The Witcher author Andrzej Sapkowski says every adaptation has been ‘strange’ for him to see

The Witcher writer and creator, Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, recently attended the Vienna Comic Con where he chatted with a reporter from the Austrian gaming media company Cerealkillerz about his writing process, his new Witcher book, and how he feels about the various adaptations of his work.

When asked about the experience of seeing his work adapted on-screen, Sapkowski revealed that he does find the entire experience a little “strange,” though not necessarily in a bad way. According to him, when he writes, he only pictures “the letters” and conveying a visual to the reader, not the other way around.

So, when he ultimately sees something from his fantastical universe brought to life via the shows or games, it can be a little astonishing to understand how his creations are being perceived. I imagine it must always be a special, if unique, experience for writers to see how producers, directors, and designers interpret what they write and how that translates into different mediums.

During the interview, Sapkowski admitted that while sometimes the “visual is very nice,” other times, it’s not, though he declined to elaborate or go into specifics about what adaptations might have been less appealing.

"“So every adaptation, every visual adaptation is simply strange for me, strange. I look at it and say ‘Whoa, this is the way they pictured it, interesting!’. Sometimes this impression of the visual is sometimes very nice for me, sympathetic, sometimes it isn’t, but I will not elaborate.“"

Watch the entirety of the interview below.

I’m sure some viewers will also latch onto the bit where Sapkowski discusses the ever-controversial Netflix Witcher adaptation, adding that he sometimes gives them ideas, “but they never listen to me.”

Sapkowski has a rather dry sense of humor, so his comments appear to be more joking than anything, though there are plenty of people who dislike how Netflix has handled adapting the book material.

"“Maybe I gave them some ideas, but they never listen to me.” He laughs. “They never listen to me. But it’s normal, it’s normal. ‘Who’s this? It’s the writer, it’s nobody.‘”"

A new Witcher book is likely to be released next winter

Toward the end of the Vienna Comic Con interview, the Polish author revealed that the next book in The Witcher saga will likely come out next winter, so I’m assuming he means late 2025/early 2026.

We still don’t know exactly what the new book is about, but there are rumors it might continue the story from “A Little Sacrifice,” meaning more content with the bard Essi Daven, who has become a fan-favorite character.

Netflix recently announced their new animated Witcher movie Sirens of the Deep, an adaptation of the story in question, and Sapkowski, per IGN, previously quipped that: “[Netflix] made a series based on one short story. They forced me to continue,” he said. “I’m not complaining. Thanks to this, I now have enough money for the rent.”

The core Witcher series does include short story adaptations, but the entire show isn’t about one single short story, so it sounds like he’s more likely referencing Sirens of the Deep.