Andrzej Sapkowski

Biography

Andrzej Sapkowski is considered to be one of the most famous Polish writers associated with fantasy tales. He was born in Lodz in 1948. He’s an economist and merchant by education, however, he has always been mainly committed to writing. Popularity of his works was proven by numerous Polish prizes for the writing of fantasy tales. One might say, most of his books have turned out to be successes. Among the others, Sapkowski was granted the ‘Polityka Passport’ award and such honor only designates remarkable artists with international professional accomplishments.

Andrzej Sapkowski’s fame started once he published his first story about the warlock Geralt. Geralt, a mutant trained to be an assassin since he was a child, makes a living fighting against beasts and monsters. However, Geralt is not a villain as such, he lives by his own code of ethics, called the warlock code. He’s a very complex character, sometimes compared to Philip Marlowe created by Raymond Chandler. Some people see some similarities between the warlock’s world and the adventures of Tolkien’s characters but in fact, it is more like the world known from the Slavic mythology.

So far, no Polish fantasy writer besides Sapkowski has achieved so much fame and appreciation from both newspaper reviewers and serious critics. What he easily accomplished is crossing the line of popular literature so that it became a valuable writing masterpiece.

Undoubtedly, Sapkowski is an extremely talented writer. Jacek Sieradzki from ‘Polityka’ described him as a skilled writer with an amazing gift for narrative who excels in building up suspense. On top of that, he’s one of those with a perfect – witty, yet a bit cynical – sense of humor.

This sense of humor may be found in the tales about the warlock – you see it if you are a perceptive reader. According to Małgorzata Szpakowska (Tworczość), the narration is even undercut by the author who spoils the reader with meta-textual jokes. However, even excluding these, you will still enjoy the amusing adventures of the intriguing mutant.

Bibliography

  • Collections of stories about the Warlock:
  • Wiedzmin (The Warlock). Warsaw: Reporter, 1990.
  • Miecz przeznaczenia (Sword of Destiny). Warsaw: SuperNOWA, 1992.
  • Ostatnie zyczenie (Last Wish). 1993.
  • Cycle of novels about the Warlock:
  • Krew Elfow (Blood of the Elves). Warsaw: SuperNOWA, 1994
  • Czas Pogardy (Season of Contempt). Warsaw: SuperNOWA, 1995.
  • Chrzest ognia (Baptism by Fire). Warsaw: SuperNOWA, 1996.
  • Wieza jaskolki (The Swallow’s Tower). Warsaw: SuperNOWA, 1997.
  • Pani jeziora (Mistress of the Lake). Warsaw: SuperNOWA, 1999.
  • Manuscript Discovered in a Dragon’s Cave. Warsaw: SuperNOWA, 2001.

Translations:

Czech:

  • Zaklinac. Prague: Winston Smith, 1992.
  • Krev elfu. Ostrava: LEONARDO, 1995.
  • Cas opovzeni. Ostrava: LEONARDO, 1996.
  • Kres ohem. Ostrava: LEONARDO, 1997.

Russian:

  • Wied’mak . Moscow: AST, 1996.
  • Krov elfov. Moscow: AST, 1996.
  • Chas priezrieniya. Moscow: AST, 1997.
  • Krieshcheniye agniom. Moscow: AST, 1997.

Lithuanian:

  • Likimo kalavijas. Kaunas: DAGONAS, 1997.

German:

  • Das Schwert der Vorsehung. München: Heyne, 1998.