Weel Ladies this is oor battle-air-ship but dinni be fooled – the airmour’s paper thin tae keep her licht eneuch so’s the aerium gas in her bladders’ll lift her quick so’s we kin rocket awa gleg like.
And that gas is as fey tae a spark as gun poother, and it’ll blaw us aw tae bits if yer no canny.
Jist like thon ship yonder whaur some eedjit’s tried for a fly fag or sparked a match in the wrang compartment.
Translate:
Licht. light, not heavy.
Well ladies this is our battle-air-ship but do not be fooled – the armour is paper thin so as to keep her light enough for the aerium gas in her bladders to lift her quickly so we can rocket away swiftly.
And that gas is as fatally fated to a spark as is gun powder and will blow us all to bits if you’re not careful.
Just like that ship up there where some idiot has likely tried to have a secret cigarette or has fired up a match in the wrong compartment.
ˈləixt
The Scottish Word: licht with its definition and its meaning illustrated and captioned with the word used in context in the Scots language and in English.
Tales of the Ketty Jay.
I wasn’t trying to draw a rendition of the ship ‘Ketty Jay’ from Chris Wooding’s four books. The last of which ‘The Ace of Skulls’ I’ve just finished.
What happened is that the book had an influence and this drawing came unbidden while doodling to get ideas and to which I fitted a Scottish word.
The Ketty Jay is lumpier and doesn’t have a canary on it. I think that’s an influence from Blackhawks of DC comics.
Plus the Aerium gas technology from the airships in the books isn’t even an explosive gas.
Air Pirates.
Chris’s books are essentially tales of derring-do with air pirates, freebooters and warring nations with ancient alien technology, magic, and zombies of a sort thrown in.
It follows the adventures of an unlikely band of losers aboard an airship (The Ketty Jay) who survive by questionable means.
From the back of the book; Ace of Skulls: “They’ve been shot down, set up, double crossed and ripped off. They’ve stolen priceless treasures, destroyed a ten-thousand-year-old Azryx city and sort-of-accidentally blew up the son of the Archduke. Now they’ve gone and started a civil war. This time they’re really in trouble…”
It is a good read. Well developed characters, tightly plotted, action on action roller-coaster. Well written and enjoyable without taking itself seriously. Excellent example of its kind.
Master and Commander
Chris’s books have set me up to have a go at Patrick O’Brian’s nautical historical novels the first of which is Master and Commander. I loved the film enough to buy a blue ray and the late Clive James commends the entire set of books (20). What better recommendation.