Go here for English version. Note, this is rewritten from scratch, not a direct translation.
24oo - 30oo Luanistyn
Jerrey queiggoo shiaghtin jeih as feed ny Shalee Lhaih. Shoh ny lhiah mee yn çhiaghtin shoh chaie:
The heads of Cerberus (Francis Stevens)
She skeeal quaagh t'ayn, ga dy ghow mee soylley jeh. Cha nel mian echey dy reih genre erbee: hoshiaght, er lhiam dy nee skeeal cur-er-creau t'ayn, gollrish The Citadel of Fear. Agh dy leah ta shin feddyn fansee oalyssagh, anflaunys skittagh (foddee?), contoyrtys, as FSS sheiltynagh. Er lhiam nagh row eie baghtal ec Stevens er ny by vie lhee foddee? Agh cha dod mee feddyn reayrtys gerjallagh er y skeeal. Chammah's shen, va blass garroo er, myr dy row eieyn mie eck agh cha cheau ee traa dy liooar dyn go-unnanaghey roish cur magh. Ta blass shaghney ennagh er jerrey y skeeal, as soilshaghey magh liauyr er metafishag y skeeal, agh cha dod Stevens jannoo skeeal sheansagh resoonagh jeh cooid chraa-laue oalyssagh. She kynney Alice in Wonderland t'ayn, as cha nod oo jannoo fansee baljagh trome-chooishagh jeh. Ta ny karracteyryn gyn annym, as cha nel eh cur geill dy liooar da'n daa hare (Bertram as y chaillin echey) er lhiam. Ta ard-haghyrt y contoyrtys taghyrt ass shilley y lhaihder - ta shin feddyn magh myechione ayns cooyl-reayrtys, liorish cowag eddyr sleih ta son molley y cheilley, myr shen cha nel eh baghtal cre ta ry-chredjal as cre ta ny breag. Cheau mee traa taitnyssagh er y skeeal, as bioghey turrys traen, agh cha noddym gra dy nee obbyr hare Stevens t'ayn er chor erbee.
Fockle s'jerree
Lhaih mee 1 lioar, va 76 aym yn çhiaghtin shoh chaie, myr shen ta 75 faagit dou nish. Shegin dou lhaih 25 lioaryn ayns 17 shiaghteeyn.
English version
24th - 30th August
The end of week thirty-five of the Reading Project. Here's what I've read this week:
The heads of Cerberus (Francis Stevens)
This was a distinctly odd story, though not unenjoyable. Primarily, it doesn't want to settle on any particular genre - the opening suggests we're in for a thriller along the lines of The Citadel of Fear, but it rushes through mystical fantasy, maybe-satirical dystopia, adventure and conceptual sci-fi, giving the sense that she just didn't know what she wanted. It also felt a bit rough and ready, as though Stevens had some cool ideas but hadn't spent quite enough time making them fit together before publishing this. The ending is rather a cop-out, accompanied by a big chunk of exposition of the story's metaphysics laboriously tagged on, as though Stevens wants it to be a sci-fi story that makes sense rather than a handwavey mystical journey, but it... isn't. It's like trying to make Alice in Wonderland a serious urban fantasy work. The characters are rather flat, and the best two (Bertram and his friend) are sadly neglected. The most interesting part of the adventure happens offscreen, and we learn about it all retrospectively, in dialogue, in a scene where it's not at all clear whether whether anyone's telling the truth. I had a reasonable time with this story, and it pleasantly whiled away a journey, but I can't call it one of Stevens' strongest works.
Afterword
I read 1 book this week, I had 76 last week, so 75 are left over. I have 25 books to read in 17 weeks.
