Just because he could doesn't mean he should.
Spoilers PRM: Ins Herz des Chaos / In the Heart of Chaos by Perplies & Humberg Review Thread
- Thread starter Kertrats47
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I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to use the term "Hobus" for the star that goes supernova since it's sort of become common knowledge for Trekkies (at least that's my impression--after all, I've heard the term myself and am not a comic book reader). I almost forget myself the name was not mentioned in the movie.
At first I thought the books were going to gradually move in line with the Countdown comic based on Data's resurrection and at one point I remember Picard was contemplating life after Starfleet, including as a potential ambassador. I realize now that's not going to happen (which I don't have an issue with). My guess is some of that was either coincidence, or just subtle nods here and there to Countdown. I too agree Geordi designing the Jellyfish didn't make a lot of sense other than just to find a way to get him in the Countdown story. However, I could see potentially something he worked on in the past or a prior design he did being incorporated into the design. That certainly would be possible. But designing the ship himself, no.
I still have to pick up this book. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have picked up the first two had their been no hiatus from Pocketbooks. I decided to take a chance on them here in the US because there was nothing else and I was glad I did. It turned out to be a good story and I am looking forward to seeing the conclusion. It's nice when a novel writer(s) takes something mentioned in an episode of one of the series, however brief, and finds a way to breathe life into it.
That's not entirely true: In fact the trilogy did surprisingly well (compared to other [translated] "Star Trek" novels from Cross Cult). But it was no smashing bestseller. The problem is: Doing original "Star Trek" is much more expensive than translating existing books - at least it was in this case. It is just crazy. (Don't ask for details, because I'm not allowed to tell you more.) So despite selling quite a few copies (printed books, e-books and audiobooks combined), Cross Cult didn't made much money with the project. So "probably never" is still true. It was a birthday present for the German fans - and that's it. (But of course I'm ready for the next adventure, if they are calling in the future. :-) )
Are you still in the translation business? I admire the job of doing a proper translation. Still fighting my way trough English novels (Well of Souls currently). I'm glad I don't have to translate it. But in the end it is important to understand the gist of the matter.
Yes, I'm still doing translations. Not at the moment however. I'm too busy with my (non Star Trek) novels. But I'm looking forward translating some more books in 2019, because from time to time doing something else than writing is a good way to charge one's creative batteries.
Some American readers also discern differences between the novels of British and American Trek authors. I guess this is something I will never properly notice as I'm not a native speaker.
I loved how the characters developed over the course of the three novels. Especially the Andorian chief of security.
M
marlboro
Guest
I can't imagine how difficult it must be to translate an entire book. How do you deal with idioms or word play?
I am a native English speaker. You can tell that I am because my spelling, grammar, and punctuation are terrible.
I am constantly impressed by how well non-native speakers are able to converse on the internet.
I am a native English speaker. You can tell that I am because my spelling, grammar, and punctuation are terrible.
I am constantly impressed by how well non-native speakers are able to converse on the internet.
I can't imagine how difficult it must be to translate an entire book. How do you deal with idioms or word play?
I am a native English speaker. You can tell that I am because my spelling, grammar, and punctuation are terrible.
Well of Souls is full of idioms and a guy in Garrett's crew who has his own difficulties with them. Yep. Sometimes there are idioms which are untranslatable. Then you have to be like the Borg and adapt accordingly....
Exactly. In the end it is more important that you have a translated manuscript that is fun to read than some text that feels forced because you translated it too literally. Of course you should at least try to translate idioms or word play in some way.
Which was my challenge working with your trilogy. I hope I did okay with it.................
M
marlboro
Guest
How are you able to translate accents into a new language? I have a southern accent. I drop the letter g from the end of some words, I end words that end in a long o sound with an "uh" sound, and several other little quirks. How the heck can you translate that into another language?
God help the man who has to translate Cockney rhyming slang.
God help the man who has to translate Cockney rhyming slang.
Generally, you do it based on what the accent is seen to represent culturally. Most languages have accents that are seen as more upper-class and more lower-class, more urban and more rural, that sort of thing. For instance, since the American Southern accent is often perceived as a rural dialect, a Japanese translator might substitute the Touhoku dialect, which is treated as the typical rural accent in Japanese popular culture.
Or it can be a matter of formal vs. vernacular usage. If the characters in the original language are using street slang or teenage slang, then you substitute whatever the cultural equivalent is in the target language. I've been watching some Japanese TV lately where some subtitles were translated with vernacular usages like "ain't," and I figured that the character must've been using sloppy grammar or a street dialect in Japanese. It's not about rendering the specific elisions or pronunciations of a given accent/vernacular, but about finding the cultural equivalent, the one that conveys the same sense of the speaker's social class, regional origin, education, or whatever you're using the accent to represent.
In the Super Sentai series Carranger, which was a comedy season of the franchise, there was a running gag that all aliens mispronounced the Japanese name for "Earth," Chikyuu, as Chiikyu (doubling the length of the first vowel instead of the second). In the ShoutFactory DVD/streaming subtitles, they rendered the mispronunciation as "Earsh." They couldn't directly translate the specific error, so they substituted a different error.
Except for Chekov I don't think that any of the TV Trek main characters kept their accents in the German translation. I always find it funny when people complain about Diana Troi's accent or how English Picard sounds because as a German viewer that totally escapes you. Although we have the benefit of actually correctly pronouncing Picard, without the d at the end.
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Scotty has a pronounced Scottish accent. McCoy and Trip Tucker have Southern US accents. Picard, Troi, Bashir, and Reed have English accents (though Troi's was originally a sort of Greek/English hybrid meant to sound exotically alien). O'Brien has an Irish accent. Georgiou has a Malaysian accent. Voyager is the only show where the entire core cast has American accents, and VGR and Discovery are the only ones where no regular has a British Isles accent.
I'm sorry, I ment to say that none of them had accents in the German dub, of course they have accents in the original.
You can do something about it: listening to Trek episodes in different languages via DVD. I once did it. I was able to understand most of the DS9 episodes. I had difficulties to understand McCoy in TOS episodes. Funnily enough, Scotty was easier to understand. Perhaps I should listen more to the original episodes to find out the different accents @Christopher has just mentioned.
As of now I've watched all of TOS, DSC and ENT in English and German and about half of VGR in English (as well as all in German, same for the other series) and some bits and pieces of DS9 and TNG. TOS was definitely the hardest, although it was also the first Trek series I listened to in English.
I honestly have a lot harder time understanding English Doctor Who than English Trek. It often takes some rewatches and Wiki consulting for me to fully get what the heck is happening, particularly during the Moffat era.