Monday 25 February 2013

Shalee lhaih 2013: Shiaghtin 08

Jerrey'n hoghtoo hiaghtin. Shoh ny lhiah mee yn çhiaghtin shoh chaie:

Nightschool y.l. 1 (Svetlana Chmakova)

Manga er fansee jeianagh - dy ghra myr shen, y seihll ain as buitçhyn as sooderyn-folley ayn, as y lheid. Ghow mee taitnys j'ee - s'mie lhiam ny beiyn thie neughooghyssagh as reddyn bentyn rish y scoill hene, ga nagh row monney 'syn ym-lioar shoh (gyn scansh da'n ennym!). T'eh tayrnit dy mie, as ta Chmakova garraghey dy schlei eddyr aitt as taghyrtyn. Er y laue elley, shegin dou goaill rish dy nee skeeal fansee jeianagh t'ayn as ayns aghtyn t'eh gollrish ymmodee skeealyn fansee jeianagh elley: ard-charracteyr as pooaryn quaagh er lheh eck (ny s'quaaghey ny t'ec ny karracteyryn elley), sheshaght rheynnit ayns sleih dooghyssagh as neughooghyssagh (as ad follit), kuse dy neughooghyssee ta craghey er sleih oney, shelgeyryn (as yn ennym shen orroo) ta shelgey ny kimmeeyn shen... myr shen my t'ou shirrey reddyn lane noa, cha vow uss ad ayns shoh.

Y Llinyn Arian (Mair Wynn Hughes)

Skeeal sleih aegey ny h-Eash Chloaie, as ad streppey dy hannaghtyn bio nyn lomarcan erreish da traartys yn lught oc. Lhaih mee dy moal - she Bretnish lettyragh t'ayn, beggan doillee, as tasht fockle lane enmyn lossreeyn as greieyn nagh row er enney aym. Ny yei shen, t'eh screeuit dy mie as ghow mee soylley jeh contoyrtyssyn ny paitçhyn. Ghow mee yindys mooar, ta MWH eer çheet er y chooish neuinshit ta baggyrt orroo 'sy traa ry-heet, shen croiaght. Cha vaik mee rieau y lheid ayns skeeal sleih aegey erbee, as va mee jerkal dy jinnagh MWH ny haghney myrgeddin. T'ad ry-yerkal ny keayrtyn, as mooadit erskyn rieughid: ta'n jees oc beasaghey moddee oaldey rish mee ny ghaa, cooiney cormid ny keintyssyn as croo tilgeyr shleiy. Agh shen skeealaght dhyt, as ta ry-yerkallys ry-yerkal (...) jeh skeealyn paitçhyn tannaghtyn bio, ny ghenre ta mee er lhaih mooarane jeh, as jeh skeealyn bentyn rish amm wheesh mie er enney ain as yn Eash Chloaie. Trooid as trooid she lioar vie t'ayn.


The end of week eight of the Reading Project. Here's what I've read this week:

Nightschool v. 1 (Svetlana Chmakova)

A modern fantasy manga, which is to say it's basically the real world but with witches and vampires. I enjoyed it; it's nicely drawn, switches fairly well between dramatic and humorous sections, and I liked Alex's familiar and the school-related stuff (which there isn't much of here, name notwithstanding). On the other hand, it is a modern fantasy story, and while it's original so far in some ways, it has the common trappings of the genre: a protagonist with powers not merely strange, but stranger than those of other supernaturals; a world split secretly between ordinary clueless people and a parallel supernatural society; rogue supernaturals who prey on ordinary people, and hunters who track them down and destroy them. So if you're looking for something entirely novel, or you're just a bit tired of "The real world, but with witches and vampires" then move along.

Y Llinyn Arian (Mair Wynn Hughes)

The story of two Stone Age youngsters struggling to survive after the massacre of their tribe. I found it slow going, a mixture of the quite formal Welsh (MWH tends to write that way, as I've discovered before) and unfamiliar vocabulary for all kinds of plants, landscape features and Stone Age utensils. Nevertheless, it's well-written and I got pretty caught up in the adventures of the two. Much to my surprise, MWH even touched on the looming problem of incest that hung over the two's future - first time I've seen that in a children's/YA book! In fairness, it was predictable in some ways and a bit exaggerated: in the space of a few months they domesticate wolves, invent the atlatl and develop more or less equality for women. But that's how stories go, predictability is (ironically) to be predicted in youngsters' survival stories (which I've read a ton of) and stories about the well-known past; it was a very decent book on the whole.

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