Andrzej Sapkowski

Andrzej Sapkowski, born June 21, 1948 in Lodz, is a Polish fantasy writer. Sapkowski studied economics and worked as a businessman before becoming well known as a writer. His first short story, The Hexer (Wied?min), was published in Fantastyka, Poland's leading fantasy literary magazine, in 1986 and garnered enormous critical success. Sapkowski has created a cycle of tales based on the world of The Hexer, comprising three collections of short stories and five novels. This cycle and his many other books have made him one of the most well-known fantasy authors in Poland 1990s.

Related Topics:
June 21 - 1948 - Lodz - Polish - Fantasy - Short story - The Hexer - Fantastyka - Novel - 1990s

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The main character of The Hexer (alternative translation: The Witcher) is Geralt, a mutant assassin who has been trained from childhood to hunt down and destroy monsters and other vermin. Geralt moves in an ambiguous moral universe, yet manages to maintain his own coherent code of ethics. At once cynical and noble, Geralt has been compared to Raymond Chandler's signature character Philip Marlowe. The world in which these adventures take place owes much to J.R.R. Tolkien, while also heavily influenced by Polish history and Slavic mythology.

Related Topics:
The Hexer - The Witcher - Raymond Chandler - Philip Marlowe - J.R.R. Tolkien

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Sapkowski has won five Zajdel Awards, including three for the short stories "Mniejsze z?o" (1990), "Miecz przeznaczenia" (1992) and "W leju po bombie" (1993), and two for the novels "Krew elfów" (1994) and "Narrenturm" (2002).

Related Topics:
Zajdel Award - 1990 - 1992 - 1993 - 1994 - 2002

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In 1997, Sapkowski won the prestigious Polityka Passport award, which the Polish newsweekly Polityka grants to Polish artists that have strong prospects for international success.

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In 2001, a film based on the Hexer cycle was released in Poland and internationally, titled Wied?min (The Hexer), but both have been critical and box office failures.

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Sapkowski's books have been translated into Czech, Russian, Lithuanian, German, Spanish, French, Slovakian and Portuguese. English translation of The Last Wish short story collection is going to be published by Gollancz in 2006.

Related Topics:
Gollancz - 2006

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Polish game publisher CD Projekt is also working on a role-playing PC game based on this universe. Called The Witcher, it's currently due for release in 2006.

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