don't be dull, be fannish

In the end, I was offered enough money from my acquaintance that I accepted his job offer. And today, I spent an hour tearing my hair out, trying to figure out how to translate terms like "approach point" and "go around" etc. into Czech. It's all from aviation and though I know what it MEANS, I can't figure out how it's said in Czech, since these are all special terms! Like, dude, it took me over an hour to translate two frickin' paragraphs about a plane landing in a snow storm. It had nothing to do with the plot, the author was just trying to be clever and an hour of my life, gone!

I've been in Prague these last few days, interpreting for the German fantasy author Markus Heitz at the Prague Book Fair. And the perfect way to describe my trip would be by citing one of Murphy's Laws: If something can go wrong, it will. Jesus Christ! We were so lucky that Markus Heitz has an incredible sense of humor *head/desk*

I also fell hard for Lucifer, the TV show, and already have seen 1/3 of the first season. Nice!

And I also found out that Castle was canceled. I don't say it often, but, THANK THE GODS ABOVE! If they continued it without Beckett, it would've destroyed the whole soul of the show, so... phew!

Did you know that there will be Resident Evil and The Mortal Instruments TV shows? Link. I hope they will recast TMI, all of the characters but Godfrey Gao as Bane, he was amazing. The rest of the cast can go.

Oh, and speaking of Resident Evil, apparently, I will continue translating the series by S.D. Perry. The first book is selling surprisingly well here. Interesting.

#37 "Perfect Day" by Josh Lanyon

♥ ♥ ♥

Sweet little story but rather predictable if you are familiar with Josh Lanyon's writing. He can do better.

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#38 "The Pirate King" by R.A. Salvatore

♥ ♥

Basically, the bad guys win at everything, the good guys lose everything and a bunch of them dies, too. If this is your cuppa, good for you. I hated it. It felt like an exercise in futility, a train-wreck in slo-mo. Call me naive but I want my heroes to prevail and win despite all the odds stacked up against them. I don't want to feel drained, depressed and even irked or annoyed once I finish a book.

And that's exactly how I felt when I finished this one. I kept asking myself, why didn't Maimun go to Deudermont, why didn't he tell him that the high captains were behind the chaos in the streets once he found out just how twisted their plan was? Maimun's tears were really pretty - and really useless at the end. Why didn't Drizzt open his frickin' mouth to tell them that it was rothé meat and Dark Realms mushrooms? That meant that drows were involved! That might have given a pause even to a man as pig-headed as Deudermont!

Frustrated, angry, dissatisfied, discontent. That's how I felt when I finished this story. I give it 2 stars only because I liked Drizzt and Regis traveling through the Tyria together.

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#39 "Ouran High School Host Club #1" by Bisco Hatori

♥ ♥ ♥

A funny commentary on the crazy parts of the otaku culture. A bit too crazy for my liking - in that regard it reminded of Gravitation - but since I already watched the anime and I'm aware of what's to come - more or less - I know it's worth sticking around.

The Czech Academy of Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction nominated my translation of Patricia Briggs’ “Frost Burned” for Best Translation of 2013! Woohoo!

I don’t expect to win, though. And no, that’s not false modesty. There are works in my category whose authors have been nominated several times in a row already and one of the women is seriously ill, so I think they will give it to her. But I don’t mind, even the nomination makes me very happy :)

"The Path of Anger: The Book and The Sword 1" by Antoine Rouaud

Rating: ♣ ♣

Unsatisfying. That would be my one word description: unsatisfying.

The heroes were quite unlikable - they were either blind fools, people ruled entirely by their emotions or vicious schemers - but most disappointing was how it all turned out. I expected some kind of catharsis, at least someone getting what they wanted. But there wasn't any satisfying revenge, no comeuppance... And I could've accepted that if their plans imploded because of an outside force they had no way of influencing, but no, they disintegrated because of their own stupidity, incompetence, recklessness and blindness. Especially Laerte annoyed the heck out of me, he went from a spoiled, hormonal brat to an angry, hormonal murderer with no regards for other people, their lives, safety and plans. What a selfish dick. The only characters I rooted for were Aladzio and De Page.

Disappointing...

"Frost Burned (Mercy Thompson #7)" by Patricia Briggs

Rating: ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣

I bawled like a little kid. I couldn't believe that Briggs did that, that she killed off that character. Why? Just... WHY?! I cried so hard my head started hurting. She really knows how to tug at your emotions. I remember that the ending of the first book made me cry just as hard...

I really liked this book, I liked that Kyle and Tad played much bigger parts than ever before. Kyle and Warren have always been my favorite couple in the series. I root for them like crazy. My second favorite couple was... well, the one that was destroyed in this book, hence my tears. Seriously, authors shouldn't do that to their readers!

Still, as much as I loved the book, I couldn't give it five stars because it felt too wordy in some places, like the characters' thoughts ran in circles. But it was definitely better than the previous one because the pack was much more involved in what was happening.

"Shadow's Lure (Shadow Saga #2)" by Jon Sprunk

Rating: ♣ ♣

I liked the first book, I liked the development the characters, Caim and Josey, went through. But this one? What happened?! Since this books has two separate storylines, Caim's and Josey's, let's take first one, then the other.

So, Caim. Good grief! Caim has never been a bundle of joy but in this book, he's all doom and gloom and coldness and annoyance. And stupidity. God, for an assassin, the guy is as dumb as a bundle of sticks. He kills a deer and leaves the carcass lying right next to his camp - of course he's attacked by a bear, what did he expect? And the rebellion! He lead two - 2! - attacks and both of them went awry! Why exactly did the outlaws think he was a good leader? And his relationship with Kit - the whole first book he talked about how they were just friends, that he didn't understand why she wanted more - and suddenly, he's in love with her? Out of the blue? Just like that? Seriously, buddy, a month or two ago you were smitten with Josey - and now you tell me that suddenly you've fallen in love with a woman whom you considered just a friend your whole life? Try something else! Also, Kit? What an annoying character! Never there when you actually need her.

And Josey. A crowned queen, yet she still thinks more about Caim and where he is and why he left her than about solving her country's problems! No wonder the Church almost managed to wrestle the throne from her! And her pregnancy. She has unprotected sex with a guy and then is surprised when she ends up pregnant? And how exactly does she plan to explain it to her subjects? Immaculate conception? Is she really that naive that she thinks her ministers will allow her to marry and ex-assassin? An ex-assassin who ran for the hills and haven't been heard of since, to boot? For an unwed queen to end up pregnant, that's more than a little problematic. But does she actually bother to try and find a solution? Of course not!

God! It feels like the whole character development that was actually headed somewhere in book 1 went completely out of the window and the author just twisted the characters to fit the plot as it suited him. Josey's story didn't annoy me as much as Caim's, still... I expected much, much more!

"Assassin's Creed: Revelations (Assassin's Creed #4)" by Oliver Bowden

♦ ♦ ♦

Oliver Bowden still isn't a master writer but he knows his history, that's true. Ezio meets so many historically important people, like Prince Suleiman or his father Selim, it's just too bad that Bowden doesn't know how to utilize what he knows so well right.

In this book, both Ezio's and Altaïr's story reach their closure. And I admit freely that despite not feeling much affection for Ezio, I cried at the end. For the first time while reading an "Assassin's Creed" story, Bowden managed to bring me to tears. Maybe he is getting better at writing after all. For that, I'm giving this book 3 stars.

"Ghosts of Ascalon (Guild Wars #1)" by Matt Forbeck & Jeff Grubb

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

3.5 stars. Based on the Guild Wars RPG. And much better written than, for example, "Assasssin's Creed" by Oliver Bowden. The characters are funny, intelligent and capable, and as a reader, I liked spending time in their company. It was an easy read that gave you the good feeling of time well spent. I also liked how the authors handled exposition, making the characters tell each other stories during their march to Ascalon City. I wouldn't mind visiting them again. Well done, Mr. Forbeck and Mr. Grubb, well done.