Below is the complete list of Andrzej Sapkowski’s The Witcher books in order. For this series, the chronological reading order is the same as the order of publication.
Publication Order of The Witcher Saga Books
- Rozdroże kruków (2024)
In the The Witcher series, Rozdroże kruków is book #9 and was published in 2024. 
Publication Order of Witcher Collections Books
Publication Order of The Witcher Saga Books
About The Witcher
Andrzej Sapkowski’s The Witcher series is a dark fantasy saga centered on Geralt of Rivia, a professional monster hunter trained from childhood to fight creatures that most people fear but often misunderstand. The series began in Polish short fiction before expanding into novels, companion stories, games, television adaptations, and one of the most recognizable fantasy worlds of modern popular culture. At its core, though, The Witcher is not simply about monsters. It is about prejudice, war, destiny, moral compromise, and the difficulty of remaining human in a world that keeps rewarding brutality.
The best starting point is The Last Wish, the short-story collection that introduces Geralt, his profession, his dry humor, and the morally tangled nature of his work. These stories establish the tone of the series: familiar fairy-tale shapes twisted into darker, stranger forms. Geralt may be hired to kill monsters, but Sapkowski repeatedly asks whether the true monster is the creature, the human who fears it, or the society that created the conflict in the first place.
Sword of Destiny follows next and is essential because it introduces the emotional foundation of the larger saga. Geralt’s bond with Ciri begins here, and the idea of destiny becomes more than a philosophical theme. The collection also deepens Geralt’s relationship with Yennefer of Vengerberg, a powerful sorceress whose intelligence, ambition, pain, and love make her one of the series’ most important figures. By the end of these early stories, The Witcher has moved beyond episodic monster hunting into a story about chosen family and unavoidable consequence.
The main novel sequence begins with Blood of Elves and continues through Time of Contempt, Baptism of Fire, The Tower of the Swallow, and The Lady of the Lake. These books follow Ciri’s growth from endangered princess to one of the most significant figures in the world’s political and magical struggles. Geralt remains central, but the saga widens around him, bringing in kingdoms, spies, mages, soldiers, rebels, assassins, and ordinary people caught in the collapse of stability.
Ciri is the heart of the novels. Her bloodline, powers, trauma, and choices make her valuable to rulers, sorcerers, and enemies who want to use her for their own ends. Geralt’s role shifts from wandering witcher to protector and father figure, while Yennefer becomes both teacher and mother in a relationship built through conflict, pride, sacrifice, and deep loyalty. The emotional force of the saga comes from this found family trying to survive a world that treats people as tools of politics and prophecy.
Season of Storms is a later standalone Witcher novel set earlier in Geralt’s life, around the period of the short stories. It can be read after the main saga because it carries the flavor of the early adventures while benefiting from a reader’s wider understanding of Geralt’s world. The newer Crossroads of Ravens is also a standalone prequel, following a young Geralt on his first steps toward becoming the legendary witcher readers know; its English edition was published by Orbit in September 2025.
The Witcher series endures because Sapkowski combines sharp dialogue, Slavic-inspired folklore, political cynicism, and emotional depth. Geralt is memorable not because he is invincible, but because he keeps trying to make ethical choices in situations where every option is compromised. Around him, Ciri and Yennefer turn the saga into something larger than swordplay or monster hunting: a story about love, destiny, survival, and the cost of being hunted by history itself.