The Witcher Books, any fans here?

[Huntn]

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I have been working on Sword of Destiny by Andrzej Sapkowski's, a Witcher Book, composed of short stories or novelettes.

The stories are:

• The Bounds of Reason
• A Shard of Ice
• Eternal Flame
• A Little Sacrifice
• The Sword od Destiny
• Something More

For those unfamiliar, this is fantasy, by the author who is Polish, living in Poland. This book is highly enjoyable, even delightful, especially the story Eternal Flame that includes a familiar companion Dandelion, a troubadour, includes a hobbit (halfling) and concerns a mimic nicknamed Dudu, who assumes the identities of people, for his own advantage, but he is a sympathetic character with humor included in the story.

The novel includes Yennefer his love interest who he ends up in a competition with a sorcerer for her affection, Shard of Ice, but I have not seen their back story yet, and a golden dragon featured in Bounds of Reason, which is intriguing, with an enjoyable story structure. I’m about half way through the novel, on the forth out of six stories.

And with a bit of research to verify he is not writing in English, I‘m impressed with the quality of translation into English. There are English idioms that seem to be placed perfectly into the dialog giving the stories extra appeal as compared to some stories by other authors, I’ve read translated and are somewhat plodding in comparison.

 

[Regulus67]

I have read the 1st book. And played through the 3 Witcher games on PC.

 

[Chuckeee]

Is this a case that the books were written after the game (instead of the other way around)?

 

[Scepticalscribe]

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I have been working on Sword of Destiny by Andrzej Sapkowski's, a Witcher Book, composed of short stories or novelettes.

The stories are:

• The Bounds of Reason
• A Shard of Ice
• Eternal Flame
• A Little Sacrifice
• The Sword od Destiny
• Something More

For those unfamiliar, this is fantasy, by the author who is Polish, living in Poland. This book is highly enjoyable, even delightful, especially the story Eternal Flame that includes a familiar companion Dandelion, a troubadour, includes a hobbit (halfling) and concerns a mimic nicknamed Dudu, who assumes the identities of people, for his own advantage, but he is a sympathetic character with humor included in the story.

The novel includes Yennifer his love interest who he ends up in a competition with a sorcerer for her affection, Shard of Ice, but I have not seen their back story yet, and a golden dragon featured in Bounds of Reason, which is intriguing, with an enjoyable story structure. I’m about half way through the novel, on the forth out of six stories.

And with a bit of research to verify he is not writing in English, I‘m impressed with the quality of translation into English. There are English idioms that seem to be placed perfectly into the dialog giving the stories extra appeal as compared to some stories by other authors, I’ve read translated and are somewhat plodding in comparison.

How are the female characters portrayed?

In other words, do they have agency, autonomous story arcs, - or are they merely portrayed as a romantic interest of the male hero, or vehicles - supporting acts - to enable the classic hero's 'journey', seen solely through the hero's eyes?

Does the story allow them to exist as (functioning adults), as people, (with lives and professions), independently of their relationship with the hero, or with other male protagonists?

 

[Regulus67]

Is this a case that the books were written after the game (instead of the other way around)?

The games are a trilogy. And if you look closely at Huntn's photo. It clearly states that the game(s) are based on the bestselling stories.
The author is very famous in Poland. And also known to be very arrogant. In fact, he didn't believe CD Project would be able to produce a game based on his books. So he asked for a fixed sum, and figured it was their loss.

To the author's surprise, the games and particularly Witcher 3, became a huge hit.
But he didn't complain about it, when journalists asked if he regretted he had sold the full licence to Project CD. He has been very fair, and kept his part of the deal.
And we all know, CD Projekt is also highly regarded.

If anyone is curious. I recommend reading about Andrzej Sapkowski and CD Projekt.
Or better yet, go read one of the books

 

[KaliYoni]

Random fact: Witcher is such a big game franchise that CD Projekt Red is one of the most valuable public companies in Poland (even after the Cyberpunk fiasco, ha ha). So much so that if you buy any mutual fund or ETF that uses the MSCI World index as its benchmark, you will be a part owner of CD Projekt Red!

 

[Huntn]

Is this a case that the books were written after the game (instead of the other way around)?

No the books came first, game came second.

How are the female characters portrayed?

In other words, do they have agency, autonomous story arcs, - or are they merely portrayed as a romantic interest of the male hero, or vehicles - supporting acts - to enable the classic hero's 'journey', seen solely through the hero's eyes?

Does the story allow them to exist as (functioning adults), as people, (with lives and professions), independently of their relationship with the hero, or with other male protagonists?

From my male perspective , the significant female characters of The Witcher are not diminished to window depressing or sex objects to attact the male audience which may appear to be the case for the games or the tv series. In the books the women stand on their own two feet as complex characters. Yennefer, a sorceress is a strong character, equal to Geralt. And in my limited reading there is both Triss and Ceri.

Hatred and vengeance blinded me ... But I shall stand before them in humility. I shall remember the expression in their eyes. I hope the memory of those eyes will stop me making a similar mistake.

- Ciri, pg. 463 The Lady of the Lake (U.S. edition)

Ciri

Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon (better known as Ciri), was born in 1252 or 1253, and most likely during the Belleteyn holiday. She was the sole princess of Cintra, the daughter of Pavetta and Emhyr var Emreis (who was using the alias "Duny" at the time) as well as Queen Calanthe's granddaughter...

witcher.fandom.com

 

[Scepticalscribe]

No the books came first, game came second.

From my male perspective , the significant female characters of The Witcher are not diminished to window depressing or sex objects to attact the male audience which may appear to be the case for the games or the tv series. In the books the women stand on their own two feet as complex characters. Yennefer, a sorceress is a strong character, equal to Geralt. And in my limited reading there is both Triss and Ceri.

Hatred and vengeance blinded me ... But I shall stand before them in humility. I shall remember the expression in their eyes. I hope the memory of those eyes will stop me making a similar mistake.

- Ciri, pg. 463 The Lady of the Lake (U.S. edition)

Ciri

Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon (better known as Ciri), was born in 1252 or 1253, and most likely during the Belleteyn holiday. She was the sole princess of Cintra, the daughter of Pavetta and Emhyr var Emreis (who was using the alias "Duny" at the time) as well as Queen Calanthe's granddaughter...

witcher.fandom.com

Thanks for taking the time and trouble to reply to me.

Much appreciated.

That is good to know.

 

[Huntn]

Thanks for taking the time and trouble to reply to me.

Much appreciated.

That is good to know.

No trouble. A lot of Witcher fans liked the Netflix series, but for me it seemed too much monster fighting with a Witcher of few words, and the story structure did not seem as balanced as in the books, but they do cover how Yennefer became a Sorceress, in the show she started as a hunchback peasant and being taken under someone’s wing who saw her potential, and then later though magic elixers, made herself beautiful (as I recall). I have not come across this story or a semblance of it in the books yet. I should probably give the series another chance. 🤔

 

[Huntn]

@Scepticalscribe Not to belabor the point, but here is an another sample of writing an exchange between Gerault and Essi Deven, a troubadour in A Little Sacrifice (Sword of Destiny).

‘And what do you associate with the sea, Essi?’ he asked quickly, to put an end to discussions about the unease he was feeling.
‘With constant movement,’ she answered after a pause. ‘With change. And with riddles, with mystery, with something I cannot grasp, which I might be able to describe in a thousand different ways, in a thousand poems, never actually reaching the core, the heart of the matter. Yes, that’s it.’

 

[Huntn]

Of interest, just read about it, the author of The Witcher, convinced that it would be difficult to make a successful game out of his stories, sold the rights to CDProject Red without a % for $9500. This turned into a $20M+ franchise making the game developer the most profitable company in Poland. Afterwards there was a lawsuit to hammer out royalties for the author. CDProject Red later created the huge hit Cyberpunk 2077.

Andrzej Sapkowski Sold the Rights of The Witcher to CD Projekt Red for $9,500

CD Projekt Red turned The Witcher license it bought for $9,500 USD into a 20 million plus selling franchise.

www.dualshockers.com