#swedish authors

[maddiesbookshelves]

Junkwraith by Ellinor Richey (March 2023)

What happens when our most precious belongings... no longer belong? When something we loved suddenly becomes junk, a powerful energy is unleashed. One night, ice-skating prodigy Florence Sato is overwhelmed by pressure and throws away her skates. This fateful moment accidentally summons a junkwraith, a terrifying ghost which seeks revenge for its abandonment by attacking the memories of its former owner. Before she forgets who she is, and to find out who she really wants to be, Florence must set off (with her trusty digital assistant Frank) on a long journey into the Wastelands to put to rest the monster she created.

It was an interesting universe but I felt like I was missing some information. I was being told things like I was supposed to know what they meant or how they fit into this universe but it wasn't the case.

I also felt like the cheracters' actions didn't always make sense, including what kick-started the story, so we were off to a bad start. As for the characters themselves... I have nothing to say about them. I have no empathy whatsoever for "rich kid whose only problem is getting their parents' approval" type of characters so, again, that was a bad start given the main character.

Honestly, I'm saying a lot of bad things about this graphic novel but it had potential, in the art, or the universe, or even the story. But the execution left a lot to be desired. Then again, maybe other people will be satisfied and will say that what I see as flaws are what make the story charming but, oh well.

French version under the cut

Que se passe-t-il lorsque l'on délaisse nos biens les plus précieux ? Florence Sato, jeune prodige du patin à glace, se retrouve un jour submergée par la pression qu'elle subit. De colère, elle jette ses patins, invoquant accidentellement un Junkwraith, une sorte d’esprit vengeur qui efface les souvenirs de ceux qu’il touche. Pour ne pas disparaitre avec sa mémoire, Florence s’embarque dans un voyage initiatique à travers les Terres Désertées. Mais arrivera-t-elle à se débarrasser du monstre qu’elle a elle-même créé ?

C'était un univers intéressant mais j'avais l'impression qu'il me manquait des informations. On me disait des choses comme si j'étais censée connaître leur signification ou comment elles s'inscrivent dans la logique de l'univers mais c'était pas le cas.

J'ai pas non plus trouvé que les actions des personnages étaient toujours logiques, notamment la mise en route de l'intrigue, donc on partait sur de mauvaises bases. Quant aux personnages eux-mêmes... J'ai rien à dire sur eux. J'ai aucune empathie pour les personnes du type "gosse de riche dont le seul problème est d'avoir l'approbation de ses parents" donc là aussi on partait mal vu le personnage principal.

Concrètement je dis beaucoup de mal de cette BD mais elle avait vraiment du potentiel, que ce soit au niveau des dessins ou de l'univers, même l'histoire. Mais l'exécution laissait à désirer. Après, peut-être que d'autres seront satisfaits et diront que ce que je considère comme des défauts font le charme de l'histoire, mais bon.

[edwardian-girl-next-door]

"Summer is growing old and everything is flowing into a single melancholy murmur"

~ Tomas Tranströmer, from "The Cuckoo"

[babkaboy]

a few weeks ago my queen @sputnikan recommended me Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez saying “it reads like a star wars fanfic” and not only was she right but the book itself destroyed me into pieces and what a better way to get the brainrot out of me by drawing a bunch of scenes but with these space mfs. anyways if you enjoy paranormal shit, horror stuff and messed up father/son relationships please read that book

[checanty]

I just noticed I didn't tell you yet--which is shameful as it is Tumblr where the Mermaid Scientist was born! My Mermaid Book was picked up by Eye of Newt and is available for pre-order right now (it's coming out very soon, though, so any orders should make it until Christmas if that's a concern of yours)! If you're in North America, I'd suggest ordering directly through my publisher's website, however it's available anywhere you'd usually order books. You can ask your favourite indie book shop to order it for you or--if there's no other option or you're worried about crazy shipping costs where you live--it's available via the place starting with A, which shall otherwise not be named, as well. Please note: This is an edited version of the original book. It's shorter, but with more coherent world building and a beautiful new layout and design. It's a proper field guide now!

[higherentity]

[fitzrove]

Reblogging that polar exploration post accidentally introduced me to a Finnish todolf poem xD Original Swedish & someone's German translation under the cut

Hjertats morgon (SE)

Mörker rådde i mitt sinne,

Kallt mitt arma hjerta kändes,

Innan kärleken der inne

Af en vänlig ängel tändes.

Ser du solen efter natten

Strålande på fästet tåga,

Dimmor skingras, land och vatten

I ett helgon skimmer låga.

Ser du bilden af mitt hjerta:

Så dess första morgon grydde,

Så med fruktan, tomhet, smärta

Skuggan från dess verldar flydde.

Sol, som lifvets natt förjagar,

Kärlek, om ett bröst du glömmer,

Hvartill dessa mulna dagar,

Som man utan dig fördrömmer.

Dessa dagar evigt like,

Dessa hopplöst långa stunder,

Detta lif i dödens rike

Utan ljus och utan under.

Des Herzens Morgen

Finsternis in meinen Sinnen,

kalt mein armes Herz ich fühlte,

bis ein Engel, bis nach innen,

es mit Liebeswärme füllte.

Siehst du nach der Nacht die Sonnen-

strahlen durch die Festung fliegen,

Land und Wasser wie versonnen

unter goldnem Schimmer liegen.

Sieh das Bild in meinem Herzen:

So sein erster Morgen graute,

so, mit Furcht, mit Leere, Schmerzen,

Schatten sich nicht zeigen traute.

Lebensdunkel flieht die Sonne,

Liebe kann ein Herz versäumen,

Wolkentage ohne Wonne

muss ich ohne dich verträumen.

Diese Tage, immer gleiche,

diese endlos langen Stunden,

Leben in des Todes Reiche,

ohne Licht und ohne Wunder!

© Willi Grigor, 2016,

aus dem Schwedischen

[theshatterednotes]

Elisabeth Beskow, Swedish author

[natreads]

By the way!!! Another Swedish book I enjoyed (I actually feel like it really grew on me after I'd finished it so I've been thinking about it a lot for the past couple of years) is coming out in an English translation!

Antiquity by Hanna Johansson

Translated by Kira Josefsson

Elegant, slippery, and provocative, Antiquity is a queer Lolita story by prize-winning Swedish author Hanna Johansson—a story of desire, power, obsession, observation, and taboo Antiquity follows its unnamed narrator, a lonely woman in her thirties who becomes enamored of a chic older artist, Helena, after interviewing her for a magazine. Helena invites the narrator to join her in the Greek city of Ermoupoli where she summers with her teenage daughter Olga. At first an object of jealousy, Olga morphs into an object of desire as the pull of Helena is transposed onto her daughter and the prospect of becoming someone’s first, if perverse, lover. With echoes of Death in Venice, Call Me by Your Name, The Lover, and Lolita, but wholly original and contemporary, Antiquity probes the depths of memory, power, and the narratives that arrange our experience of the world.

Picture and text taken from: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738559/antiquity-by-hanna-johannson/

Also look how cool the Swedish cover is:

[importantwomensbirthdays]

Marianne Fredriksson

Marianne Fredriksson was born in 1927 in Gothenburg, Sweden. By the time Fredriksson wrote her first book in 1980, she had already made a name for herself as a journalist. Over the course of her literary career, she would publish fourteen novels as well as several nonfiction books. Fredriksson's work has been translated into more than 40 languages, and her books have sold over 17 million copies globally. Her notable works include the novel Hanna's Daughters, for which she won both Book of the Year and Author of the Year in 1994.

Marianne Fredriksson died in 2007 at the age of 79.

[englishmagic]

So. Current five people dead-or-alive I’d invite to my dinner party:

Susanna Clarke (because she wrote my favourite novel and she seems like a genuinely lovely lady)

Judith Butler (I mean come on fuck yeah they are an Icon the only foreseeable problem is I’d feel too stupid to talk to them)

Sarah Kane (We are going to talk form and content all night you can’t stop me I may not be as edgy as her but I sure do love her work and would love to know what she’d have done next if she hadn’t died)

Ottar of Hålogaland (Would be cool to establish where he was really from)(fingers crossed it’s near my hometown bc that would feel like a victory)

Salomon August Andrée (Need to pick his brains about how exactly he thought flying a hot air balloon over the North Pole was gonna work out, and also how long it took for literally everyone on that thing to be eaten by bears)

[rosetta-j-stone]

Me: <is off to Sweden this weekend to see a Finnish artist>

ALSO ME: <has a Serbian song stuck in her head and may or may not be trying to work out ways to express certain umazane misli in Slovenian>

Me: Ooh this is so Joker Out Nordic Tour coded

[the-sandy-hippo]

Commissions!

I don’t talk about it too much on here but!! I’m a writer! And I’m pretty good if I do say so myself and I’m in a bit of a bind money-wiseso I’m opening up for writing commissions!

I offer small stories around 1-2k words with a base rate of 30$, depending on desired length and need for reworks.

I mainly work with character backgrounds, stylized stories, angst and lots of whimsy, but I’m open to do most* things! I also do backstories for DND characters and other TTRPGs as well as providing outlines for TTRPG storylines!

Unlike other artists I can’t bring up too much of examples on a tumblr post, but if you are interested just shoot me a DM and I’ll happily provide <3

P.S. I work in swedish too, as it is my mother tongue ^^

*No pedo shit, incest etc, the regular no-go stuff

[shararan]

good news: started shortfic 300 words

good news 2: its binggehua

??? news: its pushing the boundaries of a shortfic as im at 1500 words and cant stop for a break

worse news: my back is dying

good news 3: still kicking and screaming as the words flow like waterfall

less good but also ???? news: its in swedish

not good but kinda makes me laugh news: ill be the one to take yet another fandoms swedish fic virginity on ao3

[joysofescapism]

Book Review: Three Swedish Mountain Men by Lily Gold

Three ripped, gorgeous men. One secluded Swedish mountain cabin. It looks like my vacation is about to heat up…

After my ex-boyfriend makes me the target of a cruel online hate campaign, I know I have to get away. The last thing I expect on my trip to Sweden is a moose standing in the middle of the road — or the mysterious, bearded ranger who pulls me from my wrecked car.

Now a storm’s brewing, and I’m being carried into a secluded mountain cabin by a Nordic God rippling with muscle. Inside, I’m greeted by three sizzling-hot Swedish mountain men:

Riven, the cool, collected doctor with the muscled arms and the impeccable bedside manner. Eli, the flirty ski instructor with the charming smile and dimples I’m dying to kiss. And Cole, the rugged blonde ranger with the ice-blue eyes and a hammer to rival Thor.

Trapped inside the cabin, we only have the roaring fire—and each other—to keep warm. And things heat up fast. All three men are fiercely protective over me. They look like Vikings, kiss like angels, and best of all, they love sharing me. It feels too good to be true.

But I’m not who I say I am. When my mountain men find out my true identity, will they be able to forgive my lies and love the real me? Or will my dark, painful secret shatter our relationship to pieces?

Read my full review below the cut.

Not gonna lie, I loved how we were just thrown right in the middle of an accident as an introduction to our heroine, Daisy. I was like, “what the f*ck is going on?!”

Anyway, this is another great short read from Lily Gold. I enjoyed the different relationship development of Daisy with Eli, Riven, and Cole. They were given their own timelines which fit their personalities and their compatibility with their girl.

I give this one a four star rating for making me incredibly mad and sad. The focus of the book is more on the characters so I could understand that we just glossed over their back stories. Also, while I do love a good grovel from the heroes when they inevitably fucked up, this is one of those when I don’t think a long grovel is needed.

Final thoughts: Definitely will recommend! I think I liked this one better than Triple-Duty Bodyguards from the same author.

GoodReads | Storygraph | Instagram

[higherentity]

[theshatterednotes]

Sara Lidman