Andrzej Sapkowski (Polish:[ˈandʐɛjsapˈkɔfski]; born 21 June 1948) is a Polishfantasywriter. He is best known for his series of booksThe Witcher, which revolves around the eponymous monster-hunter,Geralt of Rivia. The saga has been popularized through video games, television, stage, comic books and translated into 37 languages making him the second most-translated Polishscience fiction and fantasy writer afterStanisław Lem.[1]
He was born on 21 June 1948 inŁódź, in central Poland. His father served in thePolish People's Army and participated in theBattle of Berlin.[7] After the end ofWorld War II, his parents lived nearNowa Sól before settling in Łódź.[8] He attended theBolesław Prus High School No. 21.[9] He also studiedeconomics at theUniversity of Łódź, and before turning to writing, he had worked as a seniorsales representative for a foreign trade company. He started his literary career as a translator, in particular, of science fiction. Among the first works translated by him wasThe Words of Guru byCyril M. Kornbluth.[10]
He says he wrote his firstshort story,"The Witcher" [pl] (1986), ("Wiedźmin", also translated "The Hexer" or "Spellmaker"), on a whim, in order to enter a contest by Polish science fiction and fantasy magazineFantastyka. In an interview, he said that being a businessman at the time and thus familiar with marketing, he knew how to sell, and indeed, he won third prize.[11] The story was published inFantastyka in 1986 and was enormously successful both with readers and critics. Sapkowski has created acycle of tales based on the world of "The Witcher", comprising three collections of short stories and eight novels. This cycle and his other works have made him one of the best-knownfantasy authors in Poland in the 1990s.[12][13]
The main character of "The Witcher" isGeralt of Rivia, trained as a monster hunter since childhood. Geralt exists in a morally ambiguous universe, yet manages to maintain his own coherent code of ethics. At the same time cynical and noble, Geralt has been compared toRaymond Chandler's signature characterPhilip Marlowe.[12] The world in which these adventures take place is heavily influenced bySlavic mythology.[14]
In her review ofBlood of Elves, Alice Wybrew ofTotal Sci-Fi writes that "Moving effortlessly between moments of wrought emotion and staggeringly effective action, to lengthy periods of political discussion andwar stratagems, Sapkowski addresses every aspect of a good fantasy novel eloquently and with ease. His style reads as easily asDavid Gemmel, but hits harder and deeper than his late fantasy comrade. Creating a world that is both familiar and comfortable, it is through his inventive use of character manipulation that he generates a new and realistic experience".[15] Alex Jay ofPolygon further observes that within Sapkowski's fantasy tales, "there are parallels to the complicated history of ethnic strife and resistance to oppression inCentral andEastern Europe". The depictions of the disputes between nonhumans and humans "echo real-world disputes over territory and citizenship that draw dividing lines according to race, nationality, or ethnicity".[16]
Sapkowski's next book series was theHussite Trilogy set in the 15th century at the time of theHussite Wars with Reinmar of Bielawa as the main protagonist. Mariusz Czubaj writes:[18]
Sapkowski's trilogy is a form of polemics with the Polish tradition of the historical novel, with let's sayKraszewski andSienkiewicz, who wrote about cruel times while depriving them of that dose of atrocities and a most basic human dimension. Yet the author of The Witcher does not hide that his characters are not exactly subtle, but who nonetheless bask with delight in what the literature theoreticianMikhail Bakhtin once called "the material bodily lower stratum".
Although theHussite Trilogy proved less popular compared toThe Witcher, it has been described as the author's "magnum opus". Published between 2002 and 2006, the series was released as anaudiobook in 2019.[19]
In August 2023, Sapkowski announced he was working on a new novel fromThe Witcher universe during an on-line meeting with his Ukrainian fans. He added that his work on the book "may take a year, but no longer" giving it a potential expected publication date at some point in 2024.[20] The novel, titledRozdroże Kruków, was published in Poland in November 2024, and released internationally asCrossroads of Ravens in September 2025.[21]
In October 2018, he sent an open letter toCD Projekt demanding 60 million zloty ($16.1 million) inroyalty payments from the company for using the Witcher universe in their computer games.[22] The letter was written despite the fact that Sapkowski had sold the video game rights to the Witcher for a single sum, rather than through a royalties contract. Sapkowski and his lawyers based their claims on Article 44 of theCopyright and Related Rights Act.[22]
CD Projekt released a statement claiming that the author's demands are groundless and that the company had legitimately and legally acquired copyright to Sapkowski's works. His decision was criticized by many commentators and gaming journalists includingDmitry Glukhovsky, the author ofMetro 2033, who described him as "an old fool" and noted that without thegaming franchise, the Witcher series "would never get this crazy international readership" and would have remained popular only inCentral andEastern Europe.[23][24]
On 20 December 2019, the writer and the company resolved the dispute with an amicable settlement. The company stated this deal was made in an effort "to maintain good relations with authors of works which have inspired CD Projekt Red's own creations." The details of this arrangement were not made public.[25]
Andrzej Sapkowski at the 2010 World Book Fair inPrague, Czech Republic
Sapkowski resides in his hometown ofŁódź in central Poland. He had a son named Krzysztof (1972–2019), who was an avid reader of the PolishFantastyka magazine, and for whom he wrote the firstWitcher story; Krzysztof has since passed away.[26][27]
In the years between 1993 and 1995, a six-issuecomic book series entitledThe Witcher was released in theKomiks magazine by Prószyński i S-kapublishing house. The comic was written byMaciej Parowski and illustrated byBogusław Polch. The comics were the first attempt to portray the Witcher universe outside the novels.[38] Since 2014, a comic book seriesThe Witcher has been published by the American publisherDark Horse Comics. The stories presented in the series are mostly originals, written not by Andrzej Sapkowski but by other writers; the exception being volume 2, Fox Children, which adapted a story from the anthologySeason of Storms.[39]
In 2001, atelevision series based on theWitcher cycle was released in Poland and internationally, entitledWiedźmin (The Hexer). Afilm by the same title was compiled from excerpts of the television series but both have been critical and box office failures.[40]
In 2009, Russianheavy metal band Esse stagedThe Road with No Return, arock opera based on the works by Sapkowski. Yevgeny Pronin is the author of thelibretto and the composer of much of the opera's music. The premiere of the opera took place the same year inRostov-on-Don and was subsequently released as a DVD in 2012.[41][42]
2003:Ignotus Award (Spain) forThe Last Wish in the Best Anthology category and forMuzykanci (The Musicians) in the Best Foreign Short Story category;Nike Award nomination (Poland's top literary prize) for his novelNarrenturm
The Witcher (Wiedźmin [pl], 1986), five stories. It is currently out of print. However, four of its stories were reprinted inThe Last Wish along with new material, while the fifth story was reprinted inSomething ends, Something begins andThe Malady and Other Stories.
Sword of Destiny (Miecz przeznaczenia, 1992), six stories. English edition: 2015[60]
The Last Wish (Ostatnie życzenie, 1993), seven stories. English edition: 2007 (in US: 2008).[61] Its stories (including both its original stories and the stories which it republishes fromThe Witcher) take place beforeSword of Destiny even though it was published later.
The short story "The Hexer" in the English anthologyChosen by Fate: Zajdel Award Winner Anthology (by SuperNOVA in cooperation with the Silesian Club of Fantasy Literature, 2000) is an English translation by Agnieszka Fulińska of the short story "The Witcher" which had previously been published in Polish inThe Witcher andThe Last Wish.The Last Wish was later translated into English in full.
The short story "Spellmaker" in the English anthologyA Polish Book of Monsters (edited and translated byMichael Kandel, 2010) is another translation of the short story "The Witcher" which had previously been published inThe Witcher,The Last Wish, andChosen by Fate: Zajdel Award Winner Anthology.[62]
Something Ends, Something Begins (Coś się kończy, coś się zaczyna [pl], 2000), 8 stories. Only two of its stories are related toThe Witcher saga ("A Road with No Return" and the titular "Something Ends, Something Begins").
The Malady and Other Stories (Maladie i inne opowiadania [pl], 2012), 10 stories. It includes the eight stories fromSomething Ends, Something Begins, as well as two new stories unrelated toThe Witcher saga. The contents of the English translation is different, containing excerpts from the first and third novels, two stories fromThe Last Wish, and the titular short story.
