Now that The Witcher is available to view on Netflix, this world of weirdness and wonder greets a new audience. Still, if you have played the game developed by CD Project Red, it is different from the beloved fantasy world seen in the movies. Instead, the series on Netflix is based on author Andrzej Sapkowski’s books. So if you’re a bookworm, you may be interested in giving them a try. There are eight published books in the witcher bok series, and we are here to help read them in order.
The Last Wish / Sword of Destiny
This is your starting point, and the book was published a year after the Sword of Destiny in 1992. In The Last Wish, you get to journey through all the stories from Wiedzmin with all the features occurring before the formerly published Sword of Destiny. It is a prelude collection to help prep you for the Sword of Destiny. Once you read both these books, you’re ready to move on to a bundle of five novels. All of them tell you the story of Ciri, Geralt, Dandelion, Yennefer, and others. You also meet characters not found in the game. To know what is covered in the TV series, these books are fine, but you need to dig deeper for more ins and outs of a true Witcher connoisseur.
The Five Novels in Order
1. Blood of Elves
This is the first book in the sage and takes place after the short story collection mentioned earlier. Here you are introduced to Nilfgaardian Emperor Emphyr var Emreis’ the pursuit of Ciri, Geralt’s adopted daughter. Nilfgaardian is to marry Ciri to obtain power over Cintra, which is her birthright. The Northern monarchs meet to thwart Emphyr’s plans. They decide to assassinate Ciri. But Geralt of the Rivia watches over her in Kaer Morhen, a remote inhabited run by the Wolf School witchers. In the meantime, another mysterious sorcerer is trying to locate Ciri.
2. The Time of Contempt
The novel picks up where the Blood of Elves finishes. The Northern Kings still keep conspiring to lure Nilfgaard to war. Ciri is to be enrolled at Aretuza to study magic and contact a powerful sorceress on The Continent. War becomes inevitable, and she finds herself running with a group of bandits known as The Rats.
3. Baptism of Fire
The book starts with Geralt recovering from the events in the previous book in the Brokilon forest. Here he encounters Dandelion, an elven archer Milva who decides to join the group. If you played the games, you’d be glad to know that Zoltan Chivay, the dwarf, also joins the ragtag group for a while, as well as Regis, the vampire. Cahir, a Nilfgaardian knight, also tags along as he feels he is in debt to Ciri. Finally, after an epic battle, Geralt receives his “of Rivia” title while Ciri is at home with The Rats.
4. The Tower of Swallows
After an encounter with the Nilfgaardian bounty hunter Leo Bonhart, Ciri is injured. The bounty hunter is hired by coroner Stefan Skellen to kill her. An old man nurses her while Geralt’s party searches for her. At this time, Geralt announces his witcher status. Further, the Lodge of Sorceresses wants to gain control of Kovir. At the same time, Triss Merigold tries to find information on Yennefer, who is from Vengerber, known as The Tower of Swallows in the United States.
5. The Lady of the Lake
As the book starts, Ciri encounters Sir Galahad, an Arthurian knight believing she is the lady of the lake. You end up in a dream where Geralt overhears Skellen and he sets out to rescue Yennefer. Meanwhile, Ciri informs Galahad about the time she spent in Aen Elle, the home of the Wild Hunt. She starts jumping between two worlds to escape, but the Eredin Breacc Glas keeps chasing her. Finally, she heads towards her surrogate parents, Yennefer and Geralt, for a final meeting. This is seven out of the eight novels and leaves you with one more to read.
Season of Storms
Now, if you are a person who likes to know everything, then this book you need to read after The Last Wish. The book published in 2013 came 14 years after the saga was wrapped up. The book contains stories not close to one another but written after completing the sage containing hints about what’s to come. But if you are concerned about spoilers then save it to the end.
