The Witcher Saga by Adrzej Sapkowski

[Connavar]

Here we talk about the collection and the series.

If you dont know what this series is here is alittle info :




The Last Wish is an accomplished retelling of some fairy tales, each transformed almost beyond recognition and given the darkest tinges of horror. This takes the book outside the norms of traditional fantasy writing, while still being anchored in (the more original edges of) sword and sorcery.

Essentially a short story collection, there's a strong thread linking each tale to create a coherent whole centered on Sapkowski’s hero Geralt.

There is, perhaps, a touch of Moorcock’s Elric in Geralt but there is nothing derivative in the writing itself.
There are also some nice touches of humour along the way.






This is the best discription i found but had remove some words to not spoil everything. The world is not just a fairy tale world. Its dark take on them and original on its own. It only at times you see the fairy tale parts but the take on makes it even more interesting. The hero's story though has nothing to with fairy tale part.


Actually way before i made this thread and found this discription when i was reading it reminded me of the fantasy of Vance,Moorcock. Not in the type of stories but in tone,literary writing,humor(okey not MM there),characters. I found Geralt to be a less whiny and more human version of the eternal champion Corum

[Lenny]

Would I be right in making a link between the books and the PC game?

[Connavar]

Yes its the same.

The series is apparently huge in Poland and other parts of europe.

It HAS a tv show,movie,comic book,games. Heh people sure like it.

Heh the bookstore i work in has next door a video game selling store, several people has actually come over and bought the collection when they finish or just bought the game.

Weird that a game sells a book, it must be real good to sell its book version too

[Werthead]

The Last Wish is the single most-commented-on book in my blog. I still get comments about it now, a year since it came out in English (although, of course, it came out more than 15 years ago in Poland).

Andrzej Sapkowski is apparently the biggest fantasy author in his native Poland, best-known for his character Geralt, a 'witcher' who tracks down and eliminates monsters for cash. Although his books have been translated into several other European languages, The Last Wish marks his debut in English, with a translation by Danusia Stok.


The Last Wish (published in Poland in 1992) is the first book featuring Geralt, preceding Sword of Destiny (1993) which has not been published in English yet. Presumably this is because the first three Geralt books are stand-alone volumes that do not require knowledge of the others. There is an additional Geralt story in another anthology, Something Ends, Something Begins (2000). There is also a five-novel sequence featuring Geralt entitled The Blood of the Elves (1994-99), which Gollancz will be publishing in English translation from August 2008 onwards.

Enough of the publishing context, what of the book? The Last Wish is a mosaic novel consisting of several short stories linked by a framing sequence. After Geralt is injured in battle, he recuperates in a temple and has flashbacks to recent events in his life. The stories themselves vary in tone but the quality is pretty consistent. There's an undercurrent of whimsical humour in the stories that is very reminiscent of Jack Vance. Like Vance, Sapkowski successfully creates a world where his characters feel totally at home. This world is a mix of the traditional D&D landscape of elves, dwarves and evil wizards, and of fairy tales. In this manner the stories' tone and atmosphere is very similar to that of Vance's superb Lyonesse Trilogy, although Sapkowski is not as continuously and unrelentingly funny as Vance; he also lacks Vance's gift for intricate wordplay. That said, when the book is funny it's very funny indeed. The comic highlight comes when Geralt and his sometimes travelling troubadour companion Dandillion are confronted by some kind of bizarre goat-man entity whose preferred method of combat is to pelt attackers with iron balls. Under strict instructions not to kill anything in the area, Geralt has to engage the goat-man in a particularly preposterous wrestling match. Sapkowski also employs Vance's melancholy aspect, such as Geralt's musings on a world where the fantastical is dying and the mundane is taking over. And, in a hint that this is our world in some remote epoch (shades of The Dying Earth), there are also hints in the book that changes in the Sun are causing many of the problems in the world.

The translation is first-rate, or as far as I can tell, neither being able to read or speak Polish. There's occasional awkward moments (the noble Hereward's rank changes from Prince to Duke at random; sometimes words are repeated very close together) but the stories come through feeling very fresh and energetic. Sapkowski is very good at creating interesting, imaginative characters with unusual levels of depth to them, not least Geralt, whom people are consistently underestimating. Early stories feel slightly repetitive, with Geralt unleashing bloody mayhem to win the day, but in the second half of the book there is a shift in tone with Geralt employing more imaginative methods to overcome the obstacles in his path. There is a great deal left unsaid in the stories in the book: we see the start of Geralt's relationship with the sorceress Yennefer but not its later development, and have to put together what happened with the help of Geralt's thought processes in the framing story. This helps give the book a feeling of greater immersiveness, although the knowledge that there are seven other books featuring these characters perhaps merely means that more events take place in the other volumes clearing up these questions.

The Last Wish (****) is an enjoyable book full of stories both melancholy and comic. The book will be published in the UK by Gollancz on 19 April 2007 in hardcover and trade paperback. No US version appears to be forthcoming at this time. Gollancz will publish Blood of the Elves, the first novel in the series of the same name in August 2008. In September 2007 a PC roleplaying game based on the character of Geralt will appear, entitled The Witcher. The developers have a website here.

EDIT: Pat from Pat's Fantasy Hotlist has reviewed the US edition here and was somewhat cooler about it than I was. Check it out!

I started playing the game but got sidetracked by a few other games (Medieval II: Kingdoms and a complete run-through of GTA 3, Vice City and San Andreas, which is nearly complete). I'll get back to it soon, but I may wait for the massive upgrade in the summer which makes the game a lot better (a better translation, re-recorded voice acting, a few bugs fixed, much faster load times etc). From what I played though, the game is very good.

[Duchessprozac]

I put off picking 'Last Wish' up last year as I was unsure whether I would enjoy it or not. However upon reading a review of the game it has put the book onto my must buy list along with the game as they both seem the kind of fantasy I enjoy.

[Connavar]

I saw a poster for the game after the final pages of the book, i felt really violated that they would use my book to sell a video game.

On the other hand if the games gives the books higher profile and make sure i can enjoy the rest of the series translated in english...its okay.... still it was too much....


Duchess

it doesnt matter if the game is good or not. Try the book and see for yourself. Its a very interesting world and story.

[Taltos]

I was wondering whether anyone would be interested in a short recap about the second Geralt short story collection Sword of Destiny ... to let you know what you will be missing from this Saga

[Connavar]

Im almost sure it will get translated in a year or two.

I think they are waiting to see if the books are successful.

Blood of Elves and the other books are real books right ? Not collection with short stories ?

The Witcher (Wiedźmin) (1990) (contains 5 stories; 4 were reprinted in The Last Wish, one in Something ends, Something begins)

I wonder which is the story that didnt make it to The Last Wish i hope it wasnt a Geralt story.

[Lucien21]

Amazon.co.uk: Blood of Elves (Gollancz S.F.): Andrzej Sapkowski: Books

Blood of Elves is due in 18th September.

[Connavar]

Originally Posted by Lucien21

Amazon.co.uk: Blood of Elves (Gollancz S.F.): Andrzej Sapkowski: Books

Blood of Elves is due in 18th September.

Yeah i saw that. The third book is gonna come out in 2009 too.


Are you a fan ?

[rol7805]

This looks good, I've added it to my Amazon wishlist

[Werthead]

Yeah, the situation is a bit confused.

The Last Wish is the first collection featuring Geralt the Witcher. It introduces him, sets up the world and some of the characters and lays the groundwork for future plot developments.

Sword of Destiny is the second collection. It furthers the story of Geralt but, more importantly, it sets up important storyline elements for the novels.

Blood of the Elves is a five-novel fantasy series comprising Blood of the Elves, Time of Disdain, Baptism of Fire, The Swallow's Tower and Lady of the Lake.

Something Begins, Something Ends features one Geralt story but apparently it is not necessarily canon and was a story Sapkowski wrote for fun at his reades' request.

The Witcher, the computer game, takes place after the events of Lady of the Lake.

What is causing the confusion is that Sword of Destiny apparently directly sets up the novels and is important to read first, but Gollancz are going straight into the novels with Blood of the Elves published in August. I have no idea why. I have contacts at Gollancz, so I might drop them a line about it.

[Connavar]

Originally Posted by Werthead

Yeah, the situation is a bit confused.

The Last Wish is the first collection featuring Geralt the Witcher. It introduces him, sets up the world and some of the characters and lays the groundwork for future plot developments.

Sword of Destiny is the second collection. It furthers the story of Geralt but, more importantly, it sets up important storyline elements for the novels.

Blood of the Elves is a five-novel fantasy series comprising Blood of the Elves, Time of Disdain, Baptism of Fire, The Swallow's Tower and Lady of the Lake.

Something Begins, Something Ends features one Geralt story but apparently it is not necessarily canon and was a story Sapkowski wrote for fun at his reades' request.

The Witcher, the computer game, takes place after the events of Lady of the Lake.

What is causing the confusion is that Sword of Destiny apparently directly sets up the novels and is important to read first, but Gollancz are going straight into the novels with Blood of the Elves published in August. I have no idea why. I have contacts at Gollancz, so I might drop them a line about it.

Its not a big issue. I know what the first novel is about. One of the short stories in The Last Wish sets up the story of the first book.

Since The Last Wish short stories appeared first, Sword of Destiny isnt a big loss storywise. Most of the stories at first are stand alone stories anyway.


Something ends, Something begins (Coś się kończy, coś się zaczyna) (2000) (contains 8 stories, only two are related to The Witcher saga)

I hope though both collections Sword and something gets translated whether its stories are canon or not. I want to read every story where The Wicther is in the story.

[Werthead]

Hmm. My Polish contacts are rather insistent in their claim that Sword of Destiny is an integeral part of the series and you miss out on a lot of set-up for the novels. OTOH, the novels apparently are readable without it. I get the impression it's a bit like trying to read The Lord of the Rings without The Hobbit, except that the Witcher novels don't have the plot of the prequel summarised at the front for those who missed it.

[Connavar]

Originally Posted by Werthead

Hmm. My Polish contacts are rather insistent in their claim that Sword of Destiny is an integeral part of the series and you miss out on a lot of set-up for the novels. OTOH, the novels apparently are readable without it. I get the impression it's a bit like trying to read The Lord of the Rings without The Hobbit, except that the Witcher novels don't have the plot of the prequel summarised at the front for those who missed it.

Polish fans said in a forum i checked out that the set up for the first novel is practicly copied in Last Wish.

Since i have read that short story in LW and read synopsis for the first novel im pretty sure its not that important to read SOD first.

The biggest clue is there is no reason for them to translate the first novel first if Sword of Destiny was so important. When you have read LW you will see why it sets up the first novel just as much.