安杰伊·萨普科夫斯基

安杰伊·萨普科夫斯基（波兰语：Andrzej Sapkowski，1948年6月21日—），波兰奇幻小说作家。他最出名的作品是奇幻小说系列《猎魔人》（Wiedźmin）。

生平

1948年，安杰伊·萨普科夫斯基生于波兰罗兹，大学攻读经济。1986年，他于奇幻文学杂志《Fatastyka》发表短篇小说猎魔人，之后创作一系列猎魔人小说，成为波兰当代最有名的奇幻小说家。

他以中世纪胡斯战争为背景创作历史及奇幻三部曲，包括《疯人塔》(Narrenturm)、《神之武士》(Bozy bojownicy)及《不灭之光》(Lux perpetua)。

荣誉

他曾五度获得波兰Janusz Zajdel奖。1997年，安杰伊·萨普科夫斯基获得波兰艺术家护照奖（Passport Award）。2009年，安杰伊·萨普科夫斯基获得首届大卫·盖梅尔传奇大奖（David Gemmell Legend Award）。

2012年，安杰伊·萨普科夫斯基获得“荣耀艺术”文化勋章银质奖章。

Andrzej Sapkowski (Polish: [ˈandʐɛj sapˈkɔfski]; born 21 June 1948) is a Polish fantasy writer. He is best known for his series of books The Witcher, which revolves around the eponymous monster hunter, or "witcher", Geralt of Rivia. The saga has been popularized through video games, television, stage, comic books and translated into 37 languages, making him the second most-translated Polish science fiction and fantasy writer after Stanisław Lem.

Described as the "Polish Tolkien", he has written multiple novels and short story collections, selling over 30 million copies worldwide. The influence of Slavic mythology is seen as a characteristic feature of many of his works. He is a six-time recipient of the Zajdel Award, Poland's most popular science fiction and fantasy prize, as well as many other awards and honors including David Gemmell Award, World Fantasy Life Achievement Award and the Gloria Artis Medal for Merit to Culture.

Early life

Sapkowski was born on 21 June 1948 in Łódź, in central Poland. His father served in the Polish People's Army and participated in the Battle of Berlin. After the end of World War II, his parents lived near Nowa Sól before settling in Łódź. He attended the Bolesław Prus High School No. 21. He also studied economics at the University of Łódź, and before turning to writing, he had worked as a senior sales representative for a foreign trade company. He started his literary career as a translator, in particular, of science fiction. Among the first works translated by him was The Words of Guru by Cyril M. Kornbluth.

Career

Major works

Sapkowski says he wrote his first short story, "The Witcher" (1986), ("Wiedźmin", also translated "The Hexer" or "Spellmaker"), on a whim, in order to enter a contest by Polish science fiction and fantasy magazine Fantastyka. In an interview, he said that being a businessman at the time and thus familiar with marketing, he knew how to sell, and indeed, he won third prize. The story was published in Fantastyka in 1986 and was enormously successful both with readers and critics. Sapkowski has created a cycle of tales based on the world of "The Witcher", comprising three collections of short stories and eight novels. This cycle and his other works have made him one of the best-known fantasy authors in Poland in the 1990s.

The main character of "The Witcher" is Geralt of Rivia, trained as a monster hunter since childhood. Geralt exists in a morally ambiguous universe, yet manages to maintain his own coherent code of ethics. At the same time cynical and noble, Geralt has been compared to Raymond Chandler's signature character Philip Marlowe. The world in which these adventures take place is heavily influenced by Slavic mythology.

In her review of Blood of Elves, Alice Wybrew of Total Sci-Fi writes that "Moving effortlessly between moments of wrought emotion and staggeringly effective action, to lengthy periods of political discussion and war stratagems, Sapkowski addresses every aspect of a good fantasy novel eloquently and with ease. His style reads as easily as David Gemmel, but hits harder and deeper than his late fantasy comrade. Creating a world that is both familiar and comfortable, it is through his inventive use of character manipulation that he generates a new and realistic experience". Alex Jay of Polygon further observes that within Sapkowski's fantasy tales, "there are parallels to the complicated history of ethnic strife and resistance to oppression in Central and Eastern Europe". The depictions of the disputes between nonhumans and humans "echo real-world disputes over territory and citizenship that draw dividing lines according to race, nationality, or ethnicity".