Willett, Edward. Lost in Translation. DAW, 2006.
Lost in Translation by journeyman science fiction author Edward Willett is not so much about language as it is about the power of empathy. As a child, Kathryn lost her parents in an interstellar war with a satanic-looking winged species. Jarrikk, a member of that species, is rendered flightless when humans shoot him down. Jarrikk and Kathryn are rescued by the Translators’ Guild, which brokers peace and trade between species. The best translators are those with empathic skills. Jarrikk and Kathryn form an unlikely bond that supercharges their empathy and makes them the keys to interstellar peace. Willett uses a shifting third-person point of view to keep us engaged with both characters. Nicely done. 4 stars. ( )

http://www.sfsite.com/08a/lt205.htm ( )

Kathryn is a human whose life was destroyed when the alien S'sinn slaughtered her parents.

Jarrikk's life was ruined when humans slaughtered his flight mates and crippled him so that he could never fly again.

Both were trained as Translators by the Guild.
Two Translators-who had every reason to hate one another-must work together to find common ground and avert catastrophe...

I enjoyed this 2005 paperback quite a lot! The characters where interesting and believable for the most part. I expected a bit more resistance to the bond that grows between the two main characters, but Willett makes it work.

After a quick google search, I discovered that Willett has written a number of books, and that he's Canadian. I am quite surprised that I've never heard of him before!

A light Space Opera about alien human conflict and the use of empaths and telepaths to try to keep the peace.

There are 7 alien species in the Commonwealth. Humans are the latest addition and are fighting with another low tech, recent new member, the S'sinn. They are cat/bat like aliens that have fangs, claws, wings and they fly. Humans and S'sinn are fighting over the right to planets they both have or want to colonize. They had a brief war and there were atrocities on both sides.

The Commonwealth with its superior fire power has imposed a peace, but the hatred still bubbles. The two peoples are having negotiations but neither side is acting in good faith. The negotiations are being facilitated by the Guild.

The Guild has translators from all species. The only requirement is some Psi ability: empath or telepath. They insert a symbiote into them which takes chemical programming, different for each race they translate for. Each side has a translator of their own species, and the two translators interface. When people enter the Guild they give up their allegiance to their species and pledge to protect the Guild, the Commonwealth and to translate honestly (the chemical programming prevents the translator from injecting their thoughts into the process).

The 2 translators for this negotiation are the human Kathryn and the S'sinn Jarrikk. Both have been touched by the fighting. Kathryn's parents were killed by S'sinn in front of her when she was small. Jarrikk's group of younglings hatched together were all killed by humans. He was also crippled by a human. He can no longer fly. The Flightless have no value or place in S'sinn civilization. They expect him to kill himself, but he did not because he could serve by translating.

The story is of how the 2 translators learn to overcome their pain and hatred to work together, and how they try to stop the next war. There are S'sinn and humans who each want war for their own reasons, as well as a lot of general hate.

There are lots of twists and turns, and I admit I thought it would end up a certain way and take a certain path, and it didn't. It surprised me and was better than I thought it was going to be.

A story that explores the dangers of hate and violence and the value of cooperation, and forgiveness.

A quick read, that was interesting, with good writing and characters. The aliens were done well, and the story kept me reading. ( )

See review in NeoOpsis Magazine ( )