Metro 2033's author Glukhovsky called The Witcher's writer Sapkowski arrogant for his denial of the popularity the games made by CDPR to his books, stating that without them the series would never have been this popular.
Glukhovsky is correct, the games absolutely made the written work more popular. Side note, Metro 2033 is fantastic and I'm hyped for 2034. If u haven't played the Metro games buy Metro Redux now. 2033 > Last Light.
This is completely wrong. The Witcher author was upset that he sold the right to CDPR. He even said he has nothing against the game and lets be clear: in hindsight, it was a mistake. Obviously. These blogs....
I read the message boards. Really no time for it. Tried "The Stand", got to chapter 7 (Fantastic so far), but the time is not there. I'm not killing a hobby that I enjoy more for a hobby that I enjoy less.
It's fascinating how going to a new form of media can just explode with popularity. I never would have known about the Witcher books if it weren't for the game, likewise with A Song of Fire and Ice with the TV series.
I actually knew of song of ice and fire before HBO came along. I met George R R Martin and he signed my book too. Lol.
But for The Witcher, I knew it was based on something, just didn't know it was a fantasy series. Then again it's a Polish series, and I'm in America. Maybe the series was popular in Poland already, for sure not popular world wide. That's because of the games.
No, they aren't. He's not nearly as good as a writer as Martin for example, but he did create an interesting universe which was brought to light by CD Projekt RED.
They are much much better. I've never read better fantasy novel, and I've read almost every major author. The Witcher saga is smart, fast, written in brilliant language and full of references to literature (from medieval to present times). After reading Sapkowski, I find Martin's novels very infantile. The games are little more generic, W3 is amazing game, sure, but it is nowhere near the level of novels.
Edmix read the sword of destiny first,it will show you how ciri and geralt first met up,it's my second fav book in the series.They are all very good,and some amazing like the sword of destiny.IMO they are better than the games,but that's me.
@_-EDMIX-_ You need to read it in order, "Blood of Elves" is the first novel of the saga. Before the saga there are two collections of short stories and they are the only proper point to start ("Sword of Destiny" comes first). If you are advanced reader, you may find it a little repetitious and not so brilliant - the saga is Sapkowski's opus magnum, but that's just my taste (I have master degree in Polish literature), so if you didn't like short stories, "Blood of Elves" is still worth a shot. Just keep in mind that Sapkowski loves to play with culture and language, so it is much more complex (both story- and language-wise) then "A Song of Ice and Fire" for example (don't get me wrong Song is epic novel with many plotlines but they are told very straightforwardly). Unfortunately, I don't know what is the level of english translation ;(
I havent read them.. for books i have read the books were always better than the movie versions or game versions. I read Godfather before i ever watched the movies and couldnt even watch the movies because of how much better the books were.
First movie is amazing, but to fully appreciate it, you need to forget about the novel. Too much was cut out from the story and some characters (Luca Brasi for example) aren't even close to their novel origin. Imo it is worth watching just for Brando.
Only book Ive read twice. Great read. But you really should see the movies, they are celebrated for a reason. Dont let one spoil your enjoyment of the other.
They are better than the games. The games don't stick to the source material 100%. For example, Yennefer is Gerald's only love in the books, while in the games you can choose between her and Triss.
I am surprised no one has picked up the movie rights...can see the Witcher being as huge as Lord of The Rings if picked up by someone as talented as Peter Jackson.
Even if NetFlix picked up the right for a series, I can see it being as successful as Gamer of Thrones.
The guy just has a chip on his shoulder because he guessed wrong when selling the rights. He just wanted a quick pay day and didn't think the games would amount to anything. Now he sees how much money he could have made and is jaded AF.
I don't read books so this game definitely made me aware of this series. And I doubt a book could even do better than this game anyway, no matter who writes it.
he just regrets the decision he made. not happy with his baby becoming a internation sucess because hes not getting the profit. move on nothing to see here
He's super pissed bc the games are making money hand over fist, while the book sales are just doing well. I believe he had the initial notion that it wasn't going to take off like it did and now it's selling like hotcakes.
Books are great and i love to read. However a medium like gaming has much more potential to create an unforgettable story. With books all you have are the words and your imagination. With games you have facial expressions, music, aesthetics, voices, challenges, choices and much more. The author might be thinking that because it reached further success in the hands of game developers, that he could have reached it himself. If he hadn't sold it, it would not be as successful as it is now. And this in no way detracts from what the author has accomplished. they are just different mediums.
I've read The Witcher saga many years before the game and it was already very famous among fantasy fans and academic community (I was studying polish philology). But there is no doubt that games made Sapkowski more famous among people don't connected with polish culture and complete non-readers. Sapkowski is old fashioned guy that doesn't like video games, that's all.
Neither of which would exist without the blatant plagiarism of Elric. Something people conveniently ignore and try to refute despite entire plot points being damn new word for word. The Witcher owes its success to Michael Moorcock.
The author is salty because he was offered a percentage of sales over a lifetime or a lump sum. Let's just say had he made the right decision he would be a very rich man
@shadowwolf I have read a personal interview with him where he said he was stupid for taking the lump sum and not the percentage. So before you are a condescending jerk, know your stuff
The ammount of stupidity and degenration that comes from the gaming community in the last years, makes me want to quit this hobby and read more often ...
I stumbled across the books after the first game. In Poland they have been very popular long before the games, in Germany I think they became somewhat famous after the 1st game as the translation of the novels started afterwards. Only the shortstories and the 1st book of the novels were available before. I really enjoyed the books and they are my favourite fantasy novel! So I would say, outside of Poland the games were great promotion for the books and I guess it raised awareness for them outside of Poland.
i am big fan, Glukhovsky books and games amazing i played it on xbox 360,ps3 and now redux on my ps4 best game ever i played its 2 games with dlcin in 1 box and cheap price amazing graphics details sounds stroys everything perfekt i want more games and books like this.This serie deserve more populartiy
His beef with the games is that people don't take him seriously as an original author because they assume he's writing licensed books based on the games, or that people expect them to be like the games and then get upset with him when they're not.
We all should read more.
It's fascinating how going to a new form of media can just explode with popularity. I never would have known about the Witcher books if it weren't for the game, likewise with A Song of Fire and Ice with the TV series.
Are the book s better than the game? Is that even possible?
while it was truly stupid to sell the rights, he is wrong, the games made the books a thing, before the games i had no idea the books existed at all.
Didn't even know there were books until someone told me last year. Witcher 3 Wild Hunt is an absolute masterpiece though