Squee Challenge #1: Introducing a fandom - The Saga of Geralt of Riva

[asthenie_vd]

It has been a while since I last recommended stuff to you in long-winded entries.

In my first challenge entry I want to introduce you to what has got to be my favourite series of fantasy books. Like, forget A Song of Ice and Fire, this is the good stuff:

The Geralt Saga, more commonly known as The Witcher (this weird sounding title is derived from the original Polish title, Wiedźmin, literally meaning “man-witch”, don't think about the English translation too long, don't!) is a 5 volume fantasy epic by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. Well, actually there’s seven books, since there are also two volumes of short stories that set up the world and the characters, and even some of the plots that Sapkowski later expanded on in the novels, so you clearly wouldn’t want to miss those!

The series is set in a pseudo-medieval fantasy world that is plagued by war, racism against elves, monsters, racist elves, war, rebelling elves, racism against dwarves, war, bigotry, bandits, war, and also a bit of plague, and war. It’s a Dark Fantasy world, ok? But, read on, there is a twist: The series follows the adventures of Geralt, a genetically enhanced professional monster slayer - a Witcher. What with both Witchers and monsters on the verge of disappearing from the world, he would like nothing more than to settle down with his lover (who is more involved in the world’s big scale politics than she lets on) and his adoptive daughter (who is the other main character of the series and as adorable in the beginning as she gets to be kickass later). But then one day the daughter gets kidnapped and the lover disappears and Geralt’s retirement plans are ruined.

Why might you be interested in reading this series? So far, it doesn't sound too special, does it? Well, all seven of the books were written and published in the 1990’s, yet, the series ended up being a lot more progressive and original than a lot of more recent Dark Fantasy.

Let me give you some examples that might get you reading:

1. The Folklore. There's your Elves and Dwarves and unicorns and even a vampire or two, but also a couple of creatures from Slavic folk tales that are not as well known in Western Europe. This series made me look up so many exciting myths and creatures that were new to me! But even to the creatures that you think you recognize there is a twist (especially the unicorns. You really do not want to pet these particular sparkly ponies, oh no!). And I cannot give detailed examples here, because I do not want to spoil any of the fun, but there is a reason no one messes with this world's equivalent of a hobbit. ;)
   
   And have I ever mentioned how much I hate vampires? Be they Buffy-Vampires, Dracula-Vampires, True Blood-Vampires, Twilight-Vampires, I don’t care. I can’t stand them. Having “Vampire” in the title will already guarantee I won’t touch a movie/show/book/whatever with a ten foot pole. Well, not only did Sapkowski write a Vampire I like, no, he’s one of my absolute favourite characters in fantasy literature so far. Give this series a try, and even if you're not too fond of the fantasy genre as a whole, aspects of it might change your point of view.
   
   
2. The taking apart of stereotypes, tropes and other well known subject matters. The tamest form of this can be found in the short story collections, that often simply retell a couple of popular European fairy tales with a twist. The more interesting bits even sometimes deconstruct myths that many modern readers might have about the middle ages (the author is a history buff and he will let you know!). E. g. One of the main characters undergoes a Trial by Fire to prove someone’s innocence. The accuser insists that they have to do it miracle style, i. e., if you don’t get burned, you win; if you do get burned, well... Even though the characters’ know that this is not how a Trial by Fire works, because winning would be impossible. The fact that the character manages to do it without getting hurt actually tells the other characters that there is something extremely wrong with this guy.
   
   
3. The self-awareness. The books have a nice habit of deliberately poking fun at (Dark) Fantasy tropes.
   
   You see, the hero assembles this group of followers around him, quite accidentally. And our hero doesn't like it. He would really prefer to do his thing alone! He doesn't want them as companions and least of all does he want to be their leader! He has enough on his hands with his quest, and he does not want that kind of added responsibility. He’s a typically Dark Fantasy protagonist, manly, broody and annoyingly drowning in self-pity. And all his friends, and even some random strangers he encounters on his way take the greatest pleasure in making fun of his Drama Queen antics.
   
   In fact, the scene which makes Geralt, finally, grudgingly accept his accidental companions on his quest, consists of them showing him how idiotic his attitude is, and how useful it can be to work in a group, by combining their unique and awesome abilities to make a soup. It reads like a bizarre anime-nakama parody but it works. Because at no point do the characters take themselves too seriously, and they certainly aren’t taking Geralt seriously, or his sulking.
   
   Then there's the typical composition of Geralt’s companions (referred to as Geralt’s Hanse in the fandom): There's our hero, who's a warrior type. During the course of the books some of his allies have to stay behind, he gains new ones, picks up old ones, etc., until, eventually he is accompanied by a ranger, a rogue, a blackguard turned paladin, a battle medic and, of course a bard, who - figuratively speaking - put all his skill points into charming people and diplomacy skills and cantrips. So before the big, final boss battle, this “bard” actually turns to his group, says, guys, it has been fun, but here's where my particular skill set stops being useful, and where I'd just be dead meat, so this is where we part ways. And no one actually gives him a hard time about it, or tries to talk him into staying. They realize if he stayed to fight he'd only be in the way and eventually get someone, or himself, killed, and since they all kinda like him, they tell him to be on his way. No hard feelings. Then they basically just all agree to meet up and to have a drink together some time should any of them survive. No theatrics. They are so reasonable!
   
   
4. Partly related to this awareness and mockery of the genre is the series’ slight post-modernist touch. Now, don’t run away screaming! It’s only bits and pieces, and they are fun and only one of them’s actually horrible (there’s a really weird attempt at including a frame narrative in the middle of one of the books which is, thankfully, quickly dropped and never mentioned again, but it does make you wonder…)! The Witcher isn’t straight Heroic or Dark Fantasy. There’s a genre shift here and there. There’s dimension hopping, time travel, a crossover sideplot that catapults a character into the setting of one of the Arthurian Legends. Oh, and one of the main plots of the whole series revolves around witches and wizards messing around with genetics in order to ensure a messiah will be born who will be able to save the world from Global Climate Change. Yes, you could say Global Warning is the lurking Eldritch Evil which even the series’ Big Bad is afraid of.
   
   It’s fantastic!
   
   This genre-mix is also evident in the language. I mentioned this in an earlier entry way back, Sapkowski isn’t one of those authors who insist on the characters populating their pseudo-medieval world speaking politely, as if they were at court, or even worse in pseudo-antiquated fashion. So the books are full of modern speech patterns and certainly a lot of strong language (I can’t speak for the English translations as I haven’t read them. But it is certainly true for the German translations and, from what I have heard from fellow fans, it is most certainly this way in the Polish originals. In fact, Sapkowski apparently loves playing with dialects and regiolects in his works, so I hope these somehow found their way into the English translations, too!).
   
   The language is also part of the books’ humour. Seeing how the series, despite everything, is still first and foremost a work of Dark Fantasy, it needs a good dosage of humour to balance the drama. In true post-modernist fashion you might find humourous references to modern pop-culture (or simply modern culture), but mostly the humour is a bit black and a bit crude, and a lot of it is snarky and/or based on self-mockery, but most importantly, it is funny.
   
   
5. The Characters. There are less of them than in A Song of Ice and Fire, but there still are a lot, as becomes a Fantasy series of a total 7 books. And it is impossible not to care about at least some of them. And I don’t just mean the main characters! There is a huge battle taking place in the last volume that spans dozens of pages, and you care about every single named character involved in it, even though there isn't a main character anywhere in sight!
   
   And then, of course there are the main characters. I don’t have space here to gush about every single important character, but let me write a few things about the two principal characters:
   
   Firstly, Geralt himself is so loyal and good and rubbish, he makes my heart ache! He combines elements from a couple of archetypes that I really like. He is a Magic Knight, Papa Wolf, A Deadpan Snarker... but most prominent of all is the combination of the Noble Warrior with the Noble Monster (he is doubly noble, yes!). Despite what Geralt might claim, that he is only after a job well paid, his moral compass is perfectly intact, and he pays for it dearly at every turn! Even though he his often rejected by society because of his mutant looks and powers, he proves a lot more emphatic and humane than a lot of the human characters. Finally, his quest is surprisingly, and refreshingly down to earth for this kind of genre: He wants to be happily married to Yen and give a home to Ciri. It's sweet. And the reasons for him not having been able to do that yet are rather relatable and human too. So, if you're not that much into heroic, save-the-world fantasy, there is a very human core to the tale you hopefully can relate to.
   
   Secondly, there is Ciri. Actually a descendant of royalty, she is also Geralt’s adoptive daughter, due to very fairy tale like circumstances that occurred in one of the short stories that I will not spoil for you. She lived at the Witchers’ fortress for a while, where she received some training in fighting and monster slaying, because the Witchers didn’t know what else to do with a girl (they were so useless at minding her that they had to call a female friend to talk to her about her period and related womanly things. No joke, that is basically how her storyline in the first novel starts. Poor girl!). So, not only is she a princess, but an action girl, too. And I’ll admit it here, I simply find her more believable as a girl than all the Arya Starks in the world. Though, granted, her being the second main character meant Sapkowski spent a lot of time on her character arc, transforming her from the wild bird into the person she becomes in the end. Yes, there’s a lot of heart-ache involved, but don’t worry, she gets to do a lot of ass-kicking too, and it is very satisfying! Sapkowski also uses her to explore parts of his world we don’t get to see from the perspective of Geralt and his companions. While Geralt meets a lot of kings and courtiers and spies and knights along the way, Ciri spends most of the books among bandits and crazy hermits.

Oh, and there are two video games too, but never mind them (unless you are a gamer. In that case, read the books and then get the games, you might really want them after the finale!). While I like them, and count especially the second part among my favourites*, they are not canonical. They take place after the last book and are what I like to call fix-it fanfiction. While some good thought has been put into them they have some issues when it comes down to characterisation and picking up of some of the more subtle themes in the books.

There is also a Polish TV series that adapted a few of the short stories, (that was later cut into a movie for international release) which you should ignore entirely. All you need to know about that series is that Sapkowski reputedly threatened to leave the country after seeing it. Yes, it is that bad (and I own the DVD! :D ). I ripped into the movie version here, if you're really brave.

*speaking of which, as usual gog.com right now is offering a deal similar to steam's recent weekend deal, only cheaper and better (because all games on gog are distributed without any kind of DRM!): Witcher 2 - Assassins of Kings for only $5,99 (that is even less in euros, guys! (!!!!!!!!!))