| Andrzej Sapkowski | |
|---|---|
 Andrzej Sapkowski at Polcon (a Science Fiction Convention) at Kraków in 2002 |
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| Born | June 21, 1948 Łódź, Poland |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Citizenship |  Poland |
| Writing period | 1986 -present |
| Genres | Science fiction/Fantasy |
| Notable work(s) | The Witcher Saga The Narrenturm Trilogy |
| Notable award(s) | Janusz A. Zajdel Award Paszport Polityki |
| Official website | |
Andrzej Sapkowski, born June 21, 1948 in Łódź, is a Polish fantasy writer. 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.
The main character of The Witcher (alternative translation: The Hexer) is Geralt, a mutant assassin who has been trained since childhood to hunt down and destroy monsters. Geralt exists in an ambiguous moral 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. The world in which these adventures take place is heavily influenced by Slavic mythology.
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[1], 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, and Portuguese. An English translation of The Last Wish short story collection was published by Gollancz in 2007[2].
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[3]. There is also a mobile version of the game which has been created by Breakpoint Games and is being published by Hands-On Mobile[4] in Western Europe,Latin America and Asia Pacific.
The English translation of Sapkowski's novel Blood of Elves won the David Gemmell Legends Award in 2009[5][6].
Contents |
Bibliography
The Witcher Saga
Short story collections
- The Witcher (Wiedźmin) (1990) (contains 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)
- Something ends, Something begins (Coś się kończy, coś się zaczyna) (2000) (contains 8 stories, only two are related to The Witcher saga)
The Saga
- Blood of Elves (Krew elfów) (1994)
- Times of Contempt (Czas pogardy) (1995)
- Baptism of Fire (Chrzest ognia) (1996)
- The Swallow's Tower (Wieża Jaskółki) (1997)
- Lady of the Lake (Pani Jeziora) (1999)
Narrenturm trilogy (or Hussite Trilogy)
- Narrenturm (2002)
- Warriors of God (Boży bojownicy) (2004)
- Lux perpetua (2006)
Other works
- Viper (Żmija) (2009) A novel set during Soviet war in Afghanistan.
- The Eye of Yrrhedes (Oko Yrrhedesa) (1995), roleplaying game
- The World of King Arthur. Maladie (Świat króla Artura. Maladie.) (1995), essay and a 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
- ^ Stowarzyszenie Willa Decjusza. "Profiles: Andrzej Sapkowski". http://www.culture.pl/en/culture/artykuly/os_sapkowski_andrzej. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
- ^ "Andrzej Sapkowski - an Orion author". http://www.orionbooks.co.uk/12971-0/author-Andrzej-Sapkowski.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-17.
- ^ "The Witcher Official Website - Official Release Date!". http://www.thewitcher.com/community/en/press_releases/18.html. Retrieved 2007-07-17.
- ^ Hands–On Mobile
- ^ "The final 2008 longlist for the David Gemmell Legends Award". 2009-01-01. http://www.fantasybookreview.co.uk/blog/2009/01/01/the-final-2008-longlist-for-the-david-gemmell-legends-award/. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
- ^ Alison Flood, Gemmell prize for fantasy goes to Polish novel, Blood of Elves, Guardian, Friday 19 June 2009
External links
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