Geralt de Rivia, does that sound familiar? You may not find it. However, if we tell you The Witcher, a video game or the Netflix series (which will soon premiere the second season) may come to your mind. Based on some fantasy and adventure novels, the Geralt of Rivia saga has become fashionable.
If you want to know more about them, the books that compose them, or the order in which you should read them to get ahead of the television series, then this information that we have compiled interests you.
Who is Geralt de Rivia?
But first of all, who is Geralt of Rivia? Is it really how we have been painted in the Netflix series? Or maybe like The Witcher video game for PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS4 or Nintendo Switch? To begin with, we must say that it is a character, the protagonist of the saga. Geralt of Rivia is a sorcerer who makes a living hunting magical creatures to which nobody wants to face (or they try it without good results). He carries two swords on his shoulder, one of steel and the other of silver, which are the ones he uses to face chimeras, manticores, vampires, sphinxes, etc.
However, his path, and his history, have made him a disbelieving, sarcastic, cynical man who does not like the company of people. Despite being a hero, he does not see himself as such, but as someone who tries to survive in life, and for this he does what he can and knows how to do.
Andrzej Sapkowski, the man behind the witcher saga
Andrzej Sapkowski is the one to whom we owe that Geralt of Rivia appeared in the world. And it is that he is the father of the saga of the sorcerer Geralt of Rivia, or The Witcher, as he is better known. Actually this Polish writer born in 1948, began to write late (38 years old). In fact, his vocation as a writer came to him as an adult. But his books won over readers and, shortly after, critics.
Characterized by a direct, fluid, popular, contemporary, and at the same time archaic language, along with his humor, he managed to achieve success almost from the very beginning.
Currently, it is known for his saga of books about the sorcerer, and with which he has garnered several Zajdel awards.
What you may not know is that, in addition to this saga, it has other books. We are talking about a trilogy also of historical fantasy based on the Hussite wars, composed by Narrenturnm, The Warriors of God and Lux perpetual.
The books of the Geralt of Rivia saga
The Geralt of Rivia saga consists of exactly 9 books. All of them have been published in Spain, so it is easy to find them all. However, the order in which they were published, especially the first two, can make you wrong when reading them because, do you know that you have to do it the other way around?
We talk about them:
Last wish
This book was published in 1993 and in it you will discover the character Geralt de Rivia and his partner, Dandelion. In this way, you will realize the reasons why he behaves the way he does, the situations that he has happened and so on.
However, this book, which was actually the second to be published, is actually the first you should start with. And we tell you why below.
The sword of destiny
Published in 1992, it was the first to appear and it was a boom. However, the The events that are narrated in this book are later than that of The Last Wish. And at the same time, it is the one that gives rise to the rest of the book saga.
What can that tell us? Well, when this book appeared, many readers were confused, without understanding the character or what was happening (something similar to the Netflix series The Witcher) and, of course, the author took one out where he explained everything.
The true Geralt of Rivia saga
Now yes, we enter the books that are considered the Geralt of Rivia saga. The previous ones were like a prelude to what you will find in the following ones.
Composed of a total of 5 books, in it you will learn about the adventures of this sorcerer. For this, and as in the other books you will have read, you will be prepared to live the adventures of the epic story of these novels.
Specifically, we refer to:
- The blood of the elves
- Hate time
- Baptism of fire
- The tower of the swallow
- The Lady of the Lake
In them, the story of Geralt of Rivia is linked with two female characters. On the one hand, Ciri, a princess who is "linked" to Geralt. And, on the other, Yennefer, a girl whose life makes him crave power beyond his own safety. Thus, throughout the books we will learn about the steps that lead these characters, and many others, to an unexpected destination.
Path of no return
It is a compilation of stories, and the truth is that it does not have a clear order, so readers usually leave it for the end because it is as if it told something else after the saga itself.
And is that each story has a different chronology, that is, you will find stories that go between two books, others that are an interlude between book chapters, etc.
Storm season
Finally, we come to this book. It was published in 2013 but, as happened with another great saga such as The Lord of the Rings, it tells a story before even the novel The Last Wish. Why is it read after all the others? On the one hand, so that you have knowledge of everything that has happened and, in some way, understand the events that have happened. Something like The Silmarillion.
However, if you really want to start with it, you may find that you understand better parts that are narrated later. In fact, this book, on many occasions, assumes that you already know the other books, that is why it is always placed at the end of the reading.