Almost every gamer knows about The Witcher series. And, thanks to Netflix, every Superman fan also knows about The Witcher because of Henry Cavill. However, before the adaptations, The Witcher saga began as a humble short story by Andrzej Sapkowski. While the adaptations don’t follow the books to the letter, they’re a good way to see where the adapted stories might be going. If you simply can’t wait for the next season of the show or CD Projekt RED’s Project Polaris, here’s how to read The Witcher books in order.
Chronological Order of The Books in The Witcher Saga
If you’re planning to give the novels a chance, here’s how to read The Witcher books in chronological order:
- The Last Wish
- Season of Storms
- Sword of Destiny
- Blood of Elves
- The Time of Contempt
- Baptism of Fire
- The Tower of Swallows
- The Lady of the Lake
It’s important to note that The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny are both short story compilations, and Season of Storms takes place at roughly the same time as the stories of The Last Wish. Season of Storms is also Sapkowski’s latest book in the series (originally published in Polish in 2013 and English in 2018), and the only one so far to be written out of chronological order. It’s also worth noting that there’s an earlier short story collection still, simply titled The Witcher, which does not have an English translation.
However, if you fancy graphic novels more than just the prose, there also exists a comic book series of The Witcher from Dark Horse Comics. Though not written by Sapkowski, it does an excellent job of portraying the saga in a different medium, with different writers exploring different possibilities.
For anyone interested in giving The Witcher books a read, the order listed above is the best way to have the narrative make as much sense as possible. What’s more, Sapkowski hasn’t ruled out a return to his dark fantasy universe, so hopefully there’s more to come.
