Jerrey nuyoo hiaghtin as feed ny Shallee Lhaih. Shoh ny lhiah mee yn çhiaghtin shoh chaie:
Yr un yw'r frwydr (Mair Wynn Hughes)
Skeeal fansee da paitçhyn - yiarrin paitçhyn, cha niarrin sleih aegey, er y fa nagh vel cooishyn cadjin lioaryn sleih aegey ry-akin. Cha nel caarjys ny cochiangley 'sy chooish, ny appeeaght noadyr, agh t'eh goaill stiagh beggan boirey as atçhim. Myr shen, yiarrins paitçhyn 8-12 foddee? She skeeal neuchramp Sollys as Dorraghys t'ayn, as ny braaraghyn cochianglt rish y Tollys rere fadeyrys dy vow ad daa yeantane scanshoil. Ta ny reddyn cadjin ayn: shenn druiaght kenjal, fannagyn drogh-vonney, markiaght dorraghey (y Markiaght Dorraghey!) ta skeaylley olkys, shirveishagh "firrinagh" ta ny vrahder... oh, as cha nel ad marroo y Markiaght, t'eh goll er seiy harrish oirr slogh ec fer quaagh fo-hallooin. Mestey Star Wars as Lord of the Rings, myr shen... Nish, cha nel mee son gra dy row eh gyn feeu. She lioar phaitçhyn t'ayn, as ga dy vel mish er vakin lheid ny h-eieyn reesht as reeshtagh, shegin da cagh goaill toshiaght raad ennagh. Chammah's shen, v'ee screeuit mie dy liooar, ga dy row Bretnish y skeeal beggan trome da'n chooish ny keayrtyn, er lhiams. Va ny taghyrtyn baghtal dy liooar, as hug MWH blass baggyrtagh urree.
Er y laue elley, shegin dou gra dy row immeeaght y skeeal beggan ass ynnyd, er lhiams. Ga dy vel eh fo ny gillyn shirrey er ny jeantaneyn, cha nod ad jannoo shen derrey treen s'jerree ny lioar, as eisht gyn monney fys er c'raad t'adsyn. Derrey'n traa shen, t'ad fo ghlass 'sy ghowaltys er y fa dy vel y Markiaght er chur cowraghyn çhingys yn ollee er ny beiyn, as ta'n skeeal jeeaghyn er taghyrtyn y caggey fansee. Rish shen,t'ee ceau ram traa er y turrys, as caghlaa dy tappee eddyr ocsyn as caggey mooar ec cashtal ny Sollysh. Mie dy liooar. T'ad goll er shelg ec y Varkiaght hene ayns curragh; fondagh. Agh eisht, ta fer quaagh fo-hallooin feddyn ad as coadey ad, t'eh dyn leeideil dys ooig raad ta'n stoo tashtit, t'eh ceau y Markiaght ayns towl dowin, as t'ad "feddyn" ny jeantaneyn as cur jerrey tappee er y skeeal. Er lhiam nagh row monney bree ec y jerrey hene, as cha row monney bree ny jeantaneyn do-akin noadyr. Dy firrinagh, s'goan dy vel ad MacGuffinyn. Dennee mee nagh row fys ec MHW er cre'n jeantane v'ayn ny c'red oddagh ee jannoo maroo. Lhaih mee ny va taghyrt, agh cha dennee mee eh.
De Profundis (Michal Oracz)
Lioar reillyn da gamman... cha nel gamman cloie paart dy jeeragh, agh red ennagh eddyr shen as co-screeu skeeal liorish lettyryn. Ta shiuish goaill erriu hene paartyn karracteyryn rere aght Lovecraft, sleih ta surranse reddyn quaagh, as co-screeu er ny cooishyn shen. Ta ram stoo 'sy lioar son shen, screeuit 'syn aght shen. T'eh caghlaait ass y Pholannish, as er lhiam dy vel beggal er coayl er y fa shen - scansh cultooragh ennagh, foddee. Ghow mee taitnys jeh, agh t'ee beggan liauyr son ny t'aynjee, er lhiams, as t'ee gra ny reddyn cheddin reeshtagh ny keayrtyn. Er lhiam dy beagh eh aitt dauesyn as traa dy liooar oc, as ta mee er groo skeealyn marish sleih elley ny keayrtyn. Ny yei shen, cha bee'm goaill ayrn. Gyn çheet er y fa nagh vel caarjyn aym by vie lhieu lheid y gamman, she goaill ort hene paart peiagh ta goll ass e cheeall liorish feddyn magh reddyn agglagh eh bun y gamman, as ta shen ro-vie er enney dooys, gura mie ayd.
The Dragon in the Sea (Frank Herbert)
Shoh lioar nagh row er y rolley er fa ennagh, agh cha row fys aym er shen derrey lhaih mee ish! She skeeal far-skeealaght heanse t'ayn, ga nagh vel monney sheanse sheiltynagh aynjee trooid as trooid. Ta blass lajer y Chaggey Conrieugh urree - she lioar ny 1960yn t'ayn as shen baghtal dy liooar. Ta fovooiranee Americaanagh caggey noi sleih Hiar gyn fa baghtal, myr t'ad ayns lheid ny lioaryn, as t'ad skeeal mychione shickloayllee ta goll nyn mast'oc dys feddyn magh cre'n fa dy vel ad goll er coayl dy cadjin. T'eh çheet er baanrid caggee as dooghys keeayll as y lheid, as lane aggle fo goulraghey as tranlaase-aggle. V'eh castreycair; er lhiam dy row eh ro-liauyr son y chooid t'echey, as ta eash trome er. Chammah's shen, cha nel eh cur freggyrt da'n 'eysht meanagh, ga dy vel eh lhiggey er shen y yannoo: cre'n fa dy vel ny fovooiraneyn goll er coayl? Baanrid? Laccal mian dy hannaghtyn bio? Shirrey jerrey erbee da'n turranse? T'eh jus quaagh, rere lioaryn elley ny 1960yn dy cadjin. My she sampleyr cadjin obbyr Herbert t'ayn, cha lhaimyn ny smoo jeu.
The end of week twenty-nine of the Reading Project. Here's what I've read this week:
Yr un yw'r frwydr (Mair Wynn Hughes)
A children's fantasy book. I say children's, because there's none of the usual indicators of YA fiction here: relationships, achieving maturity, moral complexity. However, it does have some sinister touches and moments of worry, so I'd say maybe for 8-12 year olds? It's a fairly simple story of Light and Darkness, with two brothers linked to the Light by a prophecy that says they'll find the two MacGuffins. It has a lot of common elements: old kindly wizard, sinister crows, a Dark Rider (honestly) who spreads evil, a treacherous "faithful servant"... and rather than killing the Rider as such, he gets pushed over a cliff by a bizarre troglodytic bloke the kids meet near the end. So a bit of a Star Wars-LOTR mashup. But though I say that, everyone has to get started somewhere; I may be over-familiar with all those elements, but children won't be. It's also written fairly well, although I occasionally felt the language was a bit stiff for the content. The actual story was clear enough, with a faintly sinister air to it.
On the other hand, I have to say I found the pacing a bit off. Although the boys are supposed to find the artefacts, they don't get to do anything whatsoever until the last third of the book, with screen time spent either on the fantasy battle, or on a Rider-spawned "foot and mouth" outbreak that keeps the family confined to the farm for days. When they do finally get started, with only the faintest idea of where to go, the action switches rapidly between them (hunted by dark creatures) and the battle and betrayal - decent enough technique. The Rider pursues them through a misty swamp, which is fine by me. However, at this point the ending gets skewed. A strange troglodyte finds them and shelters them, then turns out to know where the artefacts are and leads the boys to them. The Rider comes after them and gets thrown in the pit. Then the whole artefact plot just sort of fizzles into a generic victory, without the artefacts doing anything or even getting the spotlight, and without any more scenes from the fantasy setting to show the effects there. It just felt weirdly abrupt to me, and a bit like MHW didn't really have any idea what to do with it.
De Profundis (Michal Oracz)
A gamebook - not quite an RPG, but something between that and a joint epistoliary novel. You take on the roles of Lovecraftian characters, suffering strange events and writing about them. There's a lot in the book, written in the style it wants you to adopt. It's translated from Polish, which I think has lost a little something in the translation; perhaps a slight cultural nuance? I enjoyed it, but it seems a bit long for what it is, and occasionally repetitive. It would probably be fun for someone with the time and inclination. I certainly used to make up stories with people. Nevertheless, I won't be going for this one. Apart from the fact I don't think any of my friends would be interested, it's a game about adopting the part of someone going slowly insane. That's a little bit close to home, cheers.
The Dragon in the Sea (Frank Herbert)
For some reason this wasn't on my list, but I didn't spot that until I'd read it. It's a sci-fi story, though with very little speculative science in it, to be honest. There's a very strong Cold War note to it, being a 1960s book, with American submariners fighting Eastern Powers for no apparent reason. The story itself is about an undercover psychologist joining a crew to see why so many are disappearing (presumably destroyed, though you never find out). It's full of stuff about the nature of sanity, the madness of war, paranoia and a horror of radiation - all very of-its-time. It was okay, I suppose. I found it too long for the actual content, but I suppose he wanted to emphasise tone. Also quite dated. Also, the central mystery of the book never really gets an answer, as much as it acts like it does. Is the problem full-blown madness? Loss of survival instinct? Seeking any end to the horror of war? It just feels a bit strange and somewhat portentious (and pretentious), to be honest, as so many books of that era do. If this is a representative sample of Herbert's work, I won't be reading any more.
