I really want to see a professional translation of these novels. I glanced at the fan translations, but I think this work is complex enough that it would really need a LOT of effort to do it justice, so I'm kind of holding out for a physical release. I was pretty sour about the Vertical thing not going anywhere, but this has me pretty jazzed again.
Also, I would recommend it to non anime fans as well. I'd actually most recommend it to scifi literature people most. I think a lot of them would really enjoy this story.
Fingers crossed that this actually becomes sometihing
unfortunately, it might be that god damn manga 
. I know vertical licensed that.
edited 6th Jul '13 10:53:18 PM by electronshock
Immanentizing the eschaton
I haven't seen Vertical talk about the novel lately. I wonder if people stopped asking, or if Vertical got tired of responding. I'd still really like to see this translated, so hopefully they're still considering it.
edited 15th Jun '14 9:46:49 PM by SilentColossus
Immanentizing the eschaton
There's a fan translation ongoing.
Yeah, but in my experience fan translations aren't always that accurate. I don't have anything against them, or the people who make them, but professional translations tend to be better. Especially since this is a massive novel, not a manga or a light novel.
edited 23rd Jun '14 1:47:46 PM by SilentColossus
Eh... I don't know if I'd say official translations are always better. They're better than the bad fan translations for sure, but often times it's pretty clear they messed up on something or have an inconsistent style.
Yeah, they're not always better, and nor are they perfect. And yes, they do make mistakes, because that will happen sometimes when you translate something. But I'd still rather trust an official translation.
edited 23rd Jun '14 3:17:17 PM by SilentColossus
Conceptually Frameworked
It's not just about errors though. Official translations don't tend to be as stiff as the most stilted fan translations but they're also not as creative as some of the best translations.
Prose is almost a separate issue to accuracy of translation.
"Nullius addictus iurare in verba magistri, quo me cumque rapit tempestas, deferor hospes."
^^ It really depends on who handled it. Official translations generally have a pretty consistent quality and they rarely screw up too badly, at the very least.
I wouldn't trust all fan translations since you can even get things like the machine translation Flyable Heart got, but if you know where to look you can find out how reliable any given translation is.
^ Well, a 100% accurate translation wouldn't actually be perfect. There's a matter of prose style like you said but also that some things like idioms, references, jokes and wordplay can be kind of tricky.
edited 23rd Jun '14 3:37:14 PM by Arha
I'm not talking in absolutes. The great fan translations only come around rarely, and while official translations can be stiff, they're usually better than the fan translations.
edited 23rd Jun '14 3:43:31 PM by SilentColossus
I guess I see it the other way.
Wow, I can't believe I've been "intending to watch" this show for well over a year now...the manga was okay for getting a grasp of the plot, but dear god the fanservice overload.
Smooth trick that Shun pulled with the river surface in episode 3 there...
According to Baka Tsuki: