A Beginner’s Guide to The Witcher

Netflix is about to debut a show based on Andrzej Sapkowski Witcher novels. Here’s everything you need to know about this rich fantasy series.

Game of Thrones is over, and every network and streaming service under the sun is trying to find a splashy fantasy show to take its place. Enter The Witcher, a series of fantasy novels by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. Already adapted as a series of extremely successful video games, Netflix is taking on these books as a TV show, and expectations are high.

With so much buzz around the show, we thought we’d give you a crash course on this vibrant fantasy work, starting with an introduction to your new favorite hero: Geralt of Rivia, Witcher of the Wolf School of Kaer Morhen.

Geralt is a witcher — a monster hunter who has undergone a series of incredibly dangerous mutations which grant him abilities far beyond those of a normal human. These include extreme speed and strength, slitted yellow eyes like a cat that allow him to see in the dark, resistance to toxic substances, access to magical “signs” (a.k.a very specific-use spells), enhanced senses of smell and hearing, and a lifespan far beyond that of a normal person, for a start. The mutations which young boys are forced to undergo in order to become witchers are pretty much designed to make them the perfect killing machines — to make them the best at what they do, even if what they do isn’t very nice.

For the most part, that is true. Witchers are deadly — and I mean deadly. Throughout the series, Geralt faces off against werewolves, vampires, nekkers (small ogres), bloodthirsty mer-creatures called drowners, wyverns, djinns, shapeshifters called dopplers, corpse-eating ghouls, wraiths, and a practically limitless bestiary of other foes. Geralt also often finds himself at odds against other people — and the deadliness of witchers is never clearer than when one carves a swath through a group of four or five brigands in a matter of seconds.

The witcher mutations don’t come without side effects, however, including sterility…and for the vast majority of the boys subjected to them, death. One of the other most well-known complications is that witchers are supposedly stripped of all emotional encumbrances. But the truth of that particular side effect is largely a matter of cultural myth and misinformation (think of how it works in A Song of Ice and Fire, where the rumor mill is always turning and is very rarely 100% accurate). One of the main lynch pins of the series is that, in spite of what people expect of him, Geralt does have emotions, and a strong moral code. For much of the tale’s early stages, our heroic witcher wanders the land taking on contracts from those in need — be they king or farmer — and his steadfast sense of right and wrong almost always comes into play as he’s forced to make heartbreaking decisions while navigating a world where people are very often more monstrous than the monsters themselves.

But if you’re worried that The Witcher sounds like too much hacking and slashing, fear not. There’s much more than action to this franchise. Political scheming and backstabbing are rampant, meaning Game of Thrones fans will feel right at home. There’s a lot of romance, as well — Geralt and his sorceress love-interest Yennefer (pictured above) have as deep and complex a love story as any ever told. There’s a strong found family element too, with characters bonding over shared experiences on the road. And don’t even get me started on the comedy. The Witcher books have tons of laugh out-loud witty dialogue — much of it delivered by a lovable yet foppish poet/bard/womanizer who goes by the name of Dandelion.

If this is your first time hearing about The Witcher, all I can say is prepare for that to change dramatically in the near future. Now that we’ve covered the titular character, let’s dig a little deeper into the history of the series so we can all be in the know when we start watching on day one.

The Witcher books have been around for a while, but it took a while for Sapkowski to work up to the serialized tale known as the Witcher saga. First, he published a series of short stories and novellas set in this world. Originally published in Poland during the late 80s and early 90s, the shorter works were eventually brought together in book form with 1992’s Sword of Destiny and 1993’s The Last Wish (though it should be noted that The Last Wish actually comes first chronologically).

From there, Sapkowski made the leap to novels. The main bulk of The Witcher sequence is told over the course of five books. These — along with the two prequel short story books, and a newer stand-alone prequel novel first published in 2013 — comprise the entirety of Sapkowski’s Witcher saga. As of this writing, all of them have been translated into English (due in no small part to the success of their video game counterpart — more on that in a moment). So the good news is that you can read the entire series now, without waiting between books. What a novel concept!

The books are an excellent subversion of the typical fantasy fare, expertly walking the line between well-worn tropes like the dynamic between elves, dwarves, and humans, while injecting them with new life by examining them with a realistic, bleakly honest worldview (in this case, racism, societal injustice, and colonialism). The written works also boast an exhaustively rich world, with many different countries, creatures, and factions. The cast of characters is enormous and memorable, as well. The books might follow Geralt and a few of his closest companions, but there are no shortage of other interesting, fully developed characters to get behind.

Yet while the book series was a hit in Poland and other parts of Europe in the ’90s, it wasn’t until developer CD Projekt Red stepped in with its video game adaptations that it took the U.S. fantasy market by storm.

The Witcher video games are unique as adaptations go. They’re not really adaptations at all, but rather take place five years after the end of the books, and while they do have their own unique plot, there are a ton of references and nods to the source material. Indeed, it’s hard to find a game series that pays as much attention to honoring its source material as The Witcher games do.

And that’s a bit ironic, because Andrzej Sapkowski has been preeeetty outspoken about his issues with the video games. Or maybe it’s video games in general? It varies from interview to interview, but he doesn’t seem to have a lot of respect for the games even though they greatly raised his profile in the U.S. Sapkowski often dismisses the games as having very little in common with the books…when in fact they are probably the single most faithful video game adaptation ever made, in terms of style and reverence for their source material, and for portraying different characters based on their book descriptions.

It’s worth noting that Sapkowski has had basically no involvement in the games — he sold the rights to CD Projekt Red in the ’90s and bade them to do what they would. That he receives no royalties for game sales is a whole other can of worms that we’re not going to get into here…but it suffices it to say that when Sapkowski made his original deal with CD Projekt Red, it was under the assumption that the games would go the way of most book-to-game adaptations and fail, hence why he sold the rights for a lump sum rather than a share of the profits. After all, how could anyone have foreseen the absolutely unprecedented smash hit that was The Witcher III: Wild Hunt?

Hopefully, that sort of drama won’t occur with the Netflix show. While Sapkowski did turn down the opportunity to write scripts for the show, he’s also expressed optimism for the adaptation. In addition, it seems like showrunner Lauren Hissrich has been pretty insistent that Sapkowski is a part of their production team (likely as a consultant), so that bodes well. Unlike the critically panned Polish screen adaptations or beloved video games, the upcoming Netflix series seems poised to be a more direct adaptation of the source material. From casting announcements, it seems very likely that we’re going to be seeing material from both The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny in The Witcher’s first season. Hopefully, more will be revealed when Netflix brings the show to Hall H at Comic-Con this weekend!

We already know that Hissrich has drafted a pretty impressive team of actors, including Henry Cavill as Geralt, Anya Chalotra as Yennefer, and Freya Allan as Ciri, Geralt’s protege in the ways of the Witcher. Netflix seems to be leaning into them as the three leads, which is more or less an accurate reflection of the books, give or take Dandelion.

So what does all this mean for us fantasy fans? Well, the biggest thing is that The Witcher is a franchise with a wealth of material to sink your teeth into out of the gate. I’m crossing my fingers here for Netflix’s take, but this a story with wonderfully high quality content, whether your preferred method of consumption is books, video games, or (soon-to-be) TV shows. And the awesome thing is that delving into more than one medium only enhances the experience. Reading the books greatly deepens the video games, and vice versa. One can only imagine how the Netflix show will add to that dynamic.

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