The Translated Man and Other Stories

As a big fan of Lovecraft, and a new Kindle owner, I was recommended this book and I enjoyed it very much. The mythology created is rich and interesting -- an entire alternate world of geopolitics, metaphysics, and some very strange diseases. It was no surprise to me to hear that the author is working on more stories set in this world -- there are so many concepts thrown about, almost offhand, that could function as entire fantasy cycles in their own right (I REALLY want to know more about the nature of Cross the Water and the City of Brass) that it can almost cause ones head to spin. The writing in itself is not particularly Lovecraftian; its descriptions of the world of Trowth, are extraordinary in their detail, whereas HPL would be more likely to just use lots of disturbing adjectives and let you sort it out yourself. But when horror strikes, and it does, the way Braak leaves just enough to the imagination to let you freak yourself out is deftly handled and worthy of the association. A fast, fascinating read, and a steal at only five bucks, if youre a fan of fantasy, thrillers, and/or horror, you dont have a good reason not to pick this up. My copy had some formatting problems, but apparently thats fixed and Ill be taking the author up on his offer to sort that out.

The Translated Man is a lot of fun to read. Ive been describing it to my friends as a Lovecraftian steampunk Dark Victorian crime story. The setting and the situations of the novel are the reason to read this novel. Theyre incredible. Sometimes the writing is a bit uneven, and you probably shouldnt squint too hard at the plot, but there is a lot to enjoy about this novel: the city of Trowth and its Architecture Wars, the sharpsies and the trolljrmen, phlogiston (whatever the hell that is) and Aetheric geometry, and more. Its well worth the read.

I was a little leery of the book because self-published work tends to be short on the editing. Aside from random hyphen-ation, a problem common with all Kindle titles, it had no more grammatical or typographic errors than the usual book. Oh, and it was a ripping good read! And by that I mean besides all the good plot, good characterization, and good scenery, Mr. Braak also a solid wordsmith, delivering evocative and well-crafted sentences. So, if you were thinking about *not* buying this book, you should reconsider!

I went into this book intrigued by the description, but knowing nothing else about it. If I had one qualm it would be the introduction to unfamiliar races and terms named in an almost alien fashion that I found initially to be a stumbling block - once I was acclimated to these then the story flowed smoothly. This is a very well-written narrative, even facing the first okay, what does *that* mean moments I had a hard time putting the book down. Four stars for me - as I did stumble over the beginning, establishing different races, families, hierarchies etc - this might not be a problem for someone else (I do not normally need to have different concepts spelled out for me when an author is world-building) or it might; and its certainly not a reason to sway from purchasing and enjoying the story!

This book was interesting, dark, and extremely imaginative. Even with the fre-quent ran-dom hyphen-ations, I could hardly put it down! I wanted to transport myself there to look around--the visuals were just that incredible. Looking forward to reading the next book. Good work, Mr. Braak.

Theres a passage here that has stayed with me since reading it 7 years ago, filed prominently in my brains storage of macho stories. When the young deputy witnesses the kind of trauma that tends to wreck a man, he feels a minuscule sliver of himself self ripped away, then quickly filled with cold steel, able to feel that much less but operate that much stronger. I recall thinking Hmmmm, thats pretty badass. Dang.