Delighted to announce that two new translated editions of The Blade Itself have been published over the last week, one from Arqueiro in Brazil, where it’s called “O poder da espada”:
And a Hebrew edition from Opus Publishing in Israel, where it’s called, and forgive my accent, “HaLahav Atzmo”:
Weird and wonderful to think of this book being published for the first time to readers in those countries. The original UK publication of The Blade Itself feels pretty remote to me (4th May 2006 in the UK, over 7 years ago), and there are now some 26 translation deals under more than a dozen different titles. I guess I need to get used to the idea that I’m not really a hot new author any longer.
Except maybe in Brazil and Israel…
15 comments so far
Nah…
You have until 2027 before that wears off… at least until the next batch of readers and the books are seen as “published around the time they I was born”… or something in that regards. 😛
That’s still my favorite depiction/painting of Logan, and how I picture him. Not Conan or the hulk (see drawing of lamb with shy) but a regular dude just tall and solid as wood. Like a lumberjack.
I read the book in hebrew and enjoyed so much, funny to know that it’s been around for 6 year XD
Well done, Joe. You must feel very proud.
I Just wanted to add that I’m struggling to find any books to read (I just stopped reading a book about vikings vs zombies for goodness sake), so if you could get those creative juices flowing again it would be very much appreciated!
Are there any plans to see translations for “Best Served Cold” and “Red Country” also?
That Brazilian cover is very nice. Like the classic original parchment style, with a twist!
Read the book in Hebrew and loved it! Can’t wait to see any more of your books in my language.
In case you’re wondering, the brazilian title literally means “the power of the sword”. Can anyone tell what the hebrew title says?
Here in Portugal the book was translated as: “A Lâmina”, which means: “The Blade”.
Could be worse. But the translation of the book itself was pretty shitty. The translator seemed to have a real problem with the adverb “fucking”. I understand that it’s a very difficult word to translate to Portuguese, but he really did an awful job; in more than one occasion he just flat out removed the word.
I’m sticking to the originals.
trust me,in Israel you are still a hot new author. The title is an exact translation.
Iangr,
Lots of different translation deals around the world at lots of different stages, some have bought batches, some have bought a book at a time, sometimes the standalones have gone to other publishers. I believe Israel and Brazil there are deals for the trilogy, nothing further, at this stage. Doesn’t mean they won’t go further in due course if they work out, though.
Mario,
Someone emailed me about a very similar situation with the Russian translation. Every language has slightly different attitudes to the swearing, and I think the tendency is that everything will always move in a slightly more conservative, less risky direction. Just the way it is, and slightly disappointing from my point of view, since the idea with these books was always to be raw and honest in the language. Impossible to second guess the translation unless you speak the language very well, though, and I speak only English. Got to trust the publishers.
Do the translators ever come back and ask you about the tone? Or why characters talk and act the way they do?
I can see pitfalls everywhere… Like making Logan more educated than he is, or make Bayaz a bad guy, or a good guy, rather the indifferent megalomaniac genius that he is.
Dangerboy,
When translators get in touch with me it’s usually about details, often to do with words that aren’t necessarily English words but ones I’ve more or less invented, or about names. Names that mean something in English, like Ninefingers and Shivers seem to cause particular trouble. Use the English name, or translate them although it might produce something that doesn’t ‘sound’ right.
Estou terminando a leitura de “O Poder da Espada” e estou fascinado! O livro é incrível! Mal posso esperar pela publicação do livro 2 aqui no Brasil! The First Law is amazing! I’ve loved it! Congrats Joe!
Hey, Joe if ever you think about translating the first law trilogy into french i’d be more than happy to assist 🙂 i loved the books and would be happy to be a part of sharing that with everyone else
if you would like to contact me you can catch me on
tourbillonscope@gmail.com
-message to trolls: its a one time account so don’t bother