The hottest TV show is, once again, a dark fantasy series based on a best-selling series of novels. And this time, the story's actually finished before the live action finale (what a 21st century concept!) and it's even led to a line of video games.
With a second season already on the calendar, Netflix's "The Witcher" rocketed to the top of everyone's on-demand entertainment, even reportedly becoming the most in-demand TV show in the world, according to Parrot Analytics.
Author Andrzej Sapkowski became the pride of Poland after publishing a series of stories about Geralt of Rivia, the titular Witcher. The nation is so proud of Sapkowski's works (and the subsequent blockbuster games that followed), Poland's prime minister offered the second game as an official state gift during his 2011 visit with President Barack Obama.
Since the show's debut on Dec. 20, Witcher books and video games are seeing renewed chart-topping success in their own respective mediums. "The Last Wish," a collection of Sapkowski's first short stories published in 1993, became the fourth fiction title on the New York Times best-seller list in January. And Sapkowski is now regularly one of Amazon's most popular authors.
And "The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt," a 2015 video game by Polish video game studio CD Projekt Red, once again shot to near the top of Steam's most-played list.
So you binged the show. You're hearing that the books and games are all great, and you're hankering for a rare sort of multimedia synergy where, for once, everything from the books to the show is well received. Here's a little guide to the books to help you expand your enjoyment of Sapwoski's weird, bloody, sexy and sometimes satirical fantasy world.
As The New York Times best-seller list indicates, many readers have already figured out the best starting book: "The Last Wish." It was published after the first book of the Witcher Saga, but rest assured, this is the best starting point.
Each of the short stories was published in fantasy fiction magazines in Poland before they were compiled into book form in 1993. The English edition, finally released in 2007, made its first appearance on the New York Times best-seller list in 2015, after the release of "The Witcher 3" game.
Like many short story collections, "The Last Wish" is a quick and breezy read, and it's filled with action as it follows Geralt through flashbacks of past adventures, many of which were adopted for the show. Moreover, you get more details about the world's politics and warring factions, which add more context to the show. The Netflix series scaled back a lot of the politics, which avoids even more overt comparisons to "Game of Thrones."
"Sword of Destiny" should be your second read. The biggest criticism lodged against the show is its confusing setup of different timelines. Showrunner Lauren Hissrich has opened up her ears to fan and critic reaction, responding on Twitter about some of the biggest differences. Much of it was removed for the sake of introducing Ciri, one of the three main protagonists, earlier in the show. "Sword of Destiny" often competes with "The Last Wish" as the fan favorite book and offers more context to Geralt and Ciri's bond.
After that, you can just read the Witcher saga in the order they were published: "Blood of Elves," "Time of Contempt," "Baptism of Fire," "The Tower of the Swallow" and "The Lady of the Lake." There's no telling how faithfully the show will re-create the books, particularly since certain important characters from the book have already seen drastic changes in the show, and other new characters have been introduced. But at least you don't want to wait years until the show ends to get to the end of the story.
NAN What's Up on 01/19/2020