Squids — In — Spaaaaaace!
From the Cyrillic side of the planet, the cover art for the Russian edition of Blindsight:
Yes, that is me. I don't know if I'm supposed to be Sarasti, or Keeton, or just the author looming omnisciently over his creation. (My contact at Arabesque tells me that the incorporation of author photos into cover art might be an ongoing element of their sf line). But I think it's kind of cool. Even if those two cratered marbles at center-right don't actually appear in the novel anywhere.
I don't suppose any of you read Russian?
Yes, that is me. I don't know if I'm supposed to be Sarasti, or Keeton, or just the author looming omnisciently over his creation. (My contact at Arabesque tells me that the incorporation of author photos into cover art might be an ongoing element of their sf line). But I think it's kind of cool. Even if those two cratered marbles at center-right don't actually appear in the novel anywhere.
I don't suppose any of you read Russian?
Labels: writing news
posted by Peter Watts at
11:00 PM
12 Comments:
The Theseus looks reasonably on-target.
In soviet Russia, author reads you.
I used to. Barely.
The title is: Lojnaya Slepota, which means False Blindness. The blurbs on are from Charles Stross and Neil Asher.
The rest would take me a while with my dictionary so maybe someone actually fluent will be more help.
The blurb on the back says (idiomatic, imprecise translation):
In the year 2082, humanity has discovered that it is not alone in the universe. Countless probes wrapped the Earth like a glowing spiderweb. The ship Theseus, carrying a hastily assembled team of specialists, has been sent to establish contact with the extraterrestrial civilization. But on reaching their goal, the investigators will find out that the most improbable fantasies about otherworldly minds are nothing compared to the reality, and the fate of Earth and of all humanity will be placed in the balance.
The line on the bottom of the front cover says, "The end of the world happened in 2082. It's just that not everyone understood this."
Hey, the translated title and all that cover text is actually a really decent presentation of the subject! Congratulations, sounds like the Russian edition is a winner!
I wonder if you have noticed that your name is spelled in two different ways: with two 'T's on the front cover and one on the spine. While both ways are OK (double letters in names are often merged during translation into Russian), one thinks they should at least be consistent.
If I didn't know better, I'd think it was a copy of Solaris.
Which makes sense.
If I didn't know better, I would say that the nose on the cover is almost bilaterally simetrical.
If I didn't know better, I would say that the nose on the cover is almost bilaterally simetrical.
That's as opposed to gen-etrical?
Sorry, I, I, I, lost my head there. Blog by sci fi author, spelling that suggested a sci fi reference, I had to take it.
Does Mr. Watts have a non-symmetrical nose in RL? Has he been re-engineered in the service of commerce?
It's not my nose that's asymmetrical, it's my whole damn face. I am banana-headed; one side kinda flat, one side kinda curved. Most people don't notice because I try to keep my face in constant motion, and also I never look at anyone directly face-on. Makes it hard for the casual observer to get a target lock. But man, does it ever show up in my passport photo.
Thankfully, these Russians have effectively masked my asymmetry by the simple expedient on showing only half my face.
Hey, Dan and Meg, thanks for the interpretive assist. I really wasn't expecting anyone out there to rise to the challenge. Maybe my fan base is bigger than I thought.
I should probably do something about that...
Oh! I see it now! In the photo of you hoisting the dark beer back a few entries ago.
You don't look weird or mutant, though. I mean, you've posted several photos of yourself around here, and I'd never noted it. Of course, I don't look at your face up close every morning for shaving purposes, so I'm not as acquainted with your face.
I look at my own face when I wash up for bed, and I think the same thought - how come my eyebrows have not gotten darker at the same rate as my hair? Up close, I can see that my eyebrows are still light brown, with some residual blond, even, but my head hair is now medium brown at the roots. Shouldn't it all go dark at the same rate?
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