ECHO DER HOFFNUNG is out!

Today, November 27, is the official release date for the German translation of AN ECHO IN THE BONE, titled ECHO DER HOFFNUNG. Congratulations to Diana, and also to Barbara Schnell, her German translator. Translating a book of that size (and doing much of that translation while Diana was still working on the original!) is a huge undertaking, and I'm so happy for Barbara that the book is out at last!

I don't speak or read German, so I asked Barbara (who frequently posts on Compuserve) to explain the German title. She said that ECHO DER HOFFNUNG means "Echo of Hope". And I think it's appropriate, because--despite all the cliffhangers and unresolved storylines--the book ends on such a sweet, romantic (and yes, hopeful) note.

I also noticed, looking at the publisher's description of the book, that the German version is 1024 pages, which is about 25% longer than the original. (Another testament to the enormous effort involved in the translation!) I suppose it just takes more words, or longer ones, in German to express the same concepts?

For more information about Diana Gabaldon's books in German, look here.