The Witcher, or Polish: Wiedźmin, by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski is a cult[1] series of fantasy short stories (collected in two books, except for two stories) and five novels about the witcher Geralt of Rivia. In Sapkowski's books, witchers are monster-hunters who receive special training and have their bodies modified at an early age to provide them with supernatural abilities so they can battle extremely dangerous monsters and survive. The books have been adapted into a movie and television series, a video game series, and a graphic novel series. The novel series (excluding the short stories) is also called the Witcher Saga (Polish: Saga o Wiedźminie) or the Blood of the Elves Saga. The Witcher short stories and novels have been translated into several languages.
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Saga of Ciri, called Child Of Destiny by The Witcher's Right. By this Right, claimed from one of The Kings by Geralt Of Rivia, to become a Witcher. The Witchers Right is based on promise to save the ones live, from exchenge for "The unexpected thing the one discovers when returns home, but it wasn't there when the one left".
Sapkowski's short stories and novels are appraised for their ironic sense of humor and subtle anachronisms (e.g. one of the wizards taking part in the Gathering of the Wizards is constantly complaining about "ecological" issues). Sapkowski tries to emphasize the shades of gray in everyone (e.g. one of the local rulers engaged in an incestuous relation with his own sister is shown as a caring father – at least according to the standards of Sapkowski's world).
The Blood of the Elves series proper consists of five novels, in which Sapkowski links together the plot lines conceived in the short stories and merges them seamlessly into one coherent plot. Along with Geralt is another character named Ciri, a princess who is bound irrevocably to Geralt, by the Strings of Fate. Their story is set against the background of a struggle between the Northern Kingdoms and the invading Nilfgaard Empire.
The Witcher series is a series of short stories, at first published in Fantastyka, a Polish science fiction and fantasy magazine. The first short story, "Wiedźmin" ("The Witcher") (1986), was written for a contest held by the magazine, where it won third place. The first four stories of the witcher Geralt — and the story "Droga, z której się nie wraca" ("The Road with No Return"), which took place in the same world, but dozens of years before the witcher stories — were originally collected in a short story collection titled Wiedźmin (out of print and now obsolete; all fifteen short stories were later collected in three books published by superNOWA.)
The second short story collection to be published was Miecz przeznaczenia (Sword of Destiny). While The Last Wish collection was published after Miecz przeznaczenia, it replaced Wiedźmin as the first book, as it included all of the stories collected in Wiedźmin except "Droga, z ktorej się nie wraca" (the only one not featuring Geralt). Although new short stories were added in The Last Wish, they took place before the ones in Miecz przeznaczenia.
"Droga, z której się nie wraca", along with "Coś się kończy, coś się zaczyna", a non-canon story/alternative ending of the Witcher saga about Geralt and Yennefer's wedding, written as a wedding gift for Sapkowski's friends, were later published in the book Coś się kończy, coś się zaczyna. The rest of the stories in this book are not connected to the Witcher series in any way. In some Polish editions, "Droga, z której się nie wraca" and "Coś się kończy, coś się zaczyna" are added to either The Last Wish or Miecz przeznaczenia.
The stories and novels have been translated into Czech, Portuguese, German, Russian, Lithuanian, Finnish, French, Spanish, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Serbian, Swedish and Hungarian. An English translation of the Ostatnie życzenie (The Last Wish) short story collection, was published in the United Kingdom by Gollancz in 2007 and was published in the United States by Orbit in 2008. Krew elfów (Blood of Elves) was published by Gollancz in 2008 and in the US by Orbit in 2009, and Czas pogardy (Times of Contempt) will be published by Gollancz in the UK in spring 2011.
The original Polish name for "witcher" is wiedźmin. The English translation preferred by Andrzej Sapkowski was initially "hexer" and is the name used in the international version of the film adaptation. "Hexe" and "Hexer" are the German terms for "witch" and "warlock". However, CD Projekt chose to translate "Hexer" literally to "witcher" in The Witcher computer game, and this version was subsequently used by Danuta Stok in her translation of the book The Last Wish, as well as by Sapkowski himself in the book Historia i fantastyka. Michael Kandel, in his translation of the story "Wiedźmin" (2010) used the word "Spellmaker."
Alternatively, the word warlock has been used informally in English translations, while "witcher", being a neologism in English (as wiedźmin is in Polish - derived from wiedźma - "witch") arguably describes the uniqueness of Geralt's profession better.
Physical similarities between the main hero Geralt of Rivia and Elric of Melnibone have been noted. Both also are called The White Wolf. Michael Moorcock, the creater of Elric of Melnibone, has spoken of Geralt being a "passing off" situation on his website.[2] Andrzej Sapkowski has never made any reference to Moorcock's novels in relation to his work.
In 1993-1995, Sapkowski's stories were adapted into six comic books by Maciej Parowski (story), Bogusław Polch (art), and Sapkowski himself. They are:
Currently Przemysław Truściński (art), Maciej Parowski (story) and Sapkowski are preparing another comic book series, based on the three most important short stories: Kwestia ceny (A Matter of Price), Miecz przeznaczenia (Sword of Destiny) and Coś więcej (Something More) - and the novels.
The Hexer is the international title of both a 2001 movie and a 2002 TV series, directed by Marek Brodzki, and Michał Żebrowski starring as Geralt. Both the movie and the TV series got very negative opinions from the critics and the audience.
In 2001 a tabletop role-playing game called Wiedźmin: Gra Wyobraźni (The Witcher: A Game of Imagination), based on Sapkowski's books, was published by MAG.
A 2007 role-playing video game based on Sapkowski's saga called The Witcher was developed by CD Projekt, and was released in Europe on October 26, and the US on October 30. It was advertised far more than its predecessor, and although it was one of CD Projekt's first games, it was received very well by reviewers in both the EU and the US. The game contains mature content. The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf, using the same story, but a different engine and combat system was to be released in Fall 2009 for video game consoles. On the 29th of April 2009 the production of the console game was announced to have been halted. The game is published by CD Projekt itself in Poland, and worldwide by Atari, Inc. (Atari, SA subsidiary).
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is the sequel to The Witcher, developed by CD Projekt RED. Before Assassins of Kings was officially announced, a video showing the game was leaked on 16 September 2009.[3] On 18 September 2009, CD Projekt RED officially confirmed that the game is in development.[4] The game is published by CD Projekt itself in Poland, by Namco Bandai Games in Europe and by Atari, Inc. (Atari, SA subsidiary) in North America. The Witcher 2 is also distributed digitally through Steam and DRM-free on Good Old Games.
The Witcher: Crimson Trail (Polish: Wiedźmin: Krwawy Szlak), also known as The Witcher Mobile is a mobile phone action game created developed by Breakpoint on the license from CD Projekt. It features Geralt in his youth as a promising young student, has just completed his training to become an elite monster slayer – a witcher.
Two card games based on CD Projekt's The Witcher computer game have been designed by Kuźnia Gier. One, Wiedźmin: Przygodowa Gra Karciana (The Witcher: Adventure Cardgame) has been published by Kuźnia Gier and is being sold in Polish gaming stores, while the other, Wiedźmin: Promocyjna Gra Karciana (The Witcher Promo Card Game) is a simpler game added to the collector's edition of The Witcher in some countries.
The Witcher: Versus is a Flash-based multiplayer fighting browser game, developed for CD Projekt RED by one2tribe and launched in 2008. The game has you create a character from one of three classes and challenge other players to deadly battles. When you first sign up for Versus, which is tied into your thewitcher.com forum account if you have one, you choose from one of three character classes: Witcher, Sorceress and Frightener.
Andrzej Sapkowski's saga has had widespread influence on the popular culture, predominantly in Russia and Poland. Many bands in Russia and Poland name songs or themselves after things in the saga. Russian band Династия (Dinastiya, 'Dynasty'), for example, has produced the song "Yennefer" about Geralt and Yennefer's love.
A New York-based metal band also took the name "Gwynbleidd", after the name that was given to Geralt of Rivia by the Elves of Brokilon, meaning "White Wolf".
The books have been described as having a cult following.[1]
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