i tried reading the colour of magic and did not really like it
It's usually regarded as his weakest one and he hadn't really nailed the style yet
Try the Death books, or the Night Watch ones
Night Watch is the best Pratchett novel I've read, and one of my favourite novels, period.
It was also the first Pratchett novel I've read, which has kinda sucked as nothing else has been as good. Going from that to Colour of Magic was particularly jarring.
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Viscount Islands[INSERT SoKo HERE]...it was the summer of my lifeRegistered Userregular
edited March 2011
I've read all his weakest ones first thank god. So when I tried some of the latter ones randomly it was "Wait...this...this is brilliant."
And I love Vetinari.
"It's not to keep them out, it's to keep me in."
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I want to do with you
What spring does with the cherry trees.
At the end of the story, unlike pretty much any similar story I can think of, the villian didn't have some sort of final battle with the hero. In the end, after all that went on, that cunt fucking swung.
I very vaguely remember Nanny Ogg doing something Granny either couldn't do or really struggled with, easily and then being like "Don't tell Granny *wink*"
That might have been during the witching duel between Granny and Diamanda, when Nanny Ogg tricked one of her little grandsons into walking into the magic circle to allow Granny to win the duel.
Or it might have been when she went to get the King of the Elves involved, which Granny would never have done due to her pride.
Each of the witches seem to have a sphere of influence or situation that they particularly shine in, anyway.
I personally enjoy whenever Magrat gets cornered and starts beating the shit out of things.
Greebo's comparison to a Vixen protecting her cubs that kicked the stuffing out of him was an amazingly apt way to describe it, considering how badass Greebo is himself.
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chiasaur11Never doubt a raccoon.Do you think it's trademarked?Registered Userregular
At the end of the story, unlike pretty much any similar story I can think of, the villian didn't have some sort of final battle with the hero. In the end, after all that went on, that cunt fucking swung.
Agreed.
I mean, look at, say, Batman comics. The Joker gets sent to jail, breaks out, murders a million people, gets caught, repeat. Deeply unsatisfying, makes the system look worthless. Here? It works. Not perfectly, but the law works. Justice will be done tolerably swiftly and decidedly effectively. Beautiful.
I love Discworld, I really do. Vimes is by far my favourite, closely followed by Death and Granny Weatherwax. I have a really hard time imagining someone who can get Vimes right, I hope they don't mess up.
If I'm lucky, Practchett will do a book tour and I get him to sign some stuff for me. Maybe hug him a bit and tell him I love his work.
I actually quite liked the Going Postal TV adaptation, Unseen Academicals will be the next one!
I'm so excited that the next book is centered on Vimes! Also in 2009 the BBC did a documentary about Terry living with Alzheimer's, it was really sad. They filmed him trying to read from Nation at the Discworld convention, he couldn't manage it
Though they also showed him at his desk with siz monitors, one had Oblivion on it and he was talking about how he had a group of mice living in his desk, it was really cute.
Unseen Academicals is probably the only Discworld book that I don't like, or at least have negative opinions of.
Having said that I've only read it the once.
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Olivawgood name, isn't it?the foot of mt fujiRegistered Userregular
edited March 2011
This reminds me that I really should read more Discworld books
I know they're all standalone stories but I just couldn't handle reading Guards! Guards! and then jumping ahead and seeing like "oh hey Vimes is captain of the guard now and there's a whole new character who got introduced in another book"
So I hunted down a copy of Feat of Clay but I haven't read it yet. I did read Mort though! But not any of the other Death books
A knight needs a sword, right? That's what Terry Pratchett figured when he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II last year. But when you're the creator of Discworld, not just any sword will do.
The author decided to make the sword himself, using deposits of iron ore he found in a field near his home in Wiltshire, west of London, which he smelted in a makeshift kiln fueled by sheep manure. But even that wasn't enough for him. He needed to toss in a very special ingredient.
Pratchett said that he added "several pieces of meteorites—thunderbolt iron, you see—highly magical, you've got to chuck that stuff in whether you believe in it or not."
He hammered the metal into bars, which he then took to a blacksmith, who helped him shape it into a blade, which is now being stored in a secret location. Apparently he's concerned that the authorities might take it from him.
"It annoys me that knights aren't allowed to carry their swords," he said. "That would be knife crime."
I'm cautiously optimistic about this - Pratchett is my favourite author but I haven't been a huge fan of any of the adaptations for TV so far! I think so much of the appeal of his books is in the narrative voice he brings that they kind of lose something when they're adapted...
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MaddocI'm Bobbin Threadbare, are you my mother?Registered Userregular
edited March 2011
I loved the Hogfather movie, still haven't seen the Colour of Magic or Going Postal adaptations however.
Just based on the Hogfather alone I'm leaning more toward optimistic than cautious.
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FishmanPut your goddamned hand in the goddamned Box of Pain.Registered Userregular
edited March 2011
I don't quite get why people are down on Colour of Magic (nor why they keep misspelling it ), but then again I started reading the series sometime in the 80's before half of the books people claim as their first were even published. I have great memories of the book and still think it stands excellently well on it's own, even if it doesn't tie quite as tightly to the latter established conventions of the Discworld from the later books. It's not the same, but it is still excellent.
On the other hand, because I started reading back when the series was in single digits, it seemed to make sense to start at the beginning, so it was my first book in the series. Still one I reread , though, unlike about half of the others.
Personally, I don't care for the witches as much; I kinda feel like I've read as much about them as I care to, and while I enjoyed the first few after a point I didn't feel like I was treading any new ground I cared about.
On the other hand, I can devour City Watch novels with ease, and Moist and the Wizards (wizzards?) are still quite enjoyable to me. I never tire of Death's cameos, but I do think some of his and Susan's stories are uneven.
I don't quite get why people are down on Colour of Magic (nor why they keep misspelling it ), but then again I started reading the series sometime in the 80's before half of the books people claim as their first were even published. I have great memories of the book and still think it stands excellently well on it's own, even if it doesn't tie quite as tightly to the latter established conventions of the Discworld from the later books. It's not the same, but it is still excellent.
On the other hand, because I started reading back when the series was in single digits, it seemed to make sense to start at the beginning, so it was my first book in the series. Still one I reread , though, unlike about half of the others.
Personally, I don't care for the witches as much; I kinda feel like I've read as much about them as I care to, and while I enjoyed the first few after a point I didn't feel like I was treading any new ground I cared about.
On the other hand, I can devour City Watch novels with ease, and Moist and the Wizards (wizzards?) are still quite enjoyable to me. I never tire of Death's cameos, but I do think some of his and Susan's stories are uneven.
I have fond memories of color of magic too having read it a long, long time before i was a discerning reader, but it really doesn't hold up
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PiptheFairFrequently not in boats.Registered Userregular
I didn't really enjoy reading Color of Magic 6 years ago but recently listened to it on audio book and it was much more enjoyable. Several of his books are better when you read them a second time. I really disliked Carpe Jugulum the first time around, especially the ending, but appreciated it much more several years later.
And as for infallible characters, Death is arguably one of most fallible of the lot. He's actually a more human character than many of the actual humans.
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PiptheFairFrequently not in boats.Registered Userregular
I didn't really enjoy reading Color of Magic 6 years ago but recently listened to it on audio book and it was much more enjoyable. Several of his books are better when you read them a second time. I really disliked Carpe Jugulum the first time around, especially the ending, but appreciated it much more several years later.
And as for infallible characters, Death is arguably one of most fallible of the lot. He's actually a more human character than many of the actual humans.
not
really?
he kinda wants to be, but the entire point is that he isn't human
also, even when did become human, he was still essentially "himself"
Human in that he has faults, he gets depressed, struggles to understand himself. As opposed to some of the actual human characters who have no obvious faults, rarely if ever make mistakes and are generally two dimensional. Death is a reflection of the creatures that made him, that's the point.
I actually think a TV series has way more potential than another straight-up adaptation of his work. Because his books tend to have climaxes that are incredibly surreal, which works on the page, but can be nigh impossible to get across on screen. Shit like unseen colors and imagined universes and complex logical paradoxes and decaying realities.
A series that can take the characters, settings, and all that cool shit, but packaged into storylines you can actually, y'know, film? That sounds pretty badass.
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PiptheFairFrequently not in boats.Registered Userregular
edited March 2011
uh
he existed before humans
like
well before humans
and he doesn't get depressed, just bored
also he understands himself completely (at least after reaper man)
also also, every single character has some defining character flaw
I need to re-read Reaper Man. Went straight from Mort to Soul Music in my recent re-read for some reason, so it has been a few years. You're probably right about him existing before humans, but I definitely know he was down in Soul Music. Thief of Time also touches on him and the other Horsemen gaining human qualities as well.
The four horsemen in Theif of Time made me want to read Good Omens again. The four horsemen were probably my second favorite part of that book besides Crowley and the Angel.
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Night Watch is the best Pratchett novel I've read, and one of my favourite novels, period.
It was also the first Pratchett novel I've read, which has kinda sucked as nothing else has been as good. Going from that to Colour of Magic was particularly jarring.
And I love Vetinari.
"It's not to keep them out, it's to keep me in."
What spring does with the cherry trees.
Big spoiler:
Each of the witches seem to have a sphere of influence or situation that they particularly shine in, anyway.
Greebo's comparison to a Vixen protecting her cubs that kicked the stuffing out of him was an amazingly apt way to describe it, considering how badass Greebo is himself.
Agreed.
Why I fear the ocean.
If I'm lucky, Practchett will do a book tour and I get him to sign some stuff for me. Maybe hug him a bit and tell him I love his work.
I'm so excited that the next book is centered on Vimes! Also in 2009 the BBC did a documentary about Terry living with Alzheimer's, it was really sad. They filmed him trying to read from Nation at the Discworld convention, he couldn't manage it
Though they also showed him at his desk with siz monitors, one had Oblivion on it and he was talking about how he had a group of mice living in his desk, it was really cute.
It's a quote from the Fifth Elephant I believe!
And yeah, Pratchett is my (and many other's it would appear) all-time favourite author, hands down
I dunno why he had a lisp in the Colour of Magic TV film, but I think Charles DAnce did a great job in Going Postal.
Having said that I've only read it the once.
I know they're all standalone stories but I just couldn't handle reading Guards! Guards! and then jumping ahead and seeing like "oh hey Vimes is captain of the guard now and there's a whole new character who got introduced in another book"
So I hunted down a copy of Feat of Clay but I haven't read it yet. I did read Mort though! But not any of the other Death books
I'm the worst Discworld fan
PSN ID : DetectiveOlivaw | TWITTER | STEAM ID | NEVER FORGET
I fully recognise it isn't the best one, but it was the first Discworld book I ever read.
One man, one vote
Turns out he's the one man with the vote
Not only does he have a sword, he forged it himself with thunderbolt iron.
I'm cautiously optimistic about this - Pratchett is my favourite author but I haven't been a huge fan of any of the adaptations for TV so far! I think so much of the appeal of his books is in the narrative voice he brings that they kind of lose something when they're adapted...
Just based on the Hogfather alone I'm leaning more toward optimistic than cautious.
On the other hand, because I started reading back when the series was in single digits, it seemed to make sense to start at the beginning, so it was my first book in the series. Still one I reread , though, unlike about half of the others.
Personally, I don't care for the witches as much; I kinda feel like I've read as much about them as I care to, and while I enjoyed the first few after a point I didn't feel like I was treading any new ground I cared about.
On the other hand, I can devour City Watch novels with ease, and Moist and the Wizards (wizzards?) are still quite enjoyable to me. I never tire of Death's cameos, but I do think some of his and Susan's stories are uneven.
will play dibbler?
I have fond memories of color of magic too having read it a long, long time before i was a discerning reader, but it really doesn't hold up
it's still a good read
And as for infallible characters, Death is arguably one of most fallible of the lot. He's actually a more human character than many of the actual humans.
not
really?
he kinda wants to be, but the entire point is that he isn't human
also, even when did become human, he was still essentially "himself"
A series that can take the characters, settings, and all that cool shit, but packaged into storylines you can actually, y'know, film? That sounds pretty badass.
he existed before humans
like
well before humans
and he doesn't get depressed, just bored
also he understands himself completely (at least after reaper man)
also also, every single character has some defining character flaw
And he was pretty damn depressed in Soul Music.
he existed well before humans, just like the auditors
although he likes cats, so that's character flaw
Discworld is so good
I like things