Andrzej Sapkowski has revealed his new The Witcher book will take place decades before the games and main novel saga as it focuses on a teenage Geralt of Rivia fresh from Kaer Morhen.
As reported on and translated by Redanian Intelligence, the latest issue of Polish fantasy magazine Nowa Fantastyka, where The Witcher debuted in the form of a 1986 short story, includes a cover story detailing the first The Witcher ahead of its December 1 Polish release date.
The book is called Rozdroże Kruków, which translates in English to Raven's Crossing or Crow's Crossroads or something along those lines, but fans will have to wait a little longer for the English version to be revealed and released early next year.
The story will focus on a time talked about vaguely in a handful of The Witcher stories but not much: Geralt embarking on The Path for the very first time.
"This time, the grandmaster of Polish fantasy is going back to Geralt’s teenage years, who is only taking his first steps in the witchcraft and has to face numerous challenges," reads the translated synopsis.
"Armed with two runic swords, he fights monsters, saves innocent virgins, and helps unhappy lovers. Always and everywhere he tries to obey the unwritten code he got from his teachers and mentors. As usual, life spares no disappointments — youthful idealism clashes with reality from time to time. The saga continues. The story never ends."
It makes sense the story goes back in time instead of forward, of course, as not only does Geralt's story come to a fairly definitive end in the main saga, but a (technically unofficial) progression has already taken place through the CD Projekt game series, which takes place in the few years following the books.
While these are the only truly canonical entries in The Witcher franchise, the universe has now evolved far beyond the original book series. The game trilogy (and several incoming sequels and spin-offs) are joined by the Netflix show, a comic book series, a tabletop RPG, manga, and even a cookbook.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
