The Witcher
#1494.16 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 9 books Status Ongoing 1992–present Reading commitment High Andrzej Sapkowski Last reviewed 2026-08-05
Overview
The Witcher (Wiedźmin) is the landmark of Polish fantasy: Andrzej Sapkowski's stories and novels about the monster-hunter Geralt of Rivia, begun with a 1986 magazine story submitted to a competition and built over the following decades into two foundational short-story collections, The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny, and a five-novel saga running from Blood of Elves (1994) to The Lady of the Lake (1999). Sapkowski later added a standalone follow-up, Season of Storms (2013), and a further saga entry, Crossroads of Ravens (2024). The books draw heavily on Slavic folklore and fairy tale, subverting many of their sources' conventions through Geralt's morally ambiguous profession and the saga's broader political conflict between rival kingdoms and the Nilfgaardian Empire. Having sold more than 30 million copies across more than 40 languages, the series became a global phenomenon through CD Projekt Red's video game trilogy and Netflix's television adaptation, and stands as the first non-English-language universe admitted to this canon.
Dark fantasy, Epic fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (9 works) counts toward ranking
The Witcher Andrzej Sapkowski
| Work | Year | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Last Wish; Foundational collection, reading order #1 (registered Core under the collection-as-Core exception). superNOWA issued it to supersede the 1990 Reporter collection. New David French re-translation announced for 2026. | 1993 | core | 4.14 (436,012 ratings) |
 | Sword of Destiny; Foundational collection, reading order #2 despite the earliest Polish year (1992); introduces Ciri. English translation appeared after four saga novels. | 1992 | core | 4.27 (233,992 ratings) |
 | Blood of Elves; Saga #1. UK Gollancz 2008 (US Orbit 2009). Won the inaugural David Gemmell Legend Award 2009. | 1994 | core | 4.10 (259,118 ratings) |
 | Time of Contempt; Saga #2. | 1995 | core | 4.16 (182,501 ratings) |
 | Baptism of Fire; Saga #3. Translator attribution via secondary sources. | 1996 | core | 4.26 (153,157 ratings) |
 | The Tower of the Swallow; Saga #4. US title: The Tower of Swallows. | 1997 | core | 4.22 (129,692 ratings) |
 | The Lady of the Lake; Saga #5, conclusion. | 1999 | core | 4.08 (104,970 ratings) |
 | Season of Storms; Standalone set among The Last Wish stories. | 2013 | core | 3.98 (76,854 ratings) |
 | Crossroads of Ravens; Prequel: Geralt's youth. PL 29 Nov 2024 (superNOWA); EN 30 Sep 2025 (Gollancz/Orbit). | 2024 | core | 4.03 (20,660 ratings) |
Reading order: collections first (official superNOWA numbering), then the 5-novel saga, then standalones. Polish and English publication orders both differ from reading order.
Historical artifacts (not registered) (0 works)
The 1986 short story "Wiedźmin" (Fantastyka magazine, Geralt's debut) and the 1990 Reporter collection Wiedźmin, superseded by The Last Wish. Documented here for completeness.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Witcher? The Witcher's Core Canon is 9 books.
- What is the reading order for The Witcher? Publication order, starting with The Last Wish. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Witcher finished? Ongoing (1992–present).
- How much reading does The Witcher take? High reading commitment (estimated from 9 Core Canon books · ~3,753 pages).
- How is The Witcher ranked? #149 in this site's official ranking, based on 1,596,956 reader ratings across 9 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #149?
Ranked #149 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.16 across 9 core books.
- Backed by 1.6M reader ratings.
- Less than 0.01 behind #148, Neverwhere (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Highly rated · 9 books · Ongoing · 1.6M ratings · Ranks #149 overall
Good choice if you want a long-running dark fantasy universe that's still ongoing, with new books still coming.
Reading order
Publication order (9 Core Canon books)
- Sword of Destiny (1992)
- The Last Wish (1993)
- Blood of Elves (1994)
- Time of Contempt (1995)
- Baptism of Fire (1996)
- The Tower of the Swallow (1997)
- The Lady of the Lake (1999)
- Season of Storms (2013)
- Crossroads of Ravens (2024)
Awards (verified)
- World Fantasy Award, Life Achievement, 2016: Sapkowski (co-recipient with David G. Hartwell)
- Premio Ignotus, Best Anthology, 2003: The Last Wish (Spanish edition); multiple Zajdel Awards (Poland) noted, not yet structured
- David Gemmell Legend Award (Best Novel), 2009: won: Blood of Elves; Inaugural Gemmell Legend Award.
- Premio Ignotus (Best Anthology), 2003: won: The Last Wish; Spanish edition.
You might also like
Suggestions computed from what The Witcher and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- Kencyrath Epic fantasy / Sword & sorcery · Ongoing · High commitment · 4.28
- The Drenai Saga Epic fantasy / Sword & sorcery · Complete · High commitment · 4.27
- Wheel of Time Epic fantasy · Complete · High commitment · 4.21
- Green Rider Epic fantasy · Ongoing · High commitment · 4.17
Official resources
- sapkowskibooks.com: publisher-run author site
- Orbit / Hachette: author page
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.16 across 1,596,956 ratings on 9 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: The Witcher Core Canon; foundational-collection exception accepted 2026-08-05
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia (English) Tier 2
- sfadb, Science Fiction Awards Database Tier 3
- Orbit / Hachette Book Group Tier 1
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Witcher
Last reviewed: 2026-08-06
Rule: The two collections are core under the foundational-collection exception: they precede the novels, the saga directly continues their story (Sword of Destiny introduces Ciri), and the publisher numbers them as books 1–2. Tables ordered by official reading order; note both Polish and English publication orders differ from it.