Sapkowski is such a brilliant and funny writer. He created such amazing characters. Geralt, Regis, Milva, Dandelion, Zoltan Chivay, Percival Shuttenbach, Cahir, Yennefer, Vilgefortz, Leo Bonhart and hundreds more. One of the all time greats in the fantasy genre.
The true greatness of his is his willingness to introduce characters as a bit stereotypical at first, but then take them into extreme places. Ciri's arc, in no way, is something a lot of people would be willing to undertake
Да, все правда) даже спустя много лет после прочтения книг, еще до хайпа с сериалом и играми, я помню всех этих персонажей. А я прочел очень много разного фентези
@@PippoFrancoPippo it's the final battle in the witcher series. The author kills so many main characters, and for no reason whatsoever. I think it's ironic how he's saying GRRM kills characters for no reason even tho he's done the same things lol
@@sanvadghokshe5320 He kills them rapresenting the sacrifice for a noble cause. It's not something random "without any reason" as people want to portray it.
@@thedarkknight9021 amen. I mean look at my boi cahir. Starting out as the one tasked to steal ciri for nilfgaard - in the end dying to protect her from emhyr.
The deaths of GOT all have their reasons. Rob and Catlyn dyed because Rob refused to marry the Frey daugther, Jon Snow was killed because he broke his vows and wanted to gather an army of Wildlings and Night's Watch men to march to Winterfell, Ned Stark died because 'if you play the game of thrones you win or you die'.
What a time to be alive when 2 of the greatest writers of fantasy stories are both alive and very dear friends of each other. Really wished J R R Tolkien could be alive aswell, what a fun trio that would be
If you think these are two of the greatest fantasy writers, then you should read more. Maybe read some authors who don't have connections to video games and a television series.
@@bazingapuzza Not really. He was pretty known in Central and Eastern Europe. Same with Martin, who was probably popular in America but of whom I have never heard before the series.
Actually Martin (unlike the series) always has a reason to kill his characters. They all have earned a logical explanation to die and it's usually justified a lot. Rob Stark and Catlyn Stark did many political mistakes that led to their deaths for example.
Yeah and also those death will ALWAYS save as a motivator for other characters.... And if you taught in the book Robb was a main character, you where not paying attention, he was not even ever a POV character. Actually very few POV characters die
Yeah look at a show like The Walking Dead to see characters dying for no reason. Glenn and Carl's deaths in that show are more pointless and cruel than anything George RR Martin has written. The Red Wedding is horrible but you can see how it happened down a long chain of events, whereas in TWD it's way more shallow and just "shit happens" I guess. Poor writing.
I reject the idea that all characters need to "earn" death with a "logical explanation" (aside from stuff like, let's say, a dagger physically piercing a heart, or another character having the motivation to actually stab them with it). Don't get me wrong, there is a "greek tragedy" element to many character-deaths in ASOIAF (which I think is good and is done very well). However, I think the "death has to be earned"-mindset can lead to a writer inadvertently creating a "just" world (where bad things only happen to people who have done something to "deserve it") and I believe that this is something Martin wanted to strongly avoid in ASOIAF. Martin strives for realism in his fantasy fiction, and when someone dies IRL it does not feel "logical" or "rational" to us. It is sad. It is unsettling, a discomforting reminder that the world we live in is not structured and ordered around us, and that we too can go at any moment. Drowning in a sea of chaos we madly grasp for "justification" and "logical explanations" (which, IMO, explains this popular criticism of ASOIAF/GOT). Sometimes a writer's goal is to make the audience feel unpleasant emotions, feel discomfort. Listening to someone complain that a story like GoT is bad writing because it made them feel sad and uncomfortable is like listening to someone complain that all the sex and nudity in the porno they were watching gave them an awkward boner. That was supposed to happen, and it would have failed at it's task if it did not.
He probably doesn't even know that tho. I remember the first time I recorded myself speaking English. I thought I had carved up a pretty decent accent by that point. Let's just say that after I did take a listen, I would never do that again. Guess you can't really learn to speak properly if all you ever do is read and write texts as well as watch movies but never actually talk with native speakers. Who knew.
It sounds quite beautiful honestly. It reminds me so very, very much of my own abuelita, I miss her dearly and he speaks with(almost) as many swear words and she did. God love him its frankly endearing. Nothing better about getting old then being able to say what ever the fuck you want. Every one and the world be damned. My own grandmother loved to say to my mother when she had her running up and down around town doing errands "Me tienes como calzón de puta! arriba y a abajo, de abajo a arriba!" Or in English " you have me like a whore's underwear! Up and down and down and up!" Gods I miss that woman.
Sapkowski did more for Polish culture that our polish ministry of culture for the last 30 years. He made people interested in Slavic mythology, created something original - this is the way it should be.
@@Pigraider268 Of course there is. Not all the time of course, but nevertheless it gave u westerners and urge to go and read about it and this also matters :D
Well then you will agree that the show is complete bullshit in terms of forcing multiculturalism into its characters. It's a slap in the face to Polish/eastern European culture.
@@dcsaint8775 It's more of a slap in the face of Polish national sensibilities :)But yeah, based on the little I've seen, I agree with the rest of what you've said.
Yeah, he genuinely doesn’t seem like he likes talking about other authors or praising their works judging by this clip... Q: Why do you think Tolkien is so imitated? A: Is fantasy *shrugs* Is good. Is just good.
@@MajorCanada Like, what? Martin s soap-opera cannot match with Sapkowski s writer s art, one way or the other.... Martin is just cliche, incest, cliche and again cliche
The most fun thing about watching a Sapkowski interview on RUclips is going into the comments-section and reading the comments of all the people who took all the jokes he cracks as 100% dead serious statements.
The Polish sense of humour goes over many other peoples' heads...as a Polish lady once told me: "It makes sure the Germans don't realize when we are making fun of them!"
Try checkin how he wanted to get more money from Cdprojekt or was complaining he didn't get royalities from early witcher game (another company then cdp) which didn't even release. He is arrogant and ignorant.
@@homoxymoronomatura Trying to rob others is still no excuse. And considering he is the author of a rather popular book series, it's safe to say he already had enough money.
@@Lucitaur it's not robbing. He wanted money that CDPR made on HIS work. There is a law in Poland that protects authors in cases like this. He didn't have enough money also.
I'm glad that Sapkowski mentions about writing life - I get the message that no writer really writes something entirely new, but in a different take of the topic. Thousands of writers make novels similar to his, Rowling wrote stories that he had written in his life before too, therefor similarities can't be avoided, but improved to make them new. People would start calling the next publishers plagiators, though unfairly. No one is an entire library and knows on the way that he/she is writing down something that already stands on the shelves.
I just learned that from my own experience - as a writer, I encountered a lot of people saying that my ideas are 'plagiasm', even though I never heard of titles they compare my story to. They can be accidentaly similar, but similarity is not the same what plagiasm is. Yet, it doesn't discourage me to continue my dreams of releasing my books.You either are daring and have faith in your creation, or forfeit it in fear of world's opinion and possible hate it will weigh on you. You'll never know if you will be better or worse than others.
Major Tism But there IS nothing new under the sun. Everything has essentially been done. All we can really do now is combine these different ideas into something slightly different.
@@johnharder9925 Spoken like someone who has never had an original thought in his head. I've heard that stale saying many times, and yet here we are, still inventing new things the world has never seen before.
Fun fact: In a interview for polish cult-classic sci-fi/fantasy magazine "Fantastyka" (in which Sapkowski also debuted) Sapkowski said that Game of Thrones is his fav tv series
@@mister_grizzlee5105 Nah, season 5 was crap as well. Season 6 was arguably better, but only because of the last episodes - even then, solely because of the spectacle.
@@mister_grizzlee5105 I'm not arguing it's the worst one, not anymore, all I'm saying is that the show suffered a huge loss in quality of writing at that point, and it was only getting worse.
@@Drakengrimm He is fairly anti communist but that is fairly universal for a Polish man of his age. What is rare for him is that he is fairly progressive.
AS, Tolkien, and George are thus far the most heard of fantasy authors I know of today. If one is to learn anything about writing, I would suggest studying these three men. Love their work!
3:50 Two economists meet at the bar. The first one tells the other one "today I found a 10$ note on the street!" The second guy told him "stop kidding, if there was truly a 10$ note on the street someone would have already picked it up!"
Read his interview with io9 interview for the Netflix series. They're ask him the most basic, obvious boilerplate questions and he gives them the most curt, cantankerous sarcastic answers back. His written voice (it was an email interview) isn't all that different from Geralt in the books.
I think Sapkowski‘s approach to political economy is particularly valuable to fantasy, because most fantasy plays more or less in mid-to-late feudal societies, which is the exact time political economy really became a thing. During this time the ascendent bourgois class in the cities is already an increasingly dominant factor and this is very much palpable in the Witcher games. Which is distinct from say, politics in Westeros where this is not the case, even though the political economy of the Free Cities sort of implies that it should be a bigger factor.
The problem with pegging Westeros to a socioeconomic period is that as far as we can tell they‘ve been in some form of feudalism for like 5.000 years, which is totally ahistorical although I can imagine George having good reasons for it. If nothing else, it‘s how the feudal aristocracy would view itself. But this makes it almost impossible to make a historically material analysis, because that would require looking at how this society has changed socioeconomically, and as far as we know Westeros has been static in that regard possibly since the time of the Andals. For instance, it doesn‘t even look like that many things really changed when the Targaryens united the Realm. The whole thing still seems more like a loose confederation. Even the Holy Roman Empire was way more urbanized after three centuries. As far as I can tell, towns and cities still play a minor role in Westerosi society. Oldtown has been the only major cities going back to the Andal conquest and this has changed very little, except for the addition of King‘s Landing after Aegon and also Lannisport. But minor cities are almost totally nonexistent and irrelevant. The middle class exists, but only as guild artisans in the large cities and not as huge early capitalists like Leeuwarden or the Fuggers of Augsburg who basically owned Venezuela for a while. And the bit strategic question in the wars is still who has the most peasants under him, with money being still mostly a secondary consideration.
I think he's got something very right there: Tolkien's work is archetypical. All the rest can only be a variation or an imitation. What he and very few others (Martin, Jordan) did is bring archetypes that weren't in Tolkien, hence the breath of fresh air and novelty.
That usually doesn't help his clarity. When speaking Polish he's just too comfortable and makes jokes all the time :D But there are polish interviews all around, all you need is look.
umm i wouldnt say the characters are killed without a reason. I mean. Ned Stark, Robb Stark, Catelyn and Jon are all sort of guilty of their own deaths
Well, people likes to say that, but we only say that because they've actually been killed. We never discuss character who have committed as many mistakes or more, but the author chose not to kill them, hence we live in the pretension their survival is somewhat earned or logical, but it isn't
@@KurtAngle89 It is logical though. Some people get lucky, others do not. This is a fact of life and why some people pay for their mistakes, while others do not. It is perfectly logical for Ned Stark, Rob Stark, Catelyn and Jon to pay for their mistakes, but that doesn't mean that literarly everyone has to pay for every mistake they make.
@@filipferencak2717 well, but this isn't real life. It is a book. Wich means the author has arbitrarily decided who died and who not. It's not like there's a logic, a sort of fairness behind somebody surviving, it's choices, wich are a form of bias. Therefore, saying also some characters does not deserve having survived even worse mistakes is not bold. Also, everybody likes to act smart after the fact and say the mistakes of the characters were so severe they couldn't ever possibly have survived, but it's not like they saw it coming beforehand. And we know sometimes the death of characters wasn't actually the only possible outcome, like Ned being execute on Joffrey's whim, despite Cersei being against it, knowing this would have caused a war that could have being prevented, or Balon Greyjoy deciding to refuse Robb's offer and attack the North without having nothing to gain from it and no way to control it, and Roose Bolton betraying Robb even before he lost the North out of personal gains, ecc. Or Catelyn actually advising against pretty much every other mistake Robb made, and still being there at the Red Wedding (she did free Jaime, though). If people like Tyrion or Cersei are still alive, and sometimes due to incredibly implausible circumstances (Tyrion being freed by Jaime and Varis, ecc), it's simply because the author choose to focus on certain characters, to go on longer with them, and to kill off many major characters from the faction everybody loves (all of the people you named are, non coincidentally, Starks), to make their cause more desperate than ever, so that people wonder if and how could they ever win in the end, and allow the "second generation" of characters, people nobody would have bet at the beginning, to become protagonists and shine (Sansa, Arya, Rickon, the same Jon who probably will come back also in the books, ecc). Wich is not the same for others, Martin had long term plans for them, so he made them survive nonetheless, but there's nothing "fair" or "logic" about it. People acts as if Martin is a sort of impartial judge who writes characters into committing mistakes and then punishes them for it, but it's not true; he only punishes the characters he plans not to focus on. Others receive a treatment we would deem implausible, but we pass it, anyway (Jaime has been freed, Tyrion has been freed, Cersei only has suffered the walk of shame, ecc because the author had other plans for them)
@@KurtAngle89 Yeah, it's a book and stories usually focus around a conflict. I still think it's good to naturally throw away characters, that don't serve the intended plot instead of trying to fit them into it somehow or actually even fit the plot around them... Whatever it is he's doing, it's nothing too clichéd.
@@KurtAngle89 This so much. I'm so tired of people always going on about realism and using it as an excuse for everything while disregarding the fact there is a fundamental difference between real life and fiction and stories are entirely deliberate.
@@thatguy6919 I'm talking about the fan's reaction at the time to his death we know he came back , thank goodness Martin isn't that heartless a god to his characters
@Austin Downing Nah. Jon coming back to life is one of the theories that was regarded as 99% true in the fandom ever since ADWD. However, how little impact it had on him is bullshit.
The last book A Dance Of Dragons ended with Jon Snow getting stabbed by his fellow Night's Watch men because he planed to use an army of Wildlings and Night's Watch men to support Stannis and march to Winterfell to end the reign of the Boltons. The book ends with Jon reading a letter from Ramsay Bolton claiming that Stannis is dead and then getting stabbed by his fellow brothers.
I love how both stories take aspects from the same historical lore. The Army of the Dead and the Wild Hunt Leading to the apocalypse The long night and the White Chill or White frost.
"There are those who dwell in the mountain." >>"Murderers. Traitors. You would call upon them to fight? They believe in nothing. They answer to no one."
He have read ton of classic fantasy before he even started his writing career. Let’s be fair, fantasy got its fair share of standard troupes that are reused over and over. It’s ok, new readers come all the time and for them it is fresh - it doesn’t matter if your first dark fantasy is eastern manga like Goblin Slayer or Berserk or old western fantasy stuff, like Conan or Black Company. What is he trying to tell is that after some experience with the genre you just expect something more from it. And he certainly delivered this something extra, the magnificent bastard he is. :)
There is a stereotype in Poland depicting an average middle-aged, province man. The mentioned character has a moustache, sometimes a fishing jacket or a bag from discount :D. He's called "Janusz" or "Yanush", using english spelling. Some fantasy fans claim that Sapkowski is a generic Janusz. Is it true or not - I don't know. But I know for sure that inside of the mind of Sapkowski you can find more than average and his works reflect it :).
@@fast.food.ninjalarry954 it is a translation. In polish it's "wiedźmin", male equivalent for "wiedźma", the witch, a word created by Sapkowski by the way :)
I think he's angry because they made a Witcher TV show that was terrible and a game that was great but he saw no money from it. Also maybe he's pissed off about the coronavirus.
@@Harrier_DuBois His butthurt is legendary phenomenon known well among polish fandom. It is just his personality, amazing autor and seems to be a genuinely good guy but he is just constantly sour.
I'm not surprised they know each other. After you're finished reading the Witcher, check out Elric of Melnibone some time. Elric is what Andrzej ripped off with his Witcher stories. I'm shocked more people don't call him out on this, too.
Because no one really cares about superficial plagiarism like character appearances. The same way no one cares that Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn is similar to Ygritte from Game of Thrones.
Nah, he is slavic drunkard and Witcher books are influenced by western fantasy and mythologies and eastern. Eastern/slavic climate is Cdprojekt invention in games.
@@unknownvariable9287 well its all based around a fantasy [medieval] period so there's bound to be some of that if you go the more dark and realistic route
@@MrGhoul-lv8sn HBO didn't have to groom maisie William's for 8 seasons so she could take her top off on camera. Granted, she wasnt a minor and can make her own adult decisions... but GRRM + D&D knew what was gonna be the final outcome when they casted her as Ayra. Call it dark writting but the whole series, book and tv, circles around the objectification of women. Once I started noticing it I stop supporting the series...
Robin Graves you mean the series that has some of the most compelling and a strong female characters in literature? With all due respect, you’re talking directly out of your ass.
I think what Sapkowski means with 'killing without a reason' is that the deaths of the characters in Martin's books don't serve a dramaturgical purpose other than the shock value and changing character dynamics. I think Sapkowski believes a character's death should be meaningful and prove a point other than 'they were dumb and didn't see that one coming, so they're dead'.
I agree, RR. Martin is the "the door is blue, because it is blue" writer, where Sapkowski is more (not by much) a "door is blue because the theme of the story is depression" kind of writer. So in that mindset, I can understand if Sapkowski thinks that "characters die without a reason" in the GoT narrative. But I do feel he fails to see that is the appeal of the GoT in the first place, the world feels so alive and the stories we hear are just 1 of millions, all equally deep and interesting.
Your all mistaken. He is being sarcastic. He is saying this because he is trying to portray the audiences reactions to him killing off main characters usually. GRR Martin is in my opinion the best fantasy author of all time. All of the characters don’t die just randomly for shock value they all have done things or made mistakes that result in their death there isn’t one person where i was thinking “wow that was random” i always was thinking more “wow i can’t believe they died there, or wow i thought they would’ve made it out of that” he just goes against the “hero always finds a way” trope he lets his hero’s fail which is what makes his books so great. It’s not always a happy ending.
Lost my respect for this guy when he sued CD Projekt Red for his own bad decisions, and claimed it was "impossible" to tell a story through a video game
Lord of the Rings compared to GoT and The Witcher is just a fairytale though. I like LotR but it's just not on the same level as GoT. Someone that I really respect told once that in GoT there are 3 Shaekspear dramas and 4 Dostojewski novels going on simultaneously.
After reading both of their writing I can confidently say that I think George is a superior one. He manages to make the environments, the people, the situations and the overall feel of the book far more believable, tangible and enticing. Possibly because some things could get lost in translationg with Andrezej's writing, I won't rule that out. However, I could and have read ASOIAF volumes for hundreds of pages at a time and yet can never manage more than 100 straight pages from Witcher novels.
It's because of poor translation, which is actually hard to fix, as the language of the original novels is difficult to understand even for most native speakers of Polish. It's often archaic and contains millions of intertextual references (many of which are obscure for non-Slavic readers). The Witcher needs more translations, and they need to be inspired, not just crafted. Just one example: in one of the short stories there is a reference to a Polish proverb "where the devil says good night" meaning "in a faraway land". It's impossible to translate directly and when you modify it and use an English saying or proverb instead the construction of the short story is ruined.
The issue is not killing a character. To me the issues is with following a character that is going to die with little to no imapct for the story. So, for example, following Ned makes sense because his death, and more importantly his story and the revelations therein impact the political, personal (for Lannister and Stark alike) and social issues of the world for reasons directly related to the story. Killing characters is ok, so long as following them was useful for the overall narrative. But having a character just to kill them off to subvert expectations is the mark of a bad writer trying to be unpredictable and gritty.
Not every character has to have a reason to be in the story, somebody important being killed all of a sudden for no big reason has happenend countless time through history and is realistic. It's showing a ruthless world where anything can happen at any moment and is keeping the reader on the edge of his seat. For example in The Walking Dead (I think of the comic here) people are dying without a reason, the universe that is set is just extremely violent. For example Abraham who gets killed by Dwight, then Dwight becomes an ally of Rick and the others. There is no reason for Abraham to die, he just dies all of a sudden, his killer is not even punished. I think it makes the story even more ruthless and violent, because this is the world that the characters are evolving in.
@@TheXyek Realism does not make any work of fiction inherently interesting, the same way me stubbing my toe while bringing in groceries is not inherently interesting. Realism can add immensely to immersion, which is invaluable, but a story has to have purpose. Intentionally denying meaning/purpose to any chunk of your story is precisely saying that no reader, viewer, or player has any real reason to engage with or give a shit about your work, because any part of it could be a meaningless waste of time instead of an enjoyable/meaningful one. If realism is so utterly compelling then just watch the news for a thorough look at a ruthless, harsh, and meaningless world. That well of suffering - unlike things crafted with purpose - is never going to dry, so have at it.
Exactly like the man said, there's a difference between people who write stories on their own through stories of the old and one who copies it with wierd shit
Unfortunately Sapkowski's books (especially the first two collections of stories) suffer from a lack of good translation. His style in Polish is superbe and language sooo rich. But the English translations of the 2 collections of stories are truly abysmal -frequent grammatical errors and blatant mistranslations when it comes to choosing English equivalents of some of the Polish words (e.g. using modern English words that just stand out like a sore thumb in a fantasy setting). The translator even translated some of the Polish sayings literally so that they sound wrong and make no actual sense to the English speaking person. It's just such a shame that foreign readers won't be able to experience the books as they should've been experienced. IMHO Sapkowski's style rivals that of George RR Martin if we consider the langue difference, and the fact that the translations have been so shitty. I think new translations should be commissioned if brand new editions of the first two books were planned.
I never knew that... i never read the Witcher Books in english... so i guess we are lucky for the german translation, because (at least for me) reading it, feels like it was written by a german and has not been translated at all.
It sounds like you're comparing prose, and idk if you're doing AS any favors by comparing his to George's. I remember trying to read one of the GoT books way back and his prose did absolutely nothing for me. I've heard a lot about amazing character work and world building from George, but not a soul talking about the prose until now (if that's what you were actually comparing).
This is extremely satisfying to watch. One of my favorite authors talks about how good my other two favorite authors are. These are my favorite authors in no particular order: 1. Brandon Sanderson 2. J. K. Rowling 3. George R. R. Martin 4. Darren Shan 5. Andrzej Sapkowski
Fast question: Why Sanderson? I didn't read his books (but I bought The Way of Kings), and I heard a lot od people who think Sanderson is The best fantasy author. But I want to know why
@@filipzajac4104 His books are good. Excellent WORLDBUILDING, unique magic systems, and he is just an excellent writer. Although I'd recommend reading his Mistborn books first, as The Way of King's is very hard to get into.
The people commenting on this clearly watched the first 30 seconds and then made their comments. Personally, I feel that Sapkowski is a better author (while George has a unique style, he’s a better world builder than storyteller, which is why he can never measure up to Tolkien, Lewis, Chesterton, and doesn’t really measure up to Sapkowski either. He’d be an excellent Dungeon Master though.
Have read the Witcher? Every kingdom other than Skelige and Nilfguard (Maybe Novagrad because of the Fire temple) all have the same feel to them. A lot of the chapters that would’ve had tension were told through flashbacks. One of the Characters debut fight was told from the perspective of a half blind homeless guy who hid under a table. Honestly, the only reason why I finished them was because I enjoyed recognizing the characters in the Video Games.
Even though life is never truly "fair" with pitting the stories/worlds, e.t.c. of authors against one another, I still think your comment is a very practical comparison and summarization.
I like those types of stories tho, they're my guilty pleasure. I can only take so much of GRRM's political drama and lists of Longnames McNeverbeseenagains before I need to get my fill of trashy over-the-top gore and sexytimes. I love the Witcher series tho, the perfect balance of fun, action, wholesomeness, mystery, brutality and sexytimes.
My main problem is the geography. Is good to know how the kingdoms are in each time period. How big distances are from each other or how they have to travel etc. A map of the continent would have make the reader more understanding of how the armies are moving and how difficult is to assault or defend their location.
Killing Orcs And then killing Orcs And then killing Orcs And then the Potagonist f**ks somebody And then killing more Orcs And then f**ks somebody I love Sapkowski 😂
@@MoreImbaThanYou The truth is. books are less popular than games and movies or series, so it's not weird a lot of people know the adaptations, not the original books.
Johannes Pöyhönen yup!! Lol, I couldn’t think how it was spelled.. so I just went with what the autocorrect put up there and prayed to the old gods everyone got it 🙏
@ichaelis I understand all those but he has to also realize that the games brought huge audience to the books and they would be nowhere near as popular outside of Poland had the games not been created.
@ichaelis 'owes all of his international success to CD' - you're wrong. Around 2001 he was the best-selling Polish writer outside Poland. Six year later 'Witcher 1' was successful ONLY in countries where Sapkowski was previously very famous.
@Bartooc He has no conflict with games. This "conflict" was born in the minds of teenage polish players, because at this age people are the most stupid and prone to manipulation. In addition, 'fans of Witcher game' do not read any books, so Sapkowski is as well known to them as... Schopenhauer or Confucius.
@@norbertheinz3455 Interesting jab at Witcher gamers. You care much about other people's choices regarding entertainment. Don't try to define yourself compared to others, as it seems you do. I like reading and playing games but ight my guy
@@sheevinopalpatino4782 You've played and you know books - great. Sorry - I didn't mean to offend you. I'm just explaining that in Poland young people don't read books, which doesn't prevent them from hating a writer who - in their opinion - doesn't respect players sufficiently.
He speaks like 5 or 6 languages, in his other book series (Narrenturm - soon to be translated to English) he even writes many passages in Latin and medieval German :)
Some time ago he told in interview that he speak 20 languages. And he read translations of his books, if the knows language, to check if translator did good job. But not all languages his books were translated he knows, and for example he only can trust korean and hungarian translators, because he don't know those two languages. I don't know if his 20 languages are truth. But he studied something that we could call now " international economy" and students had to learn 3 languages at those studies ( he told this in one of polish interviews in some university). So I quess that in studies he learn russian ( back those times ( 1945-1989) Poland was under russian/soviet rule, and everyone learn russian, like now everyone learn english), english ( he traveled in business to west europe). About 3rd language I have now idea- maybe french or german (possible options), spanish, italian ( less possible) or latin ( I don't know how possible, but he know latin) So I think it very possible he know at least english, polish, russian, german and latin. How many more languages? Only he know... Or maybe it is some interview where speak more languages or at least told names of all langueges he know.
![The Interesting Origins of Author Andrzej Sapkowski [Biography]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/2demQMDpwEk/mqdefault.jpg)
![[4K] Watch SpaceX Catch A Starship Rocket From Space!!! #IFT5](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/pIKI7y3DTXk/mqdefault.jpg)
Sapkowski is such a brilliant and funny writer. He created such amazing characters. Geralt, Regis, Milva, Dandelion, Zoltan Chivay, Percival Shuttenbach, Cahir, Yennefer, Vilgefortz, Leo Bonhart and hundreds more. One of the all time greats in the fantasy genre.
The true greatness of his is his willingness to introduce characters as a bit stereotypical at first, but then take them into extreme places.
Ciri's arc, in no way, is something a lot of people would be willing to undertake
Да, все правда) даже спустя много лет после прочтения книг, еще до хайпа с сериалом и играми, я помню всех этих персонажей. А я прочел очень много разного фентези
I love how sapkowski says that GRRM killing characters for no reason makes him angry.
Andzrej, YOU literally wrote the battle of stygga castle
Can you explain what is? It's ok if you spoiler
@@PippoFrancoPippo it's the final battle in the witcher series. The author kills so many main characters, and for no reason whatsoever. I think it's ironic how he's saying GRRM kills characters for no reason even tho he's done the same things lol
@@sanvadghokshe5320 He kills them rapresenting the sacrifice for a noble cause. It's not something random "without any reason" as people want to portray it.
@@thedarkknight9021 amen. I mean look at my boi cahir. Starting out as the one tasked to steal ciri for nilfgaard - in the end dying to protect her from emhyr.
The deaths of GOT all have their reasons. Rob and Catlyn dyed because Rob refused to marry the Frey daugther, Jon Snow was killed because he broke his vows and wanted to gather an army of Wildlings and Night's Watch men to march to Winterfell, Ned Stark died because 'if you play the game of thrones you win or you die'.
What a time to be alive when 2 of the greatest writers of fantasy stories are both alive and very dear friends of each other. Really wished J R R Tolkien could be alive aswell, what a fun trio that would be
Its actually a pretty risky time, now that I remember that both of then are old men im pretty scared for their lives
Kentaro Miura
@@nzbg1132 Hirohiko Araki
Togashi is right there too, but lets not get into it
If you think these are two of the greatest fantasy writers, then you should read more. Maybe read some authors who don't have connections to video games and a television series.
2 Brilliant writers. No surprise they know each other.
Hahahaaha bassically no one knew him before the game
@@bazingapuzza Not really. He was pretty known in Central and Eastern Europe. Same with Martin, who was probably popular in America but of whom I have never heard before the series.
@@bazingapuzza Lots of people knew him. Lots of people never played the games and are not interested.
@@bazingapuzza Why are some of the gamers so dumb? Read more books, please.
Pianeta Blu They have met in Poland during the fantasy fan convents. Don’t make everything about the games.
Actually Martin (unlike the series) always has a reason to kill his characters. They all have earned a logical explanation to die and it's usually justified a lot. Rob Stark and Catlyn Stark did many political mistakes that led to their deaths for example.
sPoiLeRs
Yeah and also those death will ALWAYS save as a motivator for other characters.... And if you taught in the book Robb was a main character, you where not paying attention, he was not even ever a POV character. Actually very few POV characters die
@@oliviawilliams6204 Trueeee
Yeah look at a show like The Walking Dead to see characters dying for no reason. Glenn and Carl's deaths in that show are more pointless and cruel than anything George RR Martin has written. The Red Wedding is horrible but you can see how it happened down a long chain of events, whereas in TWD it's way more shallow and just "shit happens" I guess. Poor writing.
I reject the idea that all characters need to "earn" death with a "logical explanation" (aside from stuff like, let's say, a dagger physically piercing a heart, or another character having the motivation to actually stab them with it). Don't get me wrong, there is a "greek tragedy" element to many character-deaths in ASOIAF (which I think is good and is done very well). However, I think the "death has to be earned"-mindset can lead to a writer inadvertently creating a "just" world (where bad things only happen to people who have done something to "deserve it") and I believe that this is something Martin wanted to strongly avoid in ASOIAF.
Martin strives for realism in his fantasy fiction, and when someone dies IRL it does not feel "logical" or "rational" to us. It is sad. It is unsettling, a discomforting reminder that the world we live in is not structured and ordered around us, and that we too can go at any moment. Drowning in a sea of chaos we madly grasp for "justification" and "logical explanations" (which, IMO, explains this popular criticism of ASOIAF/GOT).
Sometimes a writer's goal is to make the audience feel unpleasant emotions, feel discomfort. Listening to someone complain that a story like GoT is bad writing because it made them feel sad and uncomfortable is like listening to someone complain that all the sex and nudity in the porno they were watching gave them an awkward boner. That was supposed to happen, and it would have failed at it's task if it did not.
I like hearing him speak; my grandma has just as thick of a Polish accent
He probably doesn't even know that tho. I remember the first time I recorded myself speaking English. I thought I had carved up a pretty decent accent by that point. Let's just say that after I did take a listen, I would never do that again.
Guess you can't really learn to speak properly if all you ever do is read and write texts as well as watch movies but never actually talk with native speakers. Who knew.
@@yarpen26 that's the beaty of voice chat in video games
Większość Polaków niestety nie umie się nauczyć akcentu xD
It sounds quite beautiful honestly. It reminds me so very, very much of my own abuelita, I miss her dearly and he speaks with(almost) as many swear words and she did. God love him its frankly endearing. Nothing better about getting old then being able to say what ever the fuck you want. Every one and the world be damned.
My own grandmother loved to say to my mother when she had her running up and down around town doing errands "Me tienes como calzón de puta! arriba y a abajo, de abajo a arriba!" Or in English " you have me like a whore's underwear! Up and down and down and up!" Gods I miss that woman.
Sapkowski did more for Polish culture that our polish ministry of culture for the last 30 years. He made people interested in Slavic mythology, created something original - this is the way it should be.
True, but it's CDPR's games that made his work hit mainstream.
There is no slavic mythology in Witcher books. There is many in games, but not in books
@@Pigraider268 Of course there is. Not all the time of course, but nevertheless it gave u westerners and urge to go and read about it and this also matters :D
Well then you will agree that the show is complete bullshit in terms of forcing multiculturalism into its characters. It's a slap in the face to Polish/eastern European culture.
@@dcsaint8775 It's more of a slap in the face of Polish national sensibilities :)But yeah, based on the little I've seen, I agree with the rest of what you've said.
"He is even better than me" oh god..my respect for mr.sapkowski just increased even more..I love him and martin both ❤❤
I think this was not meant generally as an author but only in the case of frightening the readers with killing characters.
Yeah, he genuinely doesn’t seem like he likes talking about other authors or praising their works judging by this clip...
Q: Why do you think Tolkien is so imitated?
A: Is fantasy *shrugs*
Is good. Is just good.
@@The.Nasty. Not at all. He's very vocal about Joe Abercrombie being the best fantasy author around.
Replace “even” with “way”.
@@MajorCanada Like, what? Martin s soap-opera cannot match with Sapkowski s writer s art, one way or the other.... Martin is just cliche, incest, cliche and again cliche
This interviewer is having such a good time. You can tell she's a big fan, and is just loving every second of this.
The most fun thing about watching a Sapkowski interview on RUclips is going into the comments-section and reading the comments of all the people who took all the jokes he cracks as 100% dead serious statements.
The Polish sense of humour goes over many other peoples' heads...as a Polish lady once told me: "It makes sure the Germans don't realize when we are making fun of them!"
Try checkin how he wanted to get more money from Cdprojekt or was complaining he didn't get royalities from early witcher game (another company then cdp) which didn't even release. He is arrogant and ignorant.
@@wiziek He wanted more money from CD Projekt because his son was dying. His son is dead now.
@@homoxymoronomatura Trying to rob others is still no excuse.
And considering he is the author of a rather popular book series, it's safe to say he already had enough money.
@@Lucitaur it's not robbing. He wanted money that CDPR made on HIS work. There is a law in Poland that protects authors in cases like this.
He didn't have enough money also.
"GRRM killing characters for no reason makes me angry"
vilgafortz: nervous sweating
If you think subtitles will help you, I've got bad news
I'm having a hard time understanding him, I really wanna know what he's talking about tho lol
Hm I've actually no problem with his accent. Still easier to understand than some Americans xD
I understand what he's saying. Love the accent;D
bruh i turned on subtitles and was just as lost XD
I'm an asian yet I understand it perfectly.
I'm glad that Sapkowski mentions about writing life - I get the message that no writer really writes something entirely new, but in a different take of the topic. Thousands of writers make novels similar to his, Rowling wrote stories that he had written in his life before too, therefor similarities can't be avoided, but improved to make them new. People would start calling the next publishers plagiators, though unfairly. No one is an entire library and knows on the way that he/she is writing down something that already stands on the shelves.
Same with music
'Nothing new under the sun' is the most common excuse that bad writers use to excuse themselves.
I just learned that from my own experience - as a writer, I encountered a lot of people saying that my ideas are 'plagiasm', even though I never heard of titles they compare my story to. They can be accidentaly similar, but similarity is not the same what plagiasm is. Yet, it doesn't discourage me to continue my dreams of releasing my books.You either are daring and have faith in your creation, or forfeit it in fear of world's opinion and possible hate it will weigh on you. You'll never know if you will be better or worse than others.
Major Tism But there IS nothing new under the sun. Everything has essentially been done. All we can really do now is combine these different ideas into something slightly different.
@@johnharder9925 Spoken like someone who has never had an original thought in his head. I've heard that stale saying many times, and yet here we are, still inventing new things the world has never seen before.
Fun fact: In a interview for polish cult-classic sci-fi/fantasy magazine "Fantastyka" (in which Sapkowski also debuted) Sapkowski said that Game of Thrones is his fav tv series
I can only imagine how the writing of the later seasons disappointed him then
@@thatguy6919 only the 7th and 8th seasons are wack
@@mister_grizzlee5105 Nah, season 5 was crap as well. Season 6 was arguably better, but only because of the last episodes - even then, solely because of the spectacle.
@@martinmortyry7444 5? It might halve lacked some things but it wasn't as bad as 7th and 8th seasons
@@mister_grizzlee5105 I'm not arguing it's the worst one, not anymore, all I'm saying is that the show suffered a huge loss in quality of writing at that point, and it was only getting worse.
He sounds like a more put-together Slavoj Žižek
Both are old Slavic people, so no wonder they have similar accent when speaking English
Both are leftiests.
@@across_the_narrow_sea7856 Isn't Sapkowski pretty capitalist? 👀
@@Drakengrimm He is fairly anti communist but that is fairly universal for a Polish man of his age. What is rare for him is that he is fairly progressive.
@@seangilmore70 He is rather strongly progressive. Where did you found info on his anticommunism?
AS, Tolkien, and George are thus far the most heard of fantasy authors I know of today. If one is to learn anything about writing, I would suggest studying these three men. Love their work!
Who is AC?
@@davidebernardini536 abriviation for Andrzej Sapkowski. Easier than having to look up his name every ten seconds to be sure I spell it right. Lol
@@christopherpoet458 but i spent my 10 seconds looking up who the f was this AC guy who you prefered to Andrzej Sapkowski
Where does the C come from tho
JK Rowling, not saying she’s at their level but she’s also an inspiration to writers.
3:50
Two economists meet at the bar. The first one tells the other one "today I found a 10$ note on the street!"
The second guy told him "stop kidding, if there was truly a 10$ note on the street someone would have already picked it up!"
So are you saying that money is worthless?
Glad to have you post another video, man. Hope everything's going well with you!
Sapkowski looks like a grumpy grandpa, gotta love that grumpy polish grandpa
Read his interview with io9 interview for the Netflix series. They're ask him the most basic, obvious boilerplate questions and he gives them the most curt, cantankerous sarcastic answers back. His written voice (it was an email interview) isn't all that different from Geralt in the books.
he's like that sassy grandpa you're afraid of and admire at the same time.
I like his style. Many may consider it arrogant but the man is true to his word.
I think Sapkowski‘s approach to political economy is particularly valuable to fantasy, because most fantasy plays more or less in mid-to-late feudal societies, which is the exact time political economy really became a thing. During this time the ascendent bourgois class in the cities is already an increasingly dominant factor and this is very much palpable in the Witcher games. Which is distinct from say, politics in Westeros where this is not the case, even though the political economy of the Free Cities sort of implies that it should be a bigger factor.
The problem with pegging Westeros to a socioeconomic period is that as far as we can tell they‘ve been in some form of feudalism for like 5.000 years, which is totally ahistorical although I can imagine George having good reasons for it. If nothing else, it‘s how the feudal aristocracy would view itself.
But this makes it almost impossible to make a historically material analysis, because that would require looking at how this society has changed socioeconomically, and as far as we know Westeros has been static in that regard possibly since the time of the Andals.
For instance, it doesn‘t even look like that many things really changed when the Targaryens united the Realm. The whole thing still seems more like a loose confederation. Even the Holy Roman Empire was way more urbanized after three centuries.
As far as I can tell, towns and cities still play a minor role in Westerosi society. Oldtown has been the only major cities going back to the Andal conquest and this has changed very little, except for the addition of King‘s Landing after Aegon and also Lannisport. But minor cities are almost totally nonexistent and irrelevant.
The middle class exists, but only as guild artisans in the large cities and not as huge early capitalists like Leeuwarden or the Fuggers of Augsburg who basically owned Venezuela for a while.
And the bit strategic question in the wars is still who has the most peasants under him, with money being still mostly a secondary consideration.
I think he's got something very right there: Tolkien's work is archetypical. All the rest can only be a variation or an imitation. What he and very few others (Martin, Jordan) did is bring archetypes that weren't in Tolkien, hence the breath of fresh air and novelty.
Despite loving Sapkowski's Witcher series, I came here thinking he'd be a mean old boomer, but he's just as cool as George!
I know u mean the netflix series
I love this channel man, seriously. Keep it up brother!
It seems he struggles a bit to express complicated concepts in english. I'd prefer a polish interview with subtitles.
That usually doesn't help his clarity. When speaking Polish he's just too comfortable and makes jokes all the time :D
But there are polish interviews all around, all you need is look.
He's just drunk.
umm i wouldnt say the characters are killed without a reason. I mean. Ned Stark, Robb Stark, Catelyn and Jon are all sort of guilty of their own deaths
Well, people likes to say that, but we only say that because they've actually been killed. We never discuss character who have committed as many mistakes or more, but the author chose not to kill them, hence we live in the pretension their survival is somewhat earned or logical, but it isn't
@@KurtAngle89 It is logical though. Some people get lucky, others do not. This is a fact of life and why some people pay for their mistakes, while others do not. It is perfectly logical for Ned Stark, Rob Stark, Catelyn and Jon to pay for their mistakes, but that doesn't mean that literarly everyone has to pay for every mistake they make.
@@filipferencak2717 well, but this isn't real life. It is a book. Wich means the author has arbitrarily decided who died and who not. It's not like there's a logic, a sort of fairness behind somebody surviving, it's choices, wich are a form of bias. Therefore, saying also some characters does not deserve having survived even worse mistakes is not bold. Also, everybody likes to act smart after the fact and say the mistakes of the characters were so severe they couldn't ever possibly have survived, but it's not like they saw it coming beforehand. And we know sometimes the death of characters wasn't actually the only possible outcome, like Ned being execute on Joffrey's whim, despite Cersei being against it, knowing this would have caused a war that could have being prevented, or Balon Greyjoy deciding to refuse Robb's offer and attack the North without having nothing to gain from it and no way to control it, and Roose Bolton betraying Robb even before he lost the North out of personal gains, ecc. Or Catelyn actually advising against pretty much every other mistake Robb made, and still being there at the Red Wedding (she did free Jaime, though).
If people like Tyrion or Cersei are still alive, and sometimes due to incredibly implausible circumstances (Tyrion being freed by Jaime and Varis, ecc), it's simply because the author choose to focus on certain characters, to go on longer with them, and to kill off many major characters from the faction everybody loves (all of the people you named are, non coincidentally, Starks), to make their cause more desperate than ever, so that people wonder if and how could they ever win in the end, and allow the "second generation" of characters, people nobody would have bet at the beginning, to become protagonists and shine (Sansa, Arya, Rickon, the same Jon who probably will come back also in the books, ecc). Wich is not the same for others, Martin had long term plans for them, so he made them survive nonetheless, but there's nothing "fair" or "logic" about it. People acts as if Martin is a sort of impartial judge who writes characters into committing mistakes and then punishes them for it, but it's not true; he only punishes the characters he plans not to focus on. Others receive a treatment we would deem implausible, but we pass it, anyway (Jaime has been freed, Tyrion has been freed, Cersei only has suffered the walk of shame, ecc because the author had other plans for them)
@@KurtAngle89 Yeah, it's a book and stories usually focus around a conflict. I still think it's good to naturally throw away characters, that don't serve the intended plot instead of trying to fit them into it somehow or actually even fit the plot around them... Whatever it is he's doing, it's nothing too clichéd.
@@KurtAngle89 This so much. I'm so tired of people always going on about realism and using it as an excuse for everything while disregarding the fact there is a fundamental difference between real life and fiction and stories are entirely deliberate.
*Just finished the LAST WISH will finish the series in this chaos*
Tahmid Targaryen make sure you read Season of Storms last. When you reach the epilogue you'll understand.
@@alexduta7469 I was planning to !! Thanks anyway
@@tahmidtargaryen6230 enjoy pal, I've gone through them twice they are so good.
I'm still playing the Witcher 3 and still haven't finished The GoT Novels yet. I procrastinate a lot.
SO AM I. I finished the first game and HAD to read the books before going any further. Just started Blood of Elves
I didn’t know he knew English! Cool! . Both amazing writers. GoT & The Witcher are two of the most epic fantasy series ever.
His English is pretty good honestly
Sarcasm?
Even he was pissed he killed Jon Snow
Was he not resurrected in the novels? Or have I just spoiled something for you lol
@@thatguy6919 I'm talking about the fan's reaction at the time to his death we know he came back , thank goodness Martin isn't that heartless a god to his characters
@Austin Downing Nah. Jon coming back to life is one of the theories that was regarded as 99% true in the fandom ever since ADWD. However, how little impact it had on him is bullshit.
The last book A Dance Of Dragons ended with Jon Snow getting stabbed by his fellow Night's Watch men because he planed to use an army of Wildlings and Night's Watch men to support Stannis and march to Winterfell to end the reign of the Boltons.
The book ends with Jon reading a letter from Ramsay Bolton claiming that Stannis is dead and then getting stabbed by his fellow brothers.
Finely a new video, where were you mate! Happy you're back!
They started there books at the same time to and HE HAS FINNISHED his books gerrrrrrrr will I ever see the dream of spring
2:00 - "Yes, easy... easy... "
I'd pay to hear him say "moose and squirrel."
I love how both stories take aspects from the same historical lore.
The Army of the Dead and the Wild Hunt
Leading to the apocalypse
The long night and the White Chill or White frost.
The Wild Hunt doesn't feature much in the book saga.
Lenartos I know, I’m reading time of contempt.
"There are those who dwell in the mountain."
>>"Murderers. Traitors. You would call upon them to fight? They believe in nothing. They answer to no one."
It would be great to see Sapkowski and Martin together on one interview or talking together about writing :)
Seems like he has something against goblin slayer
😀
He have read ton of classic fantasy before he even started his writing career. Let’s be fair, fantasy got its fair share of standard troupes that are reused over and over. It’s ok, new readers come all the time and for them it is fresh - it doesn’t matter if your first dark fantasy is eastern manga like Goblin Slayer or Berserk or old western fantasy stuff, like Conan or Black Company. What is he trying to tell is that after some experience with the genre you just expect something more from it. And he certainly delivered this something extra, the magnificent bastard he is. :)
How do you figure that?
That its redundant, derivative and shite maybe?
@@MaxromekWroc any particular reason why you think that?
Omg you are back posting videos. Have missed these videos man
If this is Sapkowski's voice, then I want him to do Sherlock Holmes audiobook
There is a stereotype in Poland depicting an average middle-aged, province man. The mentioned character has a moustache, sometimes a fishing jacket or a bag from discount :D. He's called "Janusz" or "Yanush", using english spelling. Some fantasy fans claim that Sapkowski is a generic Janusz. Is it true or not - I don't know. But I know for sure that inside of the mind of Sapkowski you can find more than average and his works reflect it :).
No. Sapkowski is way smarter and open minded that a Janusz.
Sometimes he is just a prick.
Hey man. If you are Polish I want to ask is The Witcher (as a word) traslation from polish or it is the same ?!!!
@@fast.food.ninjalarry954 it is a translation. In polish it's "wiedźmin", male equivalent for "wiedźma", the witch, a word created by Sapkowski by the way :)
@@grzegorzwalas4125 Got it !!! Thanks for your answer !!!
@@fast.food.ninjalarry954 Polish version is "Wiedźmin"
Wiedźma = Witch
Wiedźmin = Witcher
Translation is as literall as you can get.
Pan Sapkowski daje czadu w każdym języku :)
Ohhh yeah I love them both. I want the interview when both of them sit together
Only if they try speaking in each other's language
Same.
"I am good, he is good, that is bad, she is good, that is bad.
Also, I know how to sell and buy things (except book rights for video games)"
Shots fired
I love to hear this man talking. He sounds like a kind of gandalf. Angry but wise
I think he's angry because they made a Witcher TV show that was terrible and a game that was great but he saw no money from it. Also maybe he's pissed off about the coronavirus.
@@Harrier_DuBois Nah i think that angry is his natural state. That use to happen
@@Harrier_DuBois His butthurt is legendary phenomenon known well among polish fandom.
It is just his personality, amazing autor and seems to be a genuinely good guy but he is just constantly sour.
I've never depicted Gandalf as former drunk adict. Anyhow I'm really glad that Sapkowski sorted out his life.
@@Harrier_DuBois No money? He agreed to cash upfront but later wanted royalities (which he declined at beggining), are you dumb?
GOT was the best TV show, and The Witcher was the best game
Is
I'm not surprised they know each other. After you're finished reading the Witcher, check out Elric of Melnibone some time. Elric is what Andrzej ripped off with his Witcher stories. I'm shocked more people don't call him out on this, too.
Because no one really cares about superficial plagiarism like character appearances.
The same way no one cares that Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn is similar to Ygritte from Game of Thrones.
He is Slavic RR Martin.
Grigöry SS Mördien
Nah, he is slavic drunkard and Witcher books are influenced by western fantasy and mythologies and eastern. Eastern/slavic climate is Cdprojekt invention in games.
Polish equivalent:
Grzegorz R.R. Martiński
Grzegorz Radosław Robert Marciński
@@filipzajac4104 George is Jerzy in Polish. Grzegorz would be Gregory.
his genieus knows no boundries
Even crazy Authors think GRRM is crazy.
@@unknownvariable9287 well its all based around a fantasy [medieval] period so there's bound to be some of that if you go the more dark and realistic route
@@MrGhoul-lv8sn HBO didn't have to groom maisie William's for 8 seasons so she could take her top off on camera. Granted, she wasnt a minor and can make her own adult decisions... but GRRM + D&D knew what was gonna be the final outcome when they casted her as Ayra. Call it dark writting but the whole series, book and tv, circles around the objectification of women. Once I started noticing it I stop supporting the series...
@@unknownvariable9287 I have never disagreed more with a comment in my life. But to each their own I suppose.
Robin Graves you mean the series that has some of the most compelling and a strong female characters in literature? With all due respect, you’re talking directly out of your ass.
@@a7pha208 the books maybe ... the show however was pure horseshit, especially after they ran out of source material.
I love both of these authors 💙
I love this. I love this so much and I'm glad I watched it.
I think what Sapkowski means with 'killing without a reason' is that the deaths of the characters in Martin's books don't serve a dramaturgical purpose other than the shock value and changing character dynamics. I think Sapkowski believes a character's death should be meaningful and prove a point other than 'they were dumb and didn't see that one coming, so they're dead'.
"changing character dynamic" is already a good reason. I'd also add "impacts on the entire war".
I agree, RR. Martin is the "the door is blue, because it is blue" writer, where Sapkowski is more (not by much) a "door is blue because the theme of the story is depression" kind of writer.
So in that mindset, I can understand if Sapkowski thinks that "characters die without a reason" in the GoT narrative. But I do feel he fails to see that is the appeal of the GoT in the first place, the world feels so alive and the stories we hear are just 1 of millions, all equally deep and interesting.
Martin also seem to try to be realistic and in real life death is random and indiscriminate of you being an interesting character
@@nicknad9165 Still sacrificing interesting and compelling characters just for the sake of 'realism' and shock value doesn't make it a good story.
Your all mistaken. He is being sarcastic. He is saying this because he is trying to portray the audiences reactions to him killing off main characters usually. GRR Martin is in my opinion the best fantasy author of all time. All of the characters don’t die just randomly for shock value they all have done things or made mistakes that result in their death there isn’t one person where i was thinking “wow that was random” i always was thinking more “wow i can’t believe they died there, or wow i thought they would’ve made it out of that” he just goes against the “hero always finds a way” trope he lets his hero’s fail which is what makes his books so great. It’s not always a happy ending.
Who else would like to see these two along with Tolkien talking about their own respective world's they have created
Lost my respect for this guy when he sued CD Projekt Red for his own bad decisions, and claimed it was "impossible" to tell a story through a video game
I prefer Sapkowshi over Martin (like both) but my favourite is Tolkien by far
Lord of the Rings compared to GoT and The Witcher is just a fairytale though.
I like LotR but it's just not on the same level as GoT.
Someone that I really respect told once that in GoT there are 3 Shaekspear dramas and 4 Dostojewski novels going on simultaneously.
Bence Elias Lotr has a lot more to offer
@Daniel Byrne Thats not even what I wrote though, you clown.
@@Sevren_ Thats just not true at all. LotR has barely politics in it, thats what makes GoT a lot more interesting and captivating.
Bence Elias What?
No question, the Witcher books are on another level
@TheJabberwocky28 Plagiarism of what?
@TheJabberwocky28 ?????
After reading both of their writing I can confidently say that I think George is a superior one. He manages to make the environments, the people, the situations and the overall feel of the book far more believable, tangible and enticing. Possibly because some things could get lost in translationg with Andrezej's writing, I won't rule that out. However, I could and have read ASOIAF volumes for hundreds of pages at a time and yet can never manage more than 100 straight pages from Witcher novels.
It's because of poor translation, which is actually hard to fix, as the language of the original novels is difficult to understand even for most native speakers of Polish. It's often archaic and contains millions of intertextual references (many of which are obscure for non-Slavic readers). The Witcher needs more translations, and they need to be inspired, not just crafted.
Just one example: in one of the short stories there is a reference to a Polish proverb "where the devil says good night" meaning "in a faraway land". It's impossible to translate directly and when you modify it and use an English saying or proverb instead the construction of the short story is ruined.
Belive my, it's just a translation issue. In original, or any other slavic language - Sapkowskiy is superior!
i want to see them in a room together laughing
they have literally the same laugh
2:02 Andrzej Spakowski had a malfunction
😆😆😆😆
damn cdpr you could have deliver as a finished interview, not a buggy one.
The issue is not killing a character. To me the issues is with following a character that is going to die with little to no imapct for the story. So, for example, following Ned makes sense because his death, and more importantly his story and the revelations therein impact the political, personal (for Lannister and Stark alike) and social issues of the world for reasons directly related to the story. Killing characters is ok, so long as following them was useful for the overall narrative. But having a character just to kill them off to subvert expectations is the mark of a bad writer trying to be unpredictable and gritty.
Not every character has to have a reason to be in the story, somebody important being killed all of a sudden for no big reason has happenend countless time through history and is realistic. It's showing a ruthless world where anything can happen at any moment and is keeping the reader on the edge of his seat.
For example in The Walking Dead (I think of the comic here) people are dying without a reason, the universe that is set is just extremely violent. For example Abraham who gets killed by Dwight, then Dwight becomes an ally of Rick and the others. There is no reason for Abraham to die, he just dies all of a sudden, his killer is not even punished. I think it makes the story even more ruthless and violent, because this is the world that the characters are evolving in.
@@TheXyek Realism does not make any work of fiction inherently interesting, the same way me stubbing my toe while bringing in groceries is not inherently interesting.
Realism can add immensely to immersion, which is invaluable, but a story has to have purpose. Intentionally denying meaning/purpose to any chunk of your story is precisely saying that no reader, viewer, or player has any real reason to engage with or give a shit about your work, because any part of it could be a meaningless waste of time instead of an enjoyable/meaningful one.
If realism is so utterly compelling then just watch the news for a thorough look at a ruthless, harsh, and meaningless world. That well of suffering - unlike things crafted with purpose - is never going to dry, so have at it.
In my opinion The Witcher>>>GOT, I like more the world of Sapkowski with elves, dwarves, gnomes, monsters of all kind, sorceress and witchers.
Exactly like the man said, there's a difference between people who write stories on their own through stories of the old and one who copies it with wierd shit
Unfortunately Sapkowski's books (especially the first two collections of stories) suffer from a lack of good translation. His style in Polish is superbe and language sooo rich. But the English translations of the 2 collections of stories are truly abysmal -frequent grammatical errors and blatant mistranslations when it comes to choosing English equivalents of some of the Polish words (e.g. using modern English words that just stand out like a sore thumb in a fantasy setting). The translator even translated some of the Polish sayings literally so that they sound wrong and make no actual sense to the English speaking person. It's just such a shame that foreign readers won't be able to experience the books as they should've been experienced. IMHO Sapkowski's style rivals that of George RR Martin if we consider the langue difference, and the fact that the translations have been so shitty. I think new translations should be commissioned if brand new editions of the first two books were planned.
I never knew that... i never read the Witcher Books in english... so i guess we are lucky for the german translation, because (at least for me) reading it, feels like it was written by a german and has not been translated at all.
It sounds like you're comparing prose, and idk if you're doing AS any favors by comparing his to George's. I remember trying to read one of the GoT books way back and his prose did absolutely nothing for me. I've heard a lot about amazing character work and world building from George, but not a soul talking about the prose until now (if that's what you were actually comparing).
Maybe it's just me, or I have a different translation, but his writing is still very good in English.
0:42 - the ending of the video
Aw man I wanted them to beef. Witcher vs Jon Snow story
@TheNinthCircle
Duh.
TheNinthCircle no shit, characters in game of thrones don’t have any powers or abilities
@TheNinthCircle
Only if he fight something like dragons, The White Walkers and/or The Night King.
@@obaso.
Except for The White Walkers and The Night King , that is.
Great video
5:20 he even included portuguese bruxas for example
lol she says boring, she must knew Geralt of Rivia how much we love that pun master.
I just liked because this vid exists
Questions were on point
This is extremely satisfying to watch. One of my favorite authors talks about how good my other two favorite authors are.
These are my favorite authors in no particular order:
1. Brandon Sanderson
2. J. K. Rowling
3. George R. R. Martin
4. Darren Shan
5. Andrzej Sapkowski
Fast question: Why Sanderson?
I didn't read his books (but I bought The Way of Kings), and I heard a lot od people who think Sanderson is The best fantasy author. But I want to know why
@@filipzajac4104 His books are good. Excellent WORLDBUILDING, unique magic systems, and he is just an excellent writer.
Although I'd recommend reading his Mistborn books first, as The Way of King's is very hard to get into.
Infidel Productionz if he’s able to read epic fantasy in the scale of ASOIAF, then Stormlight won’t be that hard to read.
@@lordofdarkness4204 Not necessarily. Both have different writing styles. Even Brandon himself recommends readers to read his other books first.
Throwing your ink into the Wookie lmao idk, that's what I heard. I heard more than that god damn it! But I heard that too
The people commenting on this clearly watched the first 30 seconds and then made their comments.
Personally, I feel that Sapkowski is a better author (while George has a unique style, he’s a better world builder than storyteller, which is why he can never measure up to Tolkien, Lewis, Chesterton, and doesn’t really measure up to Sapkowski either. He’d be an excellent Dungeon Master though.
Except he would kill half your party and then just shrug when you screamed why
Have read the Witcher? Every kingdom other than Skelige and Nilfguard (Maybe Novagrad because of the Fire temple) all have the same feel to them. A lot of the chapters that would’ve had tension were told through flashbacks. One of the Characters debut fight was told from the perspective of a half blind homeless guy who hid under a table. Honestly, the only reason why I finished them was because I enjoyed recognizing the characters in the Video Games.
Even though life is never truly "fair" with pitting the stories/worlds, e.t.c. of authors against one another, I still think your comment is a very practical comparison and summarization.
2:02 he has a witchers speed
2:05 perfect description of goblin slayer.
Are we talking about the anime?
If so then his backstory is upsetting and that's why he's so obsessed with killing those goblins
@@tahmidtargaryen6230 how old are you?
@@biome3 20
well good luck with that
I like those types of stories tho, they're my guilty pleasure. I can only take so much of GRRM's political drama and lists of Longnames McNeverbeseenagains before I need to get my fill of trashy over-the-top gore and sexytimes.
I love the Witcher series tho, the perfect balance of fun, action, wholesomeness, mystery, brutality and sexytimes.
If Jon Snow is brought back to life in Winds of Winter, I am rioting.
OMG. Dudley's Polish Uncle !
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 lol
My main problem is the geography.
Is good to know how the kingdoms are in each time period.
How big distances are from each other or how they have to travel etc.
A map of the continent would have make the reader more understanding of how the armies are moving and how difficult is to assault or defend their location.
He said that he don't need map for his story.
Well now there is a pretty accurate map.
So enjoy
Killing Orcs
And then killing Orcs
And then killing Orcs
And then the Potagonist f**ks somebody
And then killing more Orcs
And then f**ks somebody
I love Sapkowski 😂
we need a game of thrones game with the witcher mechanics and graphics just think about how amazing it would be to go the wall and kings landing
If I'm honest I don't even know what the witcher was until the games
And did you finally read the Witcher books?
Most people outside poland didn't, despite AS claiming otherwise.
@@MoreImbaThanYou The truth is. books are less popular than games and movies or series, so it's not weird a lot of people know the adaptations, not the original books.
@@filipzajac4104 I know. But AS said otherwise in the past, wich made him an arrogant and unbearable person in many peoples eyes, myself included.
You and 99% of non-Poles.
The novels are not even very good, mediocre at best. Only the two short-story collections are decent.
You can find full version of interview on RUclips
My one complant is the gaps between books the man has had a decade to finish wind of winter
Miura and pan sapkowski all the way
ELDEN RING vs the witcher 3
"I doubt you could possibly imagine it"
Elden ring will be much better story wise. After all, Elden ring is the source material and Witcher 3 had many things lost in adaptation.
Andrzej Sapkowski looks like a friends father
he sounds alot like slavoj zizek
Wester Slavic accent
G. R. R. Martin's long lost brother, who is friends with Slavoj Žižek.
Człowieku który to czytasz. Spokojnie polscy fani też tu są 🤗
He kinda sounds like Siri o Ferrell
Syrio Forel..?
@@jjollu Yes, Siri O'Ferrell, the irish cousin of the famous GOT's character.
Johannes Pöyhönen yup!! Lol, I couldn’t think how it was spelled.. so I just went with what the autocorrect put up there and prayed to the old gods everyone got it 🙏
Nah he sounds like Leon Askin.
Jerome Allshouse stickler
I respect him and love his books I just can't understand why he has to wage war on Witcher games.
@ichaelis I understand all those but he has to also realize that the games brought huge audience to the books and they would be nowhere near as popular outside of Poland had the games not been created.
@ichaelis 'owes all of his international success to CD' - you're wrong.
Around 2001 he was the best-selling Polish writer outside Poland. Six year later 'Witcher 1' was successful ONLY in countries where Sapkowski was previously very famous.
@Bartooc He has no conflict with games. This "conflict" was born in the minds of teenage polish players, because at this age people are the most stupid and prone to manipulation. In addition, 'fans of Witcher game' do not read any books, so Sapkowski is as well known to them as... Schopenhauer or Confucius.
@@norbertheinz3455 Interesting jab at Witcher gamers. You care much about other people's choices regarding entertainment. Don't try to define yourself compared to others, as it seems you do.
I like reading and playing games but ight my guy
@@sheevinopalpatino4782 You've played and you know books - great. Sorry - I didn't mean to offend you. I'm just explaining that in Poland young people don't read books, which doesn't prevent them from hating a writer who - in their opinion - doesn't respect players sufficiently.
Great👍👏 video🎥👍🔥
🔥🔥🔥🔥🐉
I glad he can spoke in English like every writer in his position. Love u AS!
He speaks like 5 or 6 languages, in his other book series (Narrenturm - soon to be translated to English) he even writes many passages in Latin and medieval German :)
Some time ago he told in interview that he speak 20 languages. And he read translations of his books, if the knows language, to check if translator did good job. But not all languages his books were translated he knows, and for example he only can trust korean and hungarian translators, because he don't know those two languages. I don't know if his 20 languages are truth. But he studied something that we could call now " international economy" and students had to learn 3 languages at those studies ( he told this in one of polish interviews in some university). So I quess that in studies he learn russian ( back those times ( 1945-1989) Poland was under russian/soviet rule, and everyone learn russian, like now everyone learn english), english ( he traveled in business to west europe). About 3rd language I have now idea- maybe french or german (possible options), spanish, italian ( less possible) or latin ( I don't know how possible, but he know latin)
So I think it very possible he know at least english, polish, russian, german and latin. How many more languages? Only he know... Or maybe it is some interview where speak more languages or at least told names of all langueges he know.
@@Dark-wy9yb Well his English is pretty bad.
@@ajuc005 WAAAAİT, WHAT?? You are telling me Narrenturm hasn't been translated in English yet?? That's cannot be real!
@@ajuc005 I find his English impressive.
His laugh is very similar to George's
Is that the hydraulic press guy's father?
Totally different accent, but I can see the similarities.
Welcome to the hydraulic press channel
The voice is similar but doesn’t sound finnish
finnish is not polish
@@vaahtobileet But when something's polished it's also finished.
Non-existent dragons? Impossible dwarfs? Yet Villentretenmerth and Zoltan are so cool
Man wonder what he thinks of the elric books
2:30 actually, aside from the orcs that is pretty much exactly how the games work. But then they‘re games, so they‘d probably be boring otherwise.
*Polish Martin has much better games than American Martin though.*
American martin has shit tier games and one passable visual novel.
This dude sounds like Super Mario