/lit/ - Literature

>>23467783
Based
The Witcher is peak comfy kino

>>23467783
The Last Wish was pretty fun, but later books focused too much on romance and I stopped there.
Maybe I'll pick the series up again

>>23467940
The later books focus more on the war than anything, IMO. Geralt and Yennefer barely interact. When did you drop it?

>>23467947
I think it was the second book? I don't remember, but it was after the Villentretenmerth encounter

>>23467951
That would be the second book, yeah. You didn't read the whole thing? "A Shard of Ice" is all about romance, but it's when Yennefer bails on Geralt. After that they don't interact much.

>>23467964
Alright I'll pick it up again, then

>>23467783
The Witcher books are God awful. They only got popular because of the games and then people started to pretend that the books are good.

>>23467967
Enjoy, anon. I know I did.
desu if you find "The Sword of Destiny" (the short story) intriguing, you should enjoy the novels that come after.
PS: do not read Season of Storms before The Lady of the Lake. Contrary to what some retarded publishers would want you to believe, that's not a good idea.

>>23467982
I've noticed the first two books and the last one have no numbers, so then the numbered ones are all one big story?

>>23467973
I read the books before "playing" the first game and had to stop 3 hours in. I really enjoyed the books and found the game to be unengaging as fuck.
Apparently only the third game is considered good.

>>23467991
Basically, yeah. The numbered books are novels centered around a war, to keep it short. You should read them in the order they appear in that image.

>>23467993
First game is great, second is meh, third is alright. If you think otherwise you just don't enjoy playing videogames, you're a movie person, which is alright but don't shit on the game.

>>23467993
The first game was euro jank that nobody played and not many people liked it, it wasn't until Witcher 2 that people started paying attention to it because it's actually a good game and it's very fun, it has gained a cult following. But Witcher 3 was the one that went mainstream and pretty much everyone knows about it.

>>23468009
Translation: the first game has a unique combat system that I need to learn, ewww learning.
The other games play like literally any other console slop. Yum!

>>23468006
>First game is great
Yeah I sure love watching Geralt fight automatically! And (You) dare call me a movie person.

>>23468015
You have to choose his stance and the enemy though.
>NOO I WANT DARK SOULS ROLL-FESTS
faggot

>>23468011
I've already said it's eurojank, not many people like this gameplay.

>>23468011
>>23468016
>a unique combat
>learning
It ain't that deep, anon. There's only three stances. Two swords that can work with these stances and a couple or other weapons that are just "click for awesome".
Understanding this baby system is nothing to be proud about.
>ROLL-FESTS
You can also roll in that game.

>>23468028
It's not "le clunky", it's a simple combat system that works perfectly fine for the game. It makes you focus more on building the character right than cheesing with rolls.
>you can also roll
But it's not completely busted. In Witcher 2 rolling is already incredibly strong, but the long-range-roll perk literally breaks the game.

Witcher 1 is the only game in the series where I wasn't rolling my eyes in boredom every time a combat started. It was quick and didn't break my balls, whereas the later games are drawn-out rollfests

>>23467783
the books are amazing, but they have serious pacing problems
I literally stopped in the last book (lady of the lake) because I wasnt enjoying anymore reading the POV from completely irrelevant characters like jarre
it was clear the writer was just stretching unnecessarily

Bought all of them in one moment. Read the first three - each one before the release of Netflix's "The Witcher" (ditched it before the last season).
It all seems somewhat dull to me. I realise the author can describe stuff and the world itself is quite intriguing, and Geralt is quite likeable, but the plots have never clutched my attention. Never did I ever put any of the books down thinking about what will happen after.

I, too, am a "Baptism of Fire" Chad.

>>23469004
Jarre chapters and battle of Brenna were peak kino thoughbeit

>YWN face the Nilfgaardian cav charge armed just with a pike and led by voivode Chadibor

>>23469004
You gotta admit that Jarre passing out immediately when someone threatened to bumrape him was funny, though.
But yeah, this whole battle was the weakest point of Lady of the Lake for me, too. It's a shame you dropped it at that point, however, because after that it's smooth sailing.

Overall do you guys prefer the experience of the short story compilations or the ‘proper’ novels?
I’m of two minds about it.

>>23470760
short stories really are better as most people claim because they focus on geralt (and his relationships with friends and lovers)
the next books have a lot more of POVs and more world construction. But geralt really becomes pratically a side character, while ciri gets to be the protagonist
and honestly? I didnt like ciri at all. She was a coward, weak and very immature (and kinda cringy)

>>23470760
I thought The Last Wish was fun but hated everything else. The saga novels were abysmal. Every scene is comprised of
>Geralt sits around whinging about something
>so many barely ancillary characters sit around discussing politics
>sapkowski's fetish for sex scenes with underage kids
I read every book in the series and it was booooooring.

>>23470940
>Geralt sits around whinging about something
true, but he already showed his grumpy side in the first book
>so many barely ancillary characters sit around discussing politics
yeah it gets pretty annoying sometimes, specially because the politics dont have that much impact in the story
>sapkowski's fetish for sex scenes with underage kids
you must be trolling

>>23470924
Agreed, the only way to salvage her character would be to have a GeraltxCiri romance.

>>23470924
The rape (and the Stockholm syndrome that followed) changed Ciri forever.
Before that she was still a little girl I wanted to protect. After that she became a teenage cunt. I'm glad her "friends" died quickly and like the little bitches they were.

>>23470760
The short stories were "better" because Sapkowski's takes on old tales felt fresh and funny.
The novels weren't bad, but I wasn't terribly interested in the war. Thank god the world itself was interesting enough.

>>23471316
>I'm glad her "friends" died quickly and like the little bitches they were.
bonhart was the real hero

>>23470760
I prefer books because they have my bros Regis and Zoltan

>>23467940
Last wish is the weakest one.
4th is decent, rest is kino

>>23467783
A dwarf named Moonglum?

>>23467783
sorry this is a literature board not trash even for genre fiction garbage board. go somewhere else if you want to be a faggot

>>23474113
Thanks for the bump, FAGGOT.

>>23474119
read the title of the board fag look up the definition of literature and go in peace or choking on dicks whatever you prefer also sage

if you even know what that is

>>23474113
>>23474124

>>23474253
im offended you think im a poltard
sage

>>23473963
Next you'll tell me he

>Gifted in alchemy
>Named the White Wold
>Is an anachronism
>Wanders the Young/Northern kingdoms for work
>Deadly swordsman
>Feared, hated and loathed
>Fucks beautiful women
>Monster Hunter
>Lives in ruins that are hard to find, if not impossible, for outsiders
>Pleged his own internal moral code
>Thinks a lesser evil is still evil
>Has annoying sidekicks
>Has strange eyes
>His thin and well muscled and scarred
>Very kowledgeable about supernatural things

There is a very good reason why nobody heard about the Witcher books until Wild Hunt. Everything above was ripped from Elric.

>>23474498
>“Bastards. You try to create something original and a bunch of people rip it off and make millions,” he wrote in 2008. “I’m glad Tolkien never lived to see what HE spawned. I've contacted my lawyer, but haven't heard back yet. It's a 'passing off' situation rather than a copyright one. “
>
>Nothing ever came of the outburst and Moorcock was not particularly keen on taking up the issue again when asked about it. “There never was a lawsuit,” he wrote in 2014. “Those narratives waste time…To me an elf is a kind of pixie”

>>23468050
>It's not "le clunky", it's a simple combat system that works perfectly fine for the game. It makes you focus more on building the character right than cheesing with rolls.
>>you can also roll
>But it's not completely busted. In Witcher 2 rolling is already incredibly strong, but the long-range-roll perk literally breaks the game.
>Witcher 1 is the only game in the series where I wasn't rolling my eyes in boredom every time a combat started. It was quick and didn't break my balls, whereas the later games are drawn-out rollfests

>>23475580
>no argument

>>23475477
>Be Moorcock
>Be an oldschool anarchist
>Let anybody use any of his worlds and IP for free
>Even let them make money on it
>Take acid and sing songs with Lemmy
>Ask only that you give a tip of the hate when appropirate

>Be Sapkowski
>Work as a translator of English fantasy and Science Fiction
>Copy all the good shit and pretend its my own
>Never get big outside of Poland
>Sell video game rights for a pittance
>1 video game eventually sells more than his entire lifes work
>Try to jew the makers in to handing over more money
>Video game makers were already planning to offer more royalties
>still jew them down to get more
>Deny ever having red Moorcock or any of the other classics he translated

I expect to see him do an ancestry test and discover his jew heritage.

Every time I see a physical copy it has "NETFLIX" written on it. Completely turns me off from reading it.

>>23475967
Sorry but Moorcock doesn't come even close. It's the most boring shit I've ever read and I actually enjoy fantasy a lot. Stop pretending that it's good because it's old you retard

>>23467993
For me the experience of reading the books and playing through the games was actually the most immersive experience ever. Still looking back on it fondly

>>23476054
lmao I'm glad I bought all the parts before netflix came with their steaming pile of shit and screwed up all the books with their logo

>>23477592
>Filtered by anti-Conan
Moorcock is based and you're low IQ

>>23475967
>Deny ever having red Moorcock
He has cited Morrcock as an influence, though.

>>23476054
I know. I shooped the Shitflix logo out of the OP not to taint /lit/ with it. All the english boxsets sold nowadays seem to have that logo. Sorry, anon.

>>23477778
Better than the books which have “As Seen on Booktok” on them. The world would be much better off if that diabolic app had never come into existence.

It's shit.
I lied. I liked it.

I read them all because I used to play Gwent a lot and wanted to know the characters.
I enjoy the games but the books are mediocre.

>>23467783
if I have to listen to another case of two whinging,preachy paragraphs that sandwich a recurring and grating "do you know what that means?".
Honestly by the 20th time I had come across it I thought either the books were a prank or literal psychological torture.

I read all but one book (the post story one I'm told, I don't know) and frankly it's like offering me some more glass to stuff into the hole these books drilled in my head.
That misery aside, the whole book feels like the writer's meandering political ramblings more than an actual fantasy story between real characters, and when he isn't projecting he's presenting us with a group of people that seem to genuinely and consistently hate each other on a personal level, pausing only to act on their libidos. I do not understand narratively why any of those people would genuinely want to be around each other, but for the author's insistence that it must be so. It does not follow.

>>23479498
>I read all but one book (the post story one I'm told
Hardly the best (the farting soldier chicks, really?) and you have a few chapters dedicated to Nimue, a character that's introduced in the previous books. Without knowing who she is and what happened in Lady of the Lake, it makes her chapters pointless.
You also lose on a bunch of symbolism and references. All in all, starting with this one wasn't the greatest move, I'm afraid. If you ever feel like giving it another chance, start with The Last Wish. It's a collection of short stories.

>>23467783
Picked up the Last Wish and loved it
Self contained pulpy adventures of Geralt of Rivia, with a pinch of 90's edgekino
Hell yeah!

Though the Sword of Destiny would be similiar given it was also a collection of short stories
Turned out the short stories all followed a clear sequencial timeline, instead of being random adventures
And the subject was far more inwardly directed, i.e. the focus was on Geralt as a character, his relationships and his self-hating psyche
The monster slaying, grand political conflicts and fantastical shenanigans were there, but just as a backdrop not the meat like in the Last Wish
It's just fucking boring and lame

After that I searched around, and the impression I got is that the Saga books (which take place after Sword of Destiny, which itself comes after Last Wish) are far more like SoS than LW, but not you get even more Yennefer and specially even more Ciri (supposedly Geralt almost even becomes a secondary character in the last ones, with Ciri getting the spotlight)

If that's the case I can see why the opinion that the games are better stories than the books is so prevalent and have to agree

Fucking Sapkowski
Only a drunk pole could take a concept this cool and the drop the ball this hard...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6uVeCzUhw0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYZG9zzdYdY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QxioQQAO9o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrCzp1-MKfs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbiLkcE8nfY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RTSalB5368

>>23477687
The book I have of Conan the Cimmerian has a review by Moorcock praising Howard for his vital and energetic writing.

>>23477770
I have no seen it, nor seen proof of it. If he did it was recent and in fear of him losing his jew gold.

>>23479643
Ciri never outshines Geralt, it's basically a 50/50 split which makes sense considering that the point of the story is to have them reunite. And I don't have a problem with Ciri either. The thing is that the concept of a monster slayer works best with short stories. Geralt isn't even doing witcher stuff for most of the saga, it's just him and his fellowship of sad people going forward and doing mundane shit interwoven with some cool moments that could have been nice short stories if not for the overarching plot.

>>23479722
CDproject did more to create Geralt than the author did. Almost everything in the video games was created by the studio.

>>23479802
Because the world of The Witcher is an afterthought, it was never supposed to be developed.
The only reason we ever have a map of the world is because publishers said they're not gonna publish a fantasy novel without a world map.

>>23479903
Because the author is shit.

>>23479903
I felt like it was well developed thoughbeit

>>23479802
Geralt as a character was already well defined
If anything what the games contribute the most to the setting is worldbuilding lore

>>23467951
>only reads the fix ups
>didn't even read the saga
>has opinions

>>23480853
>only reads the fix ups
what

>>23480867
Last Wish and Sword of Destiny are Fix Up Novels.

>>23480906
I didn't choose to "just read the fix-ups", I went in order you faggot.
Now that I know there's a proper storyline I'll start over again and keep going

>>23470760
It's hard to believe they're written by the same person. The short stories had some fresh ideas, clever execution, and interesting lore. The main series is like Naked gun-tier parody of itself, like the author is openly mocking the reader for trying to take any of this shit seriously. And it just gets worse and worse towards the end.

>>23479643
>the opinion that the games are better stories than the books
The shit I read sometimes.
>Only a drunk pole could take a concept this cool and the drop the ball this hard...
You didn't even read the books you're complaining about.

>>23480781
>Geralt as a character was already well defined
He was not even a protagonist originally. The author had no idea where he was going or what the goal was, beyond Ciri.

>>23481244
>He was not even a protagonist originally
He literally is the main character and Ciri appeared several short stories later. Why are you making shit up?

>>23481174
that doesn't disprove the point
if the saga books are all about Geralt and Ciri's overly melodramatic fantasy soap opera, then they are inferior stories to people whose primary appeal were Geralt's cool pulpy adventures
and in that regard the games are also better tales, specially 1 and 2

>>23481244
>He was not even a protagonist originally.
i mean in the saga its clear that Ciri is the actual protoganist and Geralt (despite his early importance) the deuteragonist
but in the Last Wish, Geralt is already complete in characterization
characterization which imo the games didn't seem deviate from, even with the whole amnesia element (which was there simply to allow greater flexibility of the role-playing mechanics and make it easier for newcomers of the setting, given that by then most of the books weren't even transalated to English)

>>23481251
>He only read the books after the game

>>23481528
The opposite, you baiting faggot. Enjoy your (You) and starve now.

>>23481470
>characterization which imo the games didn't seem deviate from
IMO, the games made him a bit more mature, as book's Geralt would frequently act sulky (specially when Cahir was accompanying ) and he also appeared to be more sensitive and easily offended
But yeah, everything else I guess was well preserved, including his sense of humor

>>23481251
to say he was not a protagonist is certainly an overstatement, but the third and onwarss books focused all the story around Ciri, and Geralt lost his individuality (he rarely acted like a witcher anymore, barely killed any monsters and didn't accept a single contract)
Also, the Lady of the Lake just straight ignores him in the first half of the book, which is a huge problem considering this book is the longest one

>>23481904
The book Geralt is an angsty, whiny, cowardly moralfag manwhore. They saved Sapkowsky's career by turning him into a sarcastic badass in the games.

>>23482105
he was sarcastic in the books aswell, he just didnt voice his sarcasm as often as it happened in the books. Instead, he would just smirk/grin

>>23480962
lol I can get you an audible invite, as you are clearly too lazy to read.

>>23484254
two psychopath red flags in one sentence, good job

>>23471316
>The rape (and the Stockholm syndrome that followed) changed Ciri forever
What do you mean? That lesbian thing or what?

>>23484382
What are the chances Misty rapes Ciri in the TV show? Or will they change it, especially since the actress for misty is some negroid? Also fun fact you can’t quick type negroid on an iphone

>>23484494
she didnt rape Ciri, as far I remember
It was pretty clear Ciri was interested too
I guess it could count as rape if you take Ciri's age into account, which I guess it was 14
But I guess in middle ages that wouldnt be Illegal, probably

>>23484628
It was after Ciri sort of joins the Rats. She was about to be raped by Kayleigh but Misty stepped in and stopped him, then took over. Ciri didn’t stop misty from doing anything but she didn’t enjoy it either. There’s a passage later which says something along the lines of
>she tried to clean herself but she would never be clean again
I would be willing to bet money that won’t happen in the tv series though

>>23484673
>but she didn’t enjoy it either
I remember the book saying she just didn't want to be alone that night, also
But I didn't read in polish

>>23484628
>she didnt rape Ciri
She clearly did. Ciri was too shocked to protest.
Put yourself in her shoes. You've just survived after days walking alone in the desert before some dudes caught you. They treat you like dirt but you make do. Then you manage to escape with some low-life and his friends. Said low-life attempts to rape you, tells you he's nice and all since he "kept your secret". Some dyke shows up, tells the low-life to fuck off and immediately takes his place.
Doesn't even give you a chance to put your clothes back on. She's already fingering you, telling you it's going to be ok.
And yes, Ciri felt tainted after that, as anon pointed out.
If it ain't rape then nothing is.

>>23484773
I just opened the book right now and it says pretty clearly it was pleasurable, yet humilliating for her

>>23484774
it wasn't rape because it wasn't forced (the book also states mistle was being gentle)
but mistle certainly took advantage on her

>>23484786
Being "gently raped" is still rape, sorry anon.
>it wasn't forced
She fucked a girl too shocked to say no.

>>23484791
I guess we just don't have a consesus on what configures as rape
Taking advantage on someone is not rape, IMO, if the person isn't explicitely showing disinterest
the most immoral thing in all of this was that is was some sort of pedophilia, but I don't remember mistle age, just that she was older than ciri

>>23484806
it was*
mistle's age
fucking broken keyboard

>>23484806
>if the person isn't explicitely showing disinterest
I'm pretty sure in most countries, the person has to give explicit consent for it NOT to be rape.
>but I don't remember mistle age, just that she was older than ciri
She was older but Ciri was old enough to be married so that's fine by me.

>>23484813
>I'm pretty sure in most countries, the person has to give explicit consent for it NOT to be rape.
to be fair, we should probably use polish laws into account, which I'm not familiar with
>She was older but Ciri was old enough to be married so that's fine by me.
Wasn't she 10-14 years old?

>>23484821
>which I'm not familiar with
Me neither. Would a pole mind chiming in?
>Wasn't she 10-14 years old?
16 by that point, I believe.

>>23479524
Not sure if I'm misunderstanding or you are.
I meant that I've read every witcher book except the post story one.
So the two preceding ones (the whole calanthe hullabaloo, how he met dandelion and yen, and the like) and then the main 5 books

For the record I don't think they were terrible, but some of his writing style really did grate on me and the persistent impression that everyone speaking actively disliked each other wore me down.

>>23484959
and I started with the pre-main story ones, which I think was a mistake, it gave me context for main story plot points that I didn't really need or value until I actually came across them in the main story and there was a lot of smugness that hadn't been earned by being preceded by an established reputation (calanthe being a major league bitch with no context, for one)

>>23484959
>Not sure if I'm misunderstanding or you are
I was. I don't know how I managed to misread your post.

>>23485200
Wtf you are supposed to double down on it while launching insults? This is 4chan no????

Is it worth getting the hardback illustrated editions?
I also planned on just reading in release order, is there any reason why I shouldnt?

>>23485529
>I also planned on just reading in release order, is there any reason why I shouldnt?
Not at all. Quite the opposite. Release order is the way to go.