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Andrzej Sapkowski’s The Witcher #5
Andrzej Sapkowski's The Witcher: The Witcher
56 pages, Hardcover
Published December 16, 2025
3 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
About the author
Andrzej Sapkowski
159 books19.3k followersAndrzej Sapkowski, born June 21, 1948 in Łódź, is a Polish fantasy and science fiction writer. Sapkowski studied economics, and before turning to writing, he had worked as a senior sales representative for a foreign trade company. His first short story, The Witcher (Wiedźmin), was published in Fantastyka, Poland's leading fantasy literary magazine, in 1986 and was enormously successful both with readers and critics. Sapkowski has created a cycle of tales based on the world of The Witcher, comprising three collections of short stories and five novels. This cycle and his many other works have made him one of the best-known fantasy authors in Poland in the 1990s.
The main character of The Witcher (alternative translation: The Hexer) is Geralt, a mutant assassin who has been trained since childhood to hunt down and destroy monsters. Geralt exists in an ambiguous moral universe, yet manages to maintain his own coherent code of ethics. At the same time cynical and noble, Geralt has been compared to Raymond Chandler's signature character Philip Marlowe. The world in which these adventures take place is heavily influenced by Slavic mythology.
Sapkowski has won five Zajdel Awards, including three for short stories "Mniejsze zło" (Lesser Evil) (1990), "Miecz przeznaczenia" (Sword of Destiny) (1992) and "W leju po bombie" (In a Bomb Crater) (1993), and two for the novels "Krew elfów" (Blood of Elves) (1994) and "Narrenturm" (2002). He also won the Spanish Ignotus Award, best anthology, for The Last Wish in 2003, and for "Muzykanci" (The Musicians), best foreign short story, same year.
In 1997, Sapkowski won the prestigious Polityka's Passport award, which is awarded annually to artists who have strong prospects for international success.
In 2001, a Television Series based on the Witcher cycle was released in Poland and internationally, entitled Wiedźmin (The Hexer). A film by the same title was compiled from excerpts of the television series but both have been critical and box office failures.
Sapkowski's books have been translated into Czech, Russian, Lithuanian, German, Spanish, French, Ukrainian, and Portuguese. An English translation of The Last Wish short story collection was published by Gollancz in 2007.
The Polish game publisher, CD Projekt, created a role-playing PC game based on this universe, called The Witcher, which was released in October 2007. There is also a mobile version of the game which has been created by Breakpoint Games and is being published by Hands-On Mobile in Western Europe,Latin America and Asia Pacific.
The English translation of Sapkowski's novel Blood of Elves won the David Gemmell Legends Award in 2009.
The main character of The Witcher (alternative translation: The Hexer) is Geralt, a mutant assassin who has been trained since childhood to hunt down and destroy monsters. Geralt exists in an ambiguous moral universe, yet manages to maintain his own coherent code of ethics. At the same time cynical and noble, Geralt has been compared to Raymond Chandler's signature character Philip Marlowe. The world in which these adventures take place is heavily influenced by Slavic mythology.
Sapkowski has won five Zajdel Awards, including three for short stories "Mniejsze zło" (Lesser Evil) (1990), "Miecz przeznaczenia" (Sword of Destiny) (1992) and "W leju po bombie" (In a Bomb Crater) (1993), and two for the novels "Krew elfów" (Blood of Elves) (1994) and "Narrenturm" (2002). He also won the Spanish Ignotus Award, best anthology, for The Last Wish in 2003, and for "Muzykanci" (The Musicians), best foreign short story, same year.
In 1997, Sapkowski won the prestigious Polityka's Passport award, which is awarded annually to artists who have strong prospects for international success.
In 2001, a Television Series based on the Witcher cycle was released in Poland and internationally, entitled Wiedźmin (The Hexer). A film by the same title was compiled from excerpts of the television series but both have been critical and box office failures.
Sapkowski's books have been translated into Czech, Russian, Lithuanian, German, Spanish, French, Ukrainian, and Portuguese. An English translation of The Last Wish short story collection was published by Gollancz in 2007.
The Polish game publisher, CD Projekt, created a role-playing PC game based on this universe, called The Witcher, which was released in October 2007. There is also a mobile version of the game which has been created by Breakpoint Games and is being published by Hands-On Mobile in Western Europe,Latin America and Asia Pacific.
The English translation of Sapkowski's novel Blood of Elves won the David Gemmell Legends Award in 2009.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 4, 2026
I really enjoyed this adaptation in both story and art, especially during the fight sequence that without any dialogue or captions could have fallen flat. I’m very glad these last two entries have really delivered.
December 19, 2025
I will never get tired of reading, watching, playing through The Witcher Saga. Read the original prose, played all games and watched the show and yet here I am reading this new adaption of Sapkowskis original short story that I have read, watched and played before and know what's changed? Nothing. I still loved it. Call me a fanboy but it was such a pleasure to revisit this story again in graphic novel format and this time with such spellbinding artwork from Michael Dowling. If you want to get your Witcher fix while waiting for Crossroads of Ravens, pick this one up.
September 15, 2025
More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/
This classic story, or perhaps even the 'first' Witcher story from The Last Wish short story collection, sets the tone for all Witcher stories to come. Geralt rides into town in search of work, locals hate him, he gets a job to hunt down a monster, and things are not what they seem.It's hard to describe the story further without revealing too much but if you are familiar with Witcher at large you may have experienced this story already - it is in the original short story collection, and it's also included in the Netflix adaptation. The story covers Foltest' daughter who has become a Striga who Geralt is sent to slay.
If you have not read this one, highly recommended. As mentioned this set the scene for the entire Witcher universe, defines the character of Geralt and the shades-of-gray world in which the events take place. The story is carried well and if you're reading this for the first time, it's probably not predictable. For more experienced fans, this'll be an opportunity to enjoy this classic again.
The art is ok, but not among the best I've seen for Witcher comics. There are a few instances where I wish the art was a bit more clean and the action scenes a bit more dynamic. With better art this would have been a 5/5 rating, but it doesn't exactly detract from the experience either.
Highly recommended, with the only caveat being that you may have seen this one already a few times. I still had the whole plot in fresh memory. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.
December 18, 2025
I really appreciated and dug this adaptation of the original Witcher story. I loved the art and thought it was a great way to experience the story again. Although I don’t think the length is typically an adequate yard stick for the value of a good story, I do find these 60-odd page graphic novel adaptations of Sapkowski’s work to be a bit of a tough pill to swallow. I’m a big fan of the Last Wish collection and have enjoyed buying these hardcover one shots as they come out, but price conscious readers should consider getting it from their library or waiting for the inevitable collection.
December 20, 2025
these are a little thin, but good simple versions of the original shorts. check it out if you like the short stories
February 9, 2026
Absolutely love this short story 🖤 it felt shorter than the other graphic novels but good nonetheless
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February 12, 2026review text for 3548
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews