Andrzej Sapkowski's next Witcher novel gets a title and release date — and it's even sooner than expected

Exciting news for fans of The Witcher! Soon, Polish readers will be able to delve into an all-new Witcher novel from author Andrzej Sapkowski. We've known this book was coming for a while, but with its release nearing, we've finally gotten more information about this brand new story, including its Polish title, release date, a summary of what it's about, and even some new artwork. It's a great day on the Continent!

This news comes from a few different places, which means it's almost certainly legitimate. First is Redanian Intelligence, a reliable Witcher scoop site which sniffed out this news as soon as it went online. RI has a cover of the upcoming issue of Nowa Fantastyka, Poland's longest running fantasy and sci-fi magazine, which is releasing an excerpt of Sapkowski's upcoming Witcher novel tomorrow in its November 22 issue.

To go along with the Nowa Fantastyka release, the unofficial Andrzej Sapkowski fan page on Facebook has unveiled more details about the novel, including its cover art. Since this isn't an official communication I'm taking the cover with a grain of salt for now, but it is also the same artwork as the Nowa Fantastyka issue. So at the very least, this is official Witcher artwork, and very likely the cover of the next book:

The Witcher: Crossroads of Ravens is about Geralt of Rivia's teenage years

It's now confirmed that the title of this next Witcher book is WIEDŹMIN - ROZDROŻE KRUKÓW. That roughly translates to The Witcher — Crossroads of Ravens, or Raven's Crossing, or Crow's Trail; there are a few options because translation is fun like that, and as RI points out, we won't know what localization the English version of this novel will choose until announcements for it go out, probably sometime next year. For now, I'm calling it Crossroads of Ravens because that's what Google Translate tells me, but you choose whichever one brings you the most bliss.

The Sapkowski fan page has a bunch of other details, including a long-awaited description of what this book is about:

"Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are pleased to inform you that Andrzej Sapkowski's new novel THE WITCHER - CROSSROADS OF RAVENS will hit bookstores on 29.11.

This time, the grandmaster of Polish fantasy goes back to the youthful years of Geralt, who is just taking his first steps in the witcher's profession and must face numerous challenges. Armed with two runic swords, he fights monsters, saves innocent maidens and helps unhappy lovers. Always and everywhere, he tries to follow the unwritten code that he took from his teachers and mentors. As is usually the case, life does not spare him disappointments - youthful idealism clashes with reality time and again.

The saga continues. The story never ends..."

Another fun translation thing: the Polish for those final lines uses the word "historia," which I guess can translate to either "history" or "story." I don't know Polish, but I do find these nuances in translation fascinating, and am eager to see how it all works out into English when the time comes. You can check out the original Polish post in the Facebook embed above, if you're curious.

This description confirms some important things about this upcoming Witcher novel. Since it's set during Geralt's late teenage years, that means it likely won't feature the rest of the cast from the main saga, like Dandelion (Jaskier), Yennefer of Vengerberg, or Princess Ciri. Those characters don't come into Geralt's life until much later.

Personally, I think this is a great choice. As much as I'll miss seeing the rest of The Witcher characters, Sapkowski has never done a story set during Geralt's youth like this. When I first heard he was doing another Witcher novel, like many fans I wondered if it was going to be another side story like Season of Storms, which takes place around the same time as the short stories. That's Geralt in his prime, before things get really intense for him in the main Witcher Saga. But even then, he's a jaded monster hunter who nevertheless has a heart of gold. But what made him sour so much on humans that he became that cynical man? That's a story we've never heard, and it'll be interesting to see what Sapkowski does with it.

The new Witcher novel releases in Poland next week?!

I also need to shout out the release date. Previously, we'd heard that Sapkowski's next Witcher novel was coming this winter. Then Redanian Intelligence started reporting December 1, based on a statement from Nowa Fantastyka confirming the date. Now, the unofficial fan page is saying it's out on November 29, which I imagine is information coming from the imminent Nowa Fantastyka release or some other source in the know.

If that November 29 release date is true, it means that the next Witcher novel is due out next Friday, a scant week after this title reveal. Maybe it's because I'm so keyed into the US and UK fantasy and sci-fi book scene, but I can't help marveling at that insanely fast turnaround. Many western markets tend to leave months upon months of lead time for major book releases — for example, I recently got an advanced review copy of Joe Abercrombie's anticipated next novel The Devils, and that's not due out until May of 2025, six months from now. We knew the title and release month last May, a full year ahead of time.

Sapkowski confirmed that this was a marketing decision at the Lódź Freedom Games convention last month, when asked about the title of the upcoming book. "I wouldn't keep it a secret, but my publisher categorically does not want me to say anything more about it for marketing reasons, so what I can say and what not is prohibited by the embargo," he replied. So we know that this was a planned move to release all this information this close to the release date.

I guess the Polish publishing industry is just built different, and huge releases like Sapkowski's Witcher books can go from announcement to shelves in a matter of days. I kind of love it. You really don't see that sort of thing in the US or UK outside of the indie publishing space, and it's almost kind of refreshing to imagine a major series like The Witcher releasing with that sort of speed. Fans are going to gobble it up regardless, so why keep them waiting?

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.