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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury
I fault the translator (and therefore, the editor) for my so-so response to the second novel in Potzsch's series. In The Hangman's Daughter, he creates fairly memorable characters in a relatively uncommon setting; his use of context and detail is meaningful, not heavy-handed, and the story moves along at a good pace. Not so here! After the first 80 pages or so, I simply skimmed to get the gist of the plot. The characters are flat; the prose is mechanical; the dialogue is laughable - all things that I credit to the translator's voice rather than the author's.
Good, but not as fun as the original. Doesn't have me dying for the next one, but I'm not opposed, either.
The Dark Monk is the second story from Oliver Potzsch about Jacob Kuisl--the big, tough, gruff, skilled, and troubled town executioner in the mid-17th century Bavarian town of Schongau. Like the first book, the author has carefully recreated life in the 1600's and woven a cleaver and exiting story into it. In addition to and exciting "who-dun-it" story, you get a compelling and colorful description of customs, superstitions, and politics, and life in general of that time in history. Also like the first book, the title implies the Hangmans Daughter will be the main character--but she is not. She's there, and she actually has a bigger role this time than last, but still the title of the book is weird to me.
I'm not sure how critical I should be with the translation of the book vs the content of the story, because the story is really cool but the translaion is really lame. I kept thinking that it's obvious the book was translated by a non-native english speaker, but I was shocked when I looked Lee Chadeayne up and found him to be a recongized American expert in both history and languages--especially of German and the time period in question. Perhaps there are different strategies to translating, and this translator chose to be quick literal in translating instead of re-writing the story to appeal to American ears.
Luckily the story wins out, and I enjoy the mystery tied to history that this story brings. When the next two books are released in English I'll be reading those too!
Enjoy!
I'm not sure how critical I should be with the translation of the book vs the content of the story, because the story is really cool but the translaion is really lame. I kept thinking that it's obvious the book was translated by a non-native english speaker, but I was shocked when I looked Lee Chadeayne up and found him to be a recongized American expert in both history and languages--especially of German and the time period in question. Perhaps there are different strategies to translating, and this translator chose to be quick literal in translating instead of re-writing the story to appeal to American ears.
Luckily the story wins out, and I enjoy the mystery tied to history that this story brings. When the next two books are released in English I'll be reading those too!
Enjoy!
I found this mystery slightly less engaging than in the first book. But I still loved the book. I adore these characters and am excited to see what happens to them next!
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The 2nd of the Hangman's Daughter series. I enjoy these books but are not favorites. I find the setting and time frame interesting.
The author (at least in the first 2 books of the series) includes too many characters. He also has a bad writing habit of saying things like, "when he looked at the manuscript it all made sense." and then jumping to a different character. Once is OK but there were multiple times I saw this in the book.
I will probably read the third book, but I will give it awhile before I pick it up.
The author (at least in the first 2 books of the series) includes too many characters. He also has a bad writing habit of saying things like, "when he looked at the manuscript it all made sense." and then jumping to a different character. Once is OK but there were multiple times I saw this in the book.
I will probably read the third book, but I will give it awhile before I pick it up.
The ending was a little over the top, but it was an entertaining book.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
I liked this second book in the series better than I did the first one; I think the translation is smoother, and I think it also helped that the characters had more substance behind them from everything that happened in the first book. I still thought the book got too repetitive at times (yes, we get it that Simon and Magdelena aren't supposed to be together, thank you for telling me for the one billionth time) but again, flowed better than the first. I'll continue reading the series and hope they continue improving.
I enjoy any mystery series which incorporates history. I never guessed what was coming.