Before the award-winning RPGs or live-action series, there was the Witcher book series. Andrzej Sapkowski’s original story of Geralt of Rivia was heavily inspired by Slavic mythology, as well as classic fantasy series like The Lord of the Rings. Whether you’ve enjoyed Netflix or CD Projekt’s Witcher adaptations or are just looking for a great book series, this wild world is worth diving into.
The Witcher: 8 Book Collection
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Collections of brief stories
The Last Wish and the Sword of Destiny
The Witcher Book 1 The Last Wish
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Witcher Book 2 Sword of Destiny
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The Last Wish is a starting point for The Witcher, which is essential because it was published a year after 1992’s Sword of Destiny. The Last Wish takes almost every story from The Witcher and adds more, all of which feature events that take place before the previously published Sword of Destiny. It’s essentially a collection of prequels written to prepare you for Sword of Destiny, the second collection of brief stories that continue Geralt’s adventures and introduce the character of Ciri for the first time. If you’re only interested in what happens at the beginning of the TV series, the brief story collections The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny should be fine. However, if you want to learn the ins and outs of the world and make sure you’re a true Witcher connoisseur, you should dive deeper into the saga below.
The Witcher Saga
After reading The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny, you’re ready to move on to the saga. This saga consists of five novels, all of which tell the stories of Geralt, Ciri, Yennefer, Triss, Dandelion, and other characters you may recognize from the games. These books also introduce a number of characters who don’t appear in CD Projekt Red’s adaptations, most of whom are great. The Witcher saga focuses primarily on the relationship between Geralt and Ciri. This is where most of Geralt’s story takes place, and it’s a major component of the entire Witcher universe—at least in the context of Sapkowski’s conception. Here are the five novels in order:
Blood of Elves
The Witcher Book 3 Blood of Elves
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The first book in the saga, Blood of Elves, presents the pursuit of the Emperor of Nilfgaard Emhyr var Emreis after Ciri, Geralt’s adopted daughter, in order to marry her and gain power over Cintra, the land that belongs to her by birth. In order to thwart Emhyr’s plans, the monarchs of the north meet and decide to kill Ciri, but Geralt of Rivia watches over her in Kaer Morhen, a distant fortress inhabited by witchers of the School of the Wolf. Meanwhile, a mysterious sorcerer also tries to locate Ciri.
Time of contempt
The Witcher Book 4 Time of Contempt
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Time of Contempt picks up where the previous novel leaves off. The Kings of the North continue to conspire to drag Nilfgaard into war, while Ciri is about to be enrolled at Aretuza to study magic. Ciri makes contact with some of the most powerful sorceresses on the Continent. As war becomes inevitable, she escapes with a bandit group known simply as the Rats.
Baptism of fire
The Witcher Book 5 Baptism of Fire
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Geralt spends time in the Brokilon Forest recovering from the events of the previous book, where he and Jaskier meet an elven archer named Milva, who decides to join their group. Those who have played the games will be pleased to learn that the dwarf Zoltan Chivay temporarily joins Geralt’s motley crew, as does the vampire Regis. A Nilfgaardian knight named Cahir also joins because he feels obligated to Ciri. Geralt is officially given the title “of Rivia” after an epic battle, while Ciri begins to feel at home with the Rats.
The Tower of Swallows
The Witcher Book 6 The Tower of Swallows
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Ciri is severely injured after an encounter with Nilfgaardian bounty hunter Leo Bonhart, who has been hired by coroner Stefan Skellen to kill her. The kind senior man nurses her back to health while Geralt’s team continues their search for Ciri and Geralt renounces his witcher status. The Lodge of Sorceresses attempts to take control of the country of Kovir, while Triss Merigold seeks information about Yennefer of Vengerberg. (Known as the Tower of Swallows in the US)
Lady of the Lake
Witcher Book 7 Lady of the Lake
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Ciri meets the Arthurian knight Sir Galahad, who believes her to be the titular Lady of the Lake. The story transitions to a dream where Geralt overhears Skellen and sets out to rescue Yennefer from a distant castle. Meanwhile, Ciri tells Galahad of her time spent in the elven world of Aen Elle, home of the Wild Hunt. She begins to jump between worlds to escape them, but Eredin Breacc Glas persistently pursues her as she makes her way to a final reunion with her foster parents Geralt and Yennefer.
Now we have seven of the eight books. The last text is also a novel, but it is tough to place and depends on personal preference…
Bonus: Storm Season
The Witcher Book 8 Season of Storms
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If you’re someone who likes to know everything that’s going on, you might want to read Season of Storms right after The Last Wish . Originally published in 2013 — 14 years after Sapkowski ended the saga — Season of Storms features stories that take place between stories in The Last Wish that aren’t necessarily closely related to each other. However, because it was written after the saga ended, Season of Storms does contain minor hints of what’s to come, if not direct spoilers. If you’re dying to read the series in strict chronological order, it’s worth reading right after The Last Wish . However, if you’re the type of person who worries about spoilers, save it for last and enjoy it as a retrospective.
Where do The Witcher games fit into the timeline?
The Witcher books start about a decade before the games, and most of the books’ plot threads are wrapped up by the time the first Witcher game begins. So for those curious, playing the games first means spoiling some of the book series. Still, both the books and video games are fantastic (we called The Witcher 3 “Amazing” in our review ), so whichever you start with shouldn’t affect your overall enjoyment of the game.
What’s next for The Witcher?
Between the books, the video game franchise, and the TV series, there’s a lot going on in the world of The Witcher. And if you assumed that just because 10 years have passed since Season of Storms that there wouldn’t be any more Witcher books, you’re wrong. In 2023, Sapkowski announced a up-to-date book in the Witcher series, which will be released in early 2025 after its first publication in Poland.
Meanwhile, Netflix’s live-action The Witcher is heading into a fourth season, which will be the first with Liam Hemsworth as Geralt of Rivia. The streaming giant is also working on a up-to-date animated film titled The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep.
Of course, the massive question is when we’ll get the next Witcher game. While CD Projekt has spent the last few years fairly focused on Cyberpunk 2077, they recently announced that “the majority of their efforts” are now going towards The Witcher 4 (codenamed “Polaris”). We don’t have a release date yet, but The Witcher 3’s vigorous community makes the wait a little easier.
