Andrzej Sapkowski
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Andrzej Sapkowski
(1948–), one of the most popular Polish fantasy writers. He created three collections of stories about Geralt, a mutant witcher trained to kill monsters, and a thematically related cycle of fantasy novels, Saga o wiedźminie (The Saga about the Witcher, 1990–1999). He also published two parts the Narrenturm trilogy, a humorous tale about the Middle Ages. Although Sapkowski has been influenced by R. E. Howard, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Ursula Le Guin, he often refers to fairy tales and Slavic mythology. He also published Rkopis znaleziony w Smoczej Jaskini (A Manuscript Found in a Dragon's Cave, 2001), a guidebook to fantasy.
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Andrzej Sapkowski
| Andrzej Sapkowski | |
|---|---|
 Andrzej Sapkowski at Book World Fair in Prague in 2010 |
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| Born | 21 June 1948 Łódź, Poland |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Citizenship |  Poland |
| Period | 1986 - present |
| Genres | Fantasy, history |
| Notable work(s) | The Witcher Saga The Hussite Trilogy |
| Notable award(s) | Janusz A. Zajdel Award Paszport Polityki |
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www.sapkowski.pl |
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Andrzej Sapkowski, born 21 June 1948 in Łódź, is a Polish fantasy writer. He is best known for his best-selling book series The Witcher.
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Biography
Sapkowski studied economics, and before turning to writing, he had worked as a senior sales representative for a foreign trade company. His first short story, The Witcher (Wiedźmin), was published in Fantastyka, Poland's leading fantasy literary magazine, in 1986 and was enormously successful both with readers and critics. Sapkowski has created a cycle of tales based on the world of The Witcher, comprising three collections of short stories and five novels. This cycle and his many other works have made him one of the best-known fantasy authors in Poland in the 1990s.[1]
The main character of The Witcher (alternative translations: The Hexer and Spellmaker) is Geralt, a mutant assassin who has been trained since childhood to hunt down and destroy monsters. Geralt exists in a morally ambiguous universe, yet manages to maintain his own coherent code of ethics. At the same time cynical and noble, Geralt has been compared to Raymond Chandler's signature character Philip Marlowe.[1] The world in which these adventures take place is heavily influenced by Slavic mythology.[2]
Sapkowski has won five Zajdel Awards, including three for short stories "Mniejsze zło" (Lesser Evil) (1990), "Miecz przeznaczenia" (Sword of Destiny) (1992) and "W leju po bombie" (In a Bomb Crater) (1993), and two for the novels "Krew elfów" (Blood of Elves) (1994) and "Narrenturm" (2002). He also won the Spanish Ignotus Award, best anthology, for The Last Wish in 2003, and for "Muzykanci" (The Musicians), best foreign short story, same year.
In 1997, Sapkowski won the prestigious Polityka's Passport award,[3] which is awarded annually to artists who have strong prospects for international success.
In 2001, a television series based on the Witcher cycle was released in Poland and internationally, entitled Wiedźmin (The Hexer). A film by the same title was compiled from excerpts of the television series but both have been critical and box office failures.
Sapkowski's books have been translated into Czech, Russian, Lithuanian, German, Spanish, French, Ukrainian, Portuguese, Finnish, Slovak, Bulgarian, Serbian, English, Italian and Swedish. An English translation of The Last Wish short story collection was published by Gollancz in 2007.[4] From 2009 the Witcher saga is published by Gollancz.[5]
The Polish game publisher, CD Projekt, created a role-playing PC game based on this universe, called The Witcher, which was released in October 2007.[6] There is also a mobile version of the game which has been created by Breakpoint Games and is being published by Hands-On Mobile[7] in Western Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific. The sequel, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings was released in 2011.
The English translation of Sapkowski's novel Blood of Elves won the David Gemmell Legends Award in 2009.[8][9]
Bibliography
The Witcher Saga
Short story collections
- The Witcher (Wiedźmin, 1990), 5 stories (4 were reprinted in The Last Wish, one in Something ends, Something begins).
- Sword of Destiny (Miecz przeznaczenia, 1992), 6 stories.
- The Last Wish (Ostatnie życzenie, 1993), 7 stories. English edition: 2007 (in US: 2008).
- "Spellmaker" in A Polish Book of Monsters, edited and translated by Michael Kandel. 2010.
- Something ends, Something begins (Coś się kończy, coś się zaczyna, 2000), 8 stories (only two are related to The Witcher saga).
The Saga
- Blood of Elves (Krew elfów, 1994). English edition: 2009.
- Times of Contempt (Czas pogardy, 1995). English edition: 2012 (planned).
- Baptism of Fire (Chrzest ognia, 1996).
- The Swallow's Tower (Wieża Jaskółki, 1997).
- Lady of the Lake (Pani Jeziora, 1999).
The Hussite Trilogy
- Narrenturm (2002).
- Warriors of God (Boży bojownicy, 2004).
- Lux perpetua (2006).
Other novels
- Viper (Żmija, 2009), a novel set during Soviet war in Afghanistan.
Other works
- The Eye of Yrrhedes (Oko Yrrhedesa, 1995), roleplaying game.
- The World of King Arthur. Maladie (Świat króla Artura. Maladie, 1995), essay and an illustrated short story set in Arthurian mythology.
- Manuscript Discovered in a Dragon's Cave (Rękopis znaleziony w Smoczej Jaskini, 2001), fantasy encyclopedic compendium.
Awards
| Preceded by Alain le Bussy |
ESFS award for Best Author 1996 |
Succeeded by Rafał A. Ziemkiewicz |
References
- ^ a b (Polish) Marek Oramus Jedynie słuszny wizerunek wiedźmina, Polityka - nr 36 (2261) from 2000-09-02; p. 52-54
- ^ The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski , fantasybookreview
- ^ Stowarzyszenie Willa Decjusza. "Profiles: Andrzej Sapkowski". http://www.culture.pl/en/culture/artykuly/os_sapkowski_andrzej. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ [2][dead link]
- ^ "The Witcher Official Website - Official Release Date!". Archived from the original on 9 July 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070709103856/http://www.thewitcher.com/community/en/press_releases/18.html. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
- ^ Hands–On Mobile
- ^ "The final 2008 longlist for the David Gemmell Legends Award". 1 January 2009. http://www.fantasybookreview.co.uk/blog/2009/01/01/the-final-2008-longlist-for-the-david-gemmell-legends-award/. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
- ^ Alison Flood, Gemmell prize for fantasy goes to Polish novel, Blood of Elves, Guardian, Friday 19 June 2009
External links
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