The witcher books are a series of works written by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski. The author worked on this series for twenty years, publishing his first novel in 1986.
All books about the witcher Sapkowski are part of a single fantastic series that resonated in the hearts of readers. Today, these works are very popular. And these are not empty words. After all, their plot is used to create series and games, musicals and comics.
Andrzej Sapowski created an amazing atmosphere in his books. The reader is easily immersed in it, and then with difficulty breaks away from this amazing world, having begun to perceive the characters of the work as if they were relatives.
In all parts of The Witcher, the main character is Geralt. The main purpose of his life is to rid the world of terrible monsters. However, the witcher Geralt is not represented by the author as a soulless killing machine. This hero has a beloved and many friends. In addition, he is very attached to the little girl with whom fate brought him together.
about the author
Andrzej Sapkowski is from the Polish city of Lodz. It was here that he was born in 1948. Until 1986, writing literary works was nothing more than a hobby for him. However, after readers got acquainted with the fantasy novel “The Witcher”, radical changes took place in his fate. A series of these books soon gained recognition and popularity among critics and readers. Judging by their numerous reviews, ordinary townsfolk and literary critics really liked the new interpretation of the Polish fairy tale, in which the shoemaker defeats the monster and marries the princess.
In addition, the writer is known for his many analytical works and articles on fantasy worlds (for example, an essay about King Arthur). Also, Andrzej Sapkowski wrote many short stories.
In 1998, the writer was awarded the Passport Prize for his services to the culture of his country. Also today, he is one of the five most published Polish authors.
About the protagonist
Who is the witcher? First of all, this is a character with magical abilities. He came to us from Slavic mythology. In the world that Sapkovsky created, such heroes have a specific purpose. It is concluded in the fight against evil spirits and monsters. The witchers are helped to fight these monsters by their magic spell, physiological mutation, as well as excellent possession of melee weapons. In addition, such characters age very slowly. However, despite the fact that the witches are endowed with many abilities, they are mortal. In this regard, their life is sometimes very short. However, all this is not at all about our protagonist.
For those who are interested in such a character, you can read the book "The Witcher Apprentice." This is a work of art by Delaney Joseph. It describes the adventures of the seventh son of the seventh son.
The hero of Sapkovsky’s books, among other things, earned popularity due to the familiar and native Slavic flavor. In most cases, this attracts readers of a very intriguing series, which includes eight works. Consider the chronology of books about the witcher.
Popular Literary Series
We list all the books about the witcher Andrzej Sapkowski in order. The first of this series was the collection of short stories The Last Wish. Readers were able to familiarize themselves with it back in 1986. The next collection of short stories, The Sword of Destiny, was published in 1992. After that, the writer created full-fledged novels. This is “Blood of the Elves” (in 1994), and then, respectively, in 1995, 1996, 1997 and in 1998 - “Hour of Contempt”, “Baptism of Fire”, “Swallow Tower” and "Lady of the Lake." The latest book about the witcher is The Thunderstorm Season. It is dated 2013.
These are all books by Andrzej Sapkowski about the Witchers. In addition to them, the author has written two more stories that are not directly related to the cycle, but whose action takes place in the same Universe. This is “The Road Without Return” (1988), as well as “Something Ends, and Something Starts” (1992). In the first of these two narratives, Sapkowski describes the alleged Witcher parents.
Genre
What features are characteristic of the Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski? Readers in most cases are attracted by the genre of works - fantasy. All the events that the plot is so rich in take place in the world created by the author. Moreover, in such a fictitious reality, the simplest laws of nature are sometimes not observed. The fact that the books are written in the fantasy genre is also confirmed when meeting people from this world. Many of them belong to a non-existent race. These are, for example, vampires, elf gnomes and some other creatures. At the same time, the author endowed the inhabitants of the fictional world with extraordinary abilities. A vivid example of this is the witch, who is easily able to turn everyone into frogs.
But still, the dominant position in the fantasy world, shown in the popular series of the Polish writer, is given to humanity. And elves, vampires, gnomes and many other creatures live next to humans.
The plot takes place in a vast territory divided into separate kingdoms. These are Redania, Temeria, the Nilfgaard Empire and about a dozen other lands. In all these kingdoms of the fictional world, stormy events take place.
main characters
The main character in a series of works created by a Polish writer is Geralt of Rivia. This is the witcher who hunts for monsters that are dangerous to humans. As a child, Geralt underwent mutations. They allowed him to obtain such combat qualities as increased reaction speed and strength. By the way, all witches are subject to mutations in the fictional world of the Polish author.
Geralt's main work is the destruction of dangerous monsters, which he does for money. This witcher has his own code of conduct. He tries not to take part in the political intrigues of sorcerers and kings. Nevertheless, numerous events draw him into a difficult conflict between the population of the northern lands and the powerful southern empire of Nilfgaard. Herald defends the young Princess Tsiri from the destroyed kingdom of Zintra. This is the Child-Surprise, destined for our hero before his birth.
The author focuses on Ciri the interests of the most influential forces of the fictional world. This is the Lodge of the Sorceress, Emperor Nilfgaard, as well as the Sorcerer Wilgeforts. The princess earned so much attention by the fact that according to the existing prediction, her descendant should decide the fate of the world.
According to the plot of the work, Tsiri receives symbolic gifts from Geralt, as well as from the sorceress Yennifor, who are her adoptive parents. They represent the skills of the witchers in the form of possession of the sword, as well as sorcerers in the form of magic. In the future, Ciri, according to the plot of the work, will have to go through difficult trials and become, like Geralt, the protagonist of a series of stories.
We will not consider all the books about the witcher Sapkowski in order in this article. Let us dwell on one of the popular short stories - “Last Wish”.
The first work of the series
The book "Last Wish" is a collection of short stories. Each of them describes the wanderings of the witcher Geralt. At first, readers get the opinion that all the stories included in this book stand apart from each other. However, by the middle of the story, their relationship becomes noticeable. At the same time, interlude permeating the entire work, allows you to see them in the perspective of the present.
Each of the stories of the book “Last Wish” about the witcher acquaints the reader with the features of the difficult work of the protagonist, as well as with various aspects of his character. Moreover, the story written by Andrzej Sapkowski in 1986 can be considered a kind of prologue to the life story of Geralt, Ciri and Yennifor. We will get acquainted with the summary of the stories included in the story “Last Wish”.
The Witcher
In the very first story, the author introduces his reader to the main character - Geralt of Rivia. This witcher is the first time we see in Vizima - the capital of the state of Temeria. At this moment, Geralt, in his attempt to earn some money, is busy fulfilling the contract, under the terms of which he must kill the ghoul terrorizing the city at night. A similar task is quite feasible for our witcher. However, in this case there is one caveat. The fact is that the monster is the daughter of the king of this state of Voltest. The ruler, of course, does not want the death of his child. The king wants his daughter to be bewitched. To the one who undertakes such work, he promises a good reward. Geralt decides to do this. In order to achieve his goal, he needs not to let the ghoul into the sarcophagus, where she usually sleeps. He copes with this task, and in the morning the girl is bewitched.
Reviews of the book “The Witcher” show that many in this unpretentious at first glance story saw a double bottom. After all, the characters of the story did not meet the traditional expectations of readers. So, the king, whom at first everyone perceived as a tyrant, actually turned out to be a worrying and caring father. In addition, it seems that Geralt, the prudent and cynical mutant, committed the most humane act. At the same time, the moral that the story contains is read only in the actions of the heroes. None of them make pathos about the attractiveness of good and the inferiority of evil.
“A grain of truth”
What is the content of the next story from the first book of the witcher? Reader reviews let us know that in this story, the author perfectly beat the famous fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast." In the story told by Sapkowski, the main character Geralt continues his journey around the world. On his way, he had to meet a monster named Nivellen. This monster was a man with a bear head. In the past, Nivellen led a robber gang. He was turned into a monster by the curse of the temple attendant of the Lion-headed Spider, which he robbed with his comrades. After that, the gang fled. Nivellen was left alone and began to live with the girl Vereena. Geralt realized that this was a vampire, and killed her. After the death of Vereena, Nivellen returned to his human form. Reviews on the book “The Witcher. The last wish ”says that the reader was also traced in it a story familiar from the Russian fairy tale“ The Scarlet Flower ”.
"Lesser evil"
Reviews on the book “The Witcher. Last Wish ”indicates that in this story, readers have learned the plot of the fairy tale“ Snow White ”. She is in the story Princess Renfrey. The girl had a hard time with her stepmother. After many ordeals, she radically changed her life, becoming a dangerous robber, who many knew by the nickname Shrike. The girl sought to take revenge on her stepmother, as well as the sorcerer Stregobor who helped her, collecting a gang of seven helpers.
Geralt in this story appears in the town of Blaviken. Here he meets with the sorcerer Stregobor, who sets out his version of what is happening. He talks about the fact that there is a certain curse of the Black Sun. Because of him, a mutant girl with a perverted psyche can be born in the royal family. She became Renfrey.
The princess also found the witcher and presented her own point of view, asking him not to interfere in the confrontation. Renfrey decided to force Stregobor to leave the tower in which he took refuge, and for this she was going to take people hostage in the market square. Geralt chose the lesser evil. He mortally wounded the princess, saving people. But they did not fully understand what was happening and with shame expelled our hero from the city.
“Price Question”
Reviews of the book by Andrzej Sapkowski's The Witcher confirm that this story is one of the key to the development of the plot. Its action takes place in the city of Cintra. Our hero got here at the invitation of Queen Calante.
In this story, the reader first becomes acquainted with such concepts of the fictional world as the Law of Surprise and Purpose.
In The Question of Price, the witcher must save Queen Pavelta’s daughter. The girl, according to Destination, should soon marry the knight who saved her father at one time. However, not all so simple. The fact is that the bridegroom of the Queen’s daughter is bewitched. In the image of man, he is only from midnight to dawn. The rest of the time, the knight is seen in the guise of a monster, whose name is Jozh.
Of course, a loving mother is against such a marriage. That is why she asks Geralt to upset the wedding. However, the witcher does not kill the monster. He forces the queen to fulfill the oath of her late husband. After the marriage, the curse of the knight was lifted.
"The end of the world"
In this story, the reader gets acquainted with a new hero - the troubadour Lyutik, who is a close friend of Geralt. Friends go to the Valley of Flowers, where residents of a local village ask the witcher to save them from the horned devil.
Often negative reviews about the book “The Witcher. Last Wish ”concerns this particular story. Readers and critics consider him the weakest of this story. Nevertheless, it deserves special attention. Indeed, in this story, the author first introduces us to the elves. Representatives of this race appear in the Valley of Flowers and bind Buttercup and Geralt, intending to kill them. However, friends remain alive thanks to the elven mistress Dana Meabdh. She ordered the release of friends.
"Last wish"
Reviews of books about the witcher suggest that this story is one of the most interesting in the first story of a series of stories created by a Polish writer. Here we see Geralt, who in the company of Buttercup decided to go fishing. However, a mysterious vessel, sealed with a seal, suddenly fell into the network of our heroes. Buttercup opens the bottle from which the genie emerges. However, he does not fulfill his wishes, but grabs his savior by the throat. With a wounded friend, Geralt comes to the enchantress Yennifor. She heals Lucica, demanding for this seal, which was on the bottle. With its help, the sorceress takes control of the will of Geralt, and he ends up in prison. As it turned out, being in a state of insanity, our hero beat a pawnshop, and also publicly flogged pharmacist Lavronosik. These were people who demanded the expulsion of the sorceress from the city. After some very interesting events between Geralt and Yennifor, a very complex relationship begins to arise.
Book Reviews
Many readers say that the author managed to create not only unpredictable and dynamic, but also a bright, lively story, filled with caustic irony. Critics note that somewhat later, this style became the hallmark of Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski. However, after the publication of the first book about the witcher, no one even suggested that it would be the beginning of a cycle consisting of two collections of short stories, as well as five novels.
Gradually, from book to book, the world in which the protagonist lives became more and more clear for the reader. The stories were based on stories of fairy tales, either folk or written by Charles Perrault or the Grimm brothers. And every time Sapkowski suggested looking at these classic stories from a completely different angle.
The reviews of Andrzej Sapkowski’s book “The Witcher” suggest that, despite the lack of heroism in the ordinary life of a fantasy world, the reader is attracted by the plot that the characters in the cycle of stories tend not to betray themselves. They do not indulge in narcissistic and stupid rulers, do not make meannesses and do not turn away when they see that someone else is doing them.
The book about the witcher received a lot of reviews thanks to its main character. Sapkowski gradually reveals his character, complicating the tests intended for him from history to history. At the same time, the reader sees that Geralt is much more humane than many "real" people.
Sometimes you can read about the series of books “The Witcher” and negative reviews. For some readers, the motives and actions of the characters remain incomprehensible. Herold until the end of the story remains an incomprehensible and hidden figure for them. One of the shortcomings of the stories is their understatement. Some readers do not like the fact that the author sometimes breaks off his stories, expressing an idea, but not filling out its completion.
Nevertheless, positive reviews about this series can be found much more. Sapkowski is sometimes compared by critics with a martial artist. After all, he has an accurate and verified syllable, and in his stories it is impossible to find a single extra word. The richness of the writer's language allows him to accurately reflect the character of his hero with two or three phrases, enrich the cultural and historical background of the world he created, and gracefully weave into the text an indication of a mythological, political or historical fact. And the author manages to do all this without canceling the semantic richness of the plot and without reducing its dynamics.