History YMMV / TheWitcher

** In general, there's a ''very'' common tendency for "fans" to declare something was Sapkowski's 'intention', without any merit and oftentimes in complete opposition to Sapkowski's actual ''stated'' intentions. One example is the "realism" in his fantasy world, with claims that Sapkowski intended for Witcher to be a realistic depiction of a fantasy world, similar to ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''; while elves and magic are present, everything else in the world is meant to be 100% realistic and true to its medieval Polish setting. To put it bluntly, Sapkowski has never claimed this was his intention and has actively argued ''against'' the idea that fantasy should be held back by realism; of note, this is a series where the concepts of genetics and mutation are understood enough for the average idiotic UngratefulBastard to be aware that Witchers are genetically mutated, and characters are described wearing modern-styled knickers and lingerie. Sapkowski has actively justified this (and his general disinterest at staying 'historically accurate') with the logic that a world full of elves and magic shouldn't be beholden by "realism". As with the above point, it's not uncommon for this to be brought up when trying to argue that the series should have zero people of colour because its' "unrealistic" for there to be racial diversity in a medieval setting, [[RealityIsUnrealistic which isn't even true to real medieval times anyway]], even to the point of arguing that Zerikanians (who are heavily coded as African/Arab) should be white because the two that Geralt meets are described as light-haired because its impossible for non-white people to have varying hair colors [[RealityIsUnrealistic even though this is actually entirely possible in real life anyway]].

** "The Witcher is a true representation of Polish folklore", a commonly cited point by the below-mentioned MisaimedFandom. While it's true that ''Witcher'' tends to utilises Slavic names and some of the monsters are named after or in reference to creatures from the local folklore, this is not the case for ''every'' monster in the series (or in fact, most of them), nor was this ever the intent of the author in the first place. Sapkowski named various monsters after Polish folklore largely due to the fact he himself is Polish and thus was ''aware'' of them (while much of Polish folklore is quite obscure elsewhere), but he ''also'' named monsters after folklore from Norse, Greek, Roman, English, Middle Eastern, African, and various other cultures, because he was taking inspiration from ''all'' folklore sources he knew about[[note]]as a reminder, one of the biggest plot points in the series is Geralt and Yen were bonded together by a djinn, a mythic entity of Arabian origin[[/note]]. In fact, the biggest inspiration for him was... [[TabletopGame/AdvancedDungeonsAndDragonsSecondEdition Monstrous Manual from AD&D 2e]], something that used to be a running joke within the Polish fandom. Never mind also that many of the creatures are InNameOnly to their folklore origins, as Sapkowski was never intending the series to be a true or authentic showcasing of his local folklore. Then there is the content of the books, which are either short stories [[FracturedFairyTale poking fun]] out of explicitly non-Slavic fairy tales by Andersen and Grimm brothers[[note]]Goes up to eleven with ''A Question of Price'', since it's referencing ''Literature/{{Rumpelstiltskin}}'' - a fable that's by large unknown in Poland. As a result, it is often listed as "original story" by Poles... and nobody else[[/note]] ''or'' a heroic fantasy saga that with few names swapped could be easily taken for absolutely standard "Western" fantasy. As far as fandom and just about anyone who read the books is concerned, the whole "Witcher is quintessential Slavic/Polish fantasy" gig is done by people who either never had any contact whatsoever with the franchise (and most definitely not the books), or actively ignored how superfluous it is beyond few names being dropped.

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: Who do you want to root for? A bunch of back-stabbing racists? The evil empire conquering the known world? Mages and sorceresses playing their own game of world domination? Cruel elven supremacists? Or maybe an ignorant [[HunterOfMonsters hunter]], who kills everyone in his way? Oh, and you know from the start how meaningless everything is, since you are informed before the ''title page'' of the first book about the incoming ice age.

* FandomEnragingMisconception: Pronouncing Geralt's name as "Gerald" gets this reaction from the fandom. It's a hard G.

* DiagnosedByTheAudience: Yennifer, at least in games continuity, shows signs of Borderline Personality Disorder. This is especially strong in the third game but her unstable emotions. Her suicide attempt when younger and childhood also point to this.

** This side of the Polish fandom became highly visible to the wider internet community when the [[Series/TheWitcher2019 Netflix adaptation]] was announced, which naturally due to AbilityOverAppearance and ColorblindCasting being employed, had many side characters get a RaceLift, something that this side of the fandom were ''furious'' with. Within Polish Far-Right communities, many saw this as Americans, via Netflix, trying to 'take away' the Witcher universe from Poland and disrespecting the 'Pure-Polish' roots -- again, despite the Author never intending ''The Witcher'' to be seen as 'Pure Polish'. Of particularly note, Yennifer's actress Anya Chalotra (who is half-Indian, but still white-passing) ended up quitting social media over harassment, while prior to official casting, a rumour that Ciri would be race-lifted caused a great deal of online fury. Many were insistent they needed to be "pure" Polish and/or Slavic, despite both Yennifer and Ciri having mixed ancestry (both having Elven ancestors), and of course the series employing FantasyCounterpartCulture in-general meaning that any racial purity would be impossible as the ''actual'' races they belonged to ''didn't exist''.

* DiagnosedByTheAudience: Yennifer shows signs of Borderline Personality Disorder. This is especially strong in the third game but her unstable emotions and impulse control issues from the books point towards this. Her suicide attempt when younger and childhood also point to this.

** In general, there's a ''very'' common tendency for "fans" to declare something was Sapkowski's 'intention', without any merit and oftentimes in complete opposition to Sapkowski's actual ''stated'' intentions. One example is the "realism" in his fantasy world, with claims that Sapkowski intended for Witcher to be a realistic depiction of a fantasy world, similar to ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''; while elves and magic are present, everything else in the world is meant to be 100% realistic and true to its medieval Polish setting. To put it bluntly, Sapkowski has never claimed this was his intention and has actively argued ''against'' the idea that fantasy should be held back by realism; of note, this is a series where the concepts of genetics and mutation are understood enough for the average idiotic UngratefulBastard to be aware that Witchers are genetically mutated, and characters are described wearing modern-styled knickers and lingerie. Sapkowski has actively justified this (and his general disinterest at staying 'historically accurate') with the logic that a world full of elves and magic shouldn't be beholden by "realism". As with the above point, it's not uncommon for this to be brought up when trying to argue that the series should have zero people of colour because its' "unrealistic" for there to be racial diversity in a medieval setting, [[RealityIsUnrealistic which isn't even true to real medieval times anyway]], even to the point of arguing that Zerikanians (who are heavily coded as African/Arab) should be white because the two that Geralt meets are described as light-haired [[DarkSkinnedBlonde because its impossible for non-white people]] [[DarkSkinnedRedHead to have varying hair colors]] [[RealityIsUnrealistic even though this is actually entirely possible in real life anyway]].

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Leo Bonhart has proven to be one of the most popular villains from the saga despite being a depraved PsychoForHire who only has a substantial role in the last two books. A large part of his popularity stems from the fact that, in a world of [[EmpoweredBadassNormal witchers]], sorcerers and monsters, Bonhart is just a [[BadassNormal normal human]] who nevertheless manages to be a genuinely terrifying HeroKiller (who also takes out the loathsome Rats). In the heydays of the saga, Bonhart was the biggest subject of fan fiction behind Geralt and Ciri, and a common debate in the fandom is if he could best Geralt in a duel.

* {{Narm}}: Andrzej Sapkowski's habit of using truncated sentences -- often to get a dramatic point across -- can be awkward. Likewise, his habit of having some characters use "You [insult], you [other insult]! You [different insult]!" when they're angry gets cringeworthy. This is however predominately an issue of shody translation -- those same insults and style of writing are perfectly normal in original Polish (different grammar, different sentence structure), while the official English translation is universally loathed for its poor quality and an overly literal approach.
* OneSceneWonder: many, but special mention has to go to Evangelina Parr, a whore unlikely to end all whores [[BigBeautifulWoman despite her bountiful proportions]], who literally appears in ''two sentences'' yet is surprisingly popular in fandom.

* MoneyDearBoy: After years of constant claiming that he would never return to Witcher, that he considered it his worst creation and practically burning all the bridges, the author is publishing another book, calling the saga his biggest achievement and best idea ever. To his credit, he openly admits this trope.
** His Hussite trilogy is highly regarded[[note]][[SmallReferencePools by his fans]] -- the trilogy was a complete bomb outside Sapkowski's fandom[[/note]]. Since he doesn't publish all that often, that makes Sapkowski an author of a greatly popular fantasy cycle, a somewhat popular HistoricalFantasy trilogy, and a passable war-with-fantasy-elements novel.

** "The Witcher is a true representation of Polish folklore", a commonly cited point by the below-mentioned MisaimedFandom. While it's true that ''Witcher'' tends to utilises Slavic names and some of the monsters are named after or in reference to creatures from the local folklore, this is not the case for ''every'' monster in the series (or in fact, most of them), nor was this ever the intent of the author in the first place. Sapkowski named various monsters after Polish folklore largely due to the fact he himself is Polish and thus was ''aware'' of them (while much of Polish folklore is quite obscure elsewhere), but he ''also'' named monsters after folklore from Norse, Greek, Roman, English, Middle Eastern, African, and various other cultures, because he was taking inspiration from ''all'' folklore sources he knew about[[note]]as a reminder, one of the biggest plot points in the series is Geralt and Yen were bonded together by a djinn, a mythic entity of Arabian origin[[/note]]. In fact, the biggest inspiration for him was... [[TabletopGame/AdvancedDungeonsAndDragonsSecondEdition Monstrous Manual from AD&D 2e]], something that used to be a running joke within the Polish fandom. Never mind also that many of the creatures are InNameOnly to their folklore origins, as Sapkowski was never intending the series to be a true or authentic showcasing of his local folklore. Then there is the content of the books, which are either short stories [[FracturedFairyTale poking fun]] out of explicitly non-Slavic fairy tales by Andersen and Grimm brothers[[note]]Goes UpToEleven with ''A Question of Price'', since it's referencing ''Literature/{{Rumpelstiltskin}}'' - a fable that's by large unknown in Poland. As a result, it is often listed as "original story" by Poles... and nobody else[[/note]] ''or'' a heroic fantasy saga that with few names swapped could be easily taken for absolutely standard "Western" fantasy. As far as fandom and just about anyone who read the books is concerned, the whole "Witcher is quintessential Slavic/Polish fantasy" gig is done by people who either never had any contact whatsoever with the franchise (and most definitely not the books), or actively ignored how superfluous it is beyond few names being dropped.

* UncannyValley: A ''lot'' of the character models haven't aged well, with often strange facial proportions that clash with the gritty art style. Made worse are the idle animations while talking, which often include the characters' arms and shoulders inexplicably spasming for no good reason when they are not oddly still. And then there's Zoltan, who's bug-eyed staring is more than a little unnerving.

* ThatOneSidequest: The entire Dice Poker questline. In the initial release, it was simple enough. Patched, it's irritating at best and rage-inducing at worst. Not only is the entire questline one long LuckBasedMission, but because the computer goes after you roll, [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard there's always a good chance it will roll exactly what it needs to beat you]], especially on the Professional and Sharper entries. Even if you keep yourself from going broke by betting low or just SaveScumming your way to victory, you can expect to be playing for a while.

** The sheer amount of VendorTrash compared to your limited inventory space can make looting a recent battle a pain as you try to pick valuables out from between generic food.

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: Who do you want to root for? A bunch of back-stabbing racists? The evil empire conquering the known world? Mages and sorceresses playing their own game of world domination? Cruel elven supremacists? Or maybe an ignorant [[HunterOfMonsters hunter]], who kills everyone in his way? Oh, and you know from the start how meaningless everything is, since you are informed before the ''title page'' of the first book about the incoming ice age.

* CommonKnowledge: "The Witcher is a true representation of Polish folklore", a commonly cited point by the below-mentioned MisaimedFandom. While it's true that ''Witcher'' tends to utilises Slavic names and some of the monsters are named after or in reference to creatures from the local folklore, this is not the case for ''every'' monster in the series (or in fact, most of them), nor was this ever the intent of the author in the first place. Sapkowski named various monsters after Polish folklore largely due to the fact he himself is Polish and thus was ''aware'' of them (while much of Polish folklore is quite obscure elsewhere), but he ''also'' named monsters after folklore from Norse, Greek, Roman, English, Middle Eastern, African, and various other cultures, because he was taking inspiration from ''all'' folklore sources he knew about. In fact, the biggest inspiration for him was... [[TabletopGame/AdvancedDungeonsAndDragonsSecondEdition Monstrous Manual from AD&D 2e]], something that used to be a running joke within the Polish fandom. Never mind also that many of the creatures are InNameOnly to their folklore origins, as Sapkowski was never intending the series to be a true or authentic showcasing of his local folklore. Then there is the content of the books, which are either short stories [[FracturedFairyTale poking fun]] out of explicitly non-Slavic fairy tales by Andersen and Grimm brothers[[note]]Goes UpToEleven with ''A Question of Price'', since it's referencing ''Literature/{{Rumpelstiltskin}}'' - a fable that's by large unknown in Poland. As a result, it is often listed as "original story" by Poles... and nobody else[[/note]] ''or'' a heroic fantasy saga that with few names swapped could be easily taken for absolutely standard "Western" fantasy. As far as fandom and just about anyone who read the books is concerned, the whole "Witcher is quintessential Slavic/Polish fantasy" gig is done by people who either never had any contact whatsoever with the franchise (and most definitely not the books), or actively ignored how superfluous it is beyond few names being dropped.

* CommonKnowledge: "The Witcher is a true representation of Polish folklore", a commonly cited point by the below-mentioned MisaimedFandom. While it's true that ''Witcher'' tends to utilises Slavic names and some of the monsters are named after or in reference to creatures from the local folklore, this is not the case for ''every'' monster in the series (or in fact, most of them), nor was this ever the intent of the author in the first place. Sapkowski named various monsters after Polish folklore largely due to the fact he himself is Polish and thus was ''aware'' of them (while much of Polish folklore is quite obscure elsewhere), but he ''also'' named monsters after folklore from Norse, Greek, Roman, English, Middle Eastern, African, and various other cultures, because he was taking inspiration from ''all'' folklore sources he knew about. In fact, the biggest inspiration for him was... [[TabletopGame/AdvancedDungeonsAndDragonsSecondEdition Monstrous Manual from AD&D 2e]], something that used to be a running joke within the Polish fandom. Never mind also that many of the creatures are InNameOnly to their folklore origins, as Sapkowski was never intending the series to be a true or authentic showcasing of his local folklore. Then there is the content of the books, which are either short stories [[FracturedFairyTale poking fun]] out of explicitly non-Slavic fairy tales by Andersen and Grimm brothers ''or'' a heroic fantasy saga that with few names swapped could be easily taken for absolutely standard "Western" fantasy. As far as fandom and just about anyone who read the books is concerned, the whole "Witcher is quintessential Slavic/Polish fantasy" gig is done by people who either never had any contact whatsoever with the franchise (and most definitely not the books), or actively ignored how superfluous it is beyond few names being dropped.

* CommonKnowledge: "The Witcher is a true representation of Polish folklore", a commonly cited point by the below-mentioned MisaimedFandom. While it's true that ''Witcher'' tends to utilises Slavic names and some of the monsters are named after or in reference to creatures from the local folklore, this is not the case for ''every'' monster in the series (or in fact, most of them), nor was this ever the intent of the author in the first place. Sapkowski named various monsters after Polish folklore largely due to the fact he himself is Polish and thus was ''aware'' of them (while much of Polish folklore is quite obscure elsewhere), but he ''also'' named monsters after folklore from Norse, Greek, Roman, English, Middle Eastern, African, and various other cultures, because he was taking inspiration from ''all'' folklore sources he knew about. Never mind also that many of the creatures are InNameOnly to their folklore origins, as Sapkowski was never intending the series to be a true or authentic showcasing of his local folklore. Despite this, it wasn't uncommon to see people argue that the series using creatures named after Polish folklore [[InsaneTrollLogic meant that they couldn't cast any non-white actors in the Netflix series]].

** Outside of native Poland, neighbouring Czech Republic and a few other central European countries, the popularity of the games overshadows the book series by such crushing margin there is even a minor meme between fandom, jokingly calling the saga "prequel books written to the games".

** Aggravated even more in Latin America - ''Series/TheWitcher2019'' was, for many Spanish speakers, ''their'' first introduction to the franchise, causing surprise that there were books ''and'' video games based off of it.

** Northern Kingdoms. A CrapsackWorld bent on extreme racism toward non-humans, bigotry, envy and exploitation of serfs. Nobles abusing their privileges. Magicians controlling the market and living luxurious lives on the cost of everyone. Both nobles and magic users looking for their own petty profit and nothing else. Not that their nominal rulers are any better or smarter. Common people are a nasty combination of MedievalMorons and TorchesAndPitchforks, usually led by some ChurchMilitant priest. Unsurprisingly, because of SympatheticPOV, many people consider Nordlings and their kingdoms as a nice place to stay and a home of freedom and liberty, where everyone (supposedly) is a master of his or her life.
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Dandelion. He's the ultimate SpoonyBard. As the saga progresses, he becomes the only spot of light, wits and humour in this grim-dark world. In the [[Series/TheHexer TV adaptation]], he was the only character to be acclaimed by both fans of the saga and regular viewers. His popularity was actively invoked in the [[TabletopGame/TheWitcherGameOfImagination tabletop game]] and he's still there in the video games, gaining even more fans. A rare case when a NonActionGuy (and more or less ''TheLoad'') in an action-oriented genre becomes highly popular. Being [[AudienceSurrogate just a regular guy]] in the WorldOfBadass helps immensely.

* HoYay: While both of them are strictly hetero, Geralt and Dandelion seem to be a little bit too close to each other for being just buddies. At one point, Geralt finds himself unable to kill a doppelganger who took his friend's form, because the sole thought of doing it fills him with disgust. He wouldn't have any problems killing the monster when it took his own form, but Dandelion is in a whole different league. At one point in the short stories, [[ThereIsOnlyOneBed they even have to share a bed at an inn]].
* MisaimedFandom: Has quite a lot of far-right fans in Poland that keep talking how Sapkowski's works are "unique Slavic fantasy", "true Polish[[note]]as in - 100% ethnically and culturally pure Polish[[/note]] books" and "supporting the traditional values", much to the author's annoyance. For those uninformed, his works are ''the direct opposite of those''. It's especially ironic given how just about anything written within Witcherverse was created precisely to ''mock'' all the ideas that are associated with the Polish right and generally taking piss on a thinly veiled political situation of Poland in early 90s (and by ''Literature/TowerOfTheSwallow'' being a text, rather than just subtext). Not helping matters is Sapkowski's essay ''Piróg, or, There Is No Gold In The Grey Mountains'' published in the early 90s, which is a few pages of vicious assault on right-leaning and faux-Slavic fantasy literature, with all his literary output staying true to that essay. A running joke within the fandom is that the real reason Sapkowski is so angry about the video game adaptations is because they lead to a sharp increase of "fans" that never read his books, but still make wild claims about their content.
** This side of the Polish fandom became highly visible to the wider internet community when the [[Series/TheWitcher2019 Netflix adaptation]] was announced, which naturally due to AbilityOverAppearance and ColorblindCasting being employed, had many side characters get a RaceLift, something that this side of the fandom were ''furious'' with. Within Polish Far-Right communities, many saw this as Americans, via Netflix, trying to 'take away' the Witcher universe from Poland and disrespecting the 'Pure-Polish' roots -- again, despite the Author never intending Witcher to be seen as 'Pure Polish'. Of particularly note, Yennifer's actress Anya Chalotra (who is half-Indian, but still white-passing) ended up quitting social media over harassment, while prior to official casting, a rumour that Ciri would be race-lifted caused a great deal of online fury. Many were insistent they needed to be "pure" Polish and/or Slavic, despite both Yennifer and Ciri having mixed ancestry (both having Elven ancestors), and of course the series employing FantasyCounterpartCulture in-general meaning that any racial purity would be impossible as the ''actual'' races they belonged to ''didn't exist''.

** His Hussite trilogy is highly regarded[[note]][[SmallReferencePools by his fans]] - the trilogy was a complete bomb outside Sapkowski's fandom[[/note]]. Since he doesn't publish all that often, that makes Sapkowski an author of a greatly popular fantasy cycle, a somewhat popular HistoricalFantasy trilogy, and a passable war-with-fantasy-elements novel.

* {{Narm}}: Andrzej Sapkowski's habit of using truncated sentences - often to get a dramatic point across - can be awkward. Likewise, his habit of having some characters use "You [insult], you [other insult]! You [different insult]!" when they're angry gets cringeworthy. This is however predominately an issue of shody translation - those same insults and style of writing are perfectly normal in original Polish (different grammar, different sentence structure), while the official English translation is universally loathed for its poor quality and an overly literal approach.

* CompleteMonster: Azar Javed is an EvilSorcerer and MadScientist all in one and the front man of the Salamandra crime syndicate. Murdering his teachers for objecting to his use of forbidden magic, Azar Javed recruited many humans to Salamandra. Javed used his followers as CannonFodder to attack the Witcher home castle Kaer Morhen and steal their secrets on mutation. With this newfound knowledge he conducted cruel experiments on many unfortunate humans, [[WouldHurtAChild including children]], turning them into mindless mutants to create an army for his employer. Azar Javed would also murder a man by [[CruelAndUnusualDeath infesting him with the eggs of exotic flies]], led the Salamandra on vicious anti-human crusades, and murdered a detective who got too close to his trail before taking his identity and trying to manipulate Geralt into doing his bidding.

** When Jaskier, Magister and Baranina became Dandelion, Professor and Ramsmeat rather than Buttercup, Schoolteacher and Mutton in the English translation, exactly no-one complained.

* MagnificentBastard: Jacques de Aldersberg, Grand Master of the Order of the Flaming Rose, is the [[BigBad mastermind]] behind all major events in the first game. Having made power plays with both people in high places as well as in the criminal underworld, he sets a plan in motion to destabilize the kingdom of Temeria, leading his knights on a crusade against non-humans and thus provoking the militant Scoia'tael, which ultimately ends in a bloody civil war. This puts King Foltest into a delicate situation, where he either has to give Jacques full authority to end the revolt or do nothing, making him look like a weak ruler. His knights are secretly funded by the drug money his ally, the criminal organization Salamandra, makes for him, which allows Jacques to present the order as [[VillainWithGoodPublicity humble heroes of the people]] who fulfill their needs for free. His ultimate plan is turning mankind into highly advanced mutants with the help of the stolen Witcher Secrets, and leading them southwards to survive the incoming White Frost. Throughout his conversations with Geralt, [[spoiler: who later turns out was his former adoptive father,]] he tries to convince him of the righteousness of his cause, having sacrificed everything to save humanity (whether it wants it or not) in an almost flawlessly executed scheme.

* MagnificentBastard:
** [[TheEmperor Emperor Emhyr var Emreis]], the White Flame Dancing on the Barrows of his enemies, is a cunning EvilOverlord once overthrown in Nilfgaard as a prince. Surviving a curse and being hunted, he learned of the ancient prophecy of the Elder Blood, and married Princess Pavetta of Cintra to sire series heroine Cirilla. Eventually faking his death as the knight Duny, he returned to Nilfgaard, seizing the throne and committed to a brutal, expansionist war. Always learning from his errors, Emhyr eventually realized [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes he loved his daughter]] Ciri too much to complete the prophecy by fathering a child with her and released her to Geralt, trusting him to protect her. Once again returning to conquer the Northern Kingdoms, Emhyr uses Letho the Kingslayer to sow discord and leave the land open to his armies while asking Geralt to find Ciri again. In most endings, Emhyr ends up victorious, eliminating all would-be threats to his rule and can even abdicate in favor of Ciri, content at achieving all he wanted.
** Siegsmund Djikstra is the former spymaster of Redania. A brilliant man in contrast to his thuggish appearance who manipulates entire nations in his game, Djikstra heads up a resistance to King Radovid, helping nonhumans and magic users escape Radovid's brutal purges, all while manipulating his allies to help set him up on the Redanian throne. Organizing Radovid's downfall, Djikstra reveals his trap upon his Temerian allies: to eliminate them and rule Redania from the shadows. If this succeeds, Djikstra removes most freedoms from Redania but is so successful, he will even result in the defeat of the unstoppable Nilfgaardian armies.
** Jacques counts, see his game's section below for details.
** Letho counts, see [[YMMV/TheWitcher2AssassinsOfKings his game's page]] for details.
** Gaunter O'Dimm and Syanna count, see [[YMMV/TheWitcher3WildHunt their game's page]] for details.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Who do you want to root for? A bunch of back-stabbing racists? The evil empire conquering the known world? Mages and sorceresses playing their own game of world domination? Cruel elven supremacists? Or maybe an ignorant [[HunterOfMonsters hunter]], who kills everyone in his way? Oh, and you know from the start how meaningless everything is, since you are informed before the ''title page'' of the first book about the incoming ice age.