Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

This week, share your favourite books that have been either a) written in a language other than English, and translated or b) you read in the original language it is written in (and it is not English).

The Three-Body Problem - This trilogy was amazing.

I don't think I've read any other fantasy or sci-fi from translation. I've read lots of general fiction from Nietzsche, Machiavelli, Dostoevsky and others but nothing really stands out as better than the rest.

I'm a little bit ashamed that I have read almost no books that were not originally written in english the last few years except the Witcher series and I wouldn't call that one a favorite...

I can name a few older favorites, though:

- Inkheart by Cornelia Funke: I adored that one when I was younger, didn't like the sequels, though.
Btw. she has some awesome children's books, if you're looking for some translated books to read with your own kids (I'd recommend Dragon Rider or the Ghosthunters series)

- The Dark Reflections trilogy by Kai Meyer. Again it's been ages since I read this, so I don't know if I would still like it

- The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - not really fantasy, but I think his books could be called magical realism. I should probably reread this, but I remember really enjoying it back in the day.

There are some more that apparently haven't been translated into english, so recommending them wouldn't really make sense...

1. The Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski - I didn’t love the short stories but thought the rest of the series was pretty good.
2. The Cardinal's Blades by Pierre Pevel - really disappointed the third was never translated. It’s basically three musketeers with dragons.
3. The Neverending Story by Michael Ende - liked the movie more than the book

I really enjoyed the Ruby Red/Precious Stones trilogy (starting with Ruby Red) by Kerstin Gier. They were originally written in German.

I'm also a fan of Inkheart by Cornelia Funke.


The Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski is on my list, but I have not yet read it. I've heard really good things though.

I've read plenty of classics (Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, the Greek epics and tragedies, Herman Hesse, Franz Kafka, etc) but not a lot of more modern stuff in translation.

If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino was an odd book, but I am interested in trying some of his other stuff.

The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri was a beast to read, but I did think it was worth it.

1. The Count of Monte Cristo - more of a Classic genre than a Fantasy, but I really loved this. (I think it was originally written in French).
2. The Letter for the King - probably my favourite middle grade/YA fantasy book. (Originally written in Dutch).
3. The Last Wish - I didn't mind this collection of short stories. (Originally written in Polish).

Been reading a lot of Russian books lately and have really enjoyed these three (all were originally written in Russian):

Vita Nostra I really enjoyed this one, one of the best books I've read so far this year. The author is from Ukraine. It's a really odd, dark take on the classic magic school idea.

The Gray House This book is unlike anything I've ever read. It's about a school that houses a bunch of children with disabilities. Kind of like a magical Lord of the Flies, but the magic part is super subtle, you don't really notice it's there until about half way through.

The Sacred Book of the Werewolf Lastly there's this one by Victor Pelevin. It's about a 15-year-old prostitute who is actually a 2,000 year old fox that mesmerizes people with her tail and steals their life force. It was an odd, fun, trippy read.

1. The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andrić - This is one of my favorite books of all time. It is written in Serbian language and is actually the only book written by a Serbian author to win the Nobel prize. This novel spans a few centuries of history, and is just one of the best books ever written, in my opinion.

2. The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski - a truly wonderful series. Characters are great and world-building is wonderfully done.

3. Buddha's Little Finger by Victor Pelevin - I loved this book. It's one of my all-time favorites. I can't really give a good summary for this book so I won't try, but it's one of the most imaginative and unique books I've read.

Wow, I didn't know Inkheart was translated! That's so cool. It's on my tbr so that certainly makes it more interesting

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. As someone already said, it's not really fantasy, but it's a very gothic-style novel. Originally written in Spanish, and I read it in Spanish.

The Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski. Originally written in Polish, I read the translation. I am glad the videogames exist because if they didn't, we English speakers may have missed out on this series.

The Stone and the Flute by Hans Bemmann. Originally written in German. I found this little gem on accident one day and bought it on a whim. It is a very interesting and unique piece of fantasy.