There are no inconsistencies in the Discworld books; occassionally, however, there are alternate pasts.
–Terry Pratchett, at alt-fan-pratchett
The books covered so far:
This was the second Discworld book I read (After Color of Magic), and is probably still my favorite, due to Death being my favorite character.
Essentially, Death takes a holiday, and eventually falls in love, kind of. At the end of the book is a very touching scene where he has to…take care of the woman he loves. I won’t spoil it too bad, but like I said it’s one of my favorite Discworld books, and does a great job of adding lots and lots of depth to Death.
Death really comes alive in this book, so to speak. Great characterizations, a good storyline, Unseen University, some great dialogue…what’s not to like?
“What is this thing, anyway?” said the Dean, inspecting the implement in his hands. “It’s called a shovel,” said the Senior Wrangler. “I’ve seen the gardeners use them. You stick the sharp end in the ground. Then it gets a bit technical.”
I almost chose the username “Bill Door” when I joined up here the first time. I don’t remember if someone already had it, or why I didn’t choose it if that wasn’t the reason. But I almost did…
The Bill Door scene is one of the best “sketches” ever in the whole entirety of the Discworld canon. It’s one I’d love to see performed by great comedic talents.
There is a Bill Door about the place somewhere, or used to be.
I liked the “John Henry” scene where Death takes on the reaping machine in a mowing contest… and the way Death has previously insisted that it must be one swing of the scythe per stalk, and he will indeed reap every last stalk. But my favourite bit is where Death goes to see Azrael and asks him for a little time to repay a favour, which includes the marvellous line “LORD, WHAT CAN THE HARVEST HOPE FOR, IF NOT THE CARE OF THE REAPER MAN?”.
Oh, and the bit where the wizards are confronted by the animated compost heap: “It’s just moving around slowly and eating things”. “Put a pointy hat on it and it’d pass for a faculty member.”
Yeah, there still is a “Bill Door” around here. I took the name because that’s how I feel when I try to come up with a username. It was either that, or when Peter Griffin on the Family Guy series comes up with “Pea Tear Griffin” as a psuedonym.
One of Pterry’s best, and IMO the second truly excellent Discworld book (after “Guards! Guards!”). Best of all, this is only the beginning of when Discworld really hits its stride.
While I agree with the general sentiment that this is one of the best Discworld novels around, I also have to say that I found the B-plot (with the prams and the city-leeching shopping mall) to be a bit out of place here. Maybe it’s just me, but it’s like the shopping mall storyline was just something tossed out of nowhere because Pterry couldn’t think of what else to do with Windle Poons and the Legion of Undying.
But yes, other than that, it was a great book – funny, sentimental, touching, and insightful. The fate of Miss Flitworth was just perfect, and Death’s character development here cemented him in the rest of the series, IMO.
I was Bill Door on another board a few years ago - for exactly the same reason. Of course, I was always having to explain to people why - “It’s Death’s name? What, are you a Goth or something?” No no no, that’s not the point. Sigh.
I enjoyed Death trying to fit in with the rest of the guys in the pub - discovering that losing particularly badly at everything helps make friends very quickly :).
I agree with rjung’s feelings about the shopping mall. We do get some good lines from the Wizards, and the Dean’s military manouvers conjure up very entertaining images. However, it does seem a bit tacked-on to the main storyline.
Windle Poons the zombie is a good character, too… it was interesting to see the difference PTerry created between the bumbling old fool and the clear-thinking zombie. His internal comments on other people’s interactions now that he’s a bit of an outsider are intelligent - of Lupine: “He’s going to push his luck now, and hold up a paw pathetically” (paraphrased).
“Chap with a whip got as far as the wooden spikes last week”.
This, along with Guards! Guards!, is one of my favorites of Pratchett’s early stuff.
I have to agree, the ‘B’ plot really doesn’t quite work. The shopping mall might have worked in a Rincewind book, but it couldn’t have carried a whole book by itself. I agree that this part seems a bit tacked on, though Windle Poons and the rest of the undead reminded me a lot of the bit in Sandman where Death gets behind…
The major difference between these early books and the later ones is that, while they do have thoughtful themes and interesting stories, the density of their message is not as great as, say, The Fifth Elephant. But G!G! and this one come closest. I really should go comment in the G!G! thread with my own take on the book, but it’s certainly one of my favorites.
But I love the ‘romance’ with Miss Flitworth, especially how it ends. So perfect that I tear up whenever I read it. I also like how it gets reflected in the other little live-people romance in the book.
Agreed this is one of my faves - "There is no Justice. There is just us!"
In addition to Death of Rats, also introduces other recurring characters - Reg Shoe and the Auditors, also the gelling of the Faculty in their more-or-less final form following on from MP and earlier books.
Some other favourite bits:
Different creatures’ perceptions of Time, and how they each get their own appropriate death - the Death of Counting Pines being a favourite.
Reg Shoe as this perfect caricature of aan English Red Wedge “fellow Traveler” type - shades of Billy Bragg and the like
The parody being sunk much deeper - shades of Shane, Man with No Name, Pale Rider. The Aliens parody in the Mall was laid on a bit thicker, but overall I didn’t mind the “B” subplot as much as the rest of you seem to…I see it as Pterry still working on the parasitic universe ideas that come to full fruition in L&L and the Tiffany books.
I really liked the bit where Mrs Cake’s precognition was stopping her having a normal conversation - they turned it into a puzzle in the second discworld game which was actually quite funny (I think Jane Leeves did her voice too - IMDB says no but I’m sure it was her). The bit where she asks “Is anybody there?” and the ceiling falls in because all the ghosts yell back at the same time - classic.
