Read the mainline Witcher Saga before the release of Andrzej Sapkowski's Crossroads of Ravens, a prequel novel that chronicles Geralt's origin story

The Witcher 5-Novel Box Set On Sale For Just $33 At Amazon

The Witcher Saga's 5-Novel Box Set is on sale for an even better price at Amazon than we saw during Prime Day. The $90 paperback collection is up for grabs for only $33, which is the lowest price we've seen in a long time. This slipcased set includes all five mainline Witcher novels by Andrzej Sapkowski. You can pair the novel collection with a matching slipcased set containing both short story collections that introduced the world to Geralt of Rivia.

Now is a great time for fans of CD Projekt Red's video games or Netflix's TV adaptations to experience the beloved fantasy franchise in its original written form. The English translation of Sapkowski's latest Witcher novel, Crossroads of Ravens, will be published September 30. The standalone prequel rewinds the clock to the days when Geralt was the one learning from a seasoned Witcher. You can preorder The Witcher: Crossroads of Ravens in hardcover for $25 (was $30) at Amazon.

Though the display case for this set refers to it as The Complete Witcher Saga, it doesn't include all of Sapkowski's work featuring Geralt of Rivia. What you'll get with this collection is the five mainline Witcher novels that form Sapkowski's pentalogy:

• Blood of Elves
• The Time of Contempt
• Baptism of Fire
• The Tower of Swallows
• The Lady of the Lake

For $33, you're paying $6.60 per book, which is a pretty fantastic deal. In total, The Witcher Novel Box Set is 2,208 pages.

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The box set of five novels is a great pickup at this price, but new readers should start with The Last Wish and then read Sword of Destiny before diving into the first novel. Both books are short story collections that take place before the events of Blood of Elves.

The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny are compiled in a paperback box set that matches the novel collection above.

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At this time, however, you'll actually save a few bucks by purchasing the two short story collections individually. That said, you will miss out on the display case that matches the novel box set.

The Witcher Series (Paperback)

1. The Last Wish: Introducing The Witcher -- $7.69 ($19)
2. Sword of Destiny -- $12.85 ($20)
3. Blood of Elves -- $8.32 ($20)
4. The Time of Contempt -- $10.79 ($19)
5. Baptism of Fire -- $13.31 ($19)
6. The Tower of Swallows -- $10.39 ($20)
7. The Lady of the Lake -- $13.52 ($20)
8. Season of Storms -- $11.87 ($20)

Books 3-7 are available for fairly cheap individually, but you'd wind up spending over $56 on all five, so the $33 box set is a substantially better deal right now.

After reading the two story collections and five mainline novels, you should dive into Season of Storms. Published nearly 15 years after the mainline series came to a close, Season of Storms is a prequel novel set between a couple of the stories in The Last Wish.

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Crossroads of Ravens, the ninth book in the series, takes place before the story collections, so it will be the first book chronologically when it releases in English on September 30. It's billed as a standalone story, so it could prove to be a good starting point for new readers of Sapkowski's fantasy fiction. Meanwhile, longtime fans will get to see what Geralt was like as a young man.

The 400-page prequel novel takes place shortly after Geralt graduates from Kaer Morhen. He doesn't yet understand how the world views him, and he barely escapes death as a result. The story follows Geralt's training with Preston Holt, the witcher who saved his life.

Crossroads of Ravens sounds like a proper Geralt origin story, which is an exciting prospect for a character who has grown to become a fantasy fiction icon since his 1986 debut. Yes, Geralt has been around for nearly 40 years, but English translations of Sapkowski's work didn't appear until 2007, the same year CD Projekt Red released its first Witcher video game.

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Like most major books, Crossroads of Ravens will only be available in hardcover at launch; a paperback edition will likely follow, but that process generally takes at least six months and sometimes stretches beyond a full year. As such, if you buy the box sets, you will have a lone, mismatched hardcover. If you care about that sort of thing, every book in The Witcher series is available in hardcover, and most are around $20 or less.

The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny are the priciest at this time, but they are premium Illustrated Editions that carry higher list prices. The Last Wish: Illustrated Edition is down to $23.49 (was $40), while Sword of Destiny is $24.72. Both books feature new dust jacket art, a quote from Geralt on the front cover, endpapers with character sketches, and eight illustrations by a group of talented artists.

The Witcher Series (Hardcover)

1. The Last Wish, Illustrated Edition -- $23.49 ($40)
2. Sword of Destiny, Illustrated Edition -- $24.72 ($40)
3. Blood of Elves -- $21.76 ($30)
4. The Time of Contempt -- $21 ($30)
5. Baptism of Fire -- $19.58 ($30)
6. The Tower of Swallows -- $18.59 ($30)
7. The Lady of the Lake -- $20.35 ($30)
8. Season of Storms -- $11.87 ($30)
9. Crossroads of Ravens -- $25 ($30) | Releases September 30

Only the two story collections have received Illustrated Editions, but all of The Witcher novels have nice hardcover editions.

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This story originally appeared on: GameSpot - Author:UK GAG