Official Review: Loria by Gunnar Hedman

[Kelebogile Mbangi]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Loria" by Gunnar Hedman.]

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1 out of 4 stars

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Loria by Gunnar Hedman is a fiction book with both science fiction and fantasy elements. It is set in a number of worlds and features aliens, robots, fairies, monsters, and trolls.

When the merciless Olegians invade the planet Loria with the intent of wiping out the Lorians and colonizing their planet, a battle ship manages to escape the carnage. The ship heads out to Urduk, a planet with a small Lorian colony. The survivors from the ship are barely settled into the little colony when the relentless Olegians threaten their survival once more. The Olegians aim to wipe out the Urdukian colony as it presents a threat to them. The battle ship sets out once more, now with the surviving members of the imperial family on board along with the original group from Loria. Out in deep space, the ship’s captain, Shay, is faced with a brutal decision. The only habitable planet close enough for them to land on is the planet Abyss. No Lorian explorers that have dared to approach the planet have ever returned to tell the tale. The brave Captain Shay forges onward – straight into the unknown.

Loria has been translated into English. Unfortunately, the translation was poorly done. As a result, the book contains a huge number of grammatical errors. The characters also use very awkward, convoluted sentences in their dialogue, butchering any character credibility that may have been developed otherwise.

Was the plot enough for me to overlook the language problem? No, it was not. The plot had no direction. It seems to me that the author had many concepts and plots that he wanted to explore, and instead of focusing on just one, meshed them all up into one very dull book. The story winds without aim and moves from being a science fiction book to being a fantasy book. In my opinion, the author is better at writing fantasy than he is at writing science fiction. The book took on better shape towards the end, which is mostly fantasy.

Another aspect I did not like is how the author describes objects by using made-up adjectives and without giving his readers a brief explanation of what those adjectives mean. For example, in one scene he describes a hotel as being of “Pahir” style. Nowhere in the book does he explain what that term means. So, I had to guess what the hotel looks like.

I did not enjoy reading this book at all and do not recommend it to anyone. The plot was bad, the characters were poorly developed, and the number of errors (grammatical and typos) was jarring. I cannot rate it anything more than 1 out of 4 stars. As such, I will not even suggest an audience for it - like I said, I do not recommend it to anyone.

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Loria
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[Kanda_theGreat]

It is sad that the book had a poorly executed plot, characterization technique and the jarring typos.
Thank you for the honest review.

[NetMassimo]

Well, this novel really needed a good editor to help the author and a real translator as from what you say he used some online translator. A shame. Thank you for your honest opinion.

[Ngozi Onyibor]

Somethings are better left as they are. Some languages are difficult to translate to English as certain native words might have no English meaning. That said, you did a great job with the review.

[AJ_Drenda]

You never mentioned the original language- is it explained in the translator's note or on the cover?

Also, the made-up words, like the adjectives you've mentioned, are an SF trope. So, I wonder if this is really a question of bad translation or bad writing/conceptualisation. The imaginary languages are a part of the cultural world-building and are supposed to help the immersion.

Thank you for your opinion! You made me very curious about the book and its author.

[Lisa A Rayburn]

It breaks my heart that a book with such a promising plot wasn't appropriately translated into English, and the meaning and comprehensibility were lost. I do hope that the author takes your words to heart and has it translated more effectively. If that were to be done, I would love to read. it. Thanks for the honest review!

[SunVixen]

Judging by the plot, this book could be very interesting. It’s a pity that it was translated so badly. Anyway, thanks for the well-written review.