Biased & a terrible story with a disgusting "Hero"

I enjoyed the first book and had high hopes for the second, seldom though have I ever been so disappointed with a book then this one.

I absolutely hated the story and I don't mean with that the historical background of the grim hussite wars. It is the story part, the fiction that is terrible and instead of entertaining me, caused feelings ranging from disgust to outright anger. Central to it is the transformation of almost all the major characters from the first book.

Additionally to that comes an extreme national and disgusting Bias the Author seems to weave intentionally into every single paragraph of this second book. For example almost all "Germans" are throughout the book clearly portrayed as either inherent evil, dumb, ugly, perverted, greedy, traitorous and so on and sometimes all of it together. At the same time any character with a Polish heritage tends to be portrayed as witty, good looking, powerful and strong. The Czechs are mostly characterised as brutish but capable, smart and tough.

Before I give one concrete example I'd like to say that I have rarely read a book as annoying, depressing, biased and infuriating as this one and that I had to force myself to finish it, futilely hoping for a last minute turn about. I advise strongly against wasting your money and recommend instead to read the author's Witcher series, which was a truly great and entertaining book series.

I could spend hours writing about the many shortcomings of the story itself but will instead give just one example using the books "Hero" to explain in a moment.


--- Spoiler ahead ---


Reinmar, the main protagonist turns from a clumsy, empathetic and likeable freethinker and romantic into a traitorous, unfeeling, cold-blooded, fanatic, narrow-minded, dishonest, selfish asshole and hypocrite. He witnesses and participates in countless atrocities inflicted upon his countrymen by the hussites and never cares to act and change the path he walks. From the needless graphic witnessing of massacres of civilians, including the impaling of a young boy and his pet dog to the slitting of a 12 year old sons throat infront of his family to the fate of countless refugees and rape of women other then the ones he personally loved.

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