I read a lot of SFF. But thanks to prompt(s) at the Wyrd & Wonder reading challenge, I realized that very few of my SFF reads were published outside of US or UK (and sometimes, Australia, New Zealand). So this week, let’s focus on the more translated SFF works: SFF works that weren’t originally written in English.
Jagannath: Stories by Karen Tidbeck
Tidbeck is a Swedish author. Jagannath means “Lord of the Universe“, and what an aptly hair-raising title for this collection of surreal and unsettling sci-fi stories. The stories are more on the Lovecraft vein, but really, they are “weird in all the right ways“.
Once and Forever by Kenji Miyazawa
Japan is one country which has a thriving SFF tradition, more of the sci-fi and folklore variety. One of my recent favorites was Once and Forever, a thought-provoking and darkly humorous anthology of folktales very different from the usual bag (my review here). And if you’re looking for more Japanese SFF, try out my previous posts here.
Labyrinths: Selected Stories by Jorge Luis Borges
Borges takes a seemingly ordinary puzzle and makes something extraordinary out of it: the eerie working of dreams, secrets and miracles, the tricky principles of greater good, and the possibility of parallel worlds. Every single story by this Argentine author left me in a labyrinth of thought and marvel.
Master and the Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
I haven’t read the book, so here I’m talking about the Russian TV show adaptation. The premise is that Russia has given up on God, and the Devil has come down to wreak havoc. But two people put up a brave fight: the Master who wrote a novel about Pontius Pilate (and his conversations with Jesus of Nazareth), and his Margarita, a good woman with a spine of steel.
Wizard of the Crow by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o (or James Ngugi)
This book’s been on my TBR since it won the the 2008 Tähtifantasia Award. Ngugi has been exiled from Kenya for his “disruptive” works. This book, written in the Gikuyu language, is a satire about autocracy and “the eternal, essential, human folly … reincarnated on African soil.“
Graphic Novel for Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb
I only recently got to know that ‘L’Assassin Royal‘ is a series of 10 graphic novels based on the Farseer trilogy. Each volume is apparently 48 pages, bite-sized, and with gorgeous artwork. But it’s in French (and also in Dutch), and has never been translated to English. Why, oh why?
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
Ken Liu translated this from Chinese to English. Earth is about to be invaded by a bunch of desperate aliens. Will we be able to solve for the three-body problem in time? Yes, the subject-matter is a bit intimidating, and the audiobook has been sitting on my shelf since ages.
The Carpet Makers by Andreas Eschbach
Another scifi book that I’ve heard amazing things about, but I’m also wary of. This one’s from Germany, about the carpet-makers who weave out human hair into the fates of the world. This looks to be one of those semi-tragic and philosophically wise heavy-hitters.
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Who hasn’t heard of Coelho? The Universe has already laid the fertile ground with enough omens and signs, we need to just stay alert and listen with our heart’s eyes. I hadn’t known earlier that this was translated from Spanish to English, and it comes pretty close to translated SFF.
The Thousand and One Nights/ Arabian Nights
This is probably the most obvious book in this list. The stories are set in the Middle Ages of the Persian Empire. But these were actually compiled in multiple countries and languages. The name only comes from the Arab traders of 8th Century who carried the stories worldwide. We’re talking about stories that are more than 1300 old — and still in circulation!
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind
Again, I’ve only seen the movie adaptation of this book in German (and set in France). For Jean-Baptiste— a boy abandoned by his mother, ill-treated by the orphanage, and boycotted like a leper by his colony— life has never been about love, but only about an obsession with ‘smell’. He sets out to create a perfume to rule all.
Dictionary of the Khazars by Milorad Pavić
This is an imaginary retelling of the knowledge of the Khazars, who lived beyond Transylvania in the 7th-9th centuries. It’s like a dictionary in the Serbian language, with entries featuring “… unruly wise men, poison ink, suicide by mirrors, a chimerical princess, a sect of priests who can infiltrate one’s dreams… romances between the living and the dead“. It also has separate “male” and “female” versions to add to the mystery.
Interested in more Translated SFF works? Book Riot has an excellent list here. And always happy to learn of fresh suggestions!
23 replies on “Foreign & Translated SFF Works: A Rec List”
These are all unfamiliar to me except The Alchemist. And I’d love to read that one because I enjoyed the author’s novel The Spy. Have you read it? It’s about Mata Hari. 🙂
I’ve seen photos of Mata Hari, but never read any book about her. Interesting, I wonder what spin Coelho has given the legemd
The Three-Body Problem is the one on this list that most intrigues me. 🙂
It’s part of a 3-book series, and the first book was the first Asian book to ever win a Hugo. Definitely one of the must-reads.
This is a great list! I’ve heard of some of them and have read The Alchemist and The Three-Body Problem. Personally, I didn’t care for The Alchemist much, it seemed like it was trying too hard. But The Three-Body Problem wasn’t as difficult in audio form as I had feared! Luke Daniels did a great job narrating, and I enjoyed it more than I had expected to.
That’s a good description of The Alchemist, it does feel that it was “trying too hard” to show we only have to listen to our intuition etc. But I remember how popular it was when the translation had come out!
Thanks also for talking about the audiobook for Three Body Problem, that sounds promising, and I really need to get back to it.
I saw enjoy Cixin Liu’s last 2 books, I definitely need to try this one!
The Master and the Margarita is not at all a SF, it’s really good, it’a actually a satirical analysis of the Communist regime – be sure to read it in the edition where you have tons of footnotes and backnotes, to really understand what this is about.
I have added Kenji Miyazawa to my TBR. And I loved this one by Borges decades ago, definitely an author I wand to revisit.
Thanks for an awesome post, though always dangerous to my TBR, lol
You’re right – Master and Margarita is not really SFF. But I guess that leads to that whole debate about magical realism being seen as literature, whereas the rest of SFF being looked down upon. Curious to know how the boundaries are drawn. I loved the scenes in the show with Pontius Pilate, I do want to know how they are described in the book!
I read The Alchemist and Perfume. The Alchemist has to be one of the most overrated books in the universe. Pop psychology, dumbed down. I really, really didn’t like that one. But I think I‘m in the minority with that opinion. The Perfume is pretty good—it<#s almost required reading when your mother tongue is German… and Three Body Problem is on my TBR pile.
As for comics—there are many really excellent Bandes Dessinées to be had, if you can manage to work through the French. Long history of excellent graphic novels in that country. Which makes me think—in what language was The Incal originally written?
Ups, typo, sorry. Btw, just noticed that you wrote about The Perfume being French. Süßkind is German… funny, had to look that up, I thought he was Swiss…
You’re right, the translation was from German to English. I meant, the book was set in France 😂 I think I should clarify that in the post.
I’m very low on comics/ graphic novels language, esp. when it’s in French — so that bit flew over my head! I’m going to have to check on both Bandes Dessinees and Incal.
But hands-down agreed on Alchemist. “Pop psychology, dumbed down”. I love how you sum up books. 🙂 I remember all that hype and then I read it… and I was like: wait, this was it?!
I really need to explore more translated works, especially SF. The Japanese stories are one I want to check out further…
I had no idea about the Farseer series- the art you shared is great. I am discovering so many French- Belgian GN series that I love but had no idea about this one. Will definitely check it out, I loved those books.
I read some Reddit posts which mentioned the Farseer graphic novels. My knowledge of French is so poor that it’s non-existent. But apparently, the artwork is so lovely and expressive that you’d be able to understand the tale anyways…
I confess I’ve been tempted to get a few French comics that haven’t been translated yet in the hope that I’d be able to follow the story enough through the art… 🙂
Hi Lex! Love this post. Is SFF Science Fiction F?? What what?
Some great books on here. I read a lot of translations, probably because I’m first language Afrikaans. But if a book is translated into Afrikaans and there is an English one available, I’ll still rather read the English on. Original Afrikaans books are great, but most translations lack a bit for me. Very unique little language we have.
Hope you had a good weekend!
*Grins*. SFF for Science Fiction and Fantasy — and of course, the fancier word these days is “speculative fiction”. On Afrikaans, if you find any SFF works that have been translated from Afrikaans to English, please please pass them on my way. I want to expand my reading base!
Bookmarking this, I always keep wanting to read more translated SFF but I so rarely come across it, it doesn’t seem to float to the top of my mind very often.
Absolutely. I have read a bit of Japanese SFF, but not so much of the other countries. Foreign SFF traditions deserve more encouragement. 🙂
Sometimes it can be hard to find translated SFF! I guess a lot of the Japanese books are technically fantasy as weird things happen in them.
I loved Vita Nostra which is Ukrainian, and i need to try out more of their books.
I remember Vita Nostra from when it had originally come out. Am I imagining things, or was it also supposed to have a “bittersweet”/ tragic ending? I think I may have put it off for that reason… I certainly didn’t remember it was a translated work — thanks for adding to the list!
What an interesting list of books! I’ve read Perfume many years ago and thought it was amazing. I have read several Coelho books but not The Alchemist! While I don’t read a lot of SFF, I think I’d love to try some in translation.
I hope you’ll also watch the movie for Perfume. The cinematography is so beautiful, I kept thinking about it for days afterwards!