A Russian publisher is under fire for censoring a gay storyline in a popular fantasy novel series without permission from the US-based author. Victoria Schwab is the author of the Shades of Magic series, which features a number of LGBT characters, including a bisexual prince who has a same-sex romance.
The bestselling books were translated into Russian as part of a deal with Russia-based publisher Rosmen. However, the author was horrified to discover via a reader that the story had been doctored for the Russian translation, in order to omit the gay relationship.
She tweeted: “The Russian edition of Shades of Magic has been my favorite. This week I learned that they redacted the entire queer plot w/out permission. “They chose to illegally edit and redact [it]. I was absolutely horrified. Wouldn’t have known if not for a Russian reader who read both editions. Publisher in total breach of contract. I’m positively devastated.”
She added: “As a reader: I’m frustrated. As an LGBTQ+ human: I’m hurt. As an author: I’m indignant.”
By Nick Duffy – Full Story at Pink News