– A new iconography of Geralt and his universe
– High quality illustration and editing work
– Always a pleasure to have an excuse to re-read Geralt’s adventures.
The meeting between a cult author and a talented artist is sometimes due to very few things, if not to a tangle of situations which, once unraveled, gives a clue to the origin of such a creative fusion. In the case that interests us, it is between Andrzej Sapkowski et Timothy Montaigne that alchemy took, through an illustrated version of the first story of the adventures of Geralt de Riv: The Witcher.
Published in 1986 in the only Polish fantasy magazine Fantasticthis news, if it did not immediately meet with international success, already attracted the eye of a public then fond of stories of this caliber, far too rare in Soviet Poland.
It was not until 1989, following the insistence of a handful of fans and the end of the Berlin Wall, that a lead screed flew from the country, and that the author’s career might then really begin, which we now know as that of a man who brought the best-selling Polish fantasy to our world.
After the passage of a video game adaptation and then a series, it was finally time to offer a high-end graphic tribute to the first story of our dear Geralt de Riv, and it is at Bragelonne that you will find this essential nugget in any self-respecting library…
The story of this story is ultimately that of every witcher’s daily life: wandering from town to village, looking for contracts placed on the heads of creatures to be slaughtered. Here, it is on a princess, transformed into a stryge, that the witcher Geralt of Rivia sets his sights. The meeting might turn out to be fatal, especially since light deserves to be shed on the true nature of this contract…
The universe of the Witcher here takes on the appearance of colored prints from the 15th century, under the guise of Timothy Montaigne, designer behind The Fifth Gospel or The Prince of the Night. Here, the line is not fleeting, and seeks more to pose fixed atmospheres than to really leave in a more dynamic adaptation, which would then require the double of pages. However, this in no way plays once morest the story, which marvelously coats the artist’s refined compositions.
A work of goldsmith, presented in a large format edition in solid binding, embellished with a black fabric spine on which we find the title of the work, inscribed in blood red gilding. A sumptuous editorial package, for meticulous work, what more might you ask for?
The book is available from Bragelonne editions, right here!