Or will get one, in October, but it’s already decided.

Not a very important one, a Lifetime Achievement award, a bit like similar Oscar – a way to appreciate someone accomplished, who never got one, and is old enough he might never get a chance for regular one. Still.

Although he already has a Gemmel and some minor stuff.

Anyway…

Andrzej Sapkowski is a big guy in Polish fantasy. The big one. Was big long before The Witcher games. Well, some young people might disagree. There are some more popular authors now. But he is… GRRM of our fantasy? Terrible movie/tv series adaptation of Witcher being as good Game of Thrones as our tv is capable of delivering 😀 😀 😀 At a first glance a bit of Tolkien in him as well, adapting folklore for his stories. But if you read it – definitely a post-tolkienite.

Definitely a very self-aware artist, with a knowledge of genre astonishing in someone born in Poland in 1948. It was not easy to get English fantasy before early 90-ties. Science fiction fans had it a bit better, more translations & more local talent, not only local (Lem) but from all around the shitty side of the Iron Curtain.

It’s actually pretty ironic, he distanced himself from computer game adaptations of his works, but lets be honest – without the games, he’d never get his worldwide popularity. They are amazing, in my top 5 list of absolutely best cRPGs. And they made the English speaking world interested in Sapkowski’s books. His popularity wasn’t limited to Poland before, but mostly to our part of Europe. English readers have yet to see the final instalment of the Witcher saga translated (in 2017). Unofficial fan translation was the only option not so long ago.

The game is great, and so is the saga, but not good enough to get into my top 5 fantasy series. Many of us believe the ending to be slightly botched ;). Still, it’s more than worth the time of any serious genre reader.

And better than anything he wrote since.

No review today, that’s something long ago planned as another two-shot. To finally do it, I’d need to re-read the saga, something I last did… late 90-ties, I think. Wow, maybe it is time.

Hmm, should I care about an award like this at all? I hardly read Polish fantasy any more. Every time I accidental wander into a brick&mortar bookshop the amount of stuff available, original and translated, astonishes me. And I go back home to order cheaper books from Amazon Marketplace. Or prettier from Folio.

Still, I don’t care about football, I despise our politicians, so maybe I’ll allow myself to be a little proud here 🙂