His first short story, The Witcher ( Wiedźmin), was published in Fantastyka, Poland's leading fantasy literary magazine, in 1986 and was enormously successful both with readers and critics.

Sapkowski studied economics, and before turning to writing, he had worked as a senior sales representative for a foreign trade company. Hunted by friends and foes alike, she has taken on the guise of a petty bandit and lives free for the first time in her life.Īfter walking through a portal in the Tower of the Swallow, thus narrowly escaping death, the Witcher girl, Ciri, finds herself in a completely different world.Īndrzej Sapkowski, born Jin Łódź, is a Polish fantasy writer. Ciri, the child of prophecy, has vanished. The Witcher is supposed to be a guardian of the innocent, a protector of those in need, a defender against powerful and dangerous monsters that prey on men in dark times. The Wizards Guild has been shattered by a coup and, in the uproar, Geralt was seriously injured. The Elves and other non-humans are still suffering under decades of repression, and growing numbers join the commando units hidden deep in the forest, striking at will and then dissolving into the trees. Ciri, the granddaughter of Queen Calanthe, the Lioness of Cintra, has strange powers and a stranger destiny, for prophecy names her the Flame, one with the power to change the world - for good, or for evil. Into this tumultuous time is born a child for whom the witchers of the world have been waiting. He roams the country seeking assignments, but gradually comes to realise that while some of his quarry are unremittingly vile, vicious grotesques, others are the victims of sin, evil or simple naivety. Geralt is a witcher, a man whose magic powers, enhanced by long training and a mysterious elixir, have made him a brilliant fighter and a merciless assassin.

The swallow's tower andrzej sapkowski