The Witcher back story for newbies?

[DaddyDee]

The Witcher back story for newbies?

Hi, I'm new to the Witcher universe and was wondering where the best place to read up on the back story is? The events leading up to the start of Witcher 3. Do the games follow the same path/story as the books?

 

[ReptilePZ]

The games are set after the events in the books.

Here are some official videos that should give you a better idea about the world:

Spoiler

And this is a story recap of the first game, so, obviously, massive SPOILERS for TW1:

If you're looking for a recap of the first two games, I recommend checking out these videos by Eldergeek (Massive SPOILERS for TW1 and TW2, obviously):

Spoiler

For general lore, Shoddycast did a pretty good series of lore videos, which you can find by following this link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7pGJQV-jlzCMqEAP49QApVHNJeZxxdL9

Gamepedia and Wikia are also places where you can find out more about the background lore, books included. Again, beware of spoilers.

 

[PATROL]

@DaddyDee If you like reading, I will recommend you to read the books, four officially translated and the rest translated by the fans. If you don't, ReptilePZ has given you really nice stuff.

But remember, Geralt has white hair and he doesn't wear heavy armour!

 

[ReptilePZ]

Oh yeah, this is also a good summary of the events that lead up to The Witcher 3, without going into too many spoilers:

As PATROL said, the books are very good and you should definitely give them a shot if the world seems interesting to you.

 

[DaddyDee]

Thanks for that guys. Regarding the books, which is the first book in the series to start reading? Looked on Amazon, but can't figure out the first book.

 

[Kinley]

The books go in this order:

Short story collections:

The Last Wish (officially translated)
The Sword of Destiny (fan translated, official translation in progress)

Witcher Saga novels:

Blood of Elves (officially translated)
Time of Contempt (officially translated)
Baptism of Fire (officially translated)
The Swallow's Tower (fan translated)
Lady of the Lake (fan translated)

Standalone novels:

Season of Storms (fan translation in progress)

You can check out the fan translations here:

http://forums.cdprojektred.com/thre...n-Translations?p=485100&viewfull=1#post485100

 

[gregski]

To get the overall feeling of the Witcher world - make sure to watch this awesome recap video too:

 

[DaddyDee]

Update:

Ok, I'm hooked!

I've nearly finished 'The last wish'. Downloaded the fan translated 2nd book and have the 'Blood of elves' on order. I can't put them down, what have I been missing all these years? I've not had this much fun reading since I read all of Robert Howard's Conan books. I can't wait to get stuck into the full length books. I now wish I had a PC to play the first two games, oh well.

Looking forward to the new game even more now. Ok got to go now...more reading....

 

[Kinley]

Welcome among us, fellow witcher.

 

[EliHarel]

Update:

Ok, I'm hooked!

I've nearly finished 'The last wish'. Downloaded the fan translated 2nd book and have the 'Blood of elves' on order. I can't put them down, what have I been missing all these years? I've not had this much fun reading since I read all of Robert Howard's Conan books. I can't wait to get stuck into the full length books. I now wish I had a PC to play the first two games, oh well.

Looking forward to the new game even more now. Ok got to go now...more reading....

Mmmmyesss, yesss... become obsessed...

If you're already on this path, don't play the game before you finish the saga. And if you want to get updated on the previous games, there are cool Let's Plays of Christopher Odd. I like him (he just started his second Let's Play of TW2, choosing the different path, in preparation of TW3).

 

[wichat]

Geniune European legalized strong drug... One page and you're hooked