The book has been translated into Czech, Russian, Lithuanian, German, Italian, Spanish, Bulgarian, Serbian and French with a Finnish translation coming in 2011. It has not been translated into English and there are no plans to do so to date. The publisher of the English edition of the Witcher books decided to skip Miecz przeznaczenia and publish Blood of Elves (the first novel in the Witcher saga) directly after The Last Wish, even though the short stories in this collection take place earlier and introduce some of the characters that become major characters in the novels.
That is what i got when i was browsing through the web http://witcher.wikia.com/wiki/Sword_of_Destiny
It could be that it takes a quite a while before the translation is out. Sorry i couldn't of been more helpful
That is what i got when i was browsing through the web http://witcher.wikia.com/wiki/Sword_of_Destiny
It could be that it takes a quite a while before the translation is out. Sorry i couldn't of been more helpful
JCJensen said:
It's planned for 2012, I'd rather sword of destiny was out before that though.
In regards to "The Sword of Destiny the publisher claims that no one buys or like to read short stories, and the only reason The Last Wish sold well is because of the First Witcher game. Hopefully someone else gets the rights to this series cause these guys suck, and I doubt an English translation for the series will be done by 2025.
Rindill said:
You could probably learn to read Polish before an official translation comes out None has been announced, and mainstream publisher interest is dangerously close to nil.
You'll have better luck following the fan translation work in progress: see http://en.thewitcher.com/forum/index.php?/topic/20967-our-community-fan-translations/
Meh.. I wouldn't count so much about "professionality" in this case, unless we speak about Danùsia Stok. I mean: some "so called" trasnlator really need to learn the job, believe me. My last bad experience has been with Pratchett's translation.Songlian said:
Anyway, also I would consider the fact that fan translations are made for free, or just for the good of the community. These people here has given all their free time for that. And since they're Polish, I'm quite sure they did their best.
Rindill said:
In most countries people have to learn at least one other foreign language, mostly English. Isn't there such an education in English spoken countries? Look at the variety of already available languages: Polish, Czech, Russian, Lithuanian, German, Italian, Spanish, Bulgarian, Serbian, French, Finnish.
Isn't it possible to read the books in one of these languages?
ArisT4 said:
In US public schools, they usually don't start teaching a foreign language until the students are around 12 years old (which completely misses the time period when it's easiest to learn new languages). I sat through four years of Spanish and got good grades on all the exams, but what they taught me isn't enough to actually read a book in Spanish (or even hold a conversation for that matter). I hate the way the public schools are run here.
Anyhow, the fan translation of Sword of Destiny was quite good so I'm happy with it (although I'll gladly buy an official translation if it ever comes out).
ArisT4 said:
I can't speak for Americans, but as a Brit, the level of study for an average student in French, which was the "mandatory" 2nd-language when I went to school, probably isn't enough to read a full novel, and an awful lot of Brits promptly forget the whole thing within a year of leaving school. I studied French until I was 18, and could probably have managed to read them then (I read other novels in French), but I doubt if I still could, and it wouldn't be very enjoyable. The only person in my family who I think could read them is a niece who lived in France for a few years.
Unless the person concerned is either interested in foreign languages, or needs to keep up a 2nd language because of their lifestyle, I'd say the answer is no, it probably isn't possible. One of the down-sides of being native in the "international" English language.
But I'm going to add my recommendations to the fan-translations. I've read all except the most recent, and they really are well done. I can't speak for how well they follow the originals, but I've no reason to think there are errors, and they're as good as a professional version as far as the English is concerned.
Fuzzmandude said:
Aww I love the short story style of The Last Wish, but then again I love short stories in general.
ArisT4 said:
You must be joking. Polish is one of the most difficult languages out there. You need a shitload of patience to learn it, not to mention pronunciation.
If anyone wishes for it to be released in English you could always add your vote to the petition
http://www.petitiononline.com/GvR066kf/petition.html
http://www.petitiononline.com/GvR066kf/petition.html