Andrzej Sapkowski
Andrzej Sapkowski, The Witcher, Hexer
Best polish fantasy writer. Autor of well known The Witcher.
The Witcher Saga
Published 2009-03-05
The Witcher or Wiedźmin (Polish: Wiedźmin) by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski is a 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, a graphic novel series and others. 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.
Short story collections
* Ostatnie życzenie (The Last Wish) (1993, English edition: 2007)
* Miecz Przeznaczenia (The Sword of Destiny) (1992)
* Coś się kończy, coś się zaczyna (Something Ends, Something Begins) (2000) (this collection contains various stories by Sapkowski, including two from the Witcher saga: an old one, seen as a prequel, and a joke - alternate ending to the saga).
Novels
* Krew elfów (Blood of Elves) (1994, English edition: 2008)
* Czas pogardy (Times of Anger) (1995, English edition: 2009)
* Chrzest ognia (Baptism of Fire) (1996)
* Wieża jaskółki (The Swallow's Tower) (1997)
* Pani jeziora (Lady of the Lake) (1999)
Setting and story
For more details on this topic, see The Witcher universe.
Both short stories and novels are widely claimed by fans to be blockbusters of Polish fantasy. Geralt stories are appraised for slightly ironic sense of humor and subtle links to modern culture (e.g. one of the wizards taking part in the Gathering of the Wizards is constantly complaining about "ecological" issues). Moreover, quite contrary to the classical fantasy scheme, there is no black-white partitioning. On the other hand, Geralt's world is not a typical dark-fantasy (where all characters are more or less evil). Sapkowski tries to emphasize the scale of grays in everyone (e.g. one of the local rulers engaged in incestuous relation with his own sister is shown as a caring father - at least according to Geralt's world standards).
The Blood of the Elves series proper consists of the five novels about Geralt, in which Sapkowski links together the plotlines begun in the short stories, and adds new ones. Apart from Geralt himself, another central character is Princess Ciri. Their story is set against the background of the struggle of the Northern Kingdoms against the Nilfgaard Empire.
Short stories
The Witcher series started as 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.
Translations
The stories and novels have been translated into Czech, Portuguese, German, Russian, Lithuanian, French and Spanish. 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) is being published by Gollancz in 2008, and Czas Pogardy (Times of Anger) is planned for fall 2009.
The name "witcher"
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 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.
Alternatively, the word warlock has been used informally in English translations, while "witcher", being a neologism in English (as wiedźmin is in Polish) arguably describes better the spirit of Geralt's profession.
Short story collections
* Ostatnie życzenie (The Last Wish) (1993, English edition: 2007)
* Miecz Przeznaczenia (The Sword of Destiny) (1992)
* Coś się kończy, coś się zaczyna (Something Ends, Something Begins) (2000) (this collection contains various stories by Sapkowski, including two from the Witcher saga: an old one, seen as a prequel, and a joke - alternate ending to the saga).
Novels
* Krew elfów (Blood of Elves) (1994, English edition: 2008)
* Czas pogardy (Times of Anger) (1995, English edition: 2009)
* Chrzest ognia (Baptism of Fire) (1996)
* Wieża jaskółki (The Swallow's Tower) (1997)
* Pani jeziora (Lady of the Lake) (1999)
Setting and story
For more details on this topic, see The Witcher universe.
Both short stories and novels are widely claimed by fans to be blockbusters of Polish fantasy. Geralt stories are appraised for slightly ironic sense of humor and subtle links to modern culture (e.g. one of the wizards taking part in the Gathering of the Wizards is constantly complaining about "ecological" issues). Moreover, quite contrary to the classical fantasy scheme, there is no black-white partitioning. On the other hand, Geralt's world is not a typical dark-fantasy (where all characters are more or less evil). Sapkowski tries to emphasize the scale of grays in everyone (e.g. one of the local rulers engaged in incestuous relation with his own sister is shown as a caring father - at least according to Geralt's world standards).
The Blood of the Elves series proper consists of the five novels about Geralt, in which Sapkowski links together the plotlines begun in the short stories, and adds new ones. Apart from Geralt himself, another central character is Princess Ciri. Their story is set against the background of the struggle of the Northern Kingdoms against the Nilfgaard Empire.
Short stories
The Witcher series started as 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.
Translations
The stories and novels have been translated into Czech, Portuguese, German, Russian, Lithuanian, French and Spanish. 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) is being published by Gollancz in 2008, and Czas Pogardy (Times of Anger) is planned for fall 2009.
The name "witcher"
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 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.
Alternatively, the word warlock has been used informally in English translations, while "witcher", being a neologism in English (as wiedźmin is in Polish) arguably describes better the spirit of Geralt's profession.
Andrzej Sapkowski Biography
Published 2009-03-05
Andrzej Sapkowski, born June 21, 1948 in Łódź, is a Polish fantasy writer. Sapkowski studied economics, and before turning to writing, he had worked as a senior sales representative for a foreign trade company. His first short story, The Witcher (Wiedźmin), was published in Fantastyka, Poland's leading fantasy literary magazine, in 1986 and was enormously successful both with readers and critics. Sapkowski has created a cycle of tales based on the world of The Witcher, comprising three collections of short stories and five novels. This cycle and his many other works have made him one of the best-known fantasy authors in Poland in the 1990s.
The main character of The Witcher (alternative translation: The Hexer) is Geralt, a mutant assassin who has been trained since childhood to hunt down and destroy monsters. Geralt exists in an ambiguous moral universe, yet manages to maintain his own coherent code of ethics. At the same time cynical and noble, Geralt has been compared to Raymond Chandler's signature character Philip Marlowe. The world in which these adventures take place are heavily influenced by Slavic mythology.
Sapkowski has won five Zajdel Awards, including three for short stories "Mniejsze zło" (Lesser Evil) (1990), "Miecz przeznaczenia" (Sword of Destiny) (1992) and "W leju po bombie" (In a Bomb Crater) (1993), and two for the novels "Krew elfów" (Blood of Elves) (1994) and "Narrenturm" (2002). He also won the Spanish Ignotus Award, best anthology, for The Last Wish in 2003, and for "Muzykanci" (The Musicians), best foreign short story, same year.
In 1997, Sapkowski won the prestigious Polityka's Passport award, which is awarded annually to artists who have strong prospects for international success.
In 2001, a Television Series based on the Witcher cycle was released in Poland and internationally, entitled Wiedźmin (The Hexer). A film by the same title was compiled from excerpts of the television series but both have been critical and box office failures.
Sapkowski's books have been translated into Czech, Russian, Lithuanian, German, Spanish, French, Ukrainian and Portuguese. English translation of The Last Wish short story collection was published by Gollancz in 2007.
Polish game publisher CD Projekt created a role-playing PC game based on this universe, called The Witcher, which was released in October 2007. There is also a mobile version of the game which has been created by Breakpoint Games and is being published by Hands-On Mobile in Western Europe,Latin America and Asia Pacific.
The English translation of Sapkowski's novel Blood of Elves was nominated for the David Gemmell Legends Award in 2008
Short story collections
* The Witcher (Wiedźmin) (1990) (contains 5 stories; 4 were reprinted in The Last Wish, one in Something ends, Something begins)
* Sword of Destiny (Miecz przeznaczenia) (1992) (6 stories)
* The Last Wish (Ostatnie życzenie) (1993) (7 stories)
* Something ends, Something begins (Coś się kończy, coś się zaczyna) (2000) (contains 8 stories, only two are related to The Witcher saga)
The Saga
* Blood of Elves (Krew elfów) (1994)
* Time of Disdain (Czas pogardy) (1995)
* Baptism of Fire (Chrzest ognia) (1996)
* The Swallow's Tower (Wieża Jaskółki) (1997)
* Lady of the Lake (Pani Jeziora) (1999)
Narrenturm trilogy (or Hussite Trilogy)
* Narrenturm (2002)
* Warriors of God (Boży bojownicy) (2004)
* Lux perpetua (2006)
Other works
* Viper (Żmija) (2009) A novel set during Soviet war in Afghanistan.
* The Eye of Yrrhedes (Oko Yrrhedesa) (1995), roleplaying game
* The World of King Arthur. Maladie (Świat króla Artura. Maladie.) (1995), essay and a short story set in Arthurian mythology
* Manuscript Discovered in a Dragon's Cave (Rękopis znaleziony w Smoczej Jaskini) (2001), fantasy encyclopedic compendium
The main character of The Witcher (alternative translation: The Hexer) is Geralt, a mutant assassin who has been trained since childhood to hunt down and destroy monsters. Geralt exists in an ambiguous moral universe, yet manages to maintain his own coherent code of ethics. At the same time cynical and noble, Geralt has been compared to Raymond Chandler's signature character Philip Marlowe. The world in which these adventures take place are heavily influenced by Slavic mythology.
Sapkowski has won five Zajdel Awards, including three for short stories "Mniejsze zło" (Lesser Evil) (1990), "Miecz przeznaczenia" (Sword of Destiny) (1992) and "W leju po bombie" (In a Bomb Crater) (1993), and two for the novels "Krew elfów" (Blood of Elves) (1994) and "Narrenturm" (2002). He also won the Spanish Ignotus Award, best anthology, for The Last Wish in 2003, and for "Muzykanci" (The Musicians), best foreign short story, same year.
In 1997, Sapkowski won the prestigious Polityka's Passport award, which is awarded annually to artists who have strong prospects for international success.
In 2001, a Television Series based on the Witcher cycle was released in Poland and internationally, entitled Wiedźmin (The Hexer). A film by the same title was compiled from excerpts of the television series but both have been critical and box office failures.
Sapkowski's books have been translated into Czech, Russian, Lithuanian, German, Spanish, French, Ukrainian and Portuguese. English translation of The Last Wish short story collection was published by Gollancz in 2007.
Polish game publisher CD Projekt created a role-playing PC game based on this universe, called The Witcher, which was released in October 2007. There is also a mobile version of the game which has been created by Breakpoint Games and is being published by Hands-On Mobile in Western Europe,Latin America and Asia Pacific.
The English translation of Sapkowski's novel Blood of Elves was nominated for the David Gemmell Legends Award in 2008
Short story collections
* The Witcher (Wiedźmin) (1990) (contains 5 stories; 4 were reprinted in The Last Wish, one in Something ends, Something begins)
* Sword of Destiny (Miecz przeznaczenia) (1992) (6 stories)
* The Last Wish (Ostatnie życzenie) (1993) (7 stories)
* Something ends, Something begins (Coś się kończy, coś się zaczyna) (2000) (contains 8 stories, only two are related to The Witcher saga)
The Saga
* Blood of Elves (Krew elfów) (1994)
* Time of Disdain (Czas pogardy) (1995)
* Baptism of Fire (Chrzest ognia) (1996)
* The Swallow's Tower (Wieża Jaskółki) (1997)
* Lady of the Lake (Pani Jeziora) (1999)
Narrenturm trilogy (or Hussite Trilogy)
* Narrenturm (2002)
* Warriors of God (Boży bojownicy) (2004)
* Lux perpetua (2006)
Other works
* Viper (Żmija) (2009) A novel set during Soviet war in Afghanistan.
* The Eye of Yrrhedes (Oko Yrrhedesa) (1995), roleplaying game
* The World of King Arthur. Maladie (Świat króla Artura. Maladie.) (1995), essay and a short story set in Arthurian mythology
* Manuscript Discovered in a Dragon's Cave (Rękopis znaleziony w Smoczej Jaskini) (2001), fantasy encyclopedic compendium