As I'm finishing up my third replay of the Witcher series, I'm starting to wonder if I should start reading the Witcher books, I've looked them up and there seems to be only 2 of the Witcher books in English, and with a third hopefully coming in December of this year. Would it be worth it to buy the small portion of the book series that is in English, and what order should I buy/read them in?
Thanks
~ÐiscoShrew

"The Last Wish" is a collection of short-stories. "Blood of Evles" is the first part of a five-part saga, and the upcoming "Times of Content" is the second installment of that saga.

In my humble opinion, you'd do best if you start with "The Last Wish". It's easier to read, and you'll be able to judge if the literary style of Mr Sapkowski and the translator are something you'll enjoy, without investing yourself emotionaly with a long series that might take years to be translated. Also, if you decide it's your cup of tea, reading the stories adds a lot of background to the saga, and some events (nothing too crucial) are referenced.

I haven't seen the English translations, but personally I enjoyed the short stories more than I did the saga. But those are my subjective views.

Good call, was considering buying one of the books to see if I'd get into it, seeing this topic made me go buy The last wish.

Most of the books I read are from British or sometimes American authors so not totally sure how it will come across in English but it's worth a try for sure, I love the story, lore and background of the characters in The Witcher games, here's hoping the books give as much enjoyment.

As further research uncovered, Blood of elves is actually the second book in the chronology, and that the English publisher had skipped "Sword of Destiny" so, do you suggest I just buy "The Last Wish" or that and "Blood of Elves"?

"The Last Wish" is first, it's a collection of short stories. It's available in English. The short story that comes with The Witcher Enhanced Edition is from this book (indeed I think it's the first ever Witcher story). "The Last Wish" collects a bunch of Witcher stories that had originally been published in a lot of different places.

"Sword of Destiny" is the second book of short stories. It is NOT available in English. It was actually originally published BEFORE "The Last Wish" but it takes place after.

"Blood of Elves" is the first novel. It is set after BOTH of the short story collections. It is available in English.

So, if you go from "The Last Wish" to "Blood of Elves", you are missing some short stories, but I believe these stories are only loosely connected and I'm not sure how much "Blood of Elves" actually depends on the reader knowing what happened in those stories.

More info here:

http://witcher.wikia.com/wiki/The_Witcher_series

Everyone above has summarized the chronology of the series. All I can add is that its billient. You should go for it.

I don't have much experience in fantasy, I tend to stick to science fiction. However I find the english translations extremely easy to read and quite entertaining. Last Wish more than The Blood of Elves. They are some of the few books that I have read many times.

Apparently though the original polish versions are steeped in cultural idioms, so don't translate well or are what is causing the translation to be so slow.

Its also fun, having played the games, to hear all the characters voices as they talk.

Youp, "The Witcher" short story was first ever written and published. It was written for a fantasy contest back in 1986 here:
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj256/samaelvonhell/1.jpg
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj256/samaelvonhell/2.jpg
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj256/samaelvonhell/3.jpg

But chronologically, first short story in The Witchers world was "A way You're not coming back from" written in 1988 and published here:
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj256/samaelvonhell/4.jpg
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj256/samaelvonhell/5.jpg
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj256/samaelvonhell/6.jpg

It was about Geralts parents.