Hello everyone!
I went back and created an entirely new translation of the novel Farnham's Legend. Even if you've already read the older translation, this one might offer some extra details, because it's direct translation from the original text.
The fastest way to get it will be along with the stunning Kingdom End DLC coming out April 12th.
I hope you all enjoy the story beginnings of Kyle-William Brennan, Elena Kho, and that lizard-out-of-water Nopileos as they are plunged into events that will change the Community of Planets forever!
Get Farnham's Legend with X4: Kingdom End!
Moderators: TheElf, Moderators for English X Forum
Re: Get Farnham's Legend with X4: Kingdom End!
Good effort. You say that's the "fastest way," does that mean there'll be another way further down the line?
I didn't like the look of X4 so I can say with 99% confidence that I'll not be buying the DLC for a game I don't own. ;)
I didn't like the look of X4 so I can say with 99% confidence that I'll not be buying the DLC for a game I don't own. ;)
Re: Get Farnham's Legend with X4: Kingdom End!
I'm sure it'll be on Amazon in due time, like the others, but I haven't heard anything about that yet. I'm sure everybody at Egosoft wants to sleep a bit first. 
Here's a bit of a sneak peek?
PROLOGUE
When in the third quarter of the twenty-first century a new, comprehensive Theory of Everything paved the way to the stars, at first humanity seemed rather indifferent. As far as space exploration went, the entire previous century had accomplished nothing more exciting than a few weird little robots who gave funny names to very common stones on Mars, a Russian space station that plunged, burning, into the Pacific, and also a controversial machine from Finland that—would you believe it?—could make weights 0.2 percent lighter. Instead of directing their sights to the sky, humanity preferred to worry about problems on Earth itself.
But then a gifted student from the University of Tokyo worked out how a high energy expenditure could be used to open little doors in space and time that things could be sent through. First a laboratory animal from Tokyo to Sydney, later a man from the Earth to the Moon, and still later experiments were made with a space shuttle which was transported from Earth orbit directly into the orbit of Mars.
To send large objects over even further distances, they used enormous machines to build a huge jumpgate which housed an artificial black hole inside, and could connect with another jumpgate on the opposite side.
Though there was a catch: to get to another star, of course, there had to be a gate already there—and it took decades and decades to bring a jumpgate on the “slow” route to its desired destination. Therefore, the decision was made to send just a single jumpgate to the nearest solar system: Alpha Centauri. It would take over seventy years to reach its final destination.
But the gate was barely on its way when astrophysicists discovered something strange: many of the large, dark objects in space that had been presumed to be black holes were apparently in actuality jumpgates of extraterrestrial origin, and it was possible to align the near-Earth jumpgates to these distant singularities!
With lightning speed, an expedition was provisioned that would bring the research vessel Winterblossom, with a twelve-person crew lead by Captain René Farnham, to the stars. The Winterblossom discovered an extensive system of extraterrestrial jumpgates that connected a multitude of star systems with each other and were apparently scattered throughout the entire galaxy. But the strangest thing that the crew of the Winterblossom had to report after their two-year adventure was that none of the discovered star systems were inhabited—it was as though the unknown civilization that had built the jumpgates had selected only empty worlds.
The discovery of the gates would change humankind’s view of Earth forever.
Soon the Blue Planet was healed of its teething problems and worked towards a common goal: the exploration and colonization of star systems.
Powerful robot ships were built, equipped with artificial intelligence and the ability to reproduce, with the task of transforming the countless empty planets beyond the jumpgates into ones that were livable for humans. These robots were called Terraformers. For many decades they faithfully performed their duties, but one day a serious programmatic error developed from a reproduction flaw, and like a virus was inherited by every new generation of Terraformer, that caused the giant robots to turn against their creators.
Many Earth colonies were exterminated to the last person, and Earth was barely prepared when the machines appeared over its continents and oceans to spread death and destruction.
Just when all seemed lost—Earth and planets were reduced to ashes, and there were but a few survivors—a former search-and-rescue pilot named Nathan R. Gunne succeeded in luring the greater part of the Terraformer fleet into a trap. In a sham battle, the large robot ships followed his flagship the Dragonfyre, and an army of the smallest number of spacemen who were only provisionally ready for battle, to the first and only near-Earth jumpgate—and through it. Those left behind immediately destroyed the gate to block the return journey for the Terraformers. Nothing was heard again from the more than four hundred people and one hundred and fifty Terraformers that passed through the gate in this last encounter.
The Earth needed nearly seven hundred years to recover from this dire battle and to rise up again. The names of the fallen were largely forgotten over the centuries; too great were their number, too appalling the suffering. But these names shall be remembered forever:
Here's a bit of a sneak peek?
PROLOGUE
When in the third quarter of the twenty-first century a new, comprehensive Theory of Everything paved the way to the stars, at first humanity seemed rather indifferent. As far as space exploration went, the entire previous century had accomplished nothing more exciting than a few weird little robots who gave funny names to very common stones on Mars, a Russian space station that plunged, burning, into the Pacific, and also a controversial machine from Finland that—would you believe it?—could make weights 0.2 percent lighter. Instead of directing their sights to the sky, humanity preferred to worry about problems on Earth itself.
But then a gifted student from the University of Tokyo worked out how a high energy expenditure could be used to open little doors in space and time that things could be sent through. First a laboratory animal from Tokyo to Sydney, later a man from the Earth to the Moon, and still later experiments were made with a space shuttle which was transported from Earth orbit directly into the orbit of Mars.
To send large objects over even further distances, they used enormous machines to build a huge jumpgate which housed an artificial black hole inside, and could connect with another jumpgate on the opposite side.
Though there was a catch: to get to another star, of course, there had to be a gate already there—and it took decades and decades to bring a jumpgate on the “slow” route to its desired destination. Therefore, the decision was made to send just a single jumpgate to the nearest solar system: Alpha Centauri. It would take over seventy years to reach its final destination.
But the gate was barely on its way when astrophysicists discovered something strange: many of the large, dark objects in space that had been presumed to be black holes were apparently in actuality jumpgates of extraterrestrial origin, and it was possible to align the near-Earth jumpgates to these distant singularities!
With lightning speed, an expedition was provisioned that would bring the research vessel Winterblossom, with a twelve-person crew lead by Captain René Farnham, to the stars. The Winterblossom discovered an extensive system of extraterrestrial jumpgates that connected a multitude of star systems with each other and were apparently scattered throughout the entire galaxy. But the strangest thing that the crew of the Winterblossom had to report after their two-year adventure was that none of the discovered star systems were inhabited—it was as though the unknown civilization that had built the jumpgates had selected only empty worlds.
The discovery of the gates would change humankind’s view of Earth forever.
Soon the Blue Planet was healed of its teething problems and worked towards a common goal: the exploration and colonization of star systems.
Powerful robot ships were built, equipped with artificial intelligence and the ability to reproduce, with the task of transforming the countless empty planets beyond the jumpgates into ones that were livable for humans. These robots were called Terraformers. For many decades they faithfully performed their duties, but one day a serious programmatic error developed from a reproduction flaw, and like a virus was inherited by every new generation of Terraformer, that caused the giant robots to turn against their creators.
Many Earth colonies were exterminated to the last person, and Earth was barely prepared when the machines appeared over its continents and oceans to spread death and destruction.
Just when all seemed lost—Earth and planets were reduced to ashes, and there were but a few survivors—a former search-and-rescue pilot named Nathan R. Gunne succeeded in luring the greater part of the Terraformer fleet into a trap. In a sham battle, the large robot ships followed his flagship the Dragonfyre, and an army of the smallest number of spacemen who were only provisionally ready for battle, to the first and only near-Earth jumpgate—and through it. Those left behind immediately destroyed the gate to block the return journey for the Terraformers. Nothing was heard again from the more than four hundred people and one hundred and fifty Terraformers that passed through the gate in this last encounter.
The Earth needed nearly seven hundred years to recover from this dire battle and to rise up again. The names of the fallen were largely forgotten over the centuries; too great were their number, too appalling the suffering. But these names shall be remembered forever:
- Neil Armstrong, who opened the door to space;
- René Farnham, who gave humanity the stars as a gift;
- Nathan R. Gunne, who snatched them away again.
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Vanguard3000
- Posts: 299
- Joined: Mon, 7. Aug 06, 08:23
Re: Get Farnham's Legend with X4: Kingdom End!
I can attest that the new translation is a real banger. I had the opportunity to preview it to help with editing, and it was so much fun to five back into the X-Universe's literary universe.
Re: Get Farnham's Legend with X4: Kingdom End!
And I can attest that Vanguard3000 was not only an amazing proofreader and fact-checker, but also that he was a lot of fun to work with!
I know Helge and I think that this new translation's even better thanks to his assistance.
I know Helge and I think that this new translation's even better thanks to his assistance.