Are the witcher novels any good, /lit/?
>>8100726
Harry Potter/GoT-tier.
>>8100726
I'm currently reading The Last Wish and am about 2/3rds into it. It's really good fun, Geralt is a fun protagonist and the world he inhabits is interesting. Some of the short stories within are of varying quality but on the whole I'd recommend reading them, especially if you're a fan of the games. I'm looking forward to cracking into Sword of Destiny.
Don't think this is on any higher philosophical level than most fantasy though, it's designed to be lost in and enjoyable first and foremost.
No, but ok entertainment I guess.
>>8100806
>Don't think this is on any higher philosophical level than most fantasy though, it's designed to be lost in and enjoyable first and foremost.
This seems like a false dichotomy at the least. The search for satisfaction is the single cause of everything humans do, and there's no fundamental qualitative difference between escapism and philosophical pondering in that regard.
>>8100824
Yeah I'm not stating the fundamentals of how escapism relates to philosophy, I'm just saying this series gets a reputation for being of a higher intellectual content than most other books of its ilk due to the obvious parallels you can draw between monster hunting and the difficulties of the human condition. I'm just saying this is much more overstated than it should be.
Decent genre fiction. I wouldn't spend much of my time on them.
The games are great, though.
>>8102164
Games are terrible. The only worthwhile thing in them is the story of the wild hunt, which they never really expand upon.
Books could be alright, but I doubt anyone worthwhile is writing them
>>8100824
>The search for satisfaction is the single cause of everything humans do, and there's no fundamental qualitative difference between escapism and philosophical pondering in that regard.
Sure, but there are also many works of fiction that attempt to challenge the reader so that they can think in different ways. Fantasy and sci-fi are an excellent means to explore this because it places humans in completely different situations to our own. The Witcher, for example, provokes the player to consider questions of racism and impact of war (ok, thats a game, but you get what I mean).
>>8100726
1st book of postmodern tales is decent. The rest is just Conan the Kurwa.
As a person that read them as they were coming out in central Europe ten years ago:
They're pretty good. The ending could been handled better and I dislike him introducing new elements so late into the story. Season of Storms is also kind of disappointing.
His short stories that don't have to do with the Witcher are REALLY good. His essay on King Arthur is amazing.
The Hussite Trilogy is his actual magnum opus. It's only a fucking shame that it uses so many things that are lost without context of having grown up in these lands. It's also less in your face about its themes, but is about as profound as the Witcher, which is not that much.
You read Sapkowski because this guy is fucking amazing at writing dialogue, and poetic storyteling. He doesn't really have anything that much to tell or teach with his stories, and that's fine. As entertainment, his work is top notch.
>>8105365
I'll second this. The dialogue flows like smooth stream of refreshing water.
>>8100726
i feel sorry for ppl that were not able to read them as a child
especially here in poland
nostalgic af
>>8105855
>Born in england
>I will never have a rich mythological history that's unique and binds me with affection to my homeland
>just have some gay kings and queens and religious pain noone cares about
>>8106219
Here, between the unicorn and hydra, we have an englishman wishing he were a pole.
>>8103906
Did you play Witcher 3 at all? The side quests unfurl into a magnificent story if you spare the time to play them.
>genre-shit readers are the same type of people who play video games
Can't say I'm surprised.
>>8100726
I finished reading The Last Wish the other day. It was pretty good but nothing special, at times it was pretty slow and dragged out but when it was good it was really good.
The Last Wish and The Sword of Destiny are a collection of short stories, the rest of the books are different parts of the same story in a series though. Not read them yet but as a fan of the games I am going to read them, i've already started The Sword of Destiny and will read Blood of Elves next.
>>8100728
So, good?
>>8106219
The books actually mostly refer to Arthurian myths, Tolkien and fairy tales, none of which are Polish. They're not very slavic or anything like that.
>>8106219
Bad education mate, not your fault. There thousands of good stories, Bevis of Hampton and the Knucker is one of my favourites. I have several county publications on traditional stories and myths from different parts of the UK, plus many are still told near me once you hit the countryside like the giant beetles, the reasons for leaving windows open on certain days and such.
>>8103906
>Games are terrible
The Witcher 3 is not only the best RPG I've played in a while, but the best game I've played in a while period.
If you make an attempt to do all of the Witcher contracts and other side quests then the game not only gets a quite long but you get some more insights into both the main plotline and the going-ons of both the nobility and common folk alike.
One of the few modern games that you can truly lose yourself in.The first two had equally excellent stories but combat that left much to be desired.
>>8106219
the witcher has little to nothing to do with slavic mythology
>>8108393
Interesting. I'll check these out. Thanks anon
>>8108467
Agreed 100%.
>>8108467
>>8108726
Hey, I agree 100% too!
I'm definitely not the OP of that post.
t. Mr PO
>>8108363
lol
>>8108733
Kek.
Ziz.
Pretty good until after the Time of contempt, then it turned into dogshit.
