The Russian translation of Gilfeather (Book Two of the Isles of Glory) is out…in, well, I suppose Russia.
I know this because I found an online site advertising it. They have the blurb up too. So, of course, I babelfished. And found out that in Russian, it is apparently called…
The Babelfish doesn’t do too well with the translation, I fear, because the blurb supposedly says the story “takes place in the archipelago, populated by eleven people” and is all about whether “naemnitsa Bleyz force, which has donated confrontation magic, and her satellites – printsessa-koldunya and fats izgnannik-ubiytsa – time combat forces and Light, and with the strength Tmy? Read the second book of fascinating fentezi-sagi author of “Star of Hope”.
Yes, quite.
Now I know I tend not to write trilogies that have a cast of thousands, preferring rather to dig deep into the psyche of fewer characters, but a whole world with only eleven people? That’s a bit extreme, even for me. And I’m blessed if I remember calling any character “fats izfnannik-ubiytsa”.
I quite like being referred to as a “fascinating fentezi-sagi author” though. It has a certain ring to it, don’t you think?
Update: Thanks to Tsana I have a better translation (see the comments section) and a better pix (see above). I am still trying to work out just who those two guys on the cover are and where they are off to…they look like they just stepped out of a Miles Vorkosigan novel…
And thanks to you, Tsana – I have just discovered that for the first time anywhere, my NAME is larger than the book title!! Wow, I must be doing ok in Russia! As the Russians don’t pay me any royalties, but make an outright purchase of Russian rights, I never have the slightest idea of what the print run is, or how many they sell.
Dear Glenda, how very funny!!! It’s not so far off the general ‘ haze’ of evil, but 11 people?? Not a very big population!!!
Glenda, if you can bring a copy of that text to Melbourne, I can ask my stepfather if Babelfish got it right. Only if you want to, though – I rather like the version of things you have right now :).
And we’re on a panel together!!!
After a bit of Russian googling, I found a better cover art http://www.ozon.ru/multimedia/books_covers/1000532649.jpg from ozon.ru (ozon.ru is the Russian equivalent of Amazon, as far as I can tell)
Also, if you would like a more sensible translation of the blurb (or at least the blurb they give there), here goes:
The Scent of Evil
(from the series “Age of the Dragon” which is a bit of a stretch from “Isles of Glory”… As far as I can recall there was a grand total of ZERO dragons in the trilogy.)
A world of islands, whose peoples never mix with each other…
A world of tiny kingdoms, constantly forming alliances and waging wars…
A world in which for many centuries there were two schools of magic – the Silv, who believe that magic should only be used for good and the Dun, who commune with the darker side of magic. Until recently the two sides believed that a tenuous peace was better than a good fight… But now, on the distant island of Gorthan, Grand Master Dun-mage Morthred gains power and dreams of ruling over all the islands, however, in the middle archipelago, the Silv-magi who call themselves the Keepers are gaining strength and also dream of power.
While Morthred lives, while the Keepers are powerful, there will not be peace. But will the mercenary Blaze, who has been gifted with protective magic, and her off-siders – the princess-enchantress and the cursed, banished murderer – simultaneously slay the forces of light and the powers of evil?
Read the second book of the fascinating fantasy-saga from the author of ‘Havenstar’*
Well… that was… interesting. Not quite how I remember the book being in English.
*The Russian title for “Havenstar” translates as “Star of Hope”
Thank you, Tsana – that’s lovely of you. Although I think Smell Evil was a more fun title – Lol!
I think the Age of the Dragon refers to the imprint or something similar, not the name of the trilogy because the other site I checked definitely said the trilogy was called Isles of Fame.
Hey, now I can see my name is bigger than the title! I’ve made it big time in Moscow, eh?
Gillian, I shall sit back in the panel and let you tell everyone how it REALLY was back then, while I occasionally interject to say, “Ah, but I write fiction!” Why do you think I chose that panel? YOur name was already in there! *g*
Pity that you can’t get some sales figures though – if only so you could negotiate a better deal for the next sale of rights, heh.
Fascinating fentezi-sagi author sounds pretty cool to me. :o)
No worries, Glenda, it was fun.
You’re right about the Age of the Dragon. Having followed it’s little link, it looks like it’s the imprint. You’re in good company with them too – quite a few other big shot western names popped up. 😉