<P> The Witcher (Polish: Wiedźmin, Polish pronunciation: (ˈvjɛd͡ʑmjin)), by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski, is a fantasy series of short stories and novels about the witcher Geralt of Rivia . In Sapkowski's books, "witchers" are monster hunters who (with training and body modification) develop supernatural abilities at a young age to battle deadly monsters . The books have been adapted into a film, a television series, video games, and a graphic novel series . The series of novels is known as the Witcher Saga . The short stories and novels have been translated into numerous languages, including English . </P> <P> The books have been described as having a cult following in Poland, Ukraine, Russia, other Central and Eastern European countries . </P> <P> The Witcher short stories were first published in Fantastyka, a Polish science fiction and fantasy magazine, beginning in the mid-1980s . The first short story, "Wiedźmin" ("The Witcher") (1986), was written for a contest held by the magazine and won third place . The first four stories dealing with the witcher Geralt were originally featured in a 1990 short - story collection entitled Wiedźmin--now out of print--with "Droga, z której się nie wraca" ("The Road With No Return"), which is set in the world before the Witcher stories and features Geralt's mother to be . </P> <P> The second published short - story collection was Miecz przeznaczenia (Sword of Destiny). Although Ostatnie życzenie (The Last Wish) was published after Sword of Destiny, it replaced The Witcher as the first book since it included all the stories in The Witcher except "The Road With No Return" (the only story without Geralt). Although new short stories were added to The Last Wish, they took place before those in Sword of Destiny . </P>

When did the first witcher book come out