Labyrinth des Horus

Icybro

Member
Oh my goodness, I just realized that I spent a full eight months putting this together:

Indiana Jones and the Labyrinth of Horus

I'm pretty happy with the result, though. It might be the first complete English translation of a Hohlbein novel . . . ? And the story's not half bad, either. I don't want to spoil anything before giving you guys a chance to read it for yourselves, but I'll post my thoughts on the story in more detail later.

Enjoy! And please let me know what you think. ;)
 
Fantastic job!

As far as I know this is the first Hohlbein novel translated to English. JuniorJones and i are working on the Gold of El Dorado, but still have a ways to go.

I am looking forward to reading your translation, and I'll post as soon as I finish!
 

JuniorJones

TR.N Staff Member
Your work for this community is much apprechiated as I can understand you have put in a lot of time and effort without reward other than our thanks. (y)

I wish we had a few more member who would do the same.:(
 

JuniorJones

TR.N Staff Member
punisher5150 said:
As far as I know this is the first Hohlbein novel translated to English. JuniorJones and i are working on the Gold of El Dorado, but still have a ways to go.

I am looking forward to reading your translation, and I'll post as soon as I finish!

I can't have this. I need to pull my finger out.:eek:
 

IndyBr

Member
This is awesome! I was hungry for a new Indy novel, thank you very much for the translation!! (y)

Times like this I realize how the Indyfanbase is passionate!

Can't wait to start reading your translation.

Again, thanks a lot.
 

Icybro

Member
Thanks for the kind words, everybody. I've spent so many hours just lurking on these boards, I'm glad to be able to give something back. :)

punisher5150 said:
JuniorJones and i are working on the Gold of El Dorado, but still have a ways to go.

That's what inspired me to take on this project! I couldn't wait to see it finished (and still can't . . . :whip: ), so I picked up my copy of Labyrinth of Horus and got to work. It's neat to see characters like Grisswald make appearances in both books.

IndyBr said:
This is awesome! I was hungry for a new Indy novel...

Yeah me too. :) I've been pretty bummed out lately that Lucasfilm and now Disney don't seem to have any new Indy stories in the pipeline . . . no books, no comics, no video games, and don't get me started on Indy 5. As cruddy as that Adventure World game on Facebook was, at least it was something . . . now even that's gone. Until the suits get their act together, these German novels (and the French Young Indy junior novels) are really the last untapped source for fans looking for a fix.

So, has anybody finished it yet? Or found any typos?
 
Labyrinth progress

I'm on page 100 of your translation right now, so about a third of the way through. No typos that I've caught, and the translation flows fluidly. Great job so far!

BTW, we are still working on El Dorado, so don't give up on us. I think we'll have a decent update soon that will bring us over halfway through. I'm very close to finishing my classes, so I should be getting a lot more free time in the next month or two.

Hopefully we'll see more of these novels get translated. There are 8 of them (German novels) so we have some adventures to keep us busy for awhile.
 
Labyrinth progress 2

I converted this to an e-book for my kindle fire so I am not sure what exact page I am on, but it is around 2/3rds of the way through.

Great story so far. Indy is hired by a fellow archaeologist's son and daughter to find the missing scientist. Indy owes the man a debt since sometime in the past he had saved Indy's life. The scientist, Basil SMith, went missing while searching for a legendary labyrinth that accompanies the burial chamber of Horus, an Egyptian deity.

I don't want to spoil the story for anyone, so I'll try to continue spoiler-free. The action takes place mostly in Crete and Egypt. There are some cool chase scenes, one involving a large German transport glider similar to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N27-Beyj89g. Also the sidekicks are okay, although a little annoying.

If you haven't read it, grab a copy of Icybro's excellent translation and get cracking! I am hoping more people can get involved and get these books translated. After the disappointing Army of the Dead, what I've read of Holbein's books so far (very limited!) have been a welcome relief. Indy's characterization seems right.

As for the mechanics, there are a few (very few) minor spelling and grammatical errors in the translation, but all in all, Icybro has done a phenomenal job!
 

ggiersch

New member
How Can I Read This?

When I click on the original link, it directs me to a site that asks me to upload a file. What am I doing wrong?
 

Icybro

Member
ggiersch said:
When I click on the original link, it directs me to a site that asks me to upload a file. What am I doing wrong?

Looks like the first file hosting site removed it. Try this!

punisher5150 said:
As for the mechanics, there are a few (very few) minor spelling and grammatical errors in the translation, but all in all, Icybro has done a phenomenal job!

Glad you're enjoying it, Punisher! I'm looking forward to a spoilerific discussion when you're finished. :)

What typos/errors have you found? Let me know and I'll be glad to give you a shout out in the corrected edition. That goes for anybody who wants to help!
 
Labyrinth

I'll run the original file again. Many of the errors might have been caused when I saved it to word so I could format it for an e-book. I'll stay in contact with you when I get done reading it and tinker with it some more.

Most of what I have seen are a few places where paragraph changes between two people speaking are missing. I'll correct those when I finish the e-book and send you a copy of that if you like. I'll PM you when I do.

BTW, read a lot today before the superbowl. At about 90% now!
 

IndyBr

Member
punisher5150 said:
Great story so far. Indy is hired by a fellow archaeologist's son and daughter to find the missing scientist. Indy owes the man a debt since sometime in the past he had saved Indy's life. The scientist, Basil SMith, went missing while searching for a legendary labyrinth that accompanies the burial chamber of Horus, an Egyptian deity.

I don't want to spoil the story for anyone, so I'll try to continue spoiler-free. The action takes place mostly in Crete and Egypt. There are some cool chase scenes, one involving a large German transport glider similar to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N27-Beyj89g. Also the sidekicks are okay, although a little annoying.

I agree with you here. I'm im the "Luxor" chapter right now, and so far am loving it. The opening of the novel is one of greatest I've read in an Indiana Jones book, really exciting and funny, it sets the stage for what we can expect for the rest of the novel.

And Icybro, great job with the translation. :whip:
 
I finished Labyrinth of Horus today. ***Possible Spoilers***

This was definitely an adventure "worthy" of Indiana Jones. The opening "teaser", just like the movies, drops you right into the middle of the action with a truck vs horse chase through Istanbul markets. It had just the right balance of humor vs. action. The introduction of Grisswald was good as well. Definitely a character that will get under Indy's skin in the later books, I am sure.

The crux of the adventure takes place in Egypt, with Indy on the trail of a fellow archaeologist who saved his life several years in the past, Basil Smith. Indy owes the man a debt and he gets a mysterious note calling on him to pay it. Turns out the note was actually from the missing scientist's two children, a brother-sister team named Raymond and Elizabeth. The sister is definitely the stronger character of the two. Her constant criticisms annoyed me as much as the bumbling of the brother, but I believe that was Holbein's intent with the two.

Smith had disappeared along with a small group of British soldiers in the Sahara looking for a legendary labyrinth which supposedly holds the tomb of Horus, the Egyptian god. There are a few twists and turns, a cool aerial chase with Indy and his sidekicks in a German transport glider, and some altercations with a mysterious group of monks trying to ensure that Horus's tomb is never opened.

My biggest gripe is that there were a couple of characters introduced that I thought would play a larger role in the story, such as Yassar Al-Kassah, a greedy black-marketer who has an antiquities shop in Egypt. He gives Indy a vial of black lotus, and it was delivered like it would play an important part in the story, but it only gets mentioned one more time when the British army is inventorying his goods after they briefly detain Indy as a possible German spy because he was in the German transport glider. Al-Kassah never reappears in the story. I mentioned Grisswald earlier, who appears briefly in the teaser. I know he has a somewhat central role in the future Holbein books only because I am slowly translating the Gold of El Dorado with JuniorJones. My best guess is that Al-Kassah will show up in a later book as well, possibly as a minor or major villain, or at least playing some kind of nuisance to Indy.

The climax of Labyrinth was typical Indy: a great power is unleashed but with some sleight-of-hand Indy tricks the antagonist whose greed for Horus's power backfires on him. It kind of reminded me of the ending of Crystal Skull with Spalko, although this book was written several years before that movie came out.

I am definitely liking Holbein's Indy interpretation so far, and I rank it up there with Max McCoy and Rob MacGregor. Can't wait to read more of them! They are well-written and I am surprised they haven't been officially translated.

A shout out to Icybro for keeping Indiana Jones alive! (y)
 
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Stoo

Well-known member
Icybro said:
I'm pretty happy with the result, though. It might be the first complete English translation of a Hohlbein novel . . . ?
---
Enjoy! And please let me know what you think. ;)
OUTSTANDING, Icybro! Thanks a million!(y)(y)(y) I've been too busy to fully read the story yet but downloaded the document last week and it looks freaking fantastic! SUPERB job on the cover and page formatting! WONDERFUL WORK and appreciated from the very bottom of my heart.

Yes, your effort must be the 1st complete, English translation (unless someone has done it privately) so congratulations for that...especially having done it solo! That said, how did you do it?

Collectively, our translations here at The Raven are excellent examples of those 'by-the-fans-for-the-fans' things!(y) When punisher5150 & JuniorJones will be finished with their collaboration, wouldn't it be great if their final product follows the same format as your .pdf file? Your landmark achievement should set the stage for a suite of future Hohlbein translations!(y)
 

JuniorJones

TR.N Staff Member
Stoo said:
OUTSTANDING, Icybro! Thanks a million!(y)(y)(y) I've been too busy to fully read the story yet but downloaded the document last week and it looks freaking fantastic! SUPERB job on the cover and page formatting! WONDERFUL WORK and appreciated from the very bottom of my heart.

Yes, your effort must be the 1st complete, English translation (unless someone has done it privately) so congratulations for that...especially having done it solo! That said, how did you do it?

Collectively, our translations here at The Raven are excellent examples of those 'by-the-fans-for-the-fans' things!(y) When punisher5150 & JuniorJones will be finished with their collaboration, wouldn't it be great if their final product follows the same format as your .pdf file? Your landmark achievement should set the stage for a suite of future Hohlbein translations!(y)

Hopefully we can inspire a few more volunteers to take up the challenge.:D
 

Icybro

Member
punisher5150 said:
I'll run the original file again. Many of the errors might have been caused when I saved it to word so I could format it for an e-book.

Along with the PDF, I wanted to bundle a version friendlier to ebook readers, but I don't have a reader myself, and I got overwhelmed by the number of formats. What format do you prefer?

As far as I'm concerned, punisher5150's review is right on the mark. Hohlbein understands what makes a good Indy story, better than Steve Perry (whose Army of the Dead spent more time following the various villains than it did following Indy) and better than Martin Caidin (whose Sky Pirates was more Mission: Impossible than Indiana Jones).

Hohlbein doesn't stray too far from the formula established in the movies. The MacGuffin (the titular labyrinth) is mysterious but appropriately rooted in history. Indy has personal reasons for pursuing it beyond professional ambition. The action set pieces appear about twice a chapter, almost like clockwork, and a handful of unexpected twists keep the story interesting. Indy even finds a use for his whip and at one point temporarily loses his hat.

Which is not to say everything is how it should be. There are no snakes or creepy crawlies of any kind. And there are precious few specific ties to elements from the movies. No familiar characters besides Indy. You'd think he might look up Sallah while he was in Cairo, but no, and he never mentions Marcus. His school is strangely referred to only as "the university in Washington," which means it can't be Marshall or Barnett.

But my biggest gripe is the creepy attitude Indy has toward Elizabeth Smith. She's not a love interest -- as mentioned, she's meant to be more of an obnoxious, reluctant sidekick -- but she's the only major female character, and Indy almost comes across as a sexual predator. He looks down her blouse, he paws at her chest, and when she complains, he slaps her across the face and later threatens to spank her. It's mostly played for laughs, but it's icky, especially when she's supposed to be just barely an adult, and Indy's 42. Indy shouldn't be a dirty old man, dang it!

One more thing I thought was a bit off (though I guess it's understandable, considering): Indy doesn't exactly hate Nazis in this story. For starters, they're almost always referred to as "Germans" instead of "Nazis." They are villains, but secondary villains at most, and when Indy has to confront them, he expresses a grudging admiration toward them. (In regards to the glider technology: "It could only come from German engineers.") He even quotes Nietzsche. Hard to square with the "Nazis: I hate these guys" Indy from Last Crusade.

Stoo said:
OUTSTANDING, Icybro! Thanks a million!(y)(y)(y) I've been too busy to fully read the story yet but downloaded the document last week and it looks freaking fantastic! SUPERB job on the cover and page formatting! WONDERFUL WORK and appreciated from the very bottom of my heart.

Yes, your effort must be the 1st complete, English translation (unless someone has done it privately) so congratulations for that...especially having done it solo! That said, how did you do it?

Thanks Stoo! It took some time to get the cover and formatting just right, so it's good to know somebody besides me appreciates such things. (y)

As for how I did it, that's a long and boring story, but since you asked I'll spill all my secrets after work tonight, when I have a little more time.
 

Icybro

Member
Here's what I did:
  1. I scanned my copy of the original German book using my homemade bookscanner.
  2. I prettied up the scanned pages using Book Scan Wizard and Scan Tailor.
  3. I collected all the pretty scanned pages into a DjVu-format ebook using djvubind, which also conveniently performed OCR so I could extract the German text.
  4. I went through the OCR'd text page-by-page and cleaned it up, comparing it to the page images. OCR has gotten a lot better in recent years, but I can tell you, with this book it had a lot of trouble, especially with the German quotation marks (« and » look like n and u, apparently) and m's (they're almost indistinguishable from rn's in this typeface, even for a human eye). That took about a month.
  5. I uploaded the cleaned up German text to Google Translate, which instantly produced an almost readable, mostly English translation. A sample passage:
    He had hoped it to the dusty trails straight out to depend in the desert, but the dilapidated, moth Schlaglöchem streets did not allow the necessary speed.
    Then I spent a few months smoothing that out as best I could, sentence by sentence:
    He had hoped to lose them in the dusty trails that led out of the desert, but the decrepit roads, speckled with potholes, did not allow him the necessary speed.
    Good enough!
  6. Once I finished cleaning up the auto-translated text, I read through it again looking for typos and phrases that were still unacceptably awkward.
  7. Finally, I imported the text into LyX, hunted down and applied a close approximation of the original typeface, reapplied the italics and other formatting miscellanea (title page, page numbering, section breaks, etc.) from the German text, and GIMP'ed up a scan of the cover. LyX made the PDF.
That's it! Easy as pie. :cool:
 
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