The Witcher Saga by Andrzej Sapkowski has been one of the best selling books out there to this date.
With the Netflix and game adaption, it has been of the most popular topics in recent years.
The question is, is it worth to read the Witcher?
It's definitely worth to read "the Witcher". The plot is interesting, the book is easy to read and it conveys universal values.
Is it worth reading the Witcher?
Yes, the novels' story is a very quest journey based on complicated and exciting plot lines.
Many reviews back up the answer sharing their thrilling experience when reading the Witcher's saga.
To give you a quick backstory, the Witcher are humans who underwent mutations and rough training when they were children; they overcame the pain to unlock superhuman abilities that can be used to hunt monsters.
The witcher saga follows Geralt of Rivia a Witcher and his ward Ciri who is also trained to be a witcher. Siri is the heir to the throne of Sintra which the Nilfgaardian Empire has recently taken over.
The Northern kingdoms and the Nilfgaardian Empire both want Ciri for their political gains. Luckily with the help of our main protagonist Geralt, sorceress Yennefer, as well as many other fantastic secondary characters will do anything possible to keep Ciri out of their clutches.
7 great reasons to read The Witcher
The main characters and their motivations
The Witcher books are full of great characters, take Geralt, for example.
Geralt being one of the main characters he has so much philosophy in his personality, his moral compass is always present, making him a character you can look up to.
All of the characters are complex and have their own backstories and motivations, which drive them and make them behave the way they do.
Many of these characters are conflicted either internally or externally, but all for good reasons, in ways that don't make them pathetic or overly broody.
The fantastic writing of the female characters
The female characters in Sapkowski books are fantastic, which is rare to see in fantasy books, especially from male authors.
Usually, female characters in fantasy stories are portraits as either angry personalities that want to kill everything or love interests which helps the main character form decisions.
However, the female characters play a significant role in Sapkowski's books. Yennifer is a sorceress love interest that Geralt has had in a long time; she's an incredibly developed badass character with emotions.
For Ciri, the reader gets the chance to see Ciri grow up and trained to be a Witcher. Ciri becomes involved in the novel's political plots, which gets Geralt involved, this modifies Geralt's personality; usually, he would be natural to political not wanting to be on anyone's side.
Ciri drives the plot forward more than Geralt does.
There are so many relationships in this book, from romantic to parental relationships. All of them are very integrate and very well thought-out. The relationships between our main cast of characters are full of quarrels and imperfections, which makes them humans.
The LGBT representation
There's an LGBT representation in The Witcher, which you don't see much in fantasy books.
There's a bisexual female character, although the relationship she enters is slightly sketchy; nonetheless, I'm proud The Witcher has an LGBT representation.
The fantastic build-up of the world
The world is fantastic; it has many European folklore influences, the world is also very dark, and the map is massive, which you can explore within each book in the series.
The world also has a lot of islands, forests and wilderness. The many places in this huge land are made for the reader to explore freely.
Destiny also plays a big part in this universe, seeming some sort of outer force governing everything around the world. There's no real way to escape it, even if our characters still try to. Different bounds of destiny make the characters even more enjoyable.
Netflix and games adaptations
Netflix and games are an adaptation of the book series.
Everything mentioned in the series and the games are much more revealed and informative in the books, from the characters' point of view to the more in-depth understanding of the political schemes that exist between the kingdoms.
The book also seems more gut-wrenching than the adaptations, throwing some eerie vibes of what's going on with our characters.
The books build suspense and informs the readers
Political schemes within the world are easier to understand. The game series lacks in showing the gamer what's going on in the political stage of The Witcher, it's very unclear, and most gamers were left in doubt.
The books do an excellent job informing the reader of the political schemes, from showing the turmoils between Novigrad, Temeria and Cintra to the society that non-human races faces.
Everything is expanded within the books, going to great lengths of ensuring that the reader understands each information given.
How Andrzej Sapkowski is an excellent writer
The books are excellent. From the references to folklore, the battles and the characters, the book includes multiple layers that are suspenseful, gut-wrenching, inspiring and loveable.
Everything is explained immensely well, and the best bit is that the story is finished. If the adaptations don't explain or inform the most crucial points in the plotline, the novels do, any questions you might ask you can always read the books to find out.
Should you play the game or read the books first?
It's suggested that you read the books; first, the reason for this is that Witcher 3 reveals significant plot points relatively quickly within the game.
These plot points are withheld from the reader throughout the book series and not revealed until the final book Lady Of The Lake, showing these plot points relatively quickly removes any suspense from the story.
How long will it take to read the Witcher?
Depending on how fast you read, roughly it will take you to read The Last Wish in 12 days, Sword Of Destiny, 13 days, Blood Of Elves 11 days, Time Of Concept 11 days, Baptism Of Fire 13 days, The Tower of Swallows 15 days and The Lady Of The Lake 18 days.
Is the Witcher an easy read?
It's relatively easy to pick up the tone in the Witcher books, the dialogue being modern.
Although there's some information that readers might find challenging to gather, a few words need to be translated due to authenticity. Still, overall The Witcher can be recommended to any book lovers out there.
In what order should you read the Witcher?
The first book in the series is The Last Wish; this book is a short story anthology that you should read first before reading the novels. The Last Wish is a perfect introduction to Geralt, the world and how the Witcher concept functions. This book is highly recommended to read first.
The second book in the series is The Sword Of Destiny, a short story anthology collection. The Sword Of Destiny has a great story that introduces Ciri, one of the main characters alongside Geralt.
The third book is The Blood of Elves. The novel sprawls into the state of the world and politics, while interesting is slightly overdone, there's not enough tension. Geralt in this book is moving Ciri from various refuges, trying to protect her no matter what cost. In this novel, you get to meet new great characters, and you get to see Geralt in action.
The fourth book is the Time Of Contempt, which picks up after Blood Of Elves' end. This novel centres around the beginning of the Geralt and Ciri, which gets quite dark. The development of the main characters are hard to see, and this book gives a tone for the characters future choices. Geralt goes through a lot in this book, although he has less of a storyline than Ciri. Ciri's character is excellent in this book, a lot of character use Ciri, but with the help of Geralt, Ciri is a badass.
The fifth book Baptims Of fire, Geralt, has the main storyline in this book. Unaware of Ciri's location Geralt sets out to rescue Ciri. This novel is dark and complex, with lots of violence and chaos.
The sixth book is The Tower Of The Swallow. This book begins with Ciri and her recovery from being very close to death. Much has happened to Ciri and Geralt in this book, and the overall structure is impressive.
The Lady Of The Lake is the last book of The Witcher saga. This novel is focused on bringing conflicts, battles, schemes and confrontations to and end. There are plot twists in this novel with explained prophecies, showing the reader the consequences of the political scheming.
Is the Witcher the best book ever?
The Witcher delivers an epic fantasy, full of romance, quests and intricate plot lines. I can't say it's the best book ever written, but it's one of the top 10's. Andrzej Sapkowski is a fantastic author, and I would recommend The Witcher for any book, game or series lover out there.
These novels have layers of political schemes, epic characters, Slavic Folklore, great battles and suspenseful plot lines. Each layer is created with unique elements that pull the reader in to continue reading.
At the end of the day, you should read what intrigues you and I can definitely say The Witcher does just that.
