According to Amazon’s description, the prequel finds Geralt “stumbling through a world that neither understands nor welcomes his kind.” Fresh from Kaer Morhen, a rash attempt at heroism nearly ends with his execution, but he is saved at the last moment by Preston Holt, “a grizzled witcher with a buried past and an agenda of his own.”
Under Holt’s mentorship, Geralt begins to learn what it really means to walk the Path, not just in battling monsters but in surviving the prejudice and politics of the Continent. Sapkowski frames this as the story of “how legends are made, and what they cost.”
It makes sense for this new tale to look back rather than push forward. Geralt’s arc already reaches a definitive conclusion in the main saga, and the CD Projekt games have effectively carried the timeline on in their own way, set just a few years after the books.
Still, while Sapkowski’s novels remain the bedrock of the series, The Witcher has long since grown into something much bigger. Alongside the games and their upcoming sequels and spin-offs, there’s now a Netflix adaptation, comics, a tabletop RPG, manga, and even a cookbook keeping the Continent alive in new and unexpected forms.