The Witcher Books in Order: How to Read All 9 Books

Trying to figure out The Witcher books in order? For most readers, the best place to start is The Last Wish, then Sword of Destiny, then the five main saga novels. After that, I’d read Season of Storms and Crossroads of Ravens as standalone Witcher books that make more sense once you already know Geralt, Ciri, Yennefer, and the rest of the core story.

The tricky part is that Witcher reading order, publication order, and chronological order are not exactly the same. So I’d use the recommended order first, then check the publication and chronological lists if you want to see why the series gets confusing.

Jump to:

Best Witcher Reading Order
The Witcher Books in Publication Order
The Witcher Books in Chronological Order
Original Collection and Extra Witcher Stories
The Witcher Games, Shows, and Adaptations
The Witcher Books FAQ

Best Witcher Reading Order

This is the order I’d recommend if you’re new to the series. It gives you the best introduction to Geralt, Ciri, Yennefer, and the world before you get into the later standalone books and prequels.

The Last Wish (Short Story Collection)
Sword of Destiny (Short Story Collection)
Blood of Elves
The Time of Contempt
Baptism of Fire
The Tower of Swallows
The Lady of the Lake
Season of Storms (Standalone)
Crossroads of Ravens (Standalone Prequel)

The Last Wish is the best starting point for most new readers, even though it isn’t first in the original Polish publication order and it isn’t first chronologically either. It does the best job introducing Geralt, the world, and the tone of the series before the bigger saga kicks in.

I also wouldn’t start with Crossroads of Ravens just because it takes place earlier in Geralt’s life. It’s useful to know where it fits, but it works better after you already have a feel for Sapkowski’s world.

Which Witcher Book Should You Read First?

Start with The Last Wish. That’s the easiest answer, and it’s the one I’d give almost every new reader.

The Last Wish is a short story collection, but don’t skip it because of that. These stories introduce Geralt, explain what witchers do, establish the tone of the world, and set up several relationships that matter later. Going straight to Blood of Elves technically gets you to the first full-length saga novel faster, but it also drops you into the story after a lot of important groundwork has already happened.

After The Last Wish, read Sword of Destiny. That second collection is even more important for Ciri and the main saga, so I’d consider both story collections part of the required reading order rather than optional background material.

How Many Witcher Books Are There?

There are currently 9 core Witcher books available in English: 2 short story collections, 5 saga novels, and 2 standalone or prequel novels.

2 short story collections: The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny
5 main saga novels: Blood of Elves through The Lady of the Lake
2 standalone or prequel novels: Season of Storms and Crossroads of Ravens

Some lists get more complicated because of the original Polish short-story collection from 1990, later collections, fan-story anthologies, comics, games, and other tie-in material. For the practical English-language book order most readers are looking for, though, the core list is the 9 books above.

Where Crossroads of Ravens Fits

Crossroads of Ravens is a prequel about a younger Geralt, so chronologically it comes before the main books. That does not make it the best first Witcher book to read.

I’d place it after the original core books for a first read. You can understand the basic plot without reading everything else first, but the book lands better once you already know who Geralt becomes and how Sapkowski usually builds this world. For new readers, The Last Wish is still the stronger entry point.

The Witcher Books in Publication Order

This list uses the main Witcher books in original Polish publication order. That distinction matters because English-speaking readers usually encounter The Last Wish first, but in the original Polish publication history, Sword of Destiny came before it.

The original 1990 Polish collection Wiedźmin is covered separately below because it isn’t a separate current English-language book that most readers need to track down.

Sword of Destiny (1992) (Short Story Collection)
The Last Wish (1993) (Short Story Collection)
Blood of Elves (1994)
The Time of Contempt (1995)
Baptism of Fire (1996)
The Tower of Swallows (1997)
The Lady of the Lake (1999)
Season of Storms (2013) (Standalone)
Crossroads of Ravens (2024 Polish, 2025 English) (Standalone Prequel)

Use this list if you want the books in the order Sapkowski originally published the modern core series. For most first-time readers, though, I still think The Last Wish is the better actual starting point.

The Witcher Books in Chronological Order

This is the broad book-level chronological order, not a perfect story-by-story timeline. That matters because the short stories and standalone novels don’t always fit into a clean, simple line.

Chronological order works better as a reread than a first read. It may look cleaner on paper, but it changes how Geralt’s world, the major characters, and the bigger saga are introduced.

Crossroads of Ravens (Standalone Prequel)
The Last Wish (Short Story Collection)
Season of Storms (Standalone)
Sword of Destiny (Short Story Collection)
Blood of Elves
The Time of Contempt
Baptism of Fire
The Tower of Swallows
The Lady of the Lake

Again, I wouldn’t use this as your first-read order. It’s useful once you already know the books and want to see how the timeline lines up, but it’s not the cleanest way to meet this world for the first time.

Original Collection and Extra Witcher Stories

This is where Witcher completionism gets messy. The 9-book list above is the practical core reading order, but there are a few extra items worth knowing about if you’re trying to understand why different lists count the series differently.

Wiedźmin / The Witcher (1990): This was an early Polish short-story collection. I wouldn’t add it as a separate required book for modern English-language readers because the major Witcher stories from that early period are covered through the later collections readers actually use now.
“A Road with No Return”: This is a Witcher-related story connected to Geralt’s family background, but it is not part of the standard English Witcher book order.
“Something Ends, Something Begins”: This is a Geralt story, but it is not part of the main saga’s plot continuity. I’d only worry about it if you’re digging into Sapkowski’s extra short fiction.
Szpony i kły / Claws and Fangs: This is a Polish anthology of Witcher-inspired stories selected from a contest. It’s interesting completionist material, but it is not a Sapkowski-authored core Witcher book and does not belong in the main reading order above.

So, for most readers, the answer is simple: read the 9 core books. The extra material is useful context, not something you need to squeeze into your first Witcher reading order.

The Witcher Games, Shows, and Adaptations

A lot of readers come to The Witcher through the games first, and that’s completely normal. CD Projekt Red turned Sapkowski’s world into a major gaming franchise with The Witcher in 2007, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings in 2011, and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in 2015. The Witcher 3 also got two major expansions, Hearts of Stone in 2015 and Blood and Wine in 2016, and the game side of the franchise later expanded with GWENT, Thronebreaker, and GWENT: Rogue Mage.

The games are not direct substitutes for the books. They continue and expand the world in their own way, so I’d read Sapkowski’s books if you want Geralt’s story in its original form.

Netflix made the series even more mainstream. The live-action show debuted in 2019, followed with additional seasons in 2021, 2023, and 2025. Netflix also released the animated film Nightmare of the Wolf in 2021, the prequel miniseries Blood Origin in 2022, the animated film Sirens of the Deep in 2025, and the special The Rats: A Witcher Tale in 2025.

There were also earlier Polish screen adaptations, but most modern readers are usually asking how the books connect to the games or Netflix version. The simplest answer is that the books come first. The games and shows can be fun entry points, but they’re separate adaptations of Sapkowski’s world, not replacements for the reading order above.

The Witcher Books FAQ

What order should I read The Witcher books in?

For most readers, start with The Last Wish, then Sword of Destiny, then move into the five main saga novels. After that, read Season of Storms and Crossroads of Ravens if you want the full core Witcher book list.

Do I need to read The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny before Blood of Elves?

Yes, I strongly recommend it. Those two short story collections do a lot of the setup work for the saga, and skipping them makes the start of Blood of Elves feel thinner than it should.

When should I read Season of Storms and Crossroads of Ravens?

For a first read, I’d save both until after the main saga. Season of Storms takes place earlier in the timeline, and Crossroads of Ravens is a young-Geralt prequel, but both work better once you already know Geralt and the larger Witcher world.

Should I read The Witcher books in chronological order?

I wouldn’t do that for your first read. Chronological order is interesting for a reread, but the recommended reading order gives you a better introduction to the characters, world, and saga.

Is The Witcher series finished?

The five-book saga is complete, but Sapkowski has continued adding standalone and prequel material around it. That’s why Season of Storms and Crossroads of Ravens sit outside the main saga while still belonging on a complete core Witcher reading list.

Looking for similar books in order?

If you want more fantasy authors and reading-order guides like this one, start with my Fantasy Books in Order index.