The Witcher of Grand Kiev

The Witcher of Grand Kiev^[1] (Russian: Ведьмак из Большого Киева, romanized: Vedmak iz Bolshogo Kieva) is a series of short stories of the genre of technofantasy (cyberpunk fantasy),^[2] written by Vladimir Vasilyev, a Russian author of Ukrainian origin. It is a parody^[3] of The Witcher Saga of Andrzej Sapkowski, which has the approval of the saga's author.^[4][5]

The Witcher of Grand Kiev

The 2003 edition's cover
Author	Vladimir Vasilyev
Original title	Ведьмак из Большого Киева
Country	Russia
Language	Russian
Genre	Technofantasy (cyberpunk fantasy)
Publisher	AST
Published	1997

In 2003, the literary series was awarded the Golden Caduceus (1st place) by the international fiction festival "Star Bridge" in the nomination "Cycles, series and novels with a sequel".^[6] Also, the titular story "Witcher of Grand Kiev" got in 2000 both prizes of the Urania festival: the Greater Urania from readers and the Lasser Urania from writers.^[7]

Stories

• The Technician of Grand Kiev («Техник Большого Киева», 1997)
• The Witcher of Grand Kiev («Ведьмак из Большого Киева», 1999)
• Duty, Honor and Taimas («Долг, честь и taimas», 2000)
• Price Issue («Вопрос цены», 2001)
• Motherland of Indifference («Родина безразличия», 2002)
• Nanny («Нянька», 2003)
• Artificial Selection («Искусственный отбор», 2003)
• No Past (2006)
• Matador («Матадор», 2007)
• Unscheduled Train («Поезд вне расписания», 2009)
• Witcher's Word («Ведьмачье слово», 2009)
• Colors of the Truce («Цвета перемирия», 2013)
• Very Big Moscow («Очень Большая Москва», 2017)
• Night Sky Herald («Вестник ночного неба», 2022)

World of Grand Kiev

In the universe of stories, the planet Earth, inhabited not only by homo sapiens, collided with a large celestial body.

After the catastrophe, the world is divided into large cities and independent closed autonomous territories between them. Humans, elves, orcs, and other intelligent races coexist relatively peacefully. Magic and science intertwined, living machines appeared, and the leading role in society was taken by "technicians" who have knowledge and skills to handle these machines.

One of megacities under leadership of technicians is Kyiv, which spreads over the entire area of continental Ukraine, bypassing only the Crimea.

Over time, useful living technology began to go out of control: intelligent machines unattended turned into bloodthirsty monsters, elsewhere began to reproduce spontaneously in abandoned factories. The problem became so great that Arzamas-6, a school of witchers, was created. Trained witchers exterminate mechanical beasts for a fee, half of which is given to their training center.^[8][9]

See also

• The Witcher
• Vedmak
• Shadowrun

References

1. Warnke, Agnieszka (2019-10-18). "'The Witcher': The Road From Rivia to Hollywood". Culture.pl. Want to see Geralt wearing jeans, armed with a cell phone and notebook, hunting rebellious robots while riding a taxi? Yes, but only in the cyberpunk world of Vladimir Vasiliev. His Witcher of Grand Kiev also appears in Tales of the Witcher World, a tribute to Sapkowski by Russian and Ukrainian writers.
2. Vasilyev, Vladimir (2002) [1998]. Longneck, Basil Georg; Hrabrov, Max (eds.). "Cyberpunk for Russians and non-Russians". Russian SF&F. Moscow.
3. Владимир Васильев — «Ведьмак из большого Киева» [Vladimir Vasilyev — The Witcher of Grand Kiev]. Миры Анджея Сапковского [Worlds of Andrzej Sapkowski] (in Russian). 2009-01-29.
4. Kovalenko, Valentyna (2014-02-27) [2014]. Будущее, которое уже началось [A future that has already begun] (ZIP, DOC). Відкритий урок: розробки, технології, досвід [Open Lesson: Workouts, Techniques, Experience] (in Russian and Ukrainian). No. 4. «Пересечение с „Ведьмаком“ Сапковского не является случайным. Оно реализуется с согласия его автора Анджея. Автор этого не скрывает». ["The intersection with Sapkowski's The Witcher is not accidental. It is implemented with the consent of its author Andrzej. The author does not hide this".]
5. Tarabanov, Dmitriy (2006-01-13) [2004]. Злой гуманист Владимир Васильев: Интервью с «крёстным отцом» российского киберпанка [Evil humanist Vladimir Vasilyev: Interview with the "godfather" of Russian cyberpunk]. Мир Фантастики [World of Fiction] (in Russian). No. 6.
6. Berdnyk Hromovytsia (2003). Зоряні зустрічі на «Зоряному Мосту» [Star meetings on the "Star Bridge"]. Книжковий огляд [The Book Review] (in Ukrainian). No. 9. Archived from the original on November 28, 2003.
7. Урания [Urania]. Лаборатория Фантастики (in Russian). {{cite book}}: |trans-work= ignored (help)
8. Dobrzyńska, Luiza (September 26, 2012). "Wiedźmin z Wielkiego Kijowa – Wladimir Wasiljew" [The Witcher of Grand Kiev – Vladimir Vasilyev]. Szuflada.net (in Polish). Archived from the original on September 24, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
9. Chubenko, Maryna; Bunetsky, Dmytro (April 14, 2008). На Майдан выйдут монстры-людоеды. Первая компьютерная игра про Киев [Cannibal monsters will come to the Maidan. The first computer game about Kyiv]. Сегодня [The Today] (in Russian).