# Rozdroże kruków

Rozdroże kruków (in Polish literally: “Crossroad of Ravens” or “Ravens' Crossroad”) is the seventh novel and ninth overall book in the Witcher series written by Polish fantasy writer Andrzej Sapkowski, first published in Poland on 29 November 2024. It is a prequel to both Sapkowski's Witcher Saga (1994–1999) and his short story collections – Sword of Destiny (1992) and The Last Wish (1993).

## Plot

The main character, as in almost all of Sapkowski's other works set in this universe, is the witcher Geralt of Rivia, and Rozdroże kruków is a prequel to all canonical works about this character published so far. The plot takes place in Geralt's youth, shortly after he completed his training at witchers stronghold Kaer Morhen and killed his first “monster” – a rapist.

## Background and writing

Despite the demand, when asked about the next books, Sapkowski repeated that the Witcher Saga ended with The Lady of the Lake (1999), it's a closed story and he does not intend to return to it. The Witcher later became a global phenomenon thanks to the video game series developed by CD Projekt Red, the first part of which was released in 2007. Additionally, in 2019 Netflix began airing an English-language TV series based on Sapkowski's works set in Witcher world.
Despite earlier assurances, in 2013 Sapkowski finished writing a new book about Geralt, Season of Storms, with plot set between his short stories from collection The Last Wish. In June 2018, Sapkowski announced that he no longer ruled out writing another part of the saga. He added that he would like to set the action of such a book before the plot of the already published works. On 1 February 2023, during a meeting at the Taipei International Book Exhibition, Sapkowski announced that he plans to write new books set in Witcher universe, however, he didn't provide more details at that time. In August of the same year, during an online meeting with Ukrainian fans, he revealed that he was working intensively on a new book about Geralt, which he will finish writing in about a year. In November 2023, during Comic Con Vienna, he revealed the first details about the upcoming book. In August 2024, in an interview for the magazine Chimères, Sapkowski announced that he had completed work on the book. According to the agreement with SuperNowa, Sapkowski's publisher, title and cover artwork of the book were to be revealed exclusively by Nowa Fantastyka magazine in issue 12/2024, the release date of which was brought forward from December to November 22, 2024. Additionally, this issue of the magazine was also supposed to include a fragment of Rozdroże kruków. Although Nowa Fantastyka only posted a censored cover of the December issue on social media and websites, the day before the issue went on sale, one of the distributors of Prószyński Media [pl] – the magazine publisher – violated the terms of the contract and published the full version, revealing the artwork and the title of the book. On the same day, it was officially confirmed that the Rozdroże kruków will be a prequel to the saga, depicting Geralt as a young witcher. A day later, Nowa Fantastyka published a fragment of the first chapter of the book, as previously announced. Rozdroże kruków was published in Poland on 29 November 2024 in a paperback, and the e-book version will be released on December 1. According to Sapkowski, the book will arrive worldwide in early 2025 at the earliest. Shortly before the release of Rozdroże kruków, in an interview for the Polish weekly periodical Polityka, Sapkowski announced that it would not be the last book set in the Witcher universe. Again, he didn't provide more details, saying only that “there will be a new book” and “if I set the time horizon to three or four years, it will be without much risk”.

## Reception

Anna Garas from Gry-Online praised the book as a work expanding the lore of the world, which in her opinion does so in a much better way than the Netflix works – Nightmare of the Wolf and Blood Origins. According to her, Sapkowski seems to be telling Netflix's screenwriters what the real origins of the characters and the world is, making it easier for the reader to forget about the spin-offs. She noted, however, that “Rozdroże kruków suffers from the same condition that the Witcher Saga and the Hussite Trilogy suffered from – towards the end, strange things start to happen”. She also complained about the quality of the paperback edition, being rather “a cheap edition intended for reading on the train or at the airport”, not a book written by the “titan of Polish fantasy”. Michał Jarecki from Spider's Web stated that the author “avoids excess more than ever”, which ultimately makes Rozdroże kruków a book that “has a better structure and is more specific, without the slightest signs of beating around the bush”, while Sapkowski “still masterfully builds tension, uses humorous and malicious dialogues”. Polish film critic and book translator Bartosz Czartoryski considered Rozdroże kruków to be “probably Sapkowski’s most specific and objective work” and “a kind of witcher-y best of”. He also noted that “it's tempting to read the book as a coming-of-age story, an novel about initiation” because it presents Geralt as a person “just learning about life and the difficult art of making choices, often tripping over his own feet” who acquires the characteristics appropriate to the character known from the saga only in the finale. Unlike Garas, Czartoryski considered the ending of the book to be “excellent”. As of 30 November 2024, users of the Polish social cataloging website Lubimyczytać.pl [pl] gave the book an average rating of 7.9/10.