Baptism of Fire

By: Andrzej Sapkowski

Narrated by: Peter Kenny

Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's Summary

The New York Times best-selling series that inspired the international hit videogame The Witcher.

The Wizard's 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 rumor places her in the Niflgaard court, preparing to marry the emperor.

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

The witcher returns in this action-packed sequel to The Time of Contempt.

©2014 Andrzej Sapkowski (P)2015 Hachette Audio

Critic Reviews

"The character interplay is complex, unsentimental and anchored in brutal shared history. All bodes well for twisty plotting to come." ( SFX)

"Sapkowski revitalizes the genre with energetic and compelling writing. A breath of fresh air in a well-worn genre. Don't miss it!" ( Dreamwatch)

"Like Mieville and Gaiman, Sapkowski takes the old and makes it new." ( Foundation)

Engaging Voice Over Work

Peter Kenny lends a mesmerizing voice to Geralt. Though through the series there has been strange changes at times between intonation of names and certain voices (ie Dandelion), his rendition of Geralt is superb. With such a masterful performance, it makes playing the Video Game version awkward, as Kenny's simply puts it to shame.

9 people found this helpful

Best in the series so far!

Loved this book! Peter Kenny was an amazing narrator as always, but the story just flowed so well! There was a lot of time spent with Geralt, which was a good decision. The journey he embarks on in this section of the series was fantastic. Along with his companions there is just an astounding amount of character development. There is a lot of world building too, but from the ground up, as we see various locales from our characters POVs in much more detail. We visit characters other than Geralt as well, and while more brief they also felt very well developed. Plus, I won't even begin to mention the amazing new characters that we meet!

2 people found this helpful

Amazing performance

I was already a fan of the games. These books have enhanced the experience. Will likely read again

1 person found this helpful

MY FAVORITE STORY SO FAR OUT OF THE 7!!!

For a moment I thought Time of Contempt or Sword of Destiny would be my favorite book out of the series. This introduced to me two of my favorite character ( both second to Ciri and Geralt ) but won't spoil the names. However the story kept me wanting to read more but now I regret going through it so fast and must read again or pick up the last two as soon as possible .

1 person found this helpful

Another Excellent Installment To This Series

I have been enjoying The Witcher novels for the last month or so as they are released on audible. Mr. Sapkowski is an excellent author and his books are incredibly unique. My favorite part about these novels is their storytelling qualities. A lot of authors write good books, but not very many of them can make you feel like someone is actually telling you a story. Most of them are just like reading what happened, but these books make you feel like you are actually in the world of the story. The author uses many different plot devices to tell the stories in these books, such as the long story motif, the actual storyteller motif, and the idea of switching narrator characters mid scene. All three of these motifs make for an excellent plot and story. Like always the characterization in this book is as good as the first few. I will say that there are a lot of characters in this novel and it is very necessary to pay close attention to the story. Also, the plot itself is very complex and the author slowly reveals parts of it bit by bit, there isn't really an aha moment. This is why focus is very important. The one problem with this book as compared to the first books in the series is that it is a bit slower and less seems to happen. I can accept this though, because as far as I know this is the third of five novels in this series. Again I cannot commend the narrator enough. Mr. Kenny does a wonderful job differentiating characters and making the story come alive. I thought his voice was a little strange during the first book in this series, but I quickly got used to it and I now love him as a narrator. I recommend you read this book if you have read the first two in this series, this is not a standalone. I eagerly await Audible's release of the next novel.

3 people found this helpful

one of the best in the saga

For me, bof and tos are, by far, the high points in an already amazing saga.

2 people found this helpful

amazing series

The whole saga of this book series is just amazing thus far. I will be listening to the whole series again and again.

2 people found this helpful

Peter Kenny (the narrator) is a god 👍🏽

Great story and amazing narrator what more could you ask for, I'm blown away by Peter's work.

Peter Kenny is an Outstanding Narrator

Peter Kenny is absolutely outstanding. I completely forget that he is the only person acting the role of every single character in this series of books, both male and female alike. He brings me into the story fully immersed in the characters and dialogue.

Of course the story and writing are wonderful as usual. I can’t wait to get onto the next book.

Fantastic series

I love you series of work. I got turned onto it by watching the new TV show that came out in 2020 on Netflix. I did not know that it was a video game. I want to check that out.