Netflix’s recent adaptation of the The Witcher has been a pleasant surprise following a long history of failed adaptations of popular video games. But of course, it was probably a big help that those games were, in turn, inspired by a great series of books!

Still, I worried that the political intrigues and complicated timelines presented in the Netflix series would prove too complicated to attract a mainstream audience. Turns out my fears were misplaced. According to some metrics, the Witcher reportedly became the most highly viewed TV show on the planet!

The TV adaptation is in truth only the latest incarnation of a saga written by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, who wrote the first Witcher short story for a magazine way back in 1986 when Poland remained behind the Iron Curtain. His tales became a cult hit in Poland and gained a wider readership in Europe—but they took a while to reach English-language audiences, until the release of the first Witcher computer game back in 2007 by Polish game studio CDProjekt Red.

Sapkowski’s series refreshingly different from the traditional Western fantasies we love but perhaps know a little too well. In between Sapkowski’s fast and brutal action scenes are conversations full of political intrigue and philosophical musings, which frequently invoke amusingly anachronistic references to genetic engineering and environmentalism and other themes. 

The saga’s distinctly Eastern European flavor is reflected not only in folkloric monsters, buts its preoccupation with the persecution of ethnic minorities and outcasts, the looming threat of invasion by a more unified neighboring empires, and its refusal to glamourize nationalist causes by depicting how war warps and brutalizes even sympathetic parties to do monstrous deeds. 

Even though the distinctly German-flavored Nilfgardians are ruthless invaders, it’s clear that northern kingdoms fighting to keep their independence are themselves ruled by violent and racist regimes whose internal intrigues and inability to unite have played a large role in their precarious situation.

And in contrast to the heroes of Game of Thrones, who explore similar themes, the “tough guy” is never really in a position to seize a throne and rule nations, nor does he win glory and the love of the common folk for his principled stands.  He’s a working-man’s hero who’s ambivalent about the ethics of profession, and eventually finds meaning and purpose in his relationships with his friends and adopted family—not by setting out to save the world.

But if you’d like to dive deeper into the Witcher universe as you wait for Season 2, then where should you start?

There’s two great options: the first is to read the books, which are now finally available in English. The first two are depicted in The Witcher’s Season 1.

The other option is to have a go at the trilogy of computer games by CD Projekt. These continue the Witcher’s story beyond the events of the Witcher books.

Let’s look at both options.

The Books

Netflix’s first season of Witcher was actually a surprisingly faithful (if nonlinear) adaption of the original Witcher short stories collected in the books The Last Wish and The Sword of Destiny.  Like the TV show, from the seemingly disconnected episodes emerges a running thread on the relationship between Geralt, the sorceress Yennefer and the prodigal Ciri.

It’s well worth comparing the original Sapkowki stories to the TV version. But there are also stories that didn’t make it into the TV series, including a sendup of Beauty and the Beast (but with a vampire!) an account of mermaid diplomacy, and alternate take on Ciri’s first encounter with the violent dryads of Brokilon forest.

From there on the Witcher books more and more novel-like. The third volume, The Blood of Elves, focuses on Geralt and Yennfer’s efforts to raise and protect Ciri as sinister agents close in on her trail. 

The Time of Contempt ramps up the intrigue at a sorcerer’s convocation at the Aretuza magic school that concludes in far more spectacular fashion than your average annual professional conference. 

In Baptism of Fire, a team of rogues aid the Witcher as he traverses a blood-soaked warzone in a quest to find Ciri in a storyline mashing up Fellowship of the Rings with Apocalypse Now.  Geralt and Ciri’s fate is finally concluded in The Tower of the Swallow and The Lady of Lake, which comes with a dollop of Arthurian legend for a good measure.

There’s also the stand-alone book Season of Storms, set within the timeframe of the first book in the series, that doesn’t force you to follow the intrigues spanning from book to book.

The Games

The Witcher Games, made by CD Projekt, are known for incredible art design and ambitious, well-told stories. The last in the series, Witcher 3 The Wild Hunter, is considered one of the best computer roleplaying games ever made by many game critics.

The games are set after the events of the books—but the plots aren’t so tightly connected that it’s necessary to play them all, nor play them in order. Because Geralt begins the trilogy suffering from amnesia, you can rediscover his world at the same pace he does.

The original The Witcher features an intense tale of terrorism, crime and racial conflict—with a generous helping of bizarre and horrifying monsters, of course. It has older, stylized graphics, a rhythm-based combat system, and lots of mini-games simulating activities such as bribing guards, drinking informants under the table, and juicing up the perfect potion. (A mechanic rewarding amorous conquests inspired well-deserved controversy, though the game also explores the theme of the responsibilities of parenthood.)

However, the original game takes a while to get to the genuinely good parts and relies on old-school game mechanics that are out of fashion today, so it may not be the best point of entry.

Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings still looks amazing today and is unabashedly cinematic both in terms of its graphics, its colorful characters and wrenching moral choices it forces upon you. At one point, the player has just a few seconds to choose between bringing a villain to justice or saving the innocent—and that choice will have tremendous consequences for the remainder of the game. The Witcher 2’s one big problem is that combat can be pretty difficult and skill-oriented at the beginning, so more story-oriented players may prefer to lower the difficulty.

Finally,  Witcher III Wild Hunt remains a visual marvel years after its release, and stands as perhaps the most richly textured open-world roleplaying game out there in a genre normally infamous for presenting broad but shallow worlds. It’s also the game most closely tied to events in the book series.  In between monster hunts in submerged grottos and bouts of sleuthing in magical forests and grubby medieval cities, the Witcher III unwinds an at turns humorous and moving story, including a heartbreaking side quest called Family Matters, and brings the fate of Ciri, Geralt and Yennefer to its conclusion.

It’s worth noting that Witcher III has two well-regarded expansions—Blood and Wine and Hearts of Stone—that add meaty side-stories, and has also spawned a spinoff collectible card game

Other Media

The Witcher has also inspired a Polish comic book series from the 1990s, as well as a four-volume American Dark Horse comics series based on the computer games. 

And if you’re truly brave, you can dig up Wiedźmin, released both as a somewhat incoherent 2001 movie  and a ten-part TV series on Polish TV in 2002. But don’t say we didn’t warn you. And besides, between the books, comics and the games, you’re not lacking for options.

Sébastien Roblin holds a master’s degree in conflict resolution from Georgetown University and served as a university instructor for the Peace Corps in China. He has also worked in education, editing, and refugee resettlement in France and the United States. He currently writes on security and military history for War Is Boring.

Image: Creative Commons.