Nisa's Book Club discussion

Book Club #9 Video - Coming Soon!

Everything here is a spoiler! Enter at your own risk :) This is a chat to discuss readings for the fifth Witcher book - Baptism of Fire. Whether you are shocked and outraged by a current chapter and want to vent or just talk about your overall thoughts once you have finished reading it, this is the place to do it!

Hi Nisa and book club...I know there is a dearth of activity on here but I’m justifying my efforts posting by imagining there is a multitude of lurkers hanging on my every word, it stops me thinking I am talking to myself , and who knows it might just ignite an explosion of literary opinions !!! So here goes.....

Nisa, Thanks for hosting the last book club you did a fine job as usual. I had actually been anticipating this edition since we started reading the Witcher novels as it contained my favourite character and namesake. Thats quite a long time to be in a state of heightened expectation Nisa !!! And just to tease me further you postponed the scheduled date !!!

But the wait was worth when I saw your reaction to Regis and for you to finally realise the origin of my name....haha, your reaction when the penny dropped made me giggle.

Yes you were right mandrake root is heavily associated with Regis. When the group first met Regis he invited them to his home where they proceeded to get thoroughly inebriated on his mandrake root moonshine.

It was during the ensuing drunken conversation that, amongst other things, Milva heard Dandelion talk about Yennefer.

( I would highly recommend listening to the part where they first meet Regis and the ensuing events on the audio book 4:00:00 to 4:42:00 and also when they rescued the girl about to be burned at the stake 5:21:00 to 5:36:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zjg2c...

.... in fact all of it is good, the voice actor really adds another dimension to the book.)

Later on that evening Geralt and Milva had a dialogue where Milva mentioned “....I don’t know how to read or write at all, I’m a foolish simple country girl..no company for you nor someone to talk to...you need another, the one Dandelion was talking about,...intelligent , educated your beloved....”

Geralt then asked Milva why she decided to ride with him.....she said “You never asked and anyway its too late now, I don’t know anymore”

Further on in the book when Geralt and Milva are talking about a dream he had about Ciri the conversation ends with Geralt saying “ Ciri needs me” and Milva said to herself so that he could not hear “She’s not the only one”

This is why I believed that Milva wanted Geralts affection before turning her attentions to Cahir.

As an aside Nisa during the book club you seemed unfamiliar with the expression “nailing your colours to the mast” ,must be a Brit thing,

it means, and I quote from google, “To clearly show one's support for a side or opinion” and it originates “From the naval military practice of displaying one's colours (signal flags or insignia) from the mast of a ship during battle to show loyalty. To surrender, one would strike ones colours, i.e. take down one's flag. If a ship nailed its colours to the mast, it would fight to the death and not surrender.......

So because my username was Regis my colours were nailed to the mast as regards my opinion of book Regis.

One last thought before I go....You had more than a hint of schadenfreude in your eyes when you talked about Yennefer being trapped inside a sorceress's cleavage for a couple of months.

I pondered that scenario for ....err...quite some time, and I have concluded that it is not in anyway an unpleasant predicament in fact its positively agreeable

....I can sense you going full Milva now, arms folded, cross expression while muttering “Men” to yourself :)