Enjoy This Cover of the German Edition of The Collapsing Empire
Posted on August 31, 2017 Posted by John Scalzi 16 Comments
Nifty, yeah? I think so too. It comes out on October 5, if you’re in Germany, or just like German translations. I’m happy to say that Bernhard Kempen, who has translated most of my work in German before, is continuing the task here. Since I’ve won awards in Germany, he’s clearly doing an excellent job.
Empire of Streams?
Neat :-)
I like the cover
Like it! In fact, I like it a bit more than the US cover.
“translated from American [language] by Bernhard Kempen”
Too funny.
German title much more fun!
I think the translation of books and their titles into German is one of the less subtle ways of us trying to get even with the allies ;-).
Glad to see it being published locally, but most of your German fans will already have read it in English.
Some years ago I tried to write up my perspective on the German SF&F market for foreign authors in a blog post: http://blog.literarily-starved.com/2014/01/the-german-science-fiction-fantasy-book.html
P.S. There are very good translations, but they are very rare. One very positive example is “The Name of the Wind” from Pat Rothfuss.
Interesting that Fischer, which is a well-regarded publisher with history, uses the Tor label. I hadn’t seen that before; however, I mostly read English-language authors in English (just as Martin hints at).
Love this cover! I’ll be in Germany, but just a few weeks too early to pick up the book! I’ve decided to practice my rusty German by reading fantasy and sci-fi books by authors I enjoy in German. I figure I’ll learn lots of nifty words that they never teach you in German class! Words like spaceship, alien, time warp, singularity, etc. Really useful words. Something besides “This soup is cold!” which is what I remember from my college German class! I plan to pick up lots of books when I am there!
Martin, that blog post was amazing. I was chuckling all the way through.
I don’t care for the image on this cover a much as the American one, but I love the typography.
Bernhard Kempen also translated the Radch trilogy, which is quite complicated with German grammar rules. Nevertheless, I really liked the result.
Trey Goesh: Strom and stream clearly have the same root, but it’s a bit of a false friend. In German a Strom is a major river. Germany has 5: Rhein, Danube, Weser, Elbe and Oder. In the US, you’d probably count the Mississippi, the Columbia, maybe the Hudson and Colorado. The Missouri and Ohio don’t count because they’re tributaries. This is actually not a bad localization for the Flow.
Gorgeous cover! I like it more than the American one.
Ströme could also be translated “flow”, which makes sense for Collapsing Empire.
I keep up with my German by reading titles I enjoy. I’ll add this to the list!
Have you ever wondered about how much a translator must effect your work? The nuances of language and the power of word choice which makes the difference between banal communication and stellar conveyance of sublime ideas has a massive impact. Of course, the skillful translation may also depend on the translators ability to write well naturally. No doubt you have to look far and wide to find the right person for that task!