• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Which Witcher books are worth reading?

R

RipperGrim

Member
Okay so I've been a big fan of the Witcher series since the first game came out but oddly enough haven't ever given the books a proper look and now having finished the Witcher 3's story there is actually A LOT of things that seems to require knowledge of the books to have any relevance to you.

So I have decided to get The Last Wish as that seems to be the major one but there's actually quite a bit more of them and some I'm not even sure are available in English.

So Gaf, which ones are the essential reads and the ones that can be skipped if any?
 
If you're just starting out, definitely finish The Last Wish and Swords of Destiny. Both those two books kind of build upon the world and flesh out some characters within short stories that'll become important in the other 5 books. The last two books aren't being released until 2016 and 2017 respectively in English.
 
Concidering the strong ties of the game's plot with the books is it even a question? Definetly yes. Two short stories books Sword of Destiny and The Last Wish is an absolute must.

Though i won't recommend you to start the other books in the series right now because not all of them are not translated to English (two last books right now is TBA) and without them epic story will miss a few crucial pieces for you to understand the whole story. And you don't get the ending until 2018 if i remember the English translations release dates correctly.

And don't blame the style too much while reading, English tranlsation quality (judging by the Polish and Russian originals i've read) is on very low bar of "OK".
 
I mean, 5 of the books tell a continuous story so you can't really "skip" any of those.
The first two books are "just" a collection of short stories but they set up a lot about the world and the characters and they are really good, so I'd say you should probably start with them.
 
RipperGrim said:
Okay so I've been a big fan of the Witcher series since the first game came out but oddly enough haven't ever given the books a proper look and now having finished the Witcher 3's story there is actually A LOT of things that seems to require knowledge of the books to have any relevance to you.

So I have decided to get The Last Wish as that seems to be the major one but there's actually quite a bit more of them and some I'm not even sure are available in English.

So Gaf, which ones are the essential reads and the ones that can be skipped if any?
Click to expand...

The first 2 are a collection of short stories that set up the world and provide back story.

The other 5 are Ciri's Saga and essentially one big book. I wouldn't skip the short story books since they introduce some characters and provide some background for the Saga.

Also, while not all books are available in english yet all of them are fan translated and if you know a second language chances are high all books are translated for it. (the spanish translation is supposed to be exellent).
 
While I know very little about the prequel, everything else is absolutely worth reading. The saga in particular (as opposed to the short stories) is referenced many times by The Witcher 3.

Please note that parts of the saga haven't been officially released in English. Gotta read fan translations. They're pretty well done but I've seen a lot of typos and more than a few strangely translated sentences.
 
fantomena said:
Will the author be writing any more books or is he done/story over?
Click to expand...
He wrote Sezon burz (Season of Thunders) - a collection of shorts that are set between The Last Wish and The Sword of Destiny. I've read it just a month ago in Russian, very nice.

But i suggest you to expect no sequels, Sapkwoski said a lot of times that he is pretty much done with Geralt's story.
 
fantomena said:
Will the author be writing any more books or is he done/story over?
Click to expand...


The story is done. Actually the games are pretty much a sequel of the books.

I have read them all (all of them were translated to Spanish years ago) and I recommend the first two since they're short stories. The other four are all about Ciri and Geralt becomes a support character and they didn't make much sense to me..., plot becomes too convoluted and the tone is much darker, without the humour sense from the first two.
 
Fantastapotamus said:
He release a new collection of prequel short stories some time ago.
But given how the books end I wouldn't count on a continuation.
Click to expand...

So like, where the books end is where the first Witcher game starts
(Geralt dies, but CDPR resurrects him with Amnesia).

I think I will just personally start with The Last Wish -> Sword of Destiny and then go to the novels.
 
fantomena said:
So like, where the books end is where the first Witcher game starts
Click to expand...

Might wanna put that last part in a spoiler.

I think I will just personally start with The Last Wish -> Sword of Destiny and then go to the novels.
Click to expand...
Yep, do that.
It's so weird to me that those books aren't translated to english yet but I have read them years ago in german. Just feels...weird.
 
epmode said:
Probably.

Although the games do a good job of giving away most of the major plot points. I certainly knew about that one even though I'm not done with the books.
Click to expand...
First game did a pretty god job about explaining the books (a lot of lines from Witcher 1 is a direct quotes from the books to be honest). Third game is good at it too. The second one not so much.

Still i wuold recommend to read all the shorts for full understanding of the game's plot, especially for insight about Geralt-Yennifer relationships.
 
Shining Sunshine said:
Are all the books central around Geralt? Is there another main character?
Click to expand...

The first two are short stories centered around geralt.

The other 5 are a saga where Ciri and Geralt have about an equal amount chapters from their POV, though the story itself is mostly about Ciri.
 
Um... All of them.

They're all really awesome. The two short story novels that precede the saga center more on Geralt, and those are pretty great. They feel very much like the games' smaller contract stories, but probably a bit better written.

The saga less stars Geralt. It's more of a shared thing with Ciri, though there's still a lot of chapters relating to still other people. They're a great read altogether, though they start kind of slow. I caution anyone to keep going and push through Blood of Elves. It gets better, trust me. I think my favorites are Time of Contempt and The Tower of the Swallow.

Also, don't be afraid of the fan translations for the last two books. They're very good. You won't feel like you suddenly dropped in quality to finish the series off. At least, I didn't.
 
I breezed through the first book and am currently in the 2nd.

That said, the first one was REALLY good and I loved how the short stories were more or less connected though short chapters that tell a continues story.

The 2nd book however is a drag so far. I'm at the very last short story (of 5 I think) and except the first one all of them were a drag. What bothers me most is how most of the time some chacters make the weirdest decisions out of nowhere (
like the one with Ciri were she would nag on Gerald all the time and not want to go back and then all of a sudden it's like "Oh Gerald, you are my destiny."
) What the heck?

Also so far Sapkowski does a really poor job on explaining why exactly Gerald is so nuts about Yennefer. There was a whole chapter dedicated to that and I still don't get it.

I'll probably give one more book a chance after this one but if it doesn't get better I'll just skip the books and play the games.
 
There are English fan translations on the witcher reddit for the last two books in the series. They are packed as e books so they can be read on tablets and such and are pretty well done.
 
Would someone please list out the books, by name, in the intended order to be read?
Thanks in advance.
 
Rewind said:
There are English fan translations on the witcher reddit for the last two books in the series. They are packed as e books so they can be read on tablets and such and are pretty well done.
Click to expand...

Is it legal? I don't really want to start reading the saga if it's not fully translated but I would rather not do something shady to get them.
 
Mejilan said:
Would someone please list out the books, by name, in the intended order to be read?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

The Last Wish
Sword of Destiny
Blood of Elves
Time of Contempt
Baptism of Fire
The Swallow's Tower
Lady of the Lake
 
Mejilan said:
Would someone please list out the books, by name, in the intended order to be read?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Stole from Wikia:

Short story collectionsEdit

The Last Wish (Ostatnie życzenie) (1993, English edition: 2007)
Miecz przeznaczenia (The Sword of Destiny) (1992, English edition: 2015; while the book was first to be published, it collects later short stories and takes place later than The Last Wish)
Coś się kończy, coś się zaczyna (Something Ends, Something Begins) (2000) - only two of the series are set in the Witcher world, and only one of them is canon

Novels (or saga) Edit

Blood of Elves (Krew elfów) (1994, English edition: 2009)
Times of Contempt (Czas pogardy) (1995, English edition: 2013)
Baptism of Fire (Chrzest Ognia) (1996, English edition: 2014)
Wieża Jaskółki (The Tower of the Swallow) (1997, English edition: 2016)
Pani Jeziora (The Lady of the Lake) (1999, English edition: 2017)
Click to expand...

Read the short story collecitons first, then the saga.
 
Jangaroo said:
The Last Wish
Sword of Destiny
Blood of Elves
Time of Contempt
Baptism of Fire
The Swallow's Tower
Lady of the Lake
Click to expand...

There's also "A Season of Storms" which AFIAK is a novel he released in 2012 starring Geralt and Yennefer set after The Last Wish but before the rest of the series.


This is a great thread because I just picked up The Last Wish the other day, and just started it. I'm only about 50 pages in, partway through the second short story, but I'm really enjoying!
 
RipperGrim said:
Is it legal? I don't really want to start reading the saga if it's not fully translated but I would rather not do something shady to get them.
Click to expand...

Probably pretty gray area. Just support the author in some way. Buy the Polish books now or buy the official translations when they come out.
 
TheExorzist said:
I breezed through the first book and am currently in the 2nd.

That said, the first one was REALLY good and I loved how the short stories were more or less connected though short chapters that tell a continues story.

The 2nd book however is a drag so far. I'm at the very last short story (of 5 I think) and except the first one all of them were a drag. What bothers me most is how most of the time some chacters make the weirdest decisions out of nowhere (
like the one with Ciri were she would nag on Gerald all the time and not want to go back and then all of a sudden it's like "Oh Gerald, you are my destiny."
) What the heck?

Also so far Sapkowski does a really poor job on explaining why exactly Gerald is so nuts about Yennefer. There was a whole chapter dedicated to that and I still don't get it.

I'll probably give one more book a chance after this one but if it doesn't get better I'll just skip the books and play the games.
Click to expand...

Geralt isn't very rational when it comes to Yennefer, the relationship makes more sense as time goes on and the feelings are mutual but it's never the traditional lovey dovey thing. (Yennefer has other priorities)
 
RipperGrim said:
Is it legal? I don't really want to start reading the saga if it's not fully translated but I would rather not do something shady to get them.
Click to expand...
They take them down as the books get translated. I was in the same boat but I wanted to read all the books before playing the games again. I will just buy the last two books when they get released to make up for it.
 
Prequels: The Last Wish > Sword of Destiny

then

Main Series: Blood of Elves > Time of Contempt > Baptism of Fire

I believe that's all that has been translated into English so far. The next one is out 2016 then the last one 2017. There is another prequel? book that came out more recently but I have no idea if/when that will be translated to English.
 
RDreamer said:
Probably pretty gray area. Just support the author in some way. Buy the Polish books now or buy the official translations when they come out.
Click to expand...

Rewind said:
They take them down as the books get translated. I was in the same boat but I wanted to read all the books before playing the games again. I will just buy the last two books when they get released to make up for it.
Click to expand...

Yea I will probably read the books and if I get to those books with no translations in site then I will just get the original versions and read the fan versions.
 
patapuf said:
Geralt isn't very rational when it comes to Yennefer, the relationship makes more sense as time goes on and the feelings are mutual but it's never the traditional lovey dovey thing. (Yennefer has other priorities)
Click to expand...

I plan to read the books soon, but is Yennefer as much of a pain in the ass in the books as she is in Witcher 3?
 
m_shortpants said:
How good are the translations? I can imagine subtleties of prose in another language being lost...or is that not the case?
Click to expand...
The official translations for the books that are currently released are fine. I had no trouble understanding them or what was going on. It might be worth waiting until all the books are officially translated as the the unofficial fan translations are definitely hit and miss as some of the text for instance is translated from the French versions of the books rather than the Polish versions.
 
All of them :) the short stories are maybe better than the novels, but even they have great writting (many, many politics), characters (mostly Ciri and the gang she was in - the Rats)..overall, they are all great books
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Witcher author Andrzej Sapkowski says Witcher schools aren't canon in books, but 'videogame people have clung to the idea with remarkable tenacity'
Opinion  2
57
4K
The Cockatrice replied
Are Arcade Fighting Sticks Worth It for Casual Gamers?
2
73
2K
coinhook replied
  • Poll
Which Marathon Runner Shells are you most likely to play?
10
449
L*][*N*K replied
The Witcher 3 Online Mod
2
265
The Cockatrice replied
i believe the witcher 3 dlc will be a introduction to witcher 4
49
1K
leizzra replied
Top Bottom