The World of The Witcher Review - The Witcher Lexicon
Do you love The Witcher, but sometimes you don't quite understand it? Would you like to find out more about Geralt and his companions, but don't want to dig through tons of websites? Then I have just the right book for you: The World of The Witcher !
A Witcher Lexicon, as it is written in the book
The successful hardcover by CD Projekt RED/Marcin Batylda was published by Dark Horse Comics and Panini Books. It is relatively large and the cover alone looks chic and high-quality. But what is on the thick pages inside has much more to offer!
The content structure
At the beginning, the famous bard Dandelion welcomes us with an introduction. He explains why he published the book and what we can expect. He is not omniscient, so he lets someone else do the talking in the respective chapters.
Borch Drei Jackdaws, known from the book The Sword of Providence, starts off. Since he is a golden dragon and therefore quite old, he remembers the creation of the world and its inhabitants best. The chapter is very important because it gives a general explanation of how things are connected historically. Why do the Scoia'tael hate humans? How did the geographical history unfold? What were the consequences of the conjunction of the spheres?
In the second chapter, Vesemir naturally has his say, because it is about the witchers . He reports how the conjunction of the spheres brought about the need to train witchers. What the training and life of a witcher looks like, and much more.
The middle chapter is written by a woman, and of course none other than Yennefer of Vengerberg. In the first section, on magic and religions of the continent, she guides the reader through magic. She explains where sorceresses and magicians get their magic from and how they use it. In the second section, the religions and their cults are examined and how they sometimes blur with magic.
In Creatures of the Northern Kingdoms, Geralt himself speaks and reports on what crawls and flies around the continent. It is, so to speak, the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Witcher Edition. The creatures are illustrated in (more or less) beautiful pictures and explained in detail.
In the last chapter, Dandelion doesn't pass the pen on, but writes a long report about his best friend Geralt. The story of Geralt of Rivia is ultimately a comprehensive summary of the adventures that the witcher experiences in the books and games.
The Art in The World of The Witcher
In addition to the written content, the images are of course an important part of The World of The Witcher . It is a great compilation of the concept drawings from CD Projekt RED and the comic drawings from Dark Horse Comics. This makes the book a very good source of inspiration for creative minds in gaming, film and private life.
Sometimes the images are a bit more explicit and scary. It's not for nothing that the Dark Horse Comics website recommends it for ages 16 and up. But that's the world in The Witcher. It's rough, dangerous and treacherous, but often viewed with a twinkle in your eye. So it's exactly my kind of humor!
What a great book
My final words are also full of praise. I like that the franchise doesn't do things halfway. You get excited about every single collector's item and like to treasure it. The same goes for The World of The Witcher .
The book is very informative and a great read. It is large and a bit heavy, but it is a pleasure to pore over. You don't have to read it all in one go, as all the chapters and their sections are self-contained.
In any case, this book is a cornerstone for every Witcher fan and collector. It is worth every euro.
And with that in mind: farewell!
Francy
