So having read all the books that have been translated so far and finished both games twice. I really want to see more of this world, specifically the Witcher parts of the world and not so much the politics.

Any good fic would do just fine though. Any recommendations?

 

I, too, would be interested in this. Rereading The Sword of Destiny at this very moment.

 

I unfortunately don't have any fic recs but this is about the books - I've played both the games and loved them, but I've been turned off from the idea of reading the books because of the fact that they were originally written in Polish. How well are they translated and would I enjoy the books if I enjoyed the game (I was mostly playing for the story anyway since I don't really like the combat in the Witcher series)? Also which should book should I start with?

 

Not speaking Polish, I honestly can't say how well the translations hold up to the originals.

The tone, however, is consistent and unmistakable. Whether by the flair of the translators or otherwise, the novels and short stories are absolutely fantastic. There's a sort of archaic structure to the language, but it works incredibly well and feels extremely authentic.

Tl;dr: Stop pussying around. Get involved.

Edit: Fan translations are the way to go, for now.

 

I would suggest reading the Last wish first. The translation is excellent and nothing seems to have been lost in translation. Plus its the short stories that the guys over at CDPR love the most and there are bits you'll recognise were used in the game.

Spoiler

The book itself is a collection of those short stories, though not in chronological order. So read it first and if you like them read the others which are full novels on their own

 

[Witcher fan mode on]
Start with The Last Wish and then read The Sword of Destiny - these are a short stories collections, but they are one of Sapkowski's best works. From these two volumes, you need to pay extra attention to following stories:
- A Matter of Price and The Last Wish from The Last Wish
- The Sword of Destiny and Something More from The Sword of Destiny - especially those.
These four novellas deal with two most important characters (except Geralt) in The Witcher Saga. Especially the last two are really important, to not get confused at the beggining of the next novel.

After reading thew short stories, before you stands The Witcher Saga consisting of five books:
- Blood of the Elves
- Time of Contempt
- Baptism of Fire
- Swallows Tower
- Lady of The Lake
The Saga mostly deals with Second Nilfgaardian War. The first one was somehow described at the end of short stories, and the beggining of the third was glimpsed at the end of Witcher 2. But the war is only the background to Geralts and other characters misfortunes and adventures.
[Witcher fan mode off]

I can not judge the proficiency of the oficial English translation and how it works in comparison to the original (i.e. it will probably suck, go learn Polish )

As for fics - there is one problem with writing fics in the Witcher world and if you want them to be similar to the original story. Sapkowski is an erudite and likes to demonstrate this in his stories - they usually are fairy tales put through the meat grinder with added real world brutality, darkness and anachronism - wizards of this world discuss genetics, the druids are magical Greenpeace, the dwarfs are a mix of stereotypical miners and communists, and everyone of note discuss politics in modern terminology.

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EDIT: I went through ff.net and the only story that sounded remotly interesting was this. It's apparent that the author has not read the books, for the miniscual details that can irk someone who knows the books, like the witcher of this story, not carrying his sword on his back or this:

Instead of dogs, it should be cats - especially cats. Sapkowski is a cat-lover and often in his works cats are portrayed as mysterious and magical beings, and in the Blood of the Elves, Yennefer states that cats are the only creatures, except dragons, to store magic. Nobody knows what they do with it, but in Sapkowski's non-Witcher short story The Musicians it is somehow explained.

Spoiler

During the night cats sing their music (the title is a play on Polish proverb cats music/kocia muzyka - a music so bad you want to tear off your ears out) and use it to stop Eldritch Abominations from invading Earth.

And here is a topic with links to fan translations of The Sword of Destiny, The Witcher Saga and first preview chapter of Season of Storms.

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EDIT 2: Also, go bother Celestin, he was mentioning something about a Harry Potter/The Witcher crossover