Similar to Witcher Saga

[elscorcho101]

Similar to Witcher Saga

After getting into The Witcher 2 on Xbox360 and enjoying the world of the game I decided to check out the books. I tore through the 2 that have been published in English so far. I was wondering if I could get recommendations on other fantasy series to check out. I have read the Fire and Ice Saga, but I think I actually like the Witcher saga better so far if that helps at all with my opinions on fantasy novels/series.

Thanks

 

[Jobbert.907]

I haven't read a lot other fantasy series, but just so you know, in the Community section there are fan translations of the other books from the Witcher saga. Not long ago the dedicated group of fan translaters finished the last book of the series, so the whole series can now be read.

 

[Benzenzimmern]

You could try reading the original stories of "Conan the Barbarian" by Robert E. Howard. Most people only know the movies, but Conan was one (if not the first) of the first "dark fantasy heroes" and can be seen as some sort of grandfather of Geralt. The movie has great music and Arnie, but it doesn't do the books any justice - kind of like the Witcher movie.

 

[FoggyFishburne]

I've always thought that BioWare ripped off The Witcher books for their Dragon Age games. It's kinda the same story there, lore wise. Elves are outcasts, shunned by society. Dwarves are looked down upon as well but they don't venture much outside of their cities so nobody cares. Qunari are resented by all for being fanatical and militaristic (they're similar to Nilfgaard in the imperial thinking-style). Then there's the different kingdoms, warring against each other, plotting, scheming. Darkspawn are the de facto monsters or bad guys. Except when they teased that they might not be (Awakening). Blah...

So yeah. BioWare. Fucking hacks. I remember a time when I used to look at my calender and just wait for their next title. Full of eagerness and enthusiasm. Now I shudder and regurgitate just thinking of their name. Funny how that works huh? The same thing will probably happen with Red. But fuck me, I seriously hope that day never comes. Keep up the good work guys. Keep on producing high quality shit, and I'll be right there, ready to support you!

 

[Garrison72]

You could try reading the original stories of "Conan the Barbarian" by Robert E. Howard. Most people only know the movies, but Conan was one (if not the first) of the first "dark fantasy heroes" and can be seen as some sort of grandfather of Geralt. The movie has great music and Arnie, but it doesn't do the books any justice - kind of like the Witcher movie.

This. Howard's vision shares the same pessimism, corruption, violence and low key use of magic ( less than Spakowski actually). Just keep in mind the author was deliberately catering to his audience at times due to financial hardship and publisher request, so you'll find them to be of varying quality. When I first discovered the Witcher, Geralt struck me as a more intelligent, nuanced version of Conan.

 

[Garrison72]

I've always thought that BioWare ripped off The Witcher books for their Dragon Age games. It's kinda the same story there, lore wise. Elves are outcasts, shunned by society. Dwarves are looked down upon as well but they don't venture much outside of their cities so nobody cares. Qunari are resented by all for being fanatical and militaristic (they're similar to Nilfgaard in the imperial thinking-style). Then there's the different kingdoms, warring against each other, plotting, scheming. Darkspawn are the de facto monsters or bad guys. Except when they teased that they might not be (Awakening). Blah...

So yeah. BioWare. Fucking hacks. I remember a time when I used to look at my calender and just wait for their next title. Full of eagerness and enthusiasm. Now I shudder and regurgitate just thinking of their name. Funny how that works huh? The same thing will probably happen with Red. But fuck me, I seriously hope that day never comes. Keep up the good work guys. Keep on producing high quality shit, and I'll be right there, ready to support you!

Off topic, but I have to comment on this. Bioware would be nowhere were it not for direct lifting borrowing from other source material. It's why I can't take the Dragon Age games seriously anymore. I suggested it on their site a couple years back and David Gaider berated me, while claiming Martin's work as more of an influence. Sure, they lifted his work, as well as Tolkein and Sapkowski too. Hacks indeed.

 

[pomor]

As the similarities go, Leon The Professional always reminded me about Witcher Saga.
Geralt and Ciri in New York ;-)

 

[Blothulfur]

You could try a few of Michael Moorcocks earlier series, a lot of people cite Elric Kinslayer, the white wolf of Melnibone, as being direct inspiration for Geralt but to me the characters are only vaguely similar. I'd opt more for the first four books of Hawkmoon and the first three books of Corum.

Conan i'd also second the recommendation for, beware however that Howards writes in the style of a saga poet and so a lot of people find his style rubs against their sense of political correctness. For manic originality and headlong action he can't be beaten.

Don't know if you've allready read this but the first book of Ursula LeGuin's trilogy, A Wizard of Earthsea, also presents us with a fairly similar protagonist. The setting is also highly original and evocative. I thought the next two books lost their path however.

Edit: Oh and for a larger than life maybe historical figure, you might want to check out out Egil's Saga. Egil Skallagrimsson was a poet, a feared viking warrior, a traveller and a runemaster whose larger than life brooding troll like presence really jumps off the page.

 

[Corylea.723]

in the Community section there are fan translations of the other books from the Witcher saga. Not long ago the dedicated group of fan translaters finished the last book of the series, so the whole series can now be read.

Yep. You can find them here: http://en.thewitcher.com/forum/index.php?/topic/20967-our-community-fan-translations/

The fan translations of Sword of Destiny are a bit variable, but the fan translations of the other novels are quite good.

The books should be read in this order:

The Last Wish
Sword of Destiny
Blood of Elves
Times of Contempt
Baptism of Fire
The Tower of Swallows
The Lady of the Lake

 

[Benzenzimmern]

It astonished me that there are so few translations of the books in english language. The german translations (the complete saga + 3 books with short stories (one of them has only two stories related to Geralt)) seem to be quite successfull and they are very well translated.

 

[Corylea.723]

It astonished me that there are so few translations of the books in english language.

The first book in the series wasn't translated into English until after TW1 came out. I don't know if The Last Wish didn't sell well or what, but they skipped Sword of Destiny and went directly to Blood of Elves.

It didn't seem as if the publisher actually tried very hard to get attention for the books. Usually, a complimentary copy of the first book in a new series is sent to reviewers at major newspapers, and bookstores are given some display materials to draw attention to the book. I didn't see anything like that for The Last Wish . And the translator they got, her prose is rather clumsy. The fan translators for the later books are actually better, I think, than the official translator.

The german translations (the complete saga + 3 books with short stories (one of them has only two stories related to Geralt)) seem to be quite successful and they are very well translated.

Well, Germany IS right next door to Poland; I'm sure that helps.

 

[goopit]

but Conan was one (if not the first) of the first "dark fantasy heroes" and can be seen as some sort of grandfather of Geralt.

I imagine Korin,Geralts dad looks a lot like Conan.

If you're want more Dark fantasy in games try Dark Souls and in movies/manga try Berserk. They're very different but they scratched my dark fantasy itch so yeah.

 

[gibb_geralt]

Off topic, but I have to comment on this. Bioware would be nowhere were it not for direct lifting borrowing from other source material.

That can be said for the vast majority of devs/writers/directors. Fiction is now for the most part an iterative process.

 

[Benzenzimmern]

Well, Germany IS right next door to Poland; I'm sure that helps. />/>/>

Hehe, sure. But one thing is weird. Most of the fantasy that gets written in Germany is pretty "high fantasy". An evil power rises and one little boy (of course he's an important orphan with a destiny) is the only one who can stop it. There are too much "I like to be like Tolkien and think of my own language and draw maps" and too less Sapkowskis, who just do their thing and who are able to write in a far more "intelligent" style.

I think Robert E. Howard described the perfect dark fantasy hero:

Conan: "I have known many gods. He who denies them is as blind as he who trusts them too deeply. I seek not beyond death. It may be the blackness averred by the Nemedian skeptics, or Crom's realm of ice and cloud, or the snowy plains and vaulted halls of the Nordheimer's Valhalla. I know not, nor do I care. Let me live deep while I live; let me know the rich juices of red meat and stinging wine on my palate, the hot embrace of white arms, the mad exultation of battle when the blue blades flame and crimson, and I am content. Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood over questions of reality and illusion. I know this: if life is illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and am content."

I guess this is also true for Geralt in many ways.

 

[Blothulfur]

My favourite speech in all fantasy, Queen of the Ivory Coast was for me the highpoint of Howards writing.

 

[mastone1981]

There are too much "I like to be like Tolkien and think of my own language and draw maps" and too less Sapkowskis, who just do their thing and who are able to write in a far more "intelligent" style.

Just had to comment on this, I think it is a bit of an insult to call Tolkien's writing less than that of sapowski, since I believe Sapowski is drawing heavliy from middle earth ( if the games are correctly portraying the world).

I can't comment on the Witcher books itself but I have played the games and I have read Tolkien and from what I see is that it only misses out on orcs and halflings because otherwise I would say the witcher looks a lot like lord of the rings ( the elves and Dwarves are obvious a direct "borrowing")Witchers are more something like rangers ( men of numenor) who are wanderers of the wild.
I would say that teh world of sapowski resembles a middle earth where the race of Numenor has all but died out and that there are some elves who refuse to leave and depart from the grey havens

 

[mastone1981]

To me this is the best piece of verse/line I have ever read in a book to date:

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

Somehow there is a certain rythm to it which makes it flow

 

[wrathascending]

Similar to The Witcher? Hmm.

In terms of general themes, and since you liked Martin's works, you may like:

David Eddings' The "Eleniad" trilogy and the "Tamuli" trilogy. Medieval-ish fantasy. He has other novels as well, but they get pretty repetitive and those two trilogies are essentially distillations of his best work.

Jim Butcher's "The Dresden Files". Modern or urban fantasy with lots of monster hunting.

The closest I can think of to Sapkowski's works in English are probably Marcus Pelegrimas' "Skinners" series. These have monster hunters protecting an unknowing humanity from the supernatural, using a variety of weapons, potions, oils, and so on that they make from the corpses of monsters they've killed. They're pretty good.

Faith Hunter's "Rogue Mage" and "Jane Yellowrock" series are about semi-professional monster hunters as well.

Caitlin Kitteredge's "Nocturne City" and "Black London" novels are reasonably similar and quite well-written to boot.

A fair portion of Mark Chadbourn's work also qualifies. I really recommend "Scissorman" and "The Eternal."

Last but not least, though possibly a bit left-of-field; one of the things I liked about The Witcher is the deconstruction of familiar fairy tales to create a new story. There is a series of comics called "Fables" that are very good and which do something quite similar with Western mythology. If you like those, you will probably also like anything Neil Gaiman has done, too.

 

[GuyNwah]

Just had to comment on this, I think it is a bit of an insult to call Tolkien's writing less than that of sapowski, since I believe Sapowski is drawing heavliy from middle earth ( if the games are correctly portraying the world).

I can't comment on the Witcher books itself but I have played the games and I have read Tolkien and from what I see is that it only misses out on orcs and halflings because otherwise I would say the witcher looks a lot like lord of the rings ( the elves and Dwarves are obvious a direct "borrowing")Witchers are more something like rangers ( men of numenor) who are wanderers of the wild.
I would say that teh world of sapowski resembles a middle earth where the race of Numenor has all but died out and that there are some elves who refuse to leave and depart from the grey havens

I think you misread that. He did not call Tolkien's writing anything less than Sapkowski's. What he did was call out all those dreadful Tolkien imitators who think that by aping Tolkien's voice they have created something of art. Sapkowski has not imitated Tolkien's voice; he chose his own legendary sources and writes in a voice that is unmistakably not anybody else's.

If you believe the Witcher universe looks like Middle-Earth, you are probably not up on Eastern European folklore. Most of the details, from the Midday Bride to the character of the Witcher himself, are straight out of those blood-curdling fairy tales mothers from east of the Oder used to scare their children into going to bed and staying there.

The fact that these universes have similarities testifies not to imitation but to common sources.

 

[wisielec]

Try: Fritz Leiber - Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series
Michael J. Sullivan - The Riyria Revelations

These are lighter fantasy but still quite good.
There are more books by polish authors which could be on the same shelf as the Witcher saga... Kres or Wagner.. but alas, not many are translated, if any :/