How to Read All of ‘The Witcher’ Books Before the Netflix Premiere

Eight books, 3,441 pages, and, at the time of our writing, 43 days until the debut of Netflix's adaptation, starring Henry Cavill. Or, you could just enjoy the show and knick the inevitable disappointment of a television series failing to adopt a book the way fans demand. It always happens. Still on board? Great. Let the literary quest begin.

Written by Polish author Andrzej Zapkowski, The Witcher series includes eight works, two of which are short story collections. And the Witcher series, helmed by Lauren Hissrich, will apparently follow these books faithfully (Hissrich has also promised an unsanitized adaptation; it's "very adult" Hissrich told Entertainment Weekly). It's not yet clear how much of the book series season 1 will cover, but if it's following the coal mine three-eyed raven of it's predecessor Game of Thrones, it's likely to spend one season on each book. (And hopefully only cover what's covered in the books; though, some fear the series is already straying from its slavic literary roots.)

That might mean the first season is based on The Last Wish, the chronologically-first book in the series (though, it is in fact a short story collection). Or perhaps it will skip ahead to the first novel, Blood of Elves. (Yeah, these titles aren't super great. But it's the story that counts!) Either way, you might as well read the first three books just in case. Oh and why not go for the next five while you're at it? When's the last time you read a good book series, anyway?