Wednesday 17 August 2016

J. K. Rowling announces three new Harry Potter books!

If you don't know that J. K. Rowling has recently released Harry Potter & the Cursed Child I'm not entirely sure where you've been for these last few months. Yet despite the hype, this has actually proved quite a scandal more than anything because despite there being some Potterheads who are overjoyed at having tickets for the play and getting a chance to sink their teeth into its script, not everyone--myself included--is that pleased. I have no desire to read through a tedious script of nothing but dialogue and I know that others agree, many of whom feel cheated that Rowling didn't release the story as a proper and fully-fledged novel for them.

Yet we don't have to be that disappointed and Pottermore has officially announced that there will be three new books set in the Potter world! I know this has all been very hush hush and I didn't believe it at first either, but the announcement is right here on the Pottermore site!

It looks like each of the new books will be an anthology that explores the mythology surrounding the Harry Potter books and many of the characters that have featured in the core series. What's more Pottermore claims that the three books will be released on 6th September, which is ludicrously soon and will really wet our appetites for the upcoming film, Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them, in November!


2016 is really shaping up to be a good year for Potterheads everywhere and I'm definitely looking forward to the new releases! Are you?

Monday 15 August 2016

Sword of Destiny - Andrzej Sapkowski

RATING: TWO STARS

Geralt of Rivia is a witcher, a man mutated by magic and potions who is as feared by the common folk as much as he is the monsters he hunts. For he is a hunter of great renown, a master swordsman who battles evil in all of its forms. Shunned aside from a small circle of friends, he is forced to take coin for his livelihood and spends much of his life alone, wandering far in search of contracts suited to his skills.

The Good
When I first heard that this was the book that inspired the hit Witcher games, I knew it was going to be good. Those games are epic on consoles and the book gives more of the same. It's full of lore about different beasts and monsters, with Geralt using his preternatural abilities and magic potions to give him a much needed edge over creatures that are vastly stronger and superior in guile and speed.

The short stories of this anthology don't disappoint and are both exciting in their combat and meaningful in their explanation of morality. Simply being a monster doesn't make something evil and men can be every bit as dark despite being part of the human race; it is up to Geralt to decide on what premise he will take a contact.

The Bad
I think the main issues with the book come from its translation. Sapkowski wrote the original version in Polish and I have a feeling that it is a lot better than the English version, if you can read the language. Simply put, the English translation isn't that great. It's not grammatically incorrect to be fair, rather everything has been translated literally. The result of is is incredibly cheesy fantasy dialogue and words the Western World doesn't really use in speech, like 'comrade.' There's nothing wrong with this in the original version since they're the culturally appropriate words, but the translator should have made a bit of effort to use some creative license with his work to make the book seem more relatable. This isn't the only problem as well and the translator hasn't considered the fact that English has far more words in its vocabulary than other languages do, particularly adjectives. This gives authors a chance to really describe subtle differences in movements, colours etc and Sword of Destiny was very bland to read, with brief, unpadded text - again, a bit of creative licence from the translator could have easily remedied this!

Final Thoughts
Overall, Sword of Destiny is a good, exciting read that puts a slightly different spin on 'monster hunting' than many other books do. It's main problem comes from the translation in my opinion, which although can't be faulted from a technical point of view, leaves a lot to be wanted from the prose and is responsible for the book's low rating.