine (1993) | Movie | 2024-02-09 | 3.0 | [review](/blog/2024/ghost-in-the-machine/) | -| [Jujutsu Kaisen](https://jujutsukaisen.jp/) [season 2] | Anime Series | 2024-01-01 - 2024-02-06 | 4.24 | | +| Title | Type | Dates | Rating | Extra | +|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------|-------------------------|----------|-----------------------------------------------------------| +| [Absolute FreeBSD](https://mwl.io/nonfiction/os#af3e) | Technical book | 2023-12-01 - 2024-03-24 | 4.75/5 | | +| Andrzej Sapkowski's [Time of Contempt](http://www.andrzejsapkowski.pl/timeofcontemptus.html) | Novel | 2024-02-12 - 2024-03-21 | 3.5 | [review](/blog/2024/andrzej-sapkowskis-time-of-contempt/) | +| Weekend at Bernie's (1989) | Movie | 2024-01-13 - 2024-02-27 | 3.75 | rewatch | +| [Persona 5 Strikers](https://www.atlus.com/p5s/) | Computer game | 2023-12-01 - 2024-02-25 | 2 | dropped, [review](/blog/2024/persona-5-strikers/) | +| [3rd Rock from the Sun](https://web.archive.org/web/20020726125436/http://www.3rdrock.com/) [season 2] | TV Series | 2024-01-13 - 2024-02-26 | 3.25 | rewatch | +| Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) | Movie | 2024-02-24 | 4.24 | [review](/blog/2024/colossus-1970/) | +| Lawmower Man 2 (1992) | Movie | 2024-02-22 | 2 (3.75) | rewatch, [review](/blog/2024/lawmower-man-2-1996/) | +| Lawmower Man (1992) | Movie | 2024-02-17 | 3.0 | rewatch, [review](/blog/2024/lawmower-man-1229/) | +| Hardware (1990) | Movie | 2024-02-15 | 3.5 | [review](/blog/2024/hardware-1990/) | +| Terry Pratchett's [Interesting Times](https://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/books/interesting-times/) | Novel | 2024-01-31 - 2024-02-11 | 3.75 | [review](/blog/2024/interesting-times/) | +| Ghost in the Machine (1993) | Movie | 2024-02-09 | 3.0 | [review](/blog/2024/ghost-in-the-machine/) | +| [Jujutsu Kaisen](https://jujutsukaisen.jp/) [season 2] | Anime Series | 2024-01-01 - 2024-02-06 | 4.24 | | ## Future {#future} |