How to Read The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski – What to Read After You’ve Watched The Witcher on Netflix.

 

Did you enjoy The Witcher on Netflix? Are you ready to dive into Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher books? The first season of The Witcher pulls from the story collections The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny, with some elements of The Blood of Elves. The best way to read The Witcher books is to start with The Last Wish, then read Sword of Destiny. After that you’ll be ready to join Geralt, Yennifer and Ciri in the monumental Witcher Saga, the five book series that starts with The Blood of Elves. The most recently published book, The Season of Storms, takes place chronologically before The Saga, but it’s best enjoyed at the end as a return to Geralt’s early adventures.

Available Now

The Last Wish: Introducing the Witcher (The Witcher, 1)

On Sale: May 1, 2008 (US) | Feb 8, 2008 (UK)

Geralt the Witcher — revered and hated — holds the line against the monsters plaguing humanity in this collection of adventures in the NYT bestselling series that inspired the blockbuster video games and Netflix adaptation.

Geralt is a Witcher, a man whose magic powers, enhanced by long training and a mysterious elixir, have made him a brilliant fighter and a merciless assassin. Yet he is no ordinary murderer: his targets are the multifarious monsters and vile fiends that ravage the land and attack the innocent.

But not everything monstrous-looking is evil and not everything fair is good…and in every fairy tale there is a grain of truth.

Included in this collection are the short stories which inspired episodes 1-5 of The Witcher.

READ AN EXTRACT
LISTEN TO A SAMPLE FROM THE AUDIOBOOK
Translated by Danusia Stok; Narrated by Peter Kenny

Buy US

Sword of Destiny (The Witcher, 2)

On Sale: Dec 1, 2015 (US) | Mar 10, 2106 (UK)

This is the second collection of short stories, set after the adventures of the New York Times bestseller, THE LAST WISH. Join Geralt as he battles monsters, demons and prejudices alike.

It includes the short stories “A Shard of Ice,” “Eternal Flame,” and “A Little Sacrifice, which were the basis for episodes 6-8 of Season 1 of The Witcher.

LISTEN TO A SAMPLE FROM THE AUDIOBOOK
Translated by David French; Narrated by Peter Kenny

Buy US

Blood of Elves (The Witcher, 3)

On Sale: May 8, 2018 (US) | May 21, 2009 (UK)

The Witcher, Geralt of Rivia, becomes the guardian of Ciri, surviving heiress of a bloody revolution and prophesied savior of the world, in the first novel of the NYT bestselling series that inspired the blockbuster video games.

For over a century, humans, dwarves, gnomes, and elves have lived together in relative peace. But times have changed, the uneasy peace is over, and now the races are fighting once again. The only good elf, it seems, is a dead elf.

Geralt of Rivia, the cunning assassin known as The Witcher, has been waiting for the birth of a prophesied child. This child has the power to change the world – for good, or for evil.

As the threat of war hangs over the land and the child is hunted for her extraordinary powers, it will become Geralt’s responsibility to protect them all – and the Witcher never accepts defeat.

READ AN EXTRACT
LISTEN TO A SAMPLE FROM THE AUDIOBOOK
Translated by Danusia Stok; Narrated by Peter Kenny

Buy US

The Time of Contempt (The Witcher, 4)

On Sale: Aug 27, 2013 (US) | Jan 23, 2014 (UK)

To protect his ward, Ciri, Geralt of Rivia sends her away from the home of the Witchers to train with the sorceress Yennefer. But all is not well within the Wizard’s Guild in the second book of the series.

Geralt is a witcher: guardian of the innocent; protector of those in need; a defender, in dark times, against some of the most frightening creatures of myth and legend. His task, now, is to protect Ciri. A child of prophecy, she will have the power to change the world for good or for ill — but only if she lives to use it.

LISTEN TO A SAMPLE FROM THE AUDIOBOOK
Translated by David French; Narrated by Peter Kenny

Buy US

Baptism of Fire (The Witcher, 5)

On Sale: Jun 25, 2014 (US) | Jan 8, 2015 (UK)

A deadly coup within the Wizard’s Guild leaves the Witcher, Geralt of Rivia, gravely injured, and his ward Ciri missing in the third book of the series. 

The Wizards Guild has been shattered by a coup and, in the uproar, Geralt was seriously injured. The Witcher is supposed to be a guardian of the innocent, a protector of those in need, a defender against powerful and dangerous monsters that prey on men in dark times.

But now that dark times have fallen upon the world, Geralt is helpless until he has recovered from his injuries.

While war rages across all of the lands, the future of magic is under threat and those sorcerers who survive are determined to protect it. It’s an impossible situation in which to find one girl — Ciri, the heiress to the throne of Cintra — until a rumor places her in the Niflgaard court, preparing to marry the Emperor.

Injured or not, Geralt has a rescue mission on his hands.

Translated by David French; Narrated by Peter Kenny

Buy US

The Tower of Swallows (The Witcher, 6)

On Sale: May 17, 2016 (US) | Mar 9, 2017 (UK)

The world is at war and the prophesied savior is nowhere to be found. The Witcher, Geralt of Rivia, races to find her — but time is short, and an army is on his heels in the fourth book of the series. 

The world has fallen into war. Ciri, the child of prophecy, has vanished. Hunted by friends and foes alike, she has taken on the guise of a petty bandit and lives free for the first time in her life.

But the net around her is closing. Geralt, the Witcher, has assembled a group of allies including Dandelion, Milva, Regis, and Cahir, to rescue her. Both sides of the war have sent brutal mercenaries to hunt her down. Her crimes have made her famous.

There is only one place left to run. The tower of the swallow is waiting…

LISTEN TO A SAMPLE FROM THE AUDIOBOOK
Translated by David French; Narrated by Peter Kenny

Buy US

The Lady of The Lake (The Witcher, 7)

On Sale: Mar 14, 2017 (US) | Mar 8, 2018 (UK)

Trapped in a world ruled by the Elves, separated from Geralt and her destiny, Ciri will need all her training as a fighter and sorceress to return to her own time in the fifth book of the series. 

After walking through the portal in the Tower of Swallows while narrowly escaping death, Ciri finds herself in a completely different world… an Elven world. She is trapped with no way out. Time does not seem to exist and there are no obvious borders or portals to cross back into her home world.

But this is Ciri, the child of prophecy, and she will not be defeated. She knows she must escape to finally rejoin the Witcher and his companions – and also to try to conquer her worst nightmare. Leo Bonhart, the man who chased, wounded and tortured Ciri, is still on her trail. And the world is still at war.

Translated by David French; Narrated by Peter Kenny

Buy US

Season of Storms (The Witcher, 8)

On Sale: Nov 8, 2018 (US) | May 23, 2019 (UK)

Before he was the guardian of Ciri, the child of destiny, Geralt of Rivia was a legendary swordsman. Join the Witcher as he undertakes a deadly mission in this stand-alone adventure set in the world of The Witcher.

Geralt of Rivia is a Witcher, one of the few capable of hunting the monsters that prey on humanity. A mutant who is tasked with killing unnatural beings. He uses magical signs, potions, and the pride of every Witcher – two swords, steel and silver.

But a contract has gone wrong, and Geralt finds himself without his signature weapons. Now he needs them back, because sorcerers are scheming, and across the world clouds are gathering.

The season of storms is coming…

Translated by David French; Narrated by Peter Kenny

Buy US