Netflix has been rather adamant about the success of its new fantasy series The Witcher, starring Henry Cavill, which dropped its first season a little more than a month ago now — and which, according to the streamer itself, managed to pull in more viewers than the inaugural season of every other TV show it’s made. In fact, fandom around the show has had at least one surprising side effect. The publisher of the novels of the same name by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, upon which the show is based, found itself in the position of having to print more than half a million new copies thanks to outsized demand for the books in the wake of the Netflix series debut.
Ask Sapkowski how he feels about this new audience that’s found his work and ensuring that it’s back in high demand, however, and you don’t get simple praise or thanks to Netflix for ensuring that this is so. No, the question is greeted with impassivity bordering on contempt.
“How do you expect I answer this question?” Sapkowski said, when asked about the reprints of his book to keep up with new demand thanks to the show. “That I despaired? Shed tears? Considered suicide? No sir. My feelings were rather obvious and not excessively complex.”
Sort of the Larry David of authors, eh? The rest of the interview (via io9) unfolds pretty much the same way. With Sapkowski basically trying to prove with every single answer that he doesn’t have anyone on the publicity front guiding his responses, that he’s proud of his creation, and the success is just … you know, whatever.
Take, for example, his response to a question about what he hopes fans get out of the books, particularly those fans who haven’t read him before and who are only just now finding out about the show?
“Let them convince themselves.”
Or how about what he’s most looking forward to next with Netflix and The Witcher? The streamer has already green-lit a second season, while Netflix in the meantime has confirmed that we’re also getting an animated Witcher-themed movie.
The rumors are true, a new Witcher story is in the works! The anime film, The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, will take us back to a new threat facing the Continent. Brought to you by the Witcher team @LHissrich and @BeauDeMayo, and Studio Mir the studio behind Legend of Korra.
— Netflix Geeked (@NetflixGeeked) January 22, 2020
“Allow me to quote Joe Abercrombie, the author whose books are very much to my liking: “Life is, basically, (expletive) shit. Best to keep your expectations low. Maybe you’ll be pleasantly surprised.” Ha! What a jokester. Check out the full interview here — after you’ve caught up on The Witcher, of course.
