When it comes to bluntness, few authors can contend with Andrzej Sapkowski, the hilariously frank author of The Witcher Saga. Sapkowski has always had a flair for telling it like it is, and the most recent news flying around about him is no exception. While attending the Opole Book Festival earlier this month, Sapkowski took part in a panel where he threw shade and sympathy in equal measure at fellow fantasy author George R.R. Martin.
Late last year, Sapkowski released a new Witcher prequel novel, Crossroads of Ravens. Obviously, people are wondering if there will be more books starring Geralt of Rivia. But before the questions from the audience had even begun, the 77-year-old author headed off any concerns about whether he would be writing more books.
“If anyone in the audience asks that kind of question, I’ll tell you right now: I will write something else," he said. "Relax. No need to fear. And unlike George R. R. Martin—whom, by the way, I know personally—when I say I’ll write something, I will.“
Yes, that is a real quote. You can even watch a video of him giving this talk; though it is in Polish, so you'll either have to speak the language or rely on some sort of translation software to get all the details:
The Witcher scoop site Redanian Intelligence dug up this tidbit, which is pretty entertaining. Sapkowski has a reputation for not mincing his words. But lest you think he's just out here crapping on Martin and the perpetual wait for The Winds of Winter, Sapkowski also has quite a lot of sympathy for Martin's plight.
“And also, listen, just between us I totally understand him. Because if someone had pulled a stunt like that on me, filming a series based on my books, and then getting ahead of what I intended to write, I’d also be wondering whether there’s any point in writing anymore," he said. "If it’s already been done, right? Makes no sense. It’s nice when they adapt your work, that’s the author’s bloody right, but to adapt what doesn’t exist yet, to extrapolate like that? That’s just indecent.“
It's a pretty fair point. I've long wondered about the psychological effect Game of Thrones had on Martin, revealing some of his biggest plot twists ahead of the books and likely changing others so far beyond recognition as to be a very different story. On the other hand, what else was HBO supposed to do? They had a massively successful show, and Martin dropped the ball on getting The Winds of Winter out ahead of season 6, despite the fact that his previous book A Dance with Dragons came out the same year as season 1. I will forever defend Martin's right to take as long as he wants to finish the books, but I don't think HBO had any other choice but to make due the best they could once they surpassed Martin's source material.
Andrzej Sapkowski weighs in on The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf
Sapkowski spoke plenty about adaptations, as it happens. One of the questions he fielded had to do with Nightmare of the Wolf, the first Witcher animated spinoff on Netflix. That movie showed the life of Geralt's mentor Vesemir, leading up to the pogrom which destroyed Kaer Morhen and killed off most of the witchers who lived there. This was an event that was only ever alluded to in Sapkowski's written works when Nightmare of the Wolf came out in 2021, but according to Redanian Intelligence, Sapkowski spells out exactly how the pogrom went down in the book canon in Crossroads of Ravens.
How did he feel about Nightmare of the Wolf's take? “I haven’t seen that series. So, I’m sorry. That’s how it is," Sapkowski said. "Well, what can I say? A film has its own rules, and Netflix has even more of them. But, well… Are we really going to argue over which version is better? Good, we’re not. I’m glad. Because, for example, I know [which version is better].“
Once again, telling it like it is. And without even having read Crossroads of Ravens yet, I have little doubt Sapkowski's assessment that his version is better is accurate. The way Nightmare of the Wolf justified the pogrom against the witchers has long been one of my biggest sticking points with the entire Netflix Witcher universe. It was always hinted in the books and games to be a metaphor for how prejudice can lead people to vilify those different from themselves; Netflix looked at that and said "but what if they were villains?" missing the entire point of the anti-xenophobia messaging from the source material. But I digress.
As you might guess from Sapkowski's nonchalant responses, he's not too worked up about it. And he's not interested in talking about Netflix's adaptations . “I appear in the end credits. Which means: if I say something positive, you’ll say, 'Well of course, the magpie praises its own tail.' And if I say something negative, you’ll say, 'Idiot.' So I won’t say anything.“
Andrzej Sapkowski on adaptation
Sapkowski may not be talking much about The Witcher adaptations specifically, but he did share plenty of thoughts about adaptation as a whole. “When it comes to other adaptations, well, it varies. Sometimes they worked, sometimes they didn’t. Like I said, I’m not a visual person. What I write, I don’t see it. That’s the truth. To me, it’s just letters. Nothing more. So when I suddenly see images, sometimes my jaw drops, I had no idea it could look like that," he said. "And all adaptations, by their nature, are visual. So we’re working in that visual realm. And it does happen, well, there have been disagreements. And usually it ends with a short statement: 'You don’t know shit about visual arts.' To which I had to shut up, because it’s true, I don’t know shit about visual arts.“
“I once spoke at a convention in the Czech Republic with Harry Harrison. He’s no longer with us, you know, ladies and gentlemen—God rest his soul, requiescat in pace," Sapkowski continued. "And at some point, Harry Harrison asks me if I’d seen the movie Soylent Green. I say, yes, I’ve seen it. And he asks, 'Do you realize it’s based on my novel, Make Room! Make Room!?' I said, of course I realize that, because I’ve read the novel too. 'Aha,' he says, 'so what do you think of the movie?' I say, 'It’s total crap'. And he says, 'Yeah, I think so too, it’s total crap.' And I go, 'Well, Harry, did you give the money back?' 'No.' 'Well then, hush.' So that’s how it is, unfortunately. That’s how it is."
"So Martin still isn’t writing, probably because he got offended that they filmed the continuation [of Game of Thrones], but I bet he didn’t give the money back, knowing how life goes. I wouldn’t have given it back."
You can always count on Andrzej Sapkowski to give you some entertaining and interesting stuff to mull over. Considering how often we talk about how shows honor source material and involve creators on this website, it remains kind of refreshing to hear Sapkowski wax philosophical about his hands-off approach to adaptation. It reminds me of when he was first asked to have a more active role in The Witcher show on Netflix, and he turned it down.
At the end of the day, Sapkowski is an author first and foremost, and he's got books to write. His latest, Crossroads of Ravens, is due out around the world on September 30, 2025. As for The Witcher season 4 on Netflix, we're expecting to see it sometime later this year, I'd guess sometime around the date of the book release.
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