Every story has an end, but it seems Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski isn’t quite done with exploring the world of The Witcher just yet. The fantasy book series will welcome a new novel — the first in 10 years, after 2013’s Season of Storms.
As reported by fansite Redanian Intelligence, Sapkwoski told Ukranian YouTube channel Fantastic Talk that he’s hard at work on a new book, which could be out as soon as next year.
“I never say these things because with me you never know. Maybe I’ll do something, maybe I won’t,” he said. “So far, when I said that I would write something, and then I didn’t write it, people complained as if I had deceived them and as if I had lied.
“That’s why I don’t like to talk about what I’m doing until I finish doing it. Because until I finish it, I don’t think it exists. But since I always make exceptions for Ukrainians, I will do it this time too. Yes, I’m working on a new book about The Witcher and quite diligently. It may take a year, but no longer.”
It’s unclear what this upcoming entry will be about, but it’s likely to be a prequel or spin-off rather than a follow-on to The Lady of the Lake. The 1999 novel concluded the Witcher saga, with the latest release, Season of Storms, telling a self-contained story of Geralt years before the events in the main timeline. Between the definitive end of his story in the main saga and Sapkowski’s confirmation that Geralt and Ciri’s story is over, the new novel likely won’t feature them or Yennefer, the other beloved and familiar character.
The announcement comes as The Witcher universe continues to grow beyond the original book series. In addition to CD Projekt Red’s highly-successful game trilogy, it also spawned the Netflix show, now renewed for five seasons, a live-action prequel series, an animated show featuring Geralt’s mentor Vesemir, a comic book series, a tabletop RPG, and more. Moving forward, fans can expect a reboot of the original Witcher game, as well as The Witcher 4, which seeks to kick off the second trilogy for the franchise.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
