Üdv! Did you ever find yourself in a situation where you had no idea what was being said? Well, the brave people taking part in the What the Hungarian?! feature can experience exactly that. 5 quotes, 5 guesses, and 5 answers. How well would you do?

If you’d like to try this feature out, please contact us for further details!

In my previous years as an SPFBO judge, I always tried to offer spotlights to as many authors in our group and to the finalists as I could. I planned to do it for SPFBO 8 too, but life was busy kicking my arse as I slowly clambered out of years of burnout. The 5th anniversary shenanigans forced me to revisit some of my old features and update them, and thus enabling me to reach out to the finalists and ask them if they wanted to play. I offered them a choice between What the Hungarian?!, Tales from the Asylum, Stuck in the Pages, Party with the Stars, an interview, and a guest post.

Alec Hutson, author of The Umbral Storm, Fantasy Book Review’s chosen finalist, and our semi-finalist, chose What the Hungarian?! and so, let’s see how he did with it! And don’t forget that we are still in Wyrd & Wonder month!

Wyrd and Wonder Month 2023. Artwork by Tithi Luadthong. — Artwork by Tithi Luadthong

You get the first passages in Hungarian (translated by me, but they should do) from 5 books you’ve read, and a couple of hints.

You have to guess which book they are from. And for extra fun, share your thought process with us!

You can also ask 3 question regarding any of the passages (1 question/passage) which I’ll answer with yes, no or I don’t know – as I didn’t read each of the books.

You can’t use a dictionary or a translator.

And you just have to have fun!

Simple, isn’t it?

Alec is a fantasy writer living in Shanghai, China. His first book, The Crimson Queen, placed second in the Self-Publishing Fantasy Blog Off and his ninth book, The Umbral Storm, is a 2022 finalist in the same competition. He grew up in a geodesic dome and a bookstore.

Connect with Alec Hutson

1.

Senki más, gondolta _. Senki más a legénységből nem fog meghalni, vagy magára maradni. Elsuttogott egy ősi tengeri imát és megesküdött _ áruló szívére.
Kését a cella kő falának göröngyeihez és mélyedésein végighúzva figyelte az embereit akik talán holttestként végzik majd.
„Érintsétek meg,” sziszegte „lássuk mi történik.”
Körülötte a _ megmaradt legénysége kimerült nyögésekkel feltápászkodtak, bőrkeményedésekkel borított kezükben bökők és husángok.
Mind ismerték a főnökük gyilkoló hangját.

Hints: Book 1 of a series, self-published, male author, pirates

Alec Hutson: My experience with self published pirate fantasy is limited…

Guess: Where Loyalties Lie by Rob Hayes

The correct answer: Dark Sea’s End by Richard Nell

The Original Quote

Not one more, Chang thought. Not one more of his crew would die, or be abandoned. He whispered an ancient sea prayer, and swore it by Roa’s treacherous heart.
He scraped his knife along the bumps and craters of the prison’s stone wall, looking at the men he might make corpses.
„Touch him,” he hissed, „see what happens.”
All around him the remaining crew of the Bahala rose with exhausted groans, their callused hands over shivs and clubs. They all knew their chief’s killing voice.

2.

Gyötrő út vezetett a középiskolához. _ nyolcszázhuszonegy lépcsőt számlált egy nap útban fel – nem könnyű feladat miközben arra kell figyelni, hogy ne borulj le a hegy oldaláról. A legtöbb tizennégy éves harcos számára az iskolához vezető kanyargós út az ideges és a fürgeség igazi tesztje volt, de _ a ruganyos lábaival és kimeríthetetlen energiájával minden reggel úgy ébredt, hogy várta a kihívást.
„_!” barátai néhány lépcsőfokkal lejjebbről ziháltak. „Ne olyan gyorsan!”

Hints: standalone, self-published, female author, Asian-inspired

Alec Hutson: Asian-inspired standalone self published by a female author? Must be The Sword of Kaigen.

Guess: The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang

The correct answer: The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang

The Original Quote

It was a harrowing climb to the high school. Eight hundred twenty-one steps. Mamoru had counted one time on his way up – no easy feat while focusing on not toppling off the side of a mountain. For most fourteen-year-old fighters, the winding way up to the school was a true test of nerve and agility, but Mamoru, with his springy legs and boundless energy, woke each morning looking forward to the challenge. „Mamoru!” his friends panted from the steps far below him. „Not so fast!”

3.

Az idegen úgy emelkedett ki a tengerből, mint egy vízi szellem, mezítláb és utazásainak sebeivel. Úgy imbolygott a ködben, ami úgy tapadt, mint pókháló _-hez, mintha részeg volna.
A régi történetek úgy mondták, hogy a vízi szellemek csendre voltak kárhoztatva. Hogy a nyelvük összefonnyadt akár a bőrük, és csupán hínár takarta a csontjaikat. Hogy a sekélyesben rejtőznek, várva, hogy a Mélységbe vonszolhassák figyelmetlen áldozataikat.
_ gyerekkora óta nem félt ezektől a történetektől. Tőre megcsillant előtte, íve akár egy mosoly, és az alakra szegezte tekintetét az éjszakában. Amikor megszólította, összerezzent.

Hints: Book 1 of a series, traditionally published, female author, women run the world

Alec Hutson: All the characters are female on the world-ships, I think? This one was tough.

Guess: Stars are Legion by Kameron Hurley

The correct answer: The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

The Original Quote

The stranger came out of the sea like a water ghost, barefoot and wearing the scars of his journey. He walked as if drunk through the haze of mist that clung like spidersilk to Seiiki.
The stories of old said water ghosts were doomed to live in silence. That their tongues had shrivelled, along with their skin, and that all that dressed their bones was seaweed. That they would lurk in the shallows, waiting to drag the unwary to the heart of the Abyss.
Tané had not feared those tales since she was a small child. Now her dagger gleamed before her, its curve like a smile, and she fixed her gaze on the figure in the night.
When it called to her, she flinched.

4.

Hollók! Mindig a hollók. A templom ormára telepedtek még azelőtt, hogy a sebesültekből halottak váltak. Mielőtt _ ujjakat gyűjtött a kezekről, gyűrűket az ujjakról. Az akasztófát támasztva biccentettem a madaraknak, ahogy ott ültek fekete vonalban, bölcsen figyelő szemekkel.
A város főtere vörösben úszott. Vér a csatornákban, vér a kockaköveken, vér a szökőkútban. Holttestek pózoltak ahogy a holttestek szoktak. Némelyik komikusan az ég felé nyúlva hiányzó ujjakkal, némelyik békésen, sebük köré gömbölyödve. Legyek repkedtek a vergődő sebesültek körül. Erre és arra, néhányan vakon, néhányan sunyin, mind elárulva zümmögő kíséretük által.
„Vizet! Vizet!” A haldoklók mindig vizet akarnak. Furcsa, engem a gyilkolás, ami szomjassá tesz.

Hints: book 1 in a series, trad published, male author, bloody brotherhood

Alec Hutson: Bloody brotherhood means this must be grimdark. The first line with hollok repeated in the next sentence is very distinct – a quick glance at my copy of Prince of Thorns matches up. And ‘templom’ in the next sentence must be church.

Guess: The Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

The correct answer: Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

The Original Quote

Ravens! Always the ravens. They settled on the gables of the church even befor the injured became the dead. Even before Rike had finished taking fingers from hands, and rings from fingers. I leaned back against the gallowspost and nodded to the birds, a dozen of them in a black line, wise-eyed and watching.
The town-square ran red. Blood in the gutters, blood on the flagstones, blood in the fountain. The corpses posed as corpses do. Some comical, reaching for the sky with missing fingers, some peaceful, coiled about their wounds. Flies rose above th wounded as they struggled. This way and that, some blind, some sly, all betrayed by their buzzing entourage.
„Water! Water!” It’s always water with the dying. Strange, it’s killing that gives me a thirst.

5.

A tenger hívta őt.
_ behunyta a szemét és magába szívta a nedves föld és a sós permet ismerős keverékét. Hanga. Fenyő. Füst. A szél, nyugodtan és lágyan suhogott felfelé az éles meredeken, amely alatt _ ült láblógatva a köves kiszögellésen. Egy pár csenevész és göcsörtös fa kapaszkodott a kövekhez mindkét oldalán, gyökerük félig kiállva, törzsük kétségbeesett szögekben görnyedve. Régi barátok voltak ezek a fák. _ alatt egy csapat sirály fészkelt, keskeny hasadékokban rejtőzve, biztonságban a ragadozóktól, kivéve a fiút, aki vakmerően nekivágott, hogy a fákon himbálózva ereszkedjen le, a sziklafalat kémlelve tojások és puha tollak után kutatva.

Hints: first book of a series, self-published, female author, Norse mythology

Alec Hutson: Self-published norse mythology really narrows it down :-).

Guess: The Blood-Tainted Winter by T.L. Greylock

The correct answer: The Blood-Tainted Winter by T.L. Greylock

The Original Quote

The sea was calling to him.
Raef closed his eyes and inhaled, breathing in the familiar mixture of damp earth and salt spray. Heather. Pine. Smoke. The wind, calm and gentle, cascaded up the steep slope beneath where Raef sat, his legs dangling over a rocky edge. A pair of trees, thin and scraggly, clung to the rocks on either side of him, half their roots exposed, their trunks leaning at desperate angles. They were old friends, these trees. Below Raef, a colony of gulls kept their nests, hidden in narrow clefts, safe from predators but for the boy who had dared the descent, swinging down from the trees, scaling the craggy face in search of eggs and downy feathers.