There are several prominent updates on the Witcherverse in recent times. First of all, pan Sapkowski has finally released a new book, Crossroad of Ravens. Also, he has made a couple of takes on things around the Witcher. Finally, Netflix released the fourth season.

Crossroad of Ravens

I’m a bit late with this; an official translation in Russian has taken some time. Even though there were really good-looking unofficial translations, I wanted to spend my money on an official copy only. Additionally, bookstores in my region (which is across a border with Poland, a fact I find funny) delayed the distribution of the book. Nevertheless, I finally got it.

The book is an excellent example of fan service. As far as everyone knows, Geralt’s story is long over, and starting from a previous book, Season of Storms, the author completes the story with extra details. Frankly speaking, neither books look like something really required, and I suspect that the reason for writing them lies mostly in a money plane, but nobody, including me, would say anything against it. Although Sapkowski is not my favorite author, I had a pleasant time reading the Crossroad.

The book was composed in the way the first books of the series did, which is, in my opinion, cool. There are several stories, some are more tied together, others are more sparse, loosely bound by a common plot. The first books were done by an amateur author; the last two differ in this way, they are more thoughtful and embodied. Now it is a good example of a book written by a good author, not an excellent one, but good enough. Sometimes I caught myself on a thought that I was reading one of Hasek’s stories. An ironic storytelling, some characters, their monologues, made me have this vibe. Funny, both are Western Slavs :)

The hellbent on Latin and an enormous amount of letter messages in the book is an annoying part. These moments were difficult to go through, even with perfect notes by a publisher. Naive dialogs are also present, as they always are, but not too much this time.

The plot is good. I admire how the author trolls everyone around with it. One of the most important events in the whole Saga is so random and simple-based. The outstanding move!

I couldn’t pass the author’s look at the recent events in Poland, I’m not going to discuss it as a foreigner, but I agree with his view.

Hot takes

Besides the book, pan Andjey told us that he is upset with the idea of Witcher schools. He acknowledges the fact that it is his fault because there was a sentence containing schools in his own book, but he thinks it was too unimportant to make something more about it. I think this is a nod to the CDPR’s side, who made the school’s idea pivotal in their version of the Witcherverse. I think the author has the right to say this. Sometimes we all do things we would regret later. I agree that the idea of schools makes the Witcherverse more Harry-Potteric and silly, but this is a good idea for games on the other side.

The second take is about how often the CDPR involves the author in the production process of the Witcher 4 game as a subject matter expert, which is obviously a rare occasion. There is nothing surprising, I think. The Witcherverse now is a standalone phenomenon. The CDPR has well developed it past the baseline story and possibly does not require any assistance anymore, to some extent at least. A cool moment that the guys from the CDPR had access to the Crossroads draft! So, the relationship between the author and the game studio is pretty warm.

Past-Henry

Netflix released the next season of its terrible version of the Witcher Saga.

Actually, I have many things to say. But it is better to say nothing. It does not deserve my time to write about it, your time to read, and anybody’s time to watch it.

P.S. I do not think that the lack of Henry changes anything. The show was and is so bad that the main actor swap is not a big deal.