tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Feb 05 15:55:30 2008

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Excelsior: Forged In Fire

naHQun ([email protected]) 

This is a new novel (released Dec '07) by Michael A. Martin & Andy
Mangels (never heard of either of them).
It tells the back story of the Albino.

Let's start with the Acknologments:

I.K.S. Gorkon author Keith R.A. DeCandido, who contributed his
unparalleled expertise  in Klingon culture, language, technology,
metaphysics, and calander calculations; ... Dr. Marc Okrand, whose
volumes on the Klingon language were constant companions; ... Dayton
Ward, whose 2002 novel In the Name of Honor provided valuable literary
continuity references regarding Klingon dermatoogy, and who (with
coauthor Kevin Dilmore) enriched the Klingon vocabulary in 2006's Star
Trek Vanguard: Summon the Thunder; ...

also in the acknologments they thank actors for playing both "smooth"
and "chunky" flavors...

In my opinion, those acknologments don't claim any actual contact with
Okrand. BUT they do seem to claim contact with DeCandido who HAS
contacted both Okrand and the KLI. So I GUESS it's possible that he
had a few words lying around that he never used that Okrand aproved.
It's also possible that any three of the authors just made them up.

If nothing else, it will be fun to go over them, and we'll add them to
the Extended Corpus Project.

Unlike DeCandido, these guys did NOT provide an easy refernce glossary
at the back. Instead they akwardly work definitions of the Klinogon
terms into thier novel. Or at least it's akward to someone who knows
the tlhIngan Hol word in the first place.

First off, they give the Albino a name; Qagh. He was abandoned at
birth and found by an Orion who kept him for leverage later in life.
The Orion named him.

We also see the term QuchHa' again. (I first saw it in the Klingon
Language Variant issue of Klingons: Blood Will Tell Vol. 1 [the comic
book]). It was also used in the English edition sold a month later.
According to the comic, only some of the Klingons lost their ridges.
The smoothheaded ones were called QuchHa', the unhappy ones.

Personally, I find this quite fitting. Since as a noun, Quch means
forhead. And even though it's a linguistic stretch, if -Ha' worked as
a noun suffix, QuchHa' would describe TOS Klingons quite well.

The ridgy Klingons are called HemQuch.


I'm not going to list every time the author says Qo'noS or bat'leth,
just the more interesting notes.


The first thing I noticed was at the very beginning (Prologe wa', in fact)

the Year of Kahless 799, early in the month of Lo'Bral

then in Prolog cha'

the Year of Kahless 921, early in the month of Soo'jen

we are then told that Kang and Mara's son is named DaqS

"...Ak'voh rite, a mournful song intened to keep predators, both
physical and spiritual fom devouring young DaqS's spirit before it
could safely reach Sto-Vo-Kor."

Ch 1

the Year of Kahless 844, early in the month of Merruthj

(apparently action only happens during the begining of Klingon months)

I.K.S. Ghobchuq

"The tuq Degh of a noble Klingon House."
     "The family crest of the House of Ngojj,"

     In fact, a Klingon name had just occured to him. "How about
'Qagh'? It's from a Klingon word that means 'mistake.'"

kilaan - a unit of time, oddly not defined given the writing style. It
appears to mean "hour". I'm rather confused why they invented a term.
Or am I simply unaware of an existing Klingonease term?

     "QI'yaH!" cried the albino. The translator evidently couldn't
parse what was no doubt a pungent curse,...

     "Ghuy'," said one of the pirates, uttering what had to be yet
another toxic curse.

     Qagh noticed a look of suspicion darkening Golag's dull brow.
"Does Ganik know about this?"
     "Fek'lhr take Ganik," Qagh said as he finished finetuning the
coordinates on the target lock controls. "This is my affair."


Qav'loS - planet name (it hasn't said so directly, but it might be Omega IV)

The Year of Kahless 895, early in the month of Xan'lahr

I.K.S. 'OghwI' - Koloth's ship in "More Tribbles, More Troubles" (TAS)
Later translated as "Devisor"

I.K.S. Gr'oth - Koloth's ship in "The Trouble with Tribbles" (TOS)

glo'meH - glommer

I.K.S. Klolode cha' - at this point, I'm assuming commanded by Kor or Kang

-=-=-

I'm just about to start chapter 10, I'll make another post when I have
more words.


~naHQun

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