ime of Contempt (Polish original title: Czas pogardy, early title was translated less literally as Time of

Anger) is the second novel in the Witcher Saga written by Polish fantasy writer Andrzej Sapkowski, first
published 1995 in Polish, and 2013 in English. It is a sequel to the first Witcher novel Blood of Elves (Krew
elfów) and is followed by Baptism of Fire (Chrzest ognia).[1]

Contents
 1 Plot
 2 Translations
 3 Adaptations
 4 Reception
 5 References
 6 External links

Plot
The story in Time of Contempt begins where the previous book left off. The Northern Kingdoms are
secretly preparing a provocation that would give them a pretext for war with Nilfgaard. What the kings do
not know is the fact that the Emperor is aware of their plans and is preparing his armies too.

The reader catches up with Ciri and Yennefer, who have left the Temple in Ellander, and are on their way
to Gors Velen, and ultimately Thanedd Island. It is Yennefer's intention that Ciri be enrolled at the Aretuza
school of magic and that she continue her instruction in the use and mastery of magic.

Once they arrive in Gors Velen, Yennefer goes to see her old friend Giancardi Molnar, a dwarven banker.
He informs the sorceress that her financial movements are being tracked, something Yennefer already
suspected. Molnar, who has an old obligation to Yennefer, arranges an essentially unlimited line of credit
for her and makes several financial transfers to cover expenses for Ciri's education. He and Yennefer also
agree to allow Ciri to see the city's sights, escorted by one of Molnar's faithful employees, her peer, Fabio
Sachs.

While on their excursion, things quickly get out of hand, not the least by a wyvern that breaks out of its
cage. In the following commotion, Ciri is mistaken for one of about a dozen students who have recently
"escaped" from Aretuza in the kerfuffle leading up to the mages' conference being held there. She is
apprehended by no less than the former and current headmistresses of the academy, Tissaia de Vries and
Margarita (Rita) Laux-Antille after she uses a magical amulet given to her by Yennefer in case of
emergency.

At first, the sorceresses do not believe Ciri's story, but ultimately, the girl and Fabio manage to convince
the headmistresses to check out their story at the bank and things are quickly confirmed by Yennefer and
Giancardi. The three sorceresses then decide to discuss events over at the Silver Heron inn, taking Ciri with
them and leaving poor Fabio to deal with his employer.

At the inn, Tissaia and Rita have rented the entire cellar which is actually a bath house and the four "ladies"
retire there to relax and chat. It seems that both Rita and Tissaia, but especially Rita, have every intention
of getting good and drunk and Ciri is dispatched to refill their carafe of wine not very long after it arrives.

While getting the refreshments, Ciri notices a mercenary (Rayla) who orders the innkeeper to open a back
door for her — a door which leads directly to the outer walls of the city, bypassing the usual gates and
guards. On her second trip to refill the carafe, Ciri uses her new found knowledge and runs away to see
Geralt whom she has been told is at Hirundum, not far from Gors Velen. While on the run, Ciri is
approached by the Wild Hunt who ask her to join, but she refuses. Yennefer, luckily, is not far behind to
ward it off. Ciri's flight does, however, provide Geralt and Yennefer with an opportunity to meet up again
and to patch up things in their relationship before the three set off for Thanedd Island together.

On the island, things are in a tizzy. The girls have been temporarily moved from their usual accommodation
within Aretuza to Loxia, the lowest level of the complex as the school itself is being used to accommodate
the visiting sorcerers and sorceresses. That evening, Yennefer takes Geralt as her date to the reception,
leaving Ciri in her room and ensuring that there is no second flight with magic.

At the reception, Geralt meets quite a few interesting individuals, but in particular he meets Vilgefortz the
mage for the first time. The mage is considered very young (which of course is anything less than 100 years
to mages, but he looks more like 35), he is also considered to be particularly talented, but as Geralt finds
out from him, his road to becoming a mage was not exactly the usual route. The wizard was abandoned as a
baby and taken in and raised by druids. It was only as an adult that he became a mage, which he underlines
with some emphasis to the witcher. He even goes so far as to try to encourage Geralt to become a mage
himself, but the witcher refuses. Vilgefortz also hints that a power struggle is imminent and that Geralt has
to choose sides. Vilgefortz wants Geralt to make a pact with him, but Geralt refuses, stressing his
neutrality.

Dijkstra, head spy of Vizimir, the King of Redania, also tries to recruit the witcher to no avail. Geralt even
refuses to give him information.

After the reception, Yennefer and Geralt retire to their room and re-connect on a more intimate level. After
a very fruitful reunion and a bit of sleep, the witcher is awakened by an urge to urinate, but in deference to
his hosts, decides against relieving himself in the flower pots outside the window and decides to find the
courtyard. This is when he stumbles upon the coup, already taking place. Philippa Eilhart, a sorceress also
working for the King of Redania, and Dijkstra organize the coup and plan to reveal the traitorous mages
working for Emperor Emhyr of Nilfgaard.

In the ensuing confusion we find out that Yennefer had brought Ciri before the Chapter on the request of
Tissaia and the girl began to prophesy. Ciri revealed the assassination of the King of Redania the night
before; and Demavend, king of Aedirn, had preemptively started an attack on Nilfgaard. The Northern
Kings' interest in waging war against the Scoia'tael combined with Ciri's revelations infuriates Tissaia, who
is against such violence. She deactivates the barrier of casting spells in the school and sides with Vilgefortz
in the matter, leading to a deadly battle among mages.

In the meantime, Geralt escapes from Dijkstra, after leaving him angry and wounded. Geralt rushes in to
save Yennefer and Ciri at the school. In the ensuing chaos, Yennefer and Geralt fight the invading
Scoia'tael supporting Vilgefortz, while Ciri flees from the scene. The Black Rider plaguing Ciri's dreams
turns out to be Cahir, a Nilfgaardian soldier, who tried to escort Ciri out of the burning Cintra to safety.
Geralt finally faces Vilgefortz, who asks Geralt to join his side under Emperor Emhyr as overlord. Geralt
refuses and a fight ensues in which Geralt is soundly defeated and severely wounded. Tissaia finally
realizes her mistake and, along with Triss Merigold's help, takes Geralt to safety.

Emperor Emhyr wanted the Chapter of Mages to be broken apart since the sorcerers and mages were the
reason for his loss at the battle of Sodden Hill. The breaking of the Chapter and the incoming war
overwhelms Tissaia and she commits suicide. Soon after the events at Thanedd Island, a full blown war
erupts with Nilfgaard advancing to the north. King Demavend escapes to Redania while Aedirn, Rivia, and
Lyria soundly fall to Emhyr's grasps. King Foltest of Temeria forms a deal with Emhyr and avoids war on
Temeria at the moment. In the meantime a fake Ciri is presented to Nilfgaardian Emperor and he publicly
announces his plans to marry her, with the intent to appear as the rightful heir and king to Cintra. After the
official presentation, the Emperor orders his secret and special forces to find the real Ciri.
Ciri escapes via an unstable and dangerous portal hidden within the Tower of Gulls, during Geralt's fight
with Vilgefortz. She awakes in the Korath desert known to many as the 'frying pan' and barely manages to
stay alive, thanks to the help of a unicorn. When pushed for survival, she relies on her magical abilities
involving fire, which caused nightmares and hallucinations that entices her to take revenge on those who
abandoned her, which leaves her scarred and promising herself to avoid fire as a source of power.

After escaping the desert, she is captured by bounty hunters (the damaged portal threw her out in one of the
countries conquered by Nilfgaard, south of Cintra) and manages to escape them with the help of bandits
known as the Rats. She feels safe and gains a sense of belonging among the group as the members faced a
similar harsh reality of being abandoned during the times of contempt. Through her skills she learned in
Kaer Morhen she impresses the group, which ask her to choose a new name for herself. She responds in the
Old Speech, choosing the dreaded name of Falka. The book also expands on Ciri's prophecy as the bearer
of Elder Blood, where it is revealed that she holds great power and her son will herald the new age,
followed by the destruction of the old.

In the end the reader finds out, that Niflgaardian coroner, Stefan Skellen, sent to find Ciri and bring her to
the Emperor, sure that it is her, who joined the Rats, hires Bonhart, a famous bounty hunter, to kill the
whole group--including Ciri.

Translations
 Brazilian Portuguese (WMF Martins Fontes, 2014) ISBN 978-85-7827-842-7
 Bulgarian (InfoDar, 2009)
 Czech (Leonardo, 1996)
 English
o UK (Gollancz, June 2013) ISBN 978-0-575-08508-4
o US (Orbit, August 27, 2013)
 Finnish (WSOY, 2013) ISBN 978-951-0-39752-7
 French (Bragelonne, 2009)
 German (DTV, 2009)
 Hungarian (PlayON, 2013)
 Lithuanian (Eridanas, 2006)
 Russian (AST, 1997)
 Spanish (Bibliopolis, 2004)
 Simplified Chinese (Chongqing, 2016)
 Turkish (Nefret Çağı; Pegasus, 2018)
 Ukrainian (KSD, 2016)

The English (UK) translation was delayed several times; initially planned for 2009 [citation needed], it was
published by Gollancz in June 2013. The US edition of the novel, after several delays, was published by
Orbit Books on August 27, 2013.

Adaptations
In 2015 a Polish audiobook has been released. It is a high-end audiobook, with dozens of actors, music and
special effects.[2]

Reception
Andrzej Sapkowski criticized the cover of the US edition of this book, saying that it is based on Witcher
video game footage, and has little connection with the book contents, noting that he has no influence over
the American publisher's choice of cover art, which he deemed highly unfortunate. [3]

References