The fantasy series is centred around four characters: the witcher Geralt of Rivia, his friend Dandelion (known as “Jaskier” in the original Polish edition), the sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg and Princess Cirilla “Ciri” of Cintra. The novels, however, feature more than a dozen other recurring characters. The first book of The Witcher Saga, which debuted in 1992, is about Geralt, a slayer of monsters, dragons, and vampires. The last novel in The Witcher series was published in 2013.
The Witcher Saga: The sequence and main characters
There has been discussion about the best way to listen to The Witcher Saga. Should the novels be enjoyed in the order of their publication dates? Fans of The Witcher Universe know that the correct Witcher order is slightly different. To truly understand Geralt of Rivia’s destiny as a monster slayer and his relationship with Yennefer, the correct reading order of the books is crucial. For instance, does the sorcerer, who lives as an outsider, and the beautiful sorceress get to know each other? How does the loving relationship between Geralt and Ciri, one of the most important people in Geralt’s life, come about?
The novels reveal it all. We’ll show you how to navigate The Witcher Saga in the right order here. When in doubt, it makes sense to listen to the books in the order they were published. Although this is not consistent with the story's chronology, the later volumes refer to storylines in the future and therefore contain spoilers.
How many volumes of The Witcher Saga are there?
Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski wrote three short story volumes and six novels about the medieval fantasy world of The Witcher Saga. The first five novels form a pentalogy, while the sixth and final novel stands on its own, as do the short stories. The volumes were published over the span of 21 years.
The chronological order of The Witcher Saga
Sword of Destiny is the first published collection of short stories. If you want to hit play on The Witcher novels in order, you have to start with the second short story collection, The Last Wish, which was translated from Polish to English by Danusia Stok. The rest of the series has been translated from Polish to English by David French. The volume was published second in 1993, but the storyline takes place in an earlier era. The Witcher Saga should therefore be enjoyed in the following order:
The Last Wish (1993)
The Sword of Destiny (1992)
Blood of Elves (1994)
The Time of Contempt (1995)
Baptism of Fire (1996)
The Tower of the Swallow (1997)
The Lady of the Lake (1999)
Something Ends, Something Begins (2000)
Season of Storms (2013)
All other volumes and novels of the saga build on each other. They can be enjoyed in order of the date of publication. Why did Andrzej Sapkowski write The Witcher Saga series this way? The author published short stories from his New York Times bestseller The Last Wish in the 80s. Thus, they were written before the first published anthology, Sword of Destiny, and the first volume of the pentalogy, Blood of Elves.
About Andrzej Sapkowski
Andrzej Sapkowski was born in 1948 in Łódź, Poland. In his mid-30s, he was a sales representative, but he loved fantasy literature and had already published a few of his works. Following his passion, he entered a writing contest run by the Polish science fiction and fantasy magazine Fantastyka, and came in third. His short story entry was so successful in Poland that Sapkowski was inspired to write more short stories and novels.
His stories about Geralt of Rivia have been translated into 37 languages, including English. His books have sold more than 15 million copies worldwide. He has also won numerous awards for his writing, including the World Fantasy Award—Life Achievement and the David Gemmell Legend Award. His other works include the award-winning The Tower of Fools Trilogy. With the success of The Witcher Netflix series, starring Henry Cavill, Andrzej Sapkowski’s legacy should be set in stone. In addition to the TV series, The Witcher has inspired a series of role-playing video games developed by CD Projekt Red. The Witcher game series includes The Witcher, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
