5) Andrzej Sapkowski and Stanisław Bereś "History and fantasy" part 2 : wiedzmin (reddit.com)

BS: In the fantasy magazine "The Golden Dragon" from December 1994, you can find a story under your name, which is something like an extended end of the fifth volume of The Witcher. Why is not in the book?

AS: Why should it be there?" The titled story

"Something Ends, Something Begins" - was a joke, a prank. I wrote it at the request of one of the fantasy fans' clubs, he had to "decorate" the newsletter, the brochure that clubs usually publish on the occasion of the organization of the conventions. The story was written shortly before the publication of the first volume of the saga. I repeat, it's not an alternative ending to the last volume.

BS: Some, undoubtedly, were fooled.

AS: Indeed, many readers believed the rumor that "Something Ends ..." is a real epilogue of the cycle, and according to them, I changed the "official" one, because I decided to deprive the readers of happy end. A certain person who tried to appear to be a critic seemed to be even more insidious and said "Only such a scoundrel as Sapkowski, is capable of such impudence."

And I burst out laughing, already unable to explain that a joke is a joke.

6) Nie bądź, kurwa, taki Geralt – Andrzej Sapkowski Zone by John MacKanacky (wordpress.com)

Jacek Suliga: "Battle Dust" is part of a larger whole, does it have a chance to appear as a novel?

AS: "Battle Dust" (this is my title, various "Kurze" and "Dusts" are someone else's and never authorized interference in the text) was a joke, coined by the Gdańsk Fantasy Club. The joke was supposed to be: "Jesus Mary, Sapkowski writes a space opera, a fragment only with us". With GKF I have arrangements, I would say, friendly, so I agreed to the joke. It was a few years ago, then I was still joking. As a joke, "Battle Dust" did an excellent job, numerous questions about the "continuation" are proof of this. There will be none, of course.

A joke – similarly related to the playful GKF – was also "Something ends, something begins". This story – I repeat ad nauseam, and still no one believes – is NOT the last chapter of "Lady of the Lake".

7) Q&A with Sapkowski from the mid 2000's : wiedzmin (reddit.com)

( John ) Maybe the story you consider to be the most successful ...

( AS ) I will not answer. But I can try to guess what the voting results look like ... Let me think ... hm ... "Sword of Destiny" on the first, "The Witcher" on the second, "Something More" on the third.

( John ) "Sword of Destiny" on the seventh, "The Witcher" on the third, "Something More" on the tenth. On the first place "The Lesser Evil", on the second "The Last Wish". On the last place "The Voice of Reason", which I also included in the competition.

( AS ) It was not a story at all.

( John ) It is possible that there should also be "Something Ends, Something Begins."

( AS )

That was not a Witcher story, only an easter egg. A joke. I've talked about it many times.

( Bartek Grenda ) If you used such mechanisms as Ciri's travels in time, did you have the idea of ​​doing something similar to what the author of "The Neverending Story" did? Because after reading this book we have to make almost an act of faith in this world, here it is similar with the sorceress Nimue, the Lady of the Lake, who is a huge fan of the legend of Ciri, gathers all possible versions of the story. She must very strongly believe in this legend (as we do).

( AS ) In "The Never Ending Story" less important was the staffage, dragons, monsters, etc. And more important just the children's faith ... Bastian Baltazar Bux, as we remember, moves to the land of fantasy while reading a book, deeply believing in the truth of what he reads. And the dream becomes reality. Allegorism and message are obvious. In the case of my Nimue it'ss supposed to be similar. When, as a little girl, she listens to the stories of a wandering old man, she associates her destiny with Ciri's, even though they are divided by ages. But her faith means that she will meet Ciri and that she, no one else, will open her path to Stygga's castle. A castle that has been put on the tapestry. Until the end, it is not known what castle it is on this tapestry. But Nimue knows it must be the one, because that's what the legend wants.

( John ) So "Something Ends, Something Begins" is one of the legends?

( AS )

Until the release of "Lady of the Lake", nobody believed me that this is not the last chapter of the saga. There were even voices saying that only Sapkowski could be so insolent that he would write and publish the last chapter as a story and then start writing a book when everyone knows how it will end. For many, it was a real surprise when they realized that "Something Ends ..." is not the ending.