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Discworld! (Terry Pratchett has passed away; world cries a collective "Buggrit.")
Matthew
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
After looking all around here, I can't seem to find a thred for discussion of Terry Pratchett's wonderful Discworld series! We have all heard about mister Pratchett's problems with alzheimers, and we can only hope he stays fit enough to keep writing this wonderful series as long as possible.
I've read a few discworld novels over the last few years, I'm rather fond of Rincewind (has he ever tried Reverse psychology? Volunteer for the dangerous, heroic mission as a way to avoid it?), and Moist Von Lipwig (Loved Making Money. I lent it to my mom in the hope that she might take a liking to the series, but she has yet to actually read it), though i've never been able to get into the City Watch book (something about Vimes doesn't draw me in, sorry.)
We supposedly have a new one coming out in october.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unseen_Academicals
This to be followed by the next Tiffany Aching story, and that by the next Moist story.
So what are your favorite books? Characters? Situations?
I've read a few discworld novels over the last few years, I'm rather fond of Rincewind (has he ever tried Reverse psychology? Volunteer for the dangerous, heroic mission as a way to avoid it?), and Moist Von Lipwig (Loved Making Money. I lent it to my mom in the hope that she might take a liking to the series, but she has yet to actually read it), though i've never been able to get into the City Watch book (something about Vimes doesn't draw me in, sorry.)
We supposedly have a new one coming out in october.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unseen_Academicals
This to be followed by the next Tiffany Aching story, and that by the next Moist story.
So what are your favorite books? Characters? Situations?
ElJeffe on
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The best Discworld, though, is hands down Small Gods.
When I found out that Pratchett had previously worked as a nuclear physicist I was less surprised than I thought I'd be.
I do like Moist Von Lipwig and the Watch, but I think my favourite series is the Witches ones.
I'm kind of sick of Tiffany too. She lacks the same dynamic that the other witches had and is just a biiiiiiit too much "I'm so clever, but I'm also awesome and mature too. Go me!"
Which is to say, I'm open to being convinced they're worth revisiting.
I'm going to assume you haven't read Thud, because otherwise that statement is pure blasphemy.
As for characters, my favorites are Bloody Stupid Johnson (even though he never actually appears in any of the books) and any of the witches. In general I don't enjoy Vimes all that much (Thud being the exception) because you can tell Pratchett really likes the character and all the description he gives Vimes tends to bog down the story.
The worst is probably Equal Rites or Monstrous Regiment. For some reason Pratchett's writing goes kind of limp when he's being feminist. The first two are also a little weak, but only because he was establishing his world up until then.
If you start with the Guards series and still don't like it then it's probably not for you, but otherwise you'll be hooked.
I like how those books are so light and fluffy that you really don't have to put much effort into reading them. I can go through one in an afternoon, which means I've read pretty much every one at least twice.
I contend you are wrong.
Oh Jesus the Witches books do put a bit of a wrench into that statement don't they.
I dunno, Equal Rites probably suffered more from being an early book than anything else but Regiment was just too much for me.
Pratchett's usually great at plot complications, that just seemed so hamfisted and the rest was unremarkable compared to his other stuff at the time
Especially Hogfather
Its fantasy satire
It starts as the latter but after about two books the world becomes way more unique and tends to focus on more urban settings (which modernize rapidly) and social satire.
if it wasn't something different i doubt there would be so many people talking about it
Star Wars.
Can I skip the first two books and still enjoy the series?
EDIT: The last fantasy book I enjoyed was Viriconium.
Ugh. Thud.
"How many times can I create some primal instinct for Vimes to manifest and then fight in his mind... eh, let's go for four. Why not?"
oh yeah definitely
the series is made up of a number of smaller-mini series that overlap but still function on their own, and there are a bunch of little self-contained books in with all that
you can basically start from any point and not feel lost
Easily. In fact, recommended. Hell, I'd skip the first three. Maybe four. Although I may be misremembering Pyramids as coming before Mort.
Start with Small Gods at any rate. Completely standalone (takes place hundreds of years before most of the rest) and really really really good.
How did I forget about Death??? Or rather, HOW DID I FORGET ABOUT DEATH? Another excellent character with the bonus that he shows up in almost every book.
From what I've read it barely has any "fantasy races fighting each other", well maybe a little in THUD. The watch deals with mostly human characters in a mostly human city, though it is still clearly a fantasy setting.
Nightwatch and Feet of clay are probably my favs, Monstrous the only one I have not enjoyed
You can start with any one of the four main lines. However, the first few Rincewind novels and Equal Rites were his early works, and not as good as the others IMO. You're better off starting with the Watch series, which is basically a police/detective storyline set on Discworld, and will get you familiar with the main characters, places and themes. Then go to the Witches (you can skip Equal Rites, really, since he starts with a blank slate in the next novel and never references its events ever again), or the Death series.
Mort is the first of the Death series. It's a big more metaphysical but very good.
The discworld books are a shared universe and there are multiple series and one off books inside them. I think Small Gods or Guards! Guards! is probably the first books that I would reccomend to someone which are alternatively a one off and the start of the Guards series.
It's what I did! Can't recommend it enough. I've actually gifted that pair of book more than a couple of times.
Yeah, this is the best option. And if you like Guards, Guards then use that handy chart to find the books that follow the Watch.
Edit: I also started out with Guards, Guards and found it to be an excellent starting spot.
Vimes teaches you everything you need to know about getting into fights.
A) Don't get involved if you don't have to,
C) cheat like an SOB, because stuff the marquis of flaming fantailer.
Some of the most practical advice there is.
To anyone who's read the first book and not been that impressed - they're not really the same genre as, well, the rest of Discworld. The first two are parodies of the fantasy genre, the rest are satires that just happen to be set in a fantasy world. By Mort, the shift in focus from fantasy as target to fantasy as context is pretty much complete.
I really wish there were a super-lime color for Small Gods.
I've read just about everything Pratchett has ever written, and loved almost all of it. I'm not a big fan of the witches books, and I found reading the Tiffany Aching books a chore.
Of the most recent stuff, I'm fondest of The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents.
I really hope he has quite a few books left in him. Alzheimers is something I wish on noone.
What's people's opinion on the Science of Discworld books? Back when I read them (before most of my college education) I remember finding them very interesting, but I've never gone back.