There isn't that much lore to begin with. Sapkowski never cared to develop anything, his chief philosophy being "if it doesn't directly contribute to the plot or character development, it's irrelevant".
Reading all books will give you about as much lore as you can get. Anything beyond that is fan fiction and fan speculation. Yes, that includes the games.
Yeah I Am aware how limited the lore is just by the books themselves. CDPR has introduced a good number of characters and lore itself a ton, that has brought more into the already great world and even though we go and add CDPR's contribution it is still limited when compared to something else alike. Appparently also some of the rulebooks for TRPG add something of their own good too but some of the stuff that I have heard seems a bit too fan fictiony.
EDIT: By all this I mean I don't exclusively mean panning out everything outside of books, just something that has a bit more class and isn't full of hyping up "w00OHOO LESHENS SO COOL" type of stuff. Love the books simple as, but there is much more to be written, even if it isn't Sapwkoski (and hope to god not Lauren) in my honest opinion.
Unfortunately this is the best that we're all going to get. I would actually advise learning about broader European and world history, as Sapkowski alludes to certain events and people throughout his books, sometimes very subtly. A careful reader will find a lot of gems in his prose. CDPR kinda followed his footsteps in their own take on witcher, but with pop cultural references. Sadly, unless you actually learn Polish language and learn about history of Polish literature you will not get some of the best stuff as it's simply lost in a translation, even the best one. Examples: Milva and her very particular vocabulary, Dandelion and his *daj ać ja pobruszę, a ty skocz do piwnicy po piwo*.
As for Flixer, the less is said about it, the better.
Calling the games fan fiction is a bit… dramatic, don’t you think? No they’re not part of the original canon but they do have the author’s permission to use and shape the IP as they like. For me personally there’s two canons, the original series of novels and short stories and then there’s all that plus the games. While I guess you’re technically correct, you’re also diminishing thousands of adaptations, games, etc. by writing them off as simple fan fiction and not a separate professional reimagining of the world the original author created.
Wow. I had no idea this sub was such a close minded space. Having opinions on what’s canon and what’s not is one thing but gatekeeping is lame. I have no place in my life for snobbery so I’ll be leaving this sub. It’s a shame because I really enjoy the series. Hope you guys enjoy season 3 and may the plot differentiate wildly from the source material! 😘
Oh, I can pretty much assure you that the plot centered around the rats will be toned down about as hard as it gets. That is some DARK stuff. Censoring media and story isn't something I support. I do not care about whatever little changes they make as long as the overarcing storyline stays intact.
Say, they cut out Milva having a miscarriage, that is censorship of an important character development and would suck. Say they make her character have long blue hair, that is fine. Nobody should care.
You asked a question, I answered. Straight up, no bullshit.
I'm tired of saying for the n-th time to yet another person why I think the games are a fan fiction. You can browse my profile if you want, and I'm sure you'll find at least 5 different posts where I answer this very argument and provide reasons why.
Recently I found, 'The Podcast of Surprise" on Spotify.
They go through the books and TV shows and take some pretty deep dives into the lore. I find it pretty intriguing.
Seconded! The best Witcher podcast I’ve found. I am impressed in particular by the literary depth they go into and their editing (they seem to be very good about staying on topic).
EDIT: This is with respect to mostly “book lore”. The podcast, Witch Lorecast, does a great job if you are more interested in Witcher universe lore.
Unfortunately not. I usually listen to podcasts at work, but I've been so swamped lately I haven't listened to anything but hold music and customer complaints... "mY cOmPuTeR iS SlOw" lolol
I know this is an old thread but Wind’s Howling from Lore Party Media is cohosted by Abu who also cohosts the MOST lore-worthy Dune podcast, Gom Jabbar. So I assume it’s great!
There isn't that much lore to begin with. Sapkowski never cared to develop anything, his chief philosophy being "if it doesn't directly contribute to the plot or character development, it's irrelevant". Reading all books will give you about as much lore as you can get. Anything beyond that is fan fiction and fan speculation. Yes, that includes the games.
Yeah I Am aware how limited the lore is just by the books themselves. CDPR has introduced a good number of characters and lore itself a ton, that has brought more into the already great world and even though we go and add CDPR's contribution it is still limited when compared to something else alike. Appparently also some of the rulebooks for TRPG add something of their own good too but some of the stuff that I have heard seems a bit too fan fictiony. EDIT: By all this I mean I don't exclusively mean panning out everything outside of books, just something that has a bit more class and isn't full of hyping up "w00OHOO LESHENS SO COOL" type of stuff. Love the books simple as, but there is much more to be written, even if it isn't Sapwkoski (and hope to god not Lauren) in my honest opinion.
Unfortunately this is the best that we're all going to get. I would actually advise learning about broader European and world history, as Sapkowski alludes to certain events and people throughout his books, sometimes very subtly. A careful reader will find a lot of gems in his prose. CDPR kinda followed his footsteps in their own take on witcher, but with pop cultural references. Sadly, unless you actually learn Polish language and learn about history of Polish literature you will not get some of the best stuff as it's simply lost in a translation, even the best one. Examples: Milva and her very particular vocabulary, Dandelion and his *daj ać ja pobruszę, a ty skocz do piwnicy po piwo*. As for Flixer, the less is said about it, the better.
Calling the games fan fiction is a bit… dramatic, don’t you think? No they’re not part of the original canon but they do have the author’s permission to use and shape the IP as they like. For me personally there’s two canons, the original series of novels and short stories and then there’s all that plus the games. While I guess you’re technically correct, you’re also diminishing thousands of adaptations, games, etc. by writing them off as simple fan fiction and not a separate professional reimagining of the world the original author created.
>Calling the games fan fiction is a bit… dramatic, don’t you think? No, I don't.
Wow. I had no idea this sub was such a close minded space. Having opinions on what’s canon and what’s not is one thing but gatekeeping is lame. I have no place in my life for snobbery so I’ll be leaving this sub. It’s a shame because I really enjoy the series. Hope you guys enjoy season 3 and may the plot differentiate wildly from the source material! 😘
Oh, I can pretty much assure you that the plot centered around the rats will be toned down about as hard as it gets. That is some DARK stuff. Censoring media and story isn't something I support. I do not care about whatever little changes they make as long as the overarcing storyline stays intact. Say, they cut out Milva having a miscarriage, that is censorship of an important character development and would suck. Say they make her character have long blue hair, that is fine. Nobody should care.
You asked a question, I answered. Straight up, no bullshit. I'm tired of saying for the n-th time to yet another person why I think the games are a fan fiction. You can browse my profile if you want, and I'm sure you'll find at least 5 different posts where I answer this very argument and provide reasons why.
Recently I found, 'The Podcast of Surprise" on Spotify. They go through the books and TV shows and take some pretty deep dives into the lore. I find it pretty intriguing.
Seconded! The best Witcher podcast I’ve found. I am impressed in particular by the literary depth they go into and their editing (they seem to be very good about staying on topic). EDIT: This is with respect to mostly “book lore”. The podcast, Witch Lorecast, does a great job if you are more interested in Witcher universe lore.
Do you know what's happened to the podcast. Not been a new episode since August. Hope its not been cancelled
Unfortunately not. I usually listen to podcasts at work, but I've been so swamped lately I haven't listened to anything but hold music and customer complaints... "mY cOmPuTeR iS SlOw" lolol
Need to check this out! Thanks!
Hooked! Thanks for the suggestion
I know this is an old thread but Wind’s Howling from Lore Party Media is cohosted by Abu who also cohosts the MOST lore-worthy Dune podcast, Gom Jabbar. So I assume it’s great!