Baptism of Fire: The Witcher, Book 3 Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Andrzej Sapkowski (Author), Peter Kenny (Narrator), Orion Publishing Group (Publisher)

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Geralt of Rivia is on a mission to save his ward, Ciri, and with her the world, in this third novel in the best-selling Witcher series that inspired the Netflix show and video games.

The Wizards Guild has been shattered by a coup and, in the uproar, Geralt was seriously injured. The Witcher is supposed to be a guardian of the innocent, a protector of those in need, a defender against powerful and dangerous monsters that prey on men in dark times.

But now that dark times have fallen upon the world, Geralt is helpless until he has recovered from his injuries.

While war rages across all of the lands, the future of magic is under threat and those sorcerers who survive are determined to protect it. It's an impossible situation in which to find one girl - Ciri, the heiress to the throne of Cintra, has vanished - until a rumour places her in the Niflgaard court, preparing to marry the Emperor.

Injured or not, Geralt has a rescue mission on his hands.

Translated by David French.

Listening Length

12 hours and 15 minutes
Author

Andrzej Sapkowski
Narrator

Peter Kenny
Audible release date

3 April 2014
Language

English
Publisher

Orion Publishing Group
ASIN

B00NENP95Q
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	12 hours and 15 minutes
Author	Andrzej Sapkowski
Narrator	Peter Kenny
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com.au Release Date	03 April 2014
Publisher	Orion Publishing Group
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B00NENP95Q
Best Sellers Rank	516 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) 64 in Epic Fantasy (Audible Books & Originals) 69 in Military Fantasy (Books) 100 in Epic Fantasy (Books)

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Jacob

The Witcher: Baptism of Fire Misprinted

Reviewed in Australia on 23 July 2021

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The media could not be loaded.

I had ordered four books of The Witcher series and book #3 (Baptism of Fire) had a misprint in the first three pages, the rest of them were in fine condition.

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LanaS

Great book

Reviewed in Australia on 5 December 2021

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This series of books are amazing. So hooked. Read them through twice.

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Lewis James

Brilliant

Reviewed in Australia on 23 December 2020

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A page turner! Fantastic piece of fiction! Could not put it down, one of the best if the series so fae

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Kindle Customer

Great story.

Reviewed in Australia on 5 February 2020

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Action, emotion, comradeship, food. Interesting stories. Although some audio was off sync. I highly recommend with audiobook. New characters. Woo.

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Amazon Customer

If you like heroic fantasy, this is for you.

Reviewed in Australia on 1 July 2015

Verified Purchase

I was reading this book as the new video game the Witcher was being advertised, and I could see quite clearly how it could have become a game. But it reads well enough to not need any animation, at least in my book.

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Lucas Bento

Exciting and inspiring!

Reviewed in Australia on 2 February 2020

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So good and exciting! I feel it's is getting better and better as I progress through the series. Which to be honest, is quite unusual.

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bill t

Great read

Reviewed in Australia on 15 September 2018

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I love reading when on holiday and the witcher series is one of my favourites. A friend told me about the series after I played the first witcher game years ago and I'm glad he did!

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Robert Draper

Good quality

Reviewed in Australia on 25 July 2019

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Looks good can’t wait to read

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James Tivendale

This series is finally reaching the lofty heights that it has always hinted at.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 January 2019

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My adventure with The Witcher novels continues at a breakneck pace as, like the previous books, I devoured this story in two days. This series has shown moments of utter brilliance but with certain plodding and info-dumping sections, it's never quite ascended to the heights that it truly could have. Until now. So far this is the finest entry and it features everything I love from this series.

Following the finale of Time of Contempt Geralt is badly injured and was transported to Brokilon forest by the enchantress Triss. Under the watchful eyes of the Dryads he is slowly regaining his health. As soon as he feels anywhere near healthy enough he plans to rescue Ciri who everyone believes is in Nilfgaard. The truth is that Ciri has actually taken on the guise of a bandit with the pseudonym Falka operating in a Robin Hood-style posse. She's become quite a celebrity amongst the common folk but her temper and blade-prowess have become legendary in a short space of time.

As well as series favourites Geralt, Ciri and Dandelion we are introduced to a plethora of new characters here that are some of the greatest of Sapkowski's creations thus far. Milva the forest dwelling archer and Regis a barber-surgeon are two of the finest even though those descriptions give nothing away regarding what to expect from them in this narrative.

Unlike the last two books which have had a large amount of different point of view perspectives eighty-percent of this novel is following the Witcher on his mission to rescue Ciri. For the first time in these tales, which normally see Geralt on his own or with one companion completing missions, here, a fellowship/brotherhood is created with a very varied cast of players. Geralt is initially uninclined to let anyone share his burden but comradeship does succeed towards the finale. The conversation and banter between the members of this ensemble is excellently crafted as many of the characters are so different. Although his closest friend, Geralt, and Dandelion could not possibly be any more different and I often chuckled at their oddness reflected in their exchanges.

The other sections that we follow are what is happening to Ciri at the other end of the world. We also see a few scenes from the viewpoint of certain enchantresses who seem to have a scheme under development. A few moments feature Dijkstra who is the head of Redania's secret service.

The war is raging all over the world, mainly Nilgaardians verses everyone else but in politics, things are never that simple, and with all the names of factions, King's and noble houses I still occasionally get confused about who is fighting who, however; that actually suits the vibe in this book. As the fellowship are on their journey they come across many battles, fights, and skirmishes and Sapkowski's skillful writing accentuates the confusion and unpredictability of war but also heightens the fact that the brotherhood are so isolated in trying to achieve their objective.

There are so many standout moments and set-pieces, character development is sublime, and relationships that are frosty at best transcend any predicted outcome as the Brotherhood fight for their life and for Ciri. This series is finally reaching the lofty heights that it has always hinted at and I can't wait to start The Tower of the Swallow straight away. This entry is exceptional and as well as the finest story in The Witcher saga it is also probably in my top-20 books of all time.

‘What a company I ended up with,’ Geralt continued, shaking his head. ‘Brothers in arms! A team of heroes! What have I done to deserve it? A poetaster with a lute. A wild and lippy half-dryad, half-woman. A vampire, who’s about to notch up his fifth century. And a bloody Nilfgaardian who insists he isn’t a Nilfgaardian.’

8 people found this helpful

FallenGrace

Solid third entry in the Witcher saga.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 September 2017

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Baptism of Fire is the third book to the Witcher Saga by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. These books form an ongoing fantasy story, they are not stand alone so if you are new to the series this is not the book to start with. I highly recommend reading them in this order with the two short story collections first which originally written for magazines before starting the saga:

1 - The Last Wish
2 - Sword of Destiny
3 - Blood of Elves (The Witcher Book 1)
4 - Time of Contempt (The Witcher Book 2)

Onto the actual review. The previous books have mostly focused on Ciri so far but this all changes in Baptism of Fire spending most of the time focusing on Geralt, what happened to him since the events at the Tower of Gulls and his continuing journey to find and rescue Ciri. The book has some great moments and a colourful cast of characters Geralt slowly draws to himself who want to help him rescue Ciri for a variety of reasons. I especially like Zoltan and Regis who are both quite unique and often entertaining to read whenever around. The book is pretty well paced with a nice mixture of character and world building but also plenty of action scenes which were exciting and well thought out in most cases. Despite enjoying both the cast and the continuing political background of the book I must admit this is my least favorite of the series so far. Plot wise it kind of meanders and outside of introducing more characters for Geralt to add to his merry rescue band doesn't really go anywhere, it lacks a lot of focus but I'm hoping this is just building towards bigger events in the next two books.

In summary Baptism of Fire is a good read, if you've enjoyed the previous novels I'm sure you will like this one. As a fan of the games made from the books it's great to see the introduction of certain characters from them and see their origin stories of meeting Geralt. Looking forward to reading the last two books of the series.

+ Introduction of some great characters, especially Regis and Zoltan.
+ Excellent political and lore world building.
+ Some great fights and action scenes.

- The narrative sort of meanders, the plot needs more focus.

6 people found this helpful

Jack

Excellent book and well written characters

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 April 2020

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This is where this series of books changed indefinitely for me personally. I thought blood of elves was alright but nothing extraordinary, then time of contempt foreshadowed something truly special. Which leads me to Baptism of fire which has delivered an intriguing follow-up from the last two books and has gained my interest. I can't praise this book enough, the characters were significantly more developed ( except for ciri ) as I found myself enjoying characters that only showed up for a couple of chapters in the book more than I thought I would, another great achievement for this series.Although the outstanding part of this book is how far Geralt being the so called mutant that he is, is willing to go to retrieve Ciri from harm's way ( this being the imperator). I found this to be a standout for Geralts character development as it shows how much he's grown from his younger witcher days, that deep down he has a soul and is willing to let more people into his life.
Unfortunately Ciri is barely featured in this book and when she is there nothing significant happens, except for how powerful she will be in the future blah blah blah...
A wonderfully written book and I highly recommend it for those who don't know what else to read, its better than nothing.

One person found this helpful

Mr Smith

An 'epic journey' story ...... which I like more with each book I read. Read the set.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 January 2017

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I've always loved reading, especially Fantasy/SciFi stories. I also like playing video games that tell such stories, like Skyrim, DragonAge, MassEffect and Witcher. I played 'The Witcher 3' video game recently, so I thought I'd read some Witcher backstory, spotted the Witcher books at a very reasonable price, bought books 1-3 for my kindle and started reading.

Just finished book 3, having read books 1 and 2 over the past couple of weeks, so here's my impressions .......

Try to read the books in sequence. It sounds a bit obvious, but if you see Book 2' alone in a sale don't skip Book 1. These books are very much one story, split over several books, not several different stories about the same character.

Its quite slow reading. The books are about The Witcher, yes, but he is just one character in the story and the books are very much about the overall story not just The Witcher's story. In that sense, it feels like Frodo in 'The Lord of the Rings', its the companions, the place, the journey ...... not just Frodo's story. The book contains lots of exposition - by many characters - of the story world's races, conflicts, politics. This all provides interesting backstory to the Witcher games - so its what I was looking for - but be prepared for long sections where characters talk at length about whats happened, happening and planned in the wider world's backdrop.

I'm replaying the Witcher 3 video game alongside reading the books and because of that the game's setting and story make much more sense this time around.

The book is translated from its original Polish, which may be why it feels a bit stilted in places .- though arguably no more stilted than the original English of, for example, Howard's Conan stories or Lovecrafts's Cthulhu stories. Translation of novels is notoriously difficult so no surprises or complaints, but know what to expect.

Books 1 and 2 had some obvious format/typo errors. I noticed hardly any any in book 3, so either they're getting better at proofing, or I'm getting used to the errors and better at ignoring them.

I also found books 1 and 2 ended a bit abruptly for my liking, but book 3 ends at what feels like more of a 'natural break'.

I haven't bought book 4 yet (I assumed it was a trilogy, duh) - and the sale is over - but as soon as the next sale comes around, I'll be buying it.

So, overall, worthwhile as Witcher backstory - or, more generally, as an 'epic journey' tale of relatively vulnerable characters moving against a large multinational fantasy world backdrop.

2 people found this helpful

Anonymous

Good book, poor translation.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 January 2021

Verified Purchase

Overall it's a good book but the English translation is of a rather poor quality:
- The book is full of literal translations from the Polish language which often makes you guess the intended meaning.
- Lack of consistency: same words are translated differently in different parts of the book.
- Some translations are simply incorrect and include very fundamental phrases which are warned against at schools.
- Typos are quite common too.

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Baptism of Fire: The Witcher, Book 3 Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

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