The Witcher has become one of the most popular fantasy franchises in modern media. Whether you prefer the original books, the trilogy of games, the Netflix series, or if you just want to play Gwent, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. But what if you’re interested to know how the White Wolf got to where he is now?
If you’re curious about the lore in the Witcher franchise, the best place to start is the books. Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels are the source material for everything else you’ll see. While the games, shows, and other media sometimes differ in adaptation, the novels present the purest form of the story. Here is every novel released thus far in the chronological order of when their story takes place.
While I don’t intend to divedeepinto the plot of these novels, there will beinherent spoilers in the description of each. If you want to stay spoiler-free, the reading list is:
Go forth and read!
Our list is in order ofstory, not release. Reading in this order will give you the story in the closest thing to chronological order as possible, but this is not the order in which the novels first hit the shelves.
The Witcher: The Lady Of The Lake
The Witcher: Season Of Storms
The Last Wish is our introduction to the franchise, and it does so in style. While this is the second book to be released, hitting shelves in 1993, it’s the first in the Witcher timeline. Nearly everything that takes place in this story happens before the events of the rest of the series, making it an excellent setup. But whynearlyeverything?
Mostly, that’s because The Last Wish takes an anthological approach. There are multiple short stories in this book, working less as a novel and more of an anthology. One of the most important comes from an iconic moment in the franchise wherein a wish is used to intertwine the lives and hearts of Geralt and Yennefer forevermore.
The Witcher: Sword Of Destiny
First release, second story
The Sword of Destiny was the first book released, but is second in the story. Sword of Destiny focuses not only on the trials Geralt faces in combat, but the prejudice that his role as a Witcher earns him from humans.
Though The Sword of Destiny is the first book to hit the shelves, released in 1992, it’s the second in the storyline. Sapkowski’s anthology The Last Wish was released afterward to fill in some of the gaps that the backstory had left, rendering Sword of Destiny the second in the chronological order. Itmaybe the third, though we’ll get to that later on.
Like The Last Wish, Sword of Destiny is a collection of short stories. They almost all follow Geralt in his adventures across the world hunting monsters, but also introduce an iconic character that fans across all mediums know and love: Ciri. At the novel’s end, the rest of the franchise is set up fully.
The Witcher: Blood Of Elves
Elves, their blood, and a child of prophecy
The Blood of Elves is the third release and also the third in the stories. From here on out, the release order will line up with the chronological order! Blood of Elves focuses heavily on the introduction of Ciri and her role in the story to come.
Blood of Elves was released in 1994 and is the third story in the chronological order. It’s also the first one that isn’t written in the format of a collection of short stories, instead being a fully-fledged novel. That presents an issue for some fans if these are read in order: the books up to Blood of Elves have incredibly swift pacing as anthologies, which can make this novel feel somewhat sluggish.
Blood of Elves has a more focused storyline through that pace, which focuses on the makeshift family of Geralt, Yennefer, and their guardianship over Ciri. As Ciri’s powers come to fruition, the trio are having disagreements over how best to hone, train, and defend her. It’s a low-stakes novel that helps to set up a high-stakes world.
The Witcher: The Time Of Contempt
Yennefer, Ciri, and Geralt, oh my!
The Time of Contempt isn’t Yennefer’s introduction, but the story will focus heavily on her and the other sorceresses in the world of the Witcher. This story focuses primarily on Yennefer, Ciri, and Geralt’s attempt to keep Ciri safe.
The Time of Contempt is the first story in the Witcher franchise that doesn’t focus heavily on Geralt of Rivia. While he still features, he’s no longer the story’s primary focus, instead switching dominantly to the circumstances of the world around them and Ciri herself. Yennefer also is a large presence in this novel, helping The Witcher novels shy away fromonlybeing about the Witcher.
Time of Contempt begins right where Blood of Elves ends, working as a direct and true sequel. While Yennefer and Geralt continue to struggle to handle Ciri’s powers, the world continues to fall apart, with the world’s nations teetering on war. Time of Contempt is one of the deepest looks into the morally gray area of whom the characters must side with, why, and what the consequences could be.
The Witcher: Baptism Of Fire
Geralt is hurt, Ciri is missing!
Baptism of Fire focuses on a grievously wounded Geralt following an attempted coup. Ciri has gone missing, leading to a search attempt that could stretch as far as Nilfgaard.
Baptism of Fire is functionally the mid-point of the franchise, with about two more mainline novels still being set up. As such, this story has an overarching climax of its own, but is still dominantly working to set up the ongoing conflict and ultimate consequences of the story thus far.
In Baptism of Fire, Geralt finds himself severely injured after an attempted coup. In the aftermath, Ciri has vanished, whipping much of the rest of the world into a search mission. Geralt works to gather his allies and companions to help him track down the Child of Prophecy.
The Witcher: The Tower of Swallows
Ciri finds freedom at last
Geralt’s search for Ciri brings him on a long journey of assembling allies, desperate to find her before her enemies do. Ciri, meanwhile, finds freedom in living as a thief rather than a prophesied hero.
With the penultimate story in the novel series, we focus heavily on Ciri and her life now that she’s ushered herself out of her previous responsibilities. Living as a normal thief rather than her true self, it helps to paint her in a more human light.
Meanwhile, Geralt’s search for her continues in earnest. As the story continues to ramp up, the Witcher’s desperation to protect someone he holds dear comes to a head.
Ciri, more Elves, and a seizing of the Sword.
The Lady of the Lake focuses primarily on Ciri, trapped in the world of Elves without Geralt or her friends. The young woman is forced to use everything she’s learned to fend off her enemies as their pursuit continues.
The finale of the series (thus far) is focused massively on Ciri as a main character. Trapped in the world of Elves, Ciri finds herself without allies or friends in the climax of the story. We’re being purposefully vague here: it’s an incredible story and one you should read for yourself.
Takes place at some point!
The most recent Witcher novel is difficult to place on the timeline due to its stand-alone nature. Most fans agree that this story seems to take place between the first and second novels on this list, but since there’s no confirmation, we’ve tacked it onto the end for you to theorycraft with.
Released long after the others, Sea of Storms fits strangely into the canon. There’s no set time that this novel takes place, so wiggling it into the series that was released beforehand isn’t as easy as it could be.
Additionally, this story is fully standalone, more of an adventure that happensinthe Witcher franchise than a mainline novel. Geralt is the focus again, and it’s as wonderful as you’d expect it to be. That said, if you had to pick one to skip, you can miss Sea of Storms without impacting the rest of the story.
FAQ
The Witcher novels are best when read in order, yes. For the beginning anthologies, it’s less important, since they have a less focused storyline. Sea of Storms can also be read at any point, though it’s best to read between the first and second books.
Can I Play The Witcher Games Without The Books?
Sure! Most fans do so. The Witcher games are not adaptations of the books. They actually take placeafterthe books. Reading the books will give you a fuller understanding of the games, but it’s not crucial.
Do The Witcher Games Follow The Books Closely?
Nope! There are many references, and you’ll understand the world a little better if you’ve read them, but the games donotfollow the mainline books directly.
