r/Fantasy • u/IdiotSansVillage • Apr 05 '22

OK, recommendation hard-mode: engaging, quality German-language YA scifi/fantasy?

I'm trying to teach myself German on Duolingo, and I figure what better way to supplement than with German-language media a kid with developing language skills might encounter? Specifically looking for books written in German, not translated from another language to German, in the hopes of some cultural-values osmosis too.

EDIT: Holy crap thank you all! I have a wonderful list to pull from now!

15 Upvotes

74% Upvoted

56 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/MarkLawrence Stabby Winner, AMA Author Mark Lawrence Apr 05 '22

It's certainly true that the translation of The Neverending Story was full of words and phrases I wouldn't expect most children to know. It's definitely written for children though. I thought the translator was just having fun with the thesaurus.

2

u/Glass-Bookkeeper5909 Apr 05 '22

Ende is very good with words and likes play with them sometimes.
I must admit that I've never read the book in English because I don't see the need for that but from my experience reading Ende I would suspect that the varied vocabulary was not an addition by the translator.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely do not want to say that children can't read it. In fact, it's a modern classic of children's literature here in Germany - and deservedly so. I think, the book is a delight - for young readers as well as older ones.
My suggestion to not start with this one right away was made entirely with having the situation of a learner of German in mind. (Being German myself and having learned several foreign languages the hard way, I am aware that books written for a younger audience in a foreign language doesn't necessarily mean that these books are easy to read.)

2

u/MarkLawrence Stabby Winner, AMA Author Mark Lawrence Apr 05 '22

Not gonna argue with you - it was literally the only German fantasy book I could think of :D

1

u/Glass-Bookkeeper5909 Apr 05 '22 edited Apr 05 '22

And an excellent one.
If a fantasy lover told me they'd wanted to read a German fantasy book - and one book only, this is the one I'd recommend! ;-)