The Witcher
Updated: 12/10/2025, 10:48:26 AM Wikipedia source
The Witcher (Polish: Wiedźmin, pronounced [ˈvjɛd͡ʑmin]) is a series of nine fantasy novels and 15 short stories by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. The series revolves around the eponymous witcher, Geralt of Rivia. Witchers are monster hunters given superhuman abilities for the purpose of killing dangerous creatures. The Witcher began with a titular 1986 short story that Sapkowski entered into a competition held by Fantastyka magazine, marking his debut as an author. Due to reader demand, Sapkowski wrote 14 more stories before starting a series of novels in 1994. Known as The Witcher Saga, he wrote one book a year until the fifth and final installment in 1999. A standalone prequel novel, Season of Storms, was published in 2013. Another prequel, Crossroads of Ravens, was published in 2024. The books have been described as having a cult following in Poland and throughout Central and Eastern Europe. They have been translated into 37 languages and sold over 15 million copies worldwide as of July 2020. They have also been adapted into a film (The Hexer), two television series (The Hexer and The Witcher), a video game series, and a series of comic books. The video games have been even more successful, with more than 75 million copies sold as of May 2023.
Infobox
Author
Andrzej Sapkowski
Country
Poland
Language
Polish
Genre
Fantasy
Publisher
SuperNowa
Published
1986–2024
Published in English
2007–2025 by Hachette
No. of books
9
Tables
· Overview
Polish
Polish
No.
Polish
English title (original Polish title)
English
Pages
Polish
Pages
English
1
1
No.
1
English title (original Polish title)
The Last Wish (Ostatnie życzenie)
Pages
286
Pages
288
Release
1993
Release
2007
2
2
No.
2
English title (original Polish title)
Sword of Destiny (Miecz Przeznaczenia)
Pages
343
Pages
384
Release
1992
Release
2015
3
3
No.
3
English title (original Polish title)
Blood of Elves (Krew elfów)
Pages
295
Pages
320
Release
1994
Release
2008
Series
The Witcher Saga
4
4
No.
4
English title (original Polish title)
Time of Contempt (Czas pogardy)
Pages
319
Pages
331
Release
1995
Release
2013
5
5
No.
5
English title (original Polish title)
Baptism of Fire (Chrzest ognia)
Pages
336
Pages
343
Release
1996
Release
2014
6
6
No.
6
English title (original Polish title)
The Tower of the Swallow (Wieża Jaskółki)
Pages
428
Pages
436
Release
1997
Release
2016
7
7
No.
7
English title (original Polish title)
The Lady of the Lake (Pani Jeziora)
Pages
520
Pages
531
Release
1999
Release
2017
8
8
No.
8
English title (original Polish title)
Season of Storms (Sezon burz)
Pages
404
Pages
384
Release
2013
Release
2018
Series
Prequel novels
9
9
No.
9
English title (original Polish title)
Crossroads of Ravens (Rozdroże kruków)
Pages
292
Pages
400
Release
2024
Release
2025
| No. | English title (original Polish title) | Pages | Release | Series | ||
| Polish | English | Polish | English | |||
| The Witcher (Wiedźmin) | 235 | － | 1990 | － | Short story collections | |
| 1 | The Last Wish (Ostatnie życzenie) | 286 | 288 | 1993 | 2007 | |
| 2 | Sword of Destiny (Miecz Przeznaczenia) | 343 | 384 | 1992 | 2015 | |
| 3 | Blood of Elves (Krew elfów) | 295 | 320 | 1994 | 2008 | The Witcher Saga |
| 4 | Time of Contempt (Czas pogardy) | 319 | 331 | 1995 | 2013 | |
| 5 | Baptism of Fire (Chrzest ognia) | 336 | 343 | 1996 | 2014 | |
| 6 | The Tower of the Swallow (Wieża Jaskółki) | 428 | 436 | 1997 | 2016 | |
| 7 | The Lady of the Lake (Pani Jeziora) | 520 | 531 | 1999 | 2017 | |
| 8 | Season of Storms (Sezon burz) | 404 | 384 | 2013 | 2018 | Prequel novels |
| 9 | Crossroads of Ravens (Rozdroże kruków) | 292 | 400 | 2024 | 2025 | |
References
- When SuperNowa acquired the publishing rights to the series, The Witcher was replaced by The Last Wish as the first book
- Although the publisher's official order of the books places Sword of Destiny after The Last Wish, it was published first
- "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt sales top 50 million; The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt sales top 50 million; The Witcher series tops 75 million"https://www.gematsu.com/2023/05/the-witcher-3-wild-hunt-sales-top-50-million-the-witcher-series-tops-75-million
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- Time of Contempt: Witcher 2 – Now a major Netflix showhttps://books.google.com/books?id=IYSCezJGwE4C&q=Time+of+Contempt
- Baptism of Fire: Witcher 3 – Now a major Netflix showhttps://books.google.com/books?id=ibTVAQAAQBAJ&q=Baptism+of+Fire
- The Tower of Swallowshttps://books.google.com/books?id=SXfFDgAAQBAJ&q=The+Tower+of+the+Swallow
- The Lady of the Lakehttps://books.google.com/books?id=Jm5FvgAACAAJ&q=The+Lady+of+the+Lake
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- Past for the eyes: East European representations of communism in cinema and museums after 1989https://books.google.com/books?id=SO8LAQAAMAAJ
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- "'Nie bądź, kurwa, taki Geralt' – interview on author's page"https://web.archive.org/web/20071215043502/http://www.sapkowski.pl/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=453
- Wielojęzyczność w perspektywie stylistyki i poetyki
- "Projekt słownika Starszej Mowy"https://web.archive.org/web/20140324172408/http://www.sapkowski.pl/modules.php?op=modload&name=Companion&file=index&func=slownik
- НО МЫ ЖЕ СЛАВЯНЕ! РАЗГОВОР С АНДЖЕЕМ САПКОВСКИМ, An interview with Sapkowski for Russian monthly magazine "World of Fatnhttps://web.archive.org/web/20180203071018/http://old.mirf.ru/Articles/art934.htm
- "Nomest est omen"https://sapkowskipl.wordpress.com/2017/03/12/nomest-est-omen/
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