Jump to content

Channelknight Fadran

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    21457

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    95

Channelknight Fadran's Achievements

8.7k

Reputation

Single Status Update

See all updates by Channelknight Fadran

  1. Channelknight Fadran

    Things I don't like about Brando Sando:

    (to clarify he still is one of my favorite authors)

    • He's good at wordcraft, but he's no linguist. Whenever I read a fantasy story set in another world without romans in its history, I can only imagine that they aren't speaking english or some other latin-based language... but then sometimes he seems to forgor this. There was a part in Oathbringer (I think) where the MCs were making puns about something, and then in Alloy of Law Marasi literally uses the word "ergo" at some point. Most of the time I'm never bothered by this but the few times these slip-ups occur, it really does drag me out of the story.
    • Some of the climactic stuff is lost on me. Dunno why... maybe I just find them to be too melodramatic? Almost anime-like in its character proportions, so I never feel like I'm connecting well to said characters in their moments of triumph. It's like "I WILL PROTECC" and then BOOM - Stormlight buff. The kinds of ideals that the characters embody seem really beyond the human scale as I understand it, though to be fair that's actually the case with most authors nowadays.
    • Hoid. I don't like Hoid. I stopped liking Hoid when Hoid stopped being a cameo and started being a character. All of a sudden he's a million times more human, and all the magic is gone. What's more, reading his words of wisdom now feel much more arbitrary than they really ought to be.
    • I think that's it
    1. Show previous comments  4 more
    2. DramaQueen

      DramaQueen

      I don't think ergo sounds pretentious, but okay.

    3. Frustration

      Frustration

      Brandon actually has an explanation for the puns and stuff

      Spoiler

      ketsugi

      I'm not terribly fond of puns in fantasy unless the author expects us to believe that the characters are either speaking English or that the language that they are speaking has exactly the same puns.

      Brandon Sanderson

      It's neither one. Generally, the authors you're reading are pretending their books are in translation--and are generally providing an appropriate English pun to convey the tone of the scene. It happens in the real world, too. My books are all in English originally. When my translator for the Taiwanese editions, for example, runs across a pun, she often constructs a pun that works in the context in her language. The actual words are different, but the idea of "This character is making a wordplay quip" remains.

      ketsugi

      Thanks for the reply. One of my favourite things about this subreddit is the interaction with authors.How do you extend this to foreign languages within the world, then? For example, Tolkien's various languages, or the Old Tongue in Wheel of Time. Do we assume that the imaginary translator decided not to translate those phrases? If so, why?Made-up example:

      "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," Tom muttered under his breath.

      As, perhaps, opposed to:

      "This is a truly stupendous event," Tom muttered under his breath, in Poppinish.

      Brandon Sanderson

      The idea is that the imaginary translator (who is basically the author) is trying to preserve the proper tone. Any time one of those phrases is written, the author COULD have just written the translated version. Why didn't they? There are a ton of reasons, but the most likely is to preserve the feeling the characters have in interacting with something they don't understand. This extends to which words we choose to translate even from the world. In Stormlight, I use the word 'havah' for a Vorin dress. Yet I call a coat simply a coat. There's a balance between not overloading the reader and providing setting immersion, and also a distinction between an article of clothing that is meaningful culturally and one that is less so. Being able to make these kinds of decisions is like adding a pinch of exotic spice to your broth, making it a unique and savory experience, and is part of what I love about fantasy over other genres.

      https://wob.coppermind.net/events/188/#e4911

       

       

       

       

       

      Though I agree on Hoid, he was much better as the all knowing trickster.

    4. Szeth Pancakes

      Szeth Pancakes

      I’ve seen that WoB, but I personally disagree. That’s why I like Ann Leckie’s books — she’s super strict with in-world, in-character perspective, and she integrates the foreign language into her worldbuilding, instead of treating it like something to be translated and localized. It’s more work for the reader, but imo the payoff is much better.

      This is just my opinion, though, and I’m aware that most people feel differently about it. Brando isn’t wrong; it’s just subjective.

×
×
  • Create New...