I played the games first, but immediately went for the books when I finished. I think they’re fantastic, and I hope anyone who’s unhappy about Cavill leaving the show reads them to find out why he wasn’t happy.

As far as fantasy series go, the Witcher is most certainly not underrated. As others have pointed out, it is one of the most financially successful fantasy series of all time. Maybe the most successful one that was not originally written in English.

I think the point you’re circling around is that books themselves are criminally underappreciated as a medium. Comparing ASOIAF to the GoT show, clearly more people are engaged with the series that have never picked up one of the novels. Many speculate that might be a huge reason why GRRM might never finish—I imagine he’s earning much more money and acclaim through HBO than he ever did through publishing books.