Jerrey'n nah hiaghtin, as shoh ny lhiah mee yn çhiaghtin shoh chaie:
Bakuman y.l. 5 (Ōba Tsugumi, Obata Takeshi)
S'baghtal eh (er coontey'n wheiggoo ym-lioar shoh) dy mie lhiah y straih shoh. By vie lhiam er lheh aase keirdey y reagheyder noa, as y cochiangley noi-as-marish eddyr ny h-ellyneyryn. Er y laue elley, er lhiam dy vel eh çheet dy ve beggan ro-ard-haghyrtagh ny keayrtyn, as nee'm arrey er shen y 'reayll; s'mie lhiam firrinys y skeeal.
Genkaku Picasso y.l. 3 (Furuya Usamaru)
Jerrey'n traih shoh mychione gilley as gioot ellynagh neughooghyssagh echey. Dy firrinagh, dennee mee rish tammylt dy row eh jannoo reddyn crampey ro-aashagh, mychione feaysley doilleeidyn aigney trome. Agh ta cree vie echey, as myr va mee er ngoaill toshiaght credjal, dooyrt yn ughtar 'syn ym-lioar shoh dy vel ny karracteyryn er bun e woiraghyn hene tra v'eh aeg. Aghterbee, ro-aashagh ny dyn, vogg ny jeirnyn nish as reesht, bunnys. As va jerrey fondagh echey.
Midnight Robber (Nalo Hopkinson)
Cha nel mee lane shickyr c'red lhisin gra urree... Red ennagh myr: Aght screeuee mie. Seihll mie. S'bastagh eh yn egin paitçhey.
Cha row eh agglagh. By vie lhiam y daa heill t'ayn, as ny ta Hopkinson er chur ayndaue. Ta ny karracteyryn mie, goaill stiagh adsyn nagh vel agh paart beg oc. Ta'n aght screeuee as yn aght t'ee cloie lesh yn çhengey (t'ee screeuit ayns Creole Carribagh, ayns ayrn) feer taitnyssagh. By vie ass towse lhiam ny douen, dooie feer noa gyn cosoylaght ayns reddyn ta mee er nyn lhaih hannah. As by vie lhiam Tan-Tan. Agh cha nee y lioar va mee jerkal, ny yn lioar lhig ee er dy ve. Rere soilshaghey cooyl ny lioar, she skeeal contoyrtyssyn t'ayn, mychione bea Tan-Tan 'syn 'aasagh, as yn aght ta Tan-Tan çheet dy ve Benrein ny Roosteyryn: er lhiam dy jinnagh ish stiurey caghlaa sheshoil ennagh, ny jannoo rere Zorro, foddee. Veagh blass John Carter of Mars er y chooish, foddee, red ennagh gennal.
Shegin dou goaill rish dy vel ooilley shen 'sy lioar, agh son y chooid smoo ta'n skeeal croghey er yn aght ta Tan-Tan surranse kialg, croiaght, dunverys ayrey as eiyrtyssyn y jees. Shen eh ta troggal y skeeal, as ta "barriaght" er ny h-eiyrtyssyn shen cohaghyrt rish jerrey yn skeeal. Shen bun ny contoyrtyssyn as yn jerrey oc. Ta ny contoyrtyssyn, ny t'ee feddyn magh, as eer Benrein ny Roosteyryn fo chummaght as stiurey ny h-olkyn shen; cha nel shen quaagh, agh cha ghow mee y lioar shoh er son lheid y skeeal. As dy firrinagh, cha nel Benrein ny Roosteyryn kerroo cho yindyssagh as va mee jerkal, agh aght feayslee da ny doilleeidyn eck son y chooid smoo, ayns cummey ben hreoghe e h-ayrey as e h-agglaghyn hene - red feer vie gyn ourys, agh ta blass soilshaghey foalsey er y lane chooish. Cha nyinnin er gionnaghey yn lioar shoh dy beagh fys er ve aym er y feer chooid eck.
The Martian Way (Isaac Asimov)
Kiare skeealyn beggey, mestane jeh far-skeealaght heanse fondagh (ta cur trimmid er feer oaylleeaght, er fishag as kemmig erskyn ooilley) as neufondagh (bentyn rish sheshaghtyn as ymmyrkey). By vie lhiam ad; t'ad croghey er taghyrtyn, agh ta Asimov soilshaghey karracteyryn fondagh dy lioar, ayns beggan glare, nagh row mee laccal monney. Ta blass eash orroo, dy jarroo - toghtaney, çhaghnoaylleeaght, caslyssyn-soilshey fondagh nhegin daue ad y chur ayns kishtey yiarn - agh cha nel eh jannoo monney jeeyl. Va'n skeeal "Youth" croghey, ayns ayrn, er cassey va mee jerkal car y skeeal, agh s'cosoylagh dy row eh noa as appee tra screeu eh y skeeal. Ta "Sucker Bait" anaasoil, soilshaghey traa ry-heet tra nagh vel sur-oaylleeyn cur geill erbee da reddyn nagh vel 'sy vagher oc, er y fa dy vel wheesh dy ynsaghey oc gyn shen; cooish foddee oo sheiltyn nish. T'ou jerkal dy nee y dooinney aeg nagh vel ad cur geill da feayley'n chooish, agh t'eh anaasoil ny yei shen. Ta kuse dy reddyn jeeaghyn dy vel beggan bunneydagh nish, mychione joarree erskyn ooilley, agh shen er y fa dy vel sleih elley er screeu orroo neayr's 1964, ayns ayrn.
Un accan: 'sy chur magh t'ayms (Panther), ta'n soilshaghey cooyl jannoo assee da dagh skeeal liorish cur dhyt foddey, foddey rouyr fys er, goaill stiagh creeghyn kuse jeu. Shen jus neuchummeydys hene.
The end of week two of the Reading Project, and here's what I've read this week:
Bakuman v. 5 (Ōba Tsugumi, Obata Takeshi)
Obviously, I'm enjoying this series (I am reading the fifth volume, after all). I particularly enjoyed the professional growth of the new editor, as the friends-but-rivals relationship of the novice manga artists. On the downside, I feel like it's getting a bit too melodramatic at times and losing some of the realism I enjoyed.
Genkaku Picasso y.l. 3 (Furuya Usamaru)
The end of this little series about a boy with supernatural artistic skills. Honestly, I've begun to feel (or notice, or care) that it's over-simplifying quite complex things about solving serious emotional issues. But it's well-intentioned, and as I'd begun to suspect, there's some autobiography in there too, as the author states in this volume. Many of the characters feature worries or issues he had in some form at that age. Anyway, over-simplified or not, it did leave my eyes moist a few times. And it gave everyone a good send-off.
Midnight Robber (Nalo Hopkinson)
Uh. I'm not really sure what to say about this... something like: Nice writing. Nice setting. Shame about the incest.
It's not an awful book. I like the two worlds Hopkinson creates and the way she's fleshed them out. I particularly like the douen, a species unlike anything I've read about before (well, in fiction, there's plenty of real biology there). The characters are great, including the bit-parts, and I enjoy the way she plays with language and her writing style: a lot of the book is written in Caribbean Creole. And I did like Tan-Tan, the heroine. But it wasn't really the book I'd been led to expect, in some quite important ways, both by previous comments and the cover blurb. "...Here, monstrous creatures from folklore are real, and the humans are violent outcasts in the wilds. Here Tan-Tan must reach into the heart of myth - and become the Robber Queen herself. For only Robber Queen's legendary powers can save her life... and set her free." Just a snippet, but the blurb in general implies that it's an adventure story about Tan-Tan's life in this alien wilderness, and how she becomes the Robber Queen - someone I was vaguely expecting to be a sort of Zorro, or lead some kind of social change. I thought there'd be a sort of cheerful, maybe John Carter of Mars sort of vibe to it.
Admittedly those things are in the book, but in practice, structurally and thematically, the story's about Tan-Tan surviving deception, incest and patricide, and the enduring consequences of those things. Those determine the course of her life and activities, exert unsurprising but overwhelming influence on everything she does, and the climax of the book is all about finally overcoming those influences, rather than some great adventure. In context it's not surpising, but it's really not the book I signed up for. And to be honest, the Robber Queen isn't the marvellous legendary figure I'd been led to expect - something like the Scarlet Pimpernel or the Stainless Steel Rat, I think - but a sort of minor Batman figure whose main purpose is enabling her to face down her demons, in the shape of her father's widow and her own self-doubt. Perfectly good things, without a doubt, but for me there was a taste of false advertising about the whole business. I would not have picked up this book knowing what it really was.
The Martian Way (Isaac Asimov)
Four short stories, a mixture of hard and soft sci-fi (that is, some more 'hard sciencey' and more 'soft sciencey'). I enjoyed it; it's typically event-based, but Asimov does a good job of painting characters in a few broad strokes and titbits. They've aged somewhat, partly by including elements like smoking and certain technologies that seem laughable now. Hard-copy-only photos that are kept in a safe, for example. Other elements seem obvious or 'done' these days, especially social ideas and things about alien society, but I suspect a lot of that is because since 1964 they've been written about again. When they came out, they were probably fresh and novel. One story, "Youth", has a twist ending I saw coming miles away, but then I've read a lot of Asimov before. "Sucker Bait" is interesting, depicting a time when specialists focus exclusively on their own field, with no time or interest for learning other disciplines - something you can imagine already with the sheer volume of knowledge there is. You know the kid everyone igores is going to solve the problem, but it's still interesting.
One complaint: the edition I have (Panther) has massively over-explanatory blurb, which manages to give away too much about every story in only four lines each. I hope the editor responsible moved into academic abstracting.
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