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The Last Wish: Introducing The Witcher?
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You can find the first book Last Wish on Amazon here:
https://www.amazon.com/Last-Wish-Introducing-Witcher/dp/0316029181
Of course, most places that sell books have the Witcher series including Audible for the audiobook versions.
The Book order is last wish, sword of destiny, blood of elves, time of contempt, baptism of fire, tower of the swallow (mistranslated as Tower of Swallows), Lady of the Lake, season of storms.
I would also recommend reading in a language other than English if you can. The English versions have a number of mistranslations as you can see from the fact that they mistranslated the title of one of the books. I can personally vouch for the Spanish translations being a much better.
Amazon ships to pretty much everywhere these days.
Another option could be to check your local library system. And even if they wouldn't happen to have the book locally available, they're often willing to check if it's available anywhere in your country and submit a long-distance loan request.
Favorite Book: The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski. It's a set of short stories and it's set in the Witcher universe. I played the games before I read the book, but it was the first book I had read in years that made me not want to stop until it was finished. The stories are great, and playing the games made the characters feel very real to me. Check it out if you haven't yet! https://www.amazon.com/Last-Wish-Introducing-Witcher/dp/0316029181/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1513369741&sr=8-1&keywords=the+last+wish
>THE VOICE OF REASON 1 > >She came to him towards morning. She entered very carefully, moving silently, floating through the chamber like a phantom; the only sound was that of her mantle brushing her naked skin. Yet this faint sound was enough to wake the witcher – or maybe it only tore him from the half-slumber in which he rocked monotonously, as though travelling through fathomless depths, suspended between the sea bed and its calm surface amidst gently undulating strands of seaweed. > >He did not move, did not stir. The girl flitted closer, threw off her mantle and slowly, hesitantly, rested her knee on the edge of the large bed. He observed her through lowered lashes, still not betraying his wakefulness. The girl carefully climbed onto the bedclothes, and onto him, wrapping her thighs around him. Leaning forward on straining arms, she brushed his face with hair which smelt of chamomile. Determined, and as if impatient, she leant over and touched his eyelids, cheeks, lips with the tips of her breasts. He smiled, very slowly, delicately, grasping her by the shoulders, and she straightened, escaping his fingers. She was radiant, luminous in the misty brilliance of dawn. He moved, but with pressure from both hands, she forbade him to change position and, with a light but decisive movement of her hips, demanded a response. > > He responded. She no longer backed away from his hands; she threw her head back, shook her hair. Her skin was cool and surprisingly smooth. Her eyes, glimpsed when her face came close to his, were huge and dark as the eyes of a water nymph. Rocked, he sank into a sea of chamomile as it grew agitated and seethed.
Ugh.. forget it. This will take forever. The rest is here: https://www.amazon.com/Last-Wish-Introducing-Witcher/dp/0316029181 and then there's more.
I've only read/listened (to) the English versions . I really don't think you're gonna make a bad choice though. And I wouldn't be surprised if Sapkowski did say that.
Play the game. Do you skip to the end of books? This is meant to be experienced on your own, not have everything explained, what's the point of playing? No offense but seriously, play the game and find out. Somethings are best left to the imagination and FYI not everything is explained or 100% explained in the game.
There are some pretty good videos on YT that can also get you caught up with the story, however, it's always best to play the games, it's like starting the Lord of the Rings trilogy on 'Return of the King'. I hope you still enjoy it. If it were me, I'd be pissed with some of the answers.
If you do read, check out the novels if you like the game, the Witcher novels are incredible! To get you started if would like to read them - https://www.amazon.com/Last-Wish-Introducing-Witcher/dp/0316029181
Oh yeah i can buy them from amazon. This is the book that i should start with,right?
leveling: do quests. get paid. You're a witcher; you can kill monsters in your sleep. hence, you don't get much experience for killing everything you see. you get much more experience for finishing quests and helping folks out. quests will tell you when you're the right level. I tend to check the notice boards anytime i visit a new town so I know what's available, but I don't always start the job right away.
combat: use the sidestep, not the roll, since roll eats stamina that you need for casting quen. cast that a lot. once you get used to sidestepping and take less hits, start using alternating between quen and the other signs - see which you like best. and don't forget to parry human enemies.
world: as others said, turn off the minimap markers so it feels less like a far cry/ac game. i even turned off the minimap altogether (so I have to open my bigmap often, but hey immersion :P) The world of the Witcher is full of great wonders - all the better if you find them yourself, or through a quest. Not by checking them off a shopping list.
take your time and enjoy it. if you're having fun with something, go ham. I personally enjoyed reading 'The Last Wish' and 'Sword of Destiny' - short story collections written in the 90's. No spoilers and they kind of explain Witcher 1 and 2. You'll recognize tons of characters and lore from these stories placed right into the game itself, which is a real treat. https://smile.amazon.com/Last-Wish-Introducing-Witcher/dp/0316029181/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473654717&sr=8-1&keywords=the+last+wish+by+andrzej+sapkowski
There are! Here's The Last Wish and amazon has the others as well. Thanks to the popularity of the Witcher video games, publishers jumped on the bandwagon and now the series is translated into English
http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Wish-Introducing-Witcher/dp/0316029181
The games happen after the books, so you're not going to spoil everything by reading the books. Also, the first Witcher is a decent game. Ignore reviews, they're mostly crap. Watch gameplay footage instead. Do you want some random internet stranger's opinion of what you'd like or your own opinion? Mass Effect 2 has better gameplay systems than the original, ME3 has better gameplay than ME2. Therefore I should only play ME3? I don't think so. Reviews annoy me. People whine when there aren't any gameplay or engine improvements in the next game, then they whine just as much when there are because now the old games are "bad."
the books are by an author named Andrzej Sapkowski. The Last Wish is the first of the series which is, sadly, the only one that i'v had the time to read so far but it is excellent.
Hey man, I'm in a very similar spot. I'll finish The Witcher in a couple of days. I already own Witcher 2 (bought 1 after I found out you could import saves).
I decided to wait. And in the mean time, started reading The Last Wish. It's awesome reading about the universe you just participated in. The first story is that of the striga, and the opening cutscene and the story complement each other beautifully. Read it!
I'm afraid I'll start TW2 even later, and I'll read the next book first :)
No need. I come bearing all the sources for my comment!
Games have lost him book sales (bonus including his quote about how his books are what made the games popular):
Sapkowski not being on the NYT Best Seller list until the Witcher 3 came out:
https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/
Amazon page with the release date for The Last Wish being released in 2008 (You can cross reference this with the NYT Bestseller list to see that it didn't chart for years until The Witcher 3 released):
https://www.amazon.com/Last-Wish-Introducing-Witcher/dp/0316029181
Sapkowski not liking that people buy his books because they think they might be game novelizations:
If anyone wants to start reading The Witcher novels I made a guide over on the "Featured Character" comment section that I'll repost here:
Short stories:
[The Last Wish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Wish_(book) - Amazon US / Amazon UK
Novels:
[Baptism of Fire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptism_of_Fire_(novel) - Amazon US / Amazon UK
[The Lady of the Lake](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_of_the_Lake_(novel) - Amazon US / Amazon UK
Overall:
The Last Wish
Sword of Destiny
Blood of Elves
Time of Contempt
Baptism of Fire
The Tower of the Swallow
The Lady of the Lake
The short stories are a must-read before the novels because they introduce many characters and plot points for the main saga. There is also a prequel story called Season of Storms which hasn't been officially translated into English yet, but there are fan translations if you can't wait. I haven't read it myself, but I hear that it is best read after the others. If you want to know more about The Witcher lore there is always The World of the Witcher^UK which will give you more backstory and details.
If anyone wants to start reading The Witcher novels I made a guide over on the "Featured Character" comment section that I'll repost here:
Short stories:
[The Last Wish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Wish_(book) - Amazon US / Amazon UK
Novels:
[Baptism of Fire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptism_of_Fire_(novel) - Amazon US / Amazon UK
[The Lady of the Lake](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_of_the_Lake_(novel) - Amazon US / Amazon UK
Overall:
The Last Wish
Sword of Destiny
Blood of Elves
Time of Contempt
Baptism of Fire
The Tower of the Swallow
The Lady of the Lake
The short stories are a must-read before the novels because they introduce many characters and plot points for the main saga. There is also a prequel story called Season of Storms which hasn't been officially translated into English yet, but there are fan translations if you can't wait. I haven't read it myself, but I hear that it is best read after the others. If you want to know more about The Witcher lore there is always The World of the Witcher^UK which will give you more backstory and details.
Short stories:
[The Last Wish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Wish_(book) - Amazon US / Amazon UK
Novels:
[Baptism of Fire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptism_of_Fire_(novel) - Amazon US / Amazon UK
[The Lady of the Lake](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_of_the_Lake_(novel) - Amazon US / Amazon UK
Overall:
The Last Wish
Sword of Destiny
Blood of Elves
Time of Contempt
Baptism of Fire
The Tower of the Swallow
The Lady of the Lake
The short stories are a must-read before the novels because they introduce many characters and plot points for the main saga. There is also a prequel story called Season of Storms which hasn't been officially translated into English yet, but there are fan translations if you can't wait. I haven't read it myself, but I hear that it is best read after the others. If you want to know more about The Witcher lore there is always The World of the Witcher^UK which will give you more backstory and details.
This link is good for the fan translations of the third, seventh, and eighth books. You can buy The Last Wish from Amazon to see if you like it.
Sure, a couple notes while I'm downloading BaW :)
The book order is thus:
There's no official english translation of the last book yet, but the one I've linked is the best fan translation I've found. It's the one I read, and I honestly would have had no idea it wasn't a "real" edition if I didn't know better. Fantastic work.
There's also A Season of Storms, which is sort of a midquel for the series. But it was written in the last two years, has no bearing on any of the game's canon, and contain some minor potential spoilers for later books since he expected his readers had finished the series at this point. I recommend you ignore it for now, and if you decide you want to read it down the road pick it up after the series.
The first two books are a short story collections. The series is in chronological order, but the actual novel arc doesn't begin until the third book. Definitely don't skip the first two though, they set up important characters and events in Geralt's life prior to the novel arc beginning.
Lastly, if you really can't be bothered to spend a bit on the amazon paperbacks here's a link to all of them in epub format. I can't vouch for the quality of the fan translations in this pack, nor do I recommend this format. Buying the books supports the author and reading a book is still easier than reading on a tablet in my opinion.
Good luck on your journey into the Witcher!
P.S. - Oh, here is the Witcher 1 recap video I mentioned. DO NOT WATCH THIS until after you finish the books. It will spoil the climax of the series and ruin your reading. You can buy the game dirt cheap if you can handle a playthrough on PC, but you really won't miss a ton of important info if you skip it. I don't want to spoil the end of the books either, but essentially the second and third game don't rely on the first one at all aside from knowing cursory details of the first game.
Yeah, bought the whole series on Amazon.
i got these versions since i dont speak other languages except for all the bad stuff in polish :P
You could always get a real book like this to enjoy on your journey to the dumping station.
So I read your other reply where someone explained how Triss kind of really sucks, and that you played with her until you found out all the horrible stuff she did lol. I was going to recommend if you enjoy the Witcher universe to maybe try reading the books too, because they’re amazing.
I had never heard of the Witcher until I got the game on sale, beat it, and wanted more because of how much I loved the universe. Was convinced to get the books and I burned through them. (they’re fantastic!) Once you have context for everything going on, the game is SO much better on a reply after knowing the backstory to everyone.
They’re pretty cheap on amazon, heres the first book as an example, its a collection of short stories that sets up the world and has Geralt’s and Yen’s story in it (the beginning anyway) and its a great read. If you decide you want to read the books though, make sure you follow this guide if you decide to read them. Hope this helps, and good luck on the path Witcher!
I know elsewhere people recommended reading. You said you don’t like to buckle down and read for big stretches. That’s understandable, but if you try the Witcher and like it, it’s based on a book series, the first two of which are a collection of mostly self contained short stories. Most are in the 30-60 page range and easy reading, so it’s entirely possible to read a bit here and there without having to make a major time commitment, but still getting a whole story in. It also helps to really flesh out the game’s world and character backstories, which are pretty impressive to begin with.
Alternatively, especially if you’re going to take a break from gaming, you could try the short stories first, and if those catch your interest, then you should definitely try out the game, which is a significant time sink on its own.
The Last Wish and The Sword of Destiny if you want to check them out.
For what it’s worth, I hardly read for personal enjoyment for quite a few years, but after playing TW3 and wanting to delve into the world a bit more, I decided to give the books a shot. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed them so far, and it’s also renewed my interest in reading in general. I’m currently alternating working my way through the Witcher, Expanse, and Culture series.
We will.
I've bought the first 3 (all from Amazon) so far and they're all in English!
Link to first one
Amazon
This one, right? I'm assuming it's worth a read just for the details of the magic system?
Read the books! Start with The Last Wish.
Got them individually off of Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316029181/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316219185/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316219134/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/031602919X/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316273716/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316389706/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Here's a link to the first set of short stories on Amazon. The other 4 translated books are easy to find from there.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316029181/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_KNOIwbX40SG2N
All the Witcher Novels, a webcam, and money.
Got my gf one of these coolheadsets though. Wish I had one for myself almost.
It seems so. Here you have the first one in amazon, but it seems that only the first 5 books are already in english, the 2 last novels will be translated in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
Not sure about this subreddit's policy on pirating, so I won't post any links to free epubs, I guess they won't be difficult to find anyway, due to the success of the games (in spanish was pretty easy, although when I tried several years ago it was nearly impossible).
Enjoy!
US- http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Wish-Introducing-Witcher/dp/0316029181
UK- http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Last-Wish-Andrzej-Sapkowski/dp/0575082445
Start with that, if you like it then get the rest but if you get them in a bundle, you get a discount. Have fun reading.
P.S- You are almost as cheeky as Lambert “The sword...looks sharp. The beam looks slippery and unstable. And Lambert looks like an idiot..." -Triss
Read the books then you will get that reference:)
Where did you buy those? Covers are much prettier than the one I got from amazon http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Wish-Introducing-Witcher/dp/0316029181
it is currently in stock on amazon for $5
Yes, but before you must read this: http://www.amazon.com/Last-Wish-Andrzej-Sapkowski/dp/0316029181
Too bad the english edition of the second book of the saga will be published only in the fall of this year.
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