The Witcher Saga (books - potential spoilers)

Atomkilla

Atomkilla

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I've finished reading all books of the Saga recently, and would like to know what other NMA members who've read them (if any), think about it.
I will post my thoughts later on.


Please refrain from game discussion. There's another topic about games, in a proper place.
 
Tagaziel said:
They're awesome.

Also, you're Polish? Or did they finally translate dem bookz?
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Nope, I'm from Serbia.

Serbian translation of The Last Wish and The Sword of Destiny have been around for years (we actually have 2 translations of each), but the rest of the Saga was started to get published about 2 years ago.
The Lady of the Lake was published about a month ago, therefore completing the Saga in Serbian.
 
Thanks for the link.
I know about fan translations, but I usually avoid them - not because they're bad, but because, in general, translations from Slavic languages to English always seemed to lose some of its spirit to me.
I have downloaded Something Ends, Something Begins, and will read it soon enough though. It is the only story I haven't read yet, I think, and it probably won't get translated to Serbian, anyway.

Heard about the new book?
 
Atomkilla said:
I know about fan translations, but I usually avoid them - not because they're bad, but because, in general, translations from Slavic languages to English always seemed to lose some of its spirit to me.
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Well, that *is* true. I discovered that different languages have different influence on how you think in them, and that's just perfect example of it. I want to do some researches on that in the future (since I'm very intrested in linguistics). When I've read Witcher in Polish, it was just amazing, but when I looked up for translations of some really funny parts from the book they weren't even as half as good (mostly because old Polish words seem to be funny just by the way they sound and are used, which makes jokes from Witcher even funnier in Polish). That's probably why this book is so good in Slavic languages, but isn't in any other, because this "feeling" of the words used in it (or just how the language is used) is so specific and maybe can be translated into, for example, English, but it won't translate the feeling it has in the original version.
 
You pretty much nailed it.

I don't know Polish, but I've read The Last Wish in English and Serbian - the difference is indescribable. The two worlds created in my head are different, basically.
 
I wish they would make a TV show like game of thrones (the quality) about the Witcher. If I remember correctly there is a series or movie or what ever already, but well ... the quality of it :P
 
Crni Vuk said:
I wish they would make a TV show like game of thrones (the quality) about the Witcher. If I remember correctly there is a series or movie or what ever already, but well ... the quality of it :P
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I haven't seen the film nor the series (nor do I plan to), but am not a fan of screen iterations of novels and such, especially fantasy novels.
Besides, TW film wouldn't really work.
The series dealt with a new short story in every episode, which is doable, but using the story from the saga for the film would be a bit weird, I guess. A series, maybe, a film, not really.
 
I'd be interested in knowing whether anyone has read the Witcher books and also Michael Moorcock's Stormbringer series, which I read as a kid. Supposedly Garrett is lifted from Moorcock's character Elric, a.k.a. The White Wolf.
 
Akratus said:
They share visual similarities but nothing more, I believe.
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That, and both being called "White Wolf". But no, nothing more, I think. At least from glancing at wiki page.
Haven't read Moorcock's books though.
Geralt is compared to Philip Marlowe, apparently. Or so wiki says. Or whatever.
 
I'll have to read the Witcher books and draw my own conclusions.

I was young when I read Moorcock's series, but I enjoyed it and it was definitely memorable. I can't say whether it would hold up now that I'm older. Maybe I should read it again.

I've read some of Moorcock's science fiction, and I liked it.
 
UniversalWolf said:
I'll have to read the Witcher books and draw my own conclusions..
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Seeing you're from USA, I guess you're going to wait a bit unless you use the translation Akratus posted.
I still don't understand why the Saga hasn't been fully translated in English. Witcher has become a well-known name globally, it's weird.
 
Part of the reason is because the saga is so closely tied to Slavic mythology and language. Sapkowski likes playing with language as well, meaning many things will be very hard or impossible to translate. Plus, before the Witcher games, the books weren't probably considered as potentially successful out West.

On the topic of Elric: The similarities are cosmetic. While Geralt is indeed an albino, he is a sterile human mutant with great physical power and stamina without drugs, shunned by society due to his statuts. He is not a ruler of any kind, but is constantly dragged kicking and screaming into the center of conflict due to vagaries of fate (if you believe in Elven philosophy) or being single-mindedly focused on Ciri, who is a pivotal figure in the games played by northern rulers. That's pretty much the opposite of Elric.
 
Tagaziel said:
While Geralt is indeed an albino
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I've always had a problem with that though.
Geralt is consistently described as either having white hair or being an albino - but that's not the same.
Albinos have no pigment at all, and Geralt is never described as having a pale white skin, which, I imagine, common folks of the Dark Ages would find even more monstrous (as if they don't already hate witchers enough). Besides, his "albinism" is caused by mutations at an early age, while real albinism is an inherited disorder.
I don't take games into account, but I think they represented him really good, with skin that is "regular white", and not albino white.

Also, since we're mentioning hair, is there actually any mention in books on how long was Geralt's hair?
I remember him being described in early short stories as having a band around his forehead to hold his hair back, but there's no actual mention of its length.

The way I imagine him, he does have a long hair, but trying to be a bit realistic, that would be very unpractical, given his profession.
 
Atomkilla said:
I've always had a problem with that though.
Geralt is consistently described as either having white hair or being an albino - but that's not the same.
Albinos have no pigment at all, and Geralt is never described as having a pale white skin, which, I imagine, common folks of the Dark Ages would find even more monstrous (as if they don't already hate witchers enough). Besides, his "albinism" is caused by mutations at an early age, while real albinism is an inherited disorder.
I don't take games into account, but I think they represented him really good, with skin that is "regular white", and not albino white.
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Yeah, my bad. Just white hair.

Also, since we're mentioning hair, is there actually any mention in books on how long was Geralt's hair?
I remember him being described in early short stories as having a band around his forehead to hold his hair back, but there's no actual mention of its length.
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The exact length is never mentioned to my knowledge, but the consensus is that they're pretty long, at least shoulder-length.

The way I imagine him, he does have a long hair, but trying to be a bit realistic, that would be very unpractical, given his profession.
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Only if the witcher fights humans. Monsters are too focused on the squishy bits to grab hair.
 
Tagaziel said:
The way I imagine him, he does have a long hair, but trying to be a bit realistic, that would be very unpractical, given his profession.
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Only if the witcher fights humans. Monsters are too focused on the squishy bits to grab hair.
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It's still a bit unpractical.
Sure, you're right, monsters wouldn't grab hair, most of them wouldn't, no doubt, but again, hair is a problem here.
I'm talking from a personal experience, so to say - I have a long hair, somewhere to the half of my back, and though I may like it, it's rather unpractical in manual labor. Hard to maintain, falls into eyes all the time etc.

I mean, I hate it when I play basketball or whatever and it's over my face all the time - imagine how much of a disadvantage it is when you have hair all in your eyes, and your enemy, monster or human, is charging at you.

This is a problem for me with all long-haired characters which participate in close-quarter combat, not just Geralt.
 
That's why Geralt uses a headband or something like that, if I remember correct. It isn't shown in the games, though.

I love the short story books, by the way. I've read them a few times already. The saga-books were a bit boring here and there, for my taste. Too long and not enough focus on Geralt. :>
 
Lexx said:
That's why Geralt uses a headband or something like that, if I remember correct. It isn't shown in the games, though.
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True, but then again, if hair is long enough, even headband doesn't help.


I also like short stories more.
Saga is great by me, too, I don't mind them being focused more on other characters than Geralt - it helps flesh out the whole world and characters a lot more, but I found short stories to have more...substance, as weird as that sounds. I regard the whole Saga as basically a long-story continuation and ending to The Sword of Destiny and Something More.
I quite liked the way Ciri and Yennefer are shown in the Saga, probably more than Geralt.
 
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