If you’re even remotely interested in videogames, chances are you’ve heard of a franchise known as “The Witcher”. The first game, released in 2007, gained gigantic critical acclaim for its complex storyline and characters and interesting battle and character development systems (which haven’t really aged all that well, admittedly). Its success gave the developer, an unknown Polish studio by the name of CD Projekt RED, worldwide recognition, allowing them to release “The Witcher 2” in 2011 and, of course, “The Witcher 3”, which won 2015’s Game of the Year award. The series is universally beloved by gamers everywhere… But did you know that they’re actually a sequel to a whole bunch of novels? And that the novels are WAY older than the games? It’s true!
In a world where most novels associated with videogames are adaptations (such as the wonderful “Assassin’s Creed” books), it’s actually quite refreshing to see some games which are actually based on books rather than the other way around. And not only that – “The Witcher” saga is great! Like, really, really great! While it never quite picked up steam in the rest of the world until the games blew up, the saga was actually extremely popular in Poland, spawning a movie and a TV series. And for good reason – it gives you fantasy like you’ve never seen it before! It’s dirty, gritty, but not overwhelmingly negative. It doesn’t shy away from presenting our characters as human (or inhuman) not just psychologically, but also physically. It’s hard to explain without giving things away, so let’s talk a bit about the plot, shall we?
The books follow the adventures of Geralt of Rivia, a Witcher – essentially someone who walks from town to town and takes money to deal with monsters plaguing the villagers. Sometimes this involves killing a giant beast, other times it involves dealing with it in some other manner. For example, in the very first book, “The Last Wish”, Geralt has to lift a curse from a young girl who has been turned into a Striga, a werewolf-like creature from Polish mythology. In the next book, “Sword of Destiny”, there’s a story all about NOT killing a monster and dissuading other hunters from pursuing it, as it is the last of its kind. And starting from the next book, “Blood of Elves”, killing monsters takes a back seat to a complicated plot as an army approaches from beyond the veil of the known world to destroy it.
Interestingly enough, the aforementioned first two books, “The Last Wish” and “Sword of Destiny”, are collections of short stories rather than novels, but that doesn’t mean you should dismiss them, as they introduce key characters and concepts that you absolutely need in order to understand the novels. Characters like Dandelion, the bard who always accompanies Geralt in order to sing of his exploits; Yennefer, the sorceress whose destiny is tied to Geralt’s through magic, and Ciri, who is so important later that literally anything I say about her is a huge spoiler. All the books are available in English (the first 5 from Amazon, the last two are available for free online as a fan translation, with the author’s permission), so get out there and give them a read! I guarantee they’re better than the games, and that’s saying something!