We are delighted to hear from our friends over at Gollancz towers that they’ve acquired three more books in ’s THE WITCHER series.
For those unfamiliar, the stories centre around a character – The Witcher, Geralt – who is a kind of mutant assassin that’s been trained since childhood to hunt down and destroy monsters. What we enjoy most about these books is the mass-subversion of tropes. A princess may end being an evil, twisted monster whereas a troll might end up being a close ally. In such a world Geralt must constantly look beyond first appearances and, as a result, has built a unique code of ethics that makes for a rather unique reading experience.
Over the years fans of the series have waited patiently whilst contract negotiations/disputes and translations took place. I say patiently – Gollancz report that ‘when is the next Witcher book coming!?!?’ is one of the most regular to appear on their timeline. If it has been a while, I’ll remind you where we’re up to: we’ve had The Last Wish (a Short Story Collection wayyyyyyyy back in 2008), Blood of Elves, Time of Contempt and Baptism of Fire so far. Yep, just four books in eight years… but fear not, for they will now be coming rather sharpish!
The first book, THE SWORD OF DESTINY, will be published in May 2015 alongside the new computer game THE WITCHER 3: THE WILD HUNT, which won the Award for Most Anticipated Game during The Game Awards 2014. Our friend Evazorek – a forum regular who is also a quest designer for the game – stopped by this week to give us an early look at what he and his team are getting up to (playing video games really, really thoroughly by the looks!). To see for yourselves, check out these videos of the actual gameplay:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LKP2dO3T0Q
If this game ends up being as good as it looks, we are sure its strong sales performances will continue. Prepare to be blown away, because sales for the previous two games in the franchise have totalled over 8 million copies. Shadows of Mordor, to date [early 2015] has sold around 1,000,000 copies, so has some catching up to do!
In terms of what the books will be about. SWORD OF DESTINY is a collection of linked short stories which fills in some of the gaps in the Witcher’s legend. We believe it will be much like the very excellent first book, The Witcher, released here in the UK those eight long years ago. The other two books Gollancz has signed – THE SWALLOW’S TOWER and LADY OF THE LAKE – will be released in 2016 and 2017 and will conclude the main story of Geralt the Witcher.
All three books will be translated by David French, whose translation of the previous two volumes in the series was widely acclaimed… one even picked up a Gemmell Award!
Jennie Ivins
What a delay. Six years after the German and French translation.
But better late than never, and I really like these books.
I’m greatly astonished. The last book in The Witcher series (“Lady of the Lake” vol.2) has been available in spanish since 2010.
It is usually the other way around… Guess we won for once ¿?
I hope you can finally continue Geralt’s journey, as it is both fascinating and unforgettable.