Jonathan Palfrey
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Although I highly appreciate some of your Vorkosigan novels, on the whole I tend to prefer the World of the Five Gods—perhaps partly because it’s so European (apart from its theology, which I actually prefer to Christianity). Out of curiosity, I just checked, and in this world you never use the expression “freshen up”, which seems to appear without fail in the works of most American authors. Congratulations?
Lois McMaster Bujold
...Is "freshen up" not a term/polite euphemism used in Europe?
Or just medieval Europe.
Technically, none of the 5GU characters are speaking any our-Earth languages, so there ought to be some elbow room in pretend-translation by the Author. But I do try to comb out metaphors, anachronisms, and terms based on technologies that don't exist there. (I really miss being able to use "download" and "upload" when discussing demons and souls.) This gets fuzzy when one gets to words like "sanguine" or "melancholic", or "born under a bad star" based off medical and other theories that never existed in the 5GU, but deeply embedded in standard English. (The 5GU also happily free of bleeding and cupping as medical practices, and have discovered hand-washing centuries early, from dreams from their Mother goddess demanding they Wash Up First.)
Though I'm sure they have their own astrology and alchemy at this point, accurate observation with gonzo theories developed to account for them.
(And word echoes. I spend so much time in revisions playing whack-a-mole with word echoes.)
Ta, L.
...Is "freshen up" not a term/polite euphemism used in Europe?
Or just medieval Europe.
Technically, none of the 5GU characters are speaking any our-Earth languages, so there ought to be some elbow room in pretend-translation by the Author. But I do try to comb out metaphors, anachronisms, and terms based on technologies that don't exist there. (I really miss being able to use "download" and "upload" when discussing demons and souls.) This gets fuzzy when one gets to words like "sanguine" or "melancholic", or "born under a bad star" based off medical and other theories that never existed in the 5GU, but deeply embedded in standard English. (The 5GU also happily free of bleeding and cupping as medical practices, and have discovered hand-washing centuries early, from dreams from their Mother goddess demanding they Wash Up First.)
Though I'm sure they have their own astrology and alchemy at this point, accurate observation with gonzo theories developed to account for them.
(And word echoes. I spend so much time in revisions playing whack-a-mole with word echoes.)
Ta, L.
More Answered Questions
Catherine Nemeth
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
In “The Assassins of Thesalon” Methani was unwillingly sundered and Penric thinks Tronio is likely to be as well since Tronio hasn’t accepted he did anything wrong. That implies if Tronio realizes & accepts he’s displeased the gods he might escape sundering? Or is he too “spoiled” to be accepted by a god in the short time before he’s executed? How does one become “unspoiled”, a lifetime of good works or another way?
Mitali
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Does the Duchy of Orbas correspond to a specific real-world place? I have asssumed it to be vaguely based on the various Balkan countries, positioned as it is to the south of Cedonia, which appears to be based on Greece (in your inverted version of Europe). Do you have a more specific inspiration for Orbas? And ditto for the city of Vilnoc?
Chris Phoenix
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
A PG-rated version of Sharing Knife would be readable by any kid who could handle (for example) Wings of Fire. I'm reading large excerpts to my kid already (and Knife Children unedited). She especially likes the malice-kill scenes. Would you consider producing such a thing? I'd buy it, and I suspect I'm far from the only parent who would.
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