Ook Club #4 – Reading Videogames in Translation

We’re back! Things have been…not entirely normal this first part of the year, but we’re happy to be back with another episode of Ook Club. This episode Liz and Ben discuss what they’ve been reading (and playing), answer the last of your questions – please send us some more! – and play a “podcard” from listener and fellow podcaster Sven Uckermann, who teaches us the ins and outs of the Discworld’s translation into German.

If you want to send us questions, get in touch via email at chat@pratchatpodcast.com, ask in the #ook-club channel in our Discord (available to $5+ supporters), or get in touch on social media using the hashtag #PratchatOokClub.

Ow Notes

  • Ben mentioned Bearded Dragons and Blue Tongue Lizards, which are both totally real and delightful non-lethal Australian animals.
  • We mentioned these videogames:
    • Mortal Kombat XL (the deluxe version of Mortal Kombat X)
    • Super Smash Bros Ultimate
    • Pikmin
    • Animal Crossing New Horizons
  • Liz has been or will be reading:
    • Shirl by Wayne Marshall
    • Miss Marple mysteries, in particular The Thirteen Problems, by Agatha Christie
    • The Adversary by Ronnie Scott
    • After the Count by Stephanie Convery
    • White Noise by Don Delilo
    • Where the Truth Lies by Karina Gilmore
  • Doom Coalition is part of Big Finish Productions‘ ongoing Eighth Doctor Adventures series. The early stories are mixed in with those of other Doctors, so a good starting point is Blood of the Daleks, which introduces companion Lucie Miller. She sticks around for four great seasons, which are followed by the mini-series Dark Eyes, Doom Coalition, Ravenous and Stranded, in that order.
  • Ben has been or will be reading:
    • The October Man by Ben Aaronovitch (a standalone novella in the Rivers of London series)
    • Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (Illuminae Files #3)
    • Prisoncorp by Marlee Jane Ward (Welcome to Orphancorp #3)
    • The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman (The Book of Dust #2)
    • Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
    • The Massacre of Mankind by Stephen Baxter
    • Terra Nullius by Claire Coleman
  • We talk about The Long Earth in #Pratchat31, “It’s Just a Step to the West“.
  • The 100 Story Building livestreams can be found on their Facebook page.
  • We talked about Pyramids in #Pratchat5, “Ten Points to Viper House“, with Richard McKenzie.
  • Sven sent his podcard in after #Pratchat23, “The Music of the Nitt” (Maskerade) and we featured an excerpt from it as a footnote in #Pratchat24, “Arsenic and Old Clays” (Feet of Clay).
  • Sven’s engineering podcast is Och Menno (“Oh Boy!“), which he describes as “the incompetent podcast about things from the military, technology and computers that really went wrong”. (It’s in German, just so that’s clear!)
  • Terry’s main German translator until 2007 was Andreas Brandhorst.
  • Terry’s last regular German translator was Gerald Jung – who also did the German translation of The Illuminae Files!
  • There are many more great German Discworld titles: Gevalter Tod (Godfather Death) for Mort; Der Zauberhut (The Magic Hat) for Sourcery; MacBest for Wyrd Sisters; Alles Sense! (All Scythe!, though we suspect there’s a German pun there we don’t get) for Reaper Man; Total Verhext (Totally Bewitched) for Witches Abroad… You can see some of the best translated titles on this page at Colin Smythe Limited.
  • The Discworld re-read podcasts (that we know of, as of April 2020):
    • Radio Morpork – hosted by Irish fans Colm and Steve. Launched August 2015; currently up to A Hatful of Sky.
    • Wyrd Sisters – hosted by American fans Manning, Dani and Liz. Launched January 2019; currently up to Lords and Ladies. (We missed this one in the podcast.)
    • The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret – hosted by British fans Joanna Hagan-Young and Francine Carrel. Launched November 2019; currently up to Sourcery.
    • The Compleat Discography – hosted by American fans Aaron, Minna, Anna and Justin. Launched January 2020; currently up to Mort (but by the time you read this, probably up to Pyramids).

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