The Witcher Books in Order

The Witcher is Andrzej Sapkowski's Polish fantasy cycle about Geralt of Rivia - a mutant monster-hunter for hire in a world where the real monsters are usually the people - and it is one of the rare book series that conquered three media at once: the novels made Sapkowski a legend in 1990s Poland, CD Projekt Red's games made him global, and the Netflix series made Geralt a household name. Nine books exist in English: two collections of short stories, the five-novel saga, and two standalone prequels. The trap for English readers is unusual - the books were translated out of order, so the shelf order and the story order do not match (1990–present).

Where to start

The Last Wish (2007 in English), the first story collection - not Blood of Elves, the first saga novel. This is the single most important thing this page can tell you: Ciri and Yennefer, the two relationships the entire saga runs on, are introduced in the short stories, and Sword of Destiny in particular ends with the events that start Blood of Elves. English readers who jumped straight to the saga in 2008 (because that was all that existed in English) met Geralt's whole family already in motion. Readers coming from the games can survive that jump - the saga does recap enough - but the collections are where the series earns its soul.

Does the reading order matter?

Story order, which is the order every guide recommends: The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny first, then the saga - Blood of Elves, Time of Contempt, Baptism of Fire, The Tower of the Swallow, The Lady of the Lake. The wrinkle is publication: English editions arrived scrambled, with Blood of Elves (2008) appearing seven years before Sword of Destiny (2015), which is why so many older lists put the saga first. The two prequels float: Season of Storms (2018) sits between the collections and the saga but spoils nothing and is often read last; Crossroads of Ravens (Polish 2024, English September 2025) follows a young Geralt fresh from training and can be read any time after The Last Wish.

Which one is the best?

The Last Wish is the best single entry point and a small masterpiece of dark irony - The Witcher, the first story, remains Sapkowski's most anthologized pages. In the saga, Baptism of Fire (2014) is the fan favorite - the misfit-company novel where the series' warmth peaks - while The Lady of the Lake (2017) is the demanding, time-hopping ending readers argue about forever. Among the prequels, Crossroads of Ravens became an instant Sunday Times bestseller in the UK and reads like Sapkowski enjoying himself.

Related guides

Readers finishing this shelf usually want the map next door: Throne of Glass books in order, Sarah J. Maas books in order, Dune books in order. Every guide follows the same format — the shelf, the entry point, the honest answer about order.

Make it a project

Pick a session size and let the days accumulate — at the pace our reading speed test measures, most shelves above clear in a few weeks of half-hours. Every guide on the books in order shelf follows this same format, and when a book lands, its 8-question quiz is waiting on the original book quiz.