I’m curious. I see from time to time (especially in the Challenges and first line threads) mentions of Terry Pratchett’s books. So who out there is a fan? I can say I am a huge one, having read all the books excluding Sourcery, Moving Pictures, Reaper Man and The Fifth Elephant. And any Chicago fans might like this…he’s going to be here in March 
When are you going to realize being normal isn’t necessarily a good thing?
I think it’s been covered before as a topic, but what the heck.
I’m a big fan - have been since very early on (when his latest book was Equal Rites, back in '87). I’ve read them all, except for Fifth Elephant.
He is, by far, the most consistently entertaining author in the world today. No doubts
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I’m a fan.
<font color=#DCDCDC>but I’ve only read one book
rocks</font>
I’ve been a fan about as long as GuanoLad. I’ve read them all bar the Fifth Elephant, though I think his last three (Jingo, Last Continent and Carpe Jugulum) have been a bit weak.
Check out www.lspace.org, especially the annotations section - you’d be surprised at what you may have missed.
I’m a brand new fan. I’ve only read two of his books so far but I thoroughly enjoyed them and intend to read more of his stuff.
Eat right, exercise daily, live clean, die anyway.
NO KIDDING? I’m there. Pratchett is the best-I’ve only been reading since Guards! Guards!, but I’ve yet to find an author that impresses me as much.
We interrupt this thread to increase
dramatic tension.
When I started reading him, he only had two books out in the U.S. (The Color of Magic and The Light Fantastic) I’ve been reading him ever since (even managed to track down a copy of STRATA, his SF novel). I’ve fallen behind recently – the last I read was Hogfather and probably skipped a couple before that. His is probably the only fantasy series that doesn’t deteriorate as move books are added. There have been some slow spots (MOVING PICTURES), but he’s bounced back and his more recent work is even better than his early stuff.
I met Pratchett a few years ago at a Lunacon. Nice man.
“East is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does.” – Marx
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When I grow old, I want to be just like Granny Weatherwax.
A friend gave my husband a copy of “Reaper Man” a few years ago, which I stole, and I’ve been hooked ever since. I’m up through “Carpe Jugulum” now and looking forward to the others. Anybody know why it takes so bloody long for his newest books to hit the stores here?
Can you give us some more details of his upcoming visit? Time and place?
Yet another big-time fan here. My one major contribution to Pratchett-iana is finding him at a convention (the 1997 Worldcon in San Antonio) to convince him to let his agent sell the three “Johhny Maxwell” books to me for a 3-in-1 in the Science Fiction Book Club. To this date, it’s the only edition of those books published in the USA.
…but when you get blue, and you’ve lost all your dreams, there’s nothing like a campfire and a can of beans!
I’m a fan. I’ve read all his books except “the Fifth Elephant” which I hadn’t heard of. I’ve even read “The Carpet People”.
I do agree the last few have been a bit more stale than the earlier ones. Is he getting bored maybe? Reaper Man was probably his best, although Small Gods stands out, too, IMO.
I’m a huge fan, almost decided to go to Aussiecon last year when I heard he was there. I’ve read every Discworld book, including Fifth Elephant except Nanny Oggs Cookbook. I’ve even gotten The Science of Discworld which is a great read, and not at all like the star trek/wars physics of type books. They try to explain how future tech might work, TSODW explains how the world actually does work.
>>Being Chaotic Evil means never having to say your sorry…unless the other guy is bigger than you.<<
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Hm. I’m not sure I agree with you there. Granted, he’s not near as bad as Anthony, but I’m a little disappointed that his books have gotten so formulaic. Perhaps I fell off the train in one of those “slow spots” you mentioned, and never got back on, but I wish he’d just wrap up the Discworld and move on to another ficton.
I guess now I’ll have to buy a few of his more recent books and try again, just to be fair. Anyone got a complete list of the Discworld books?
A committee is a lifeform with six or more legs and no brain.
Flyp: Do you still have Guards! Guards!? If so, I may want to borrow that from you – it seems to be one of the few that are out of print (along with Reaper Man). I was a big Pratchett fan a while ago, then stopped reading him, then started up again. Unfortunately, I started again with Moving Pictures and thought, “Hmmm. I thought he was funnier than that.” Luckily, I plowed on. It helped that the library has several of his books on tape (none of this abridged crap either – the whole danged things) and I was able to listen in the car. They are very well done. Unfortunately, the library only has about 5 or 6 of 'em.
Now I’ve got all the available books, but haven’t had time to read 'em. I may read Small Gods soon, as I have a couple trips coming up.
I’ve read a couple of the “Discworld” books, and though I enjoyed them, “fan” may be too strong of a word.
OTOH, the book he did with Neil Gaimen, Good Omens is one of the funniest books I’ve ever read, including the Hitchhiker series. I’m certainly a fan of that book.
Mr. K’s Link of the Month:
What is John Kricfalusi (“Ren and Stimpy”) doing these days?
As you can tell from my screen name, I am a Pratchett fan.
My favorite book in the series is Small Gods. But I like any book with the Watch or the Witches.
Does anyone know when “The Fifth Elephant” is coming out in the US?
The Fifth Elephant, according to B&N, will be here in March and they’ve been taking advance orders for it for months. And that is so cool Da Ace, I’m a member of the Science Fiction Book Club and I have that addition. I also want to get Rincewind the Wizzard from them, since it has Sourcery and three other Rincewind books.
Oh, and as for him coming in March, I don’t really know why. Maybe it’s because that’s the release date of his new book in the US. But here’s the specifics for his tour.
Terry will be touring the US in March and April on “The Fifth
Elephant” singing tour. This information is based on a message
Terry recently sent to the newsgroup alt.fan.pratchett.announce
Friday, March 24 Murder By The Book Houston, Houston
6PM 2342 Bissonnet, Houston, TX 77005
(713) 524-8597 (This one is ‘time out’ from Aggiecon)
Tuesday, March 25 Texas A&M Bookstore,College Station
1PM Memorial Student Center, College Station,
TX 77844
Monday, March 27 The Stars our Destination, Chicago
7PM 1021 W Belmont, Chicago IL
(773) 871-2722
Tuesday, March 28 Cleveland Plain Dealer Book and Author
6PM Dinner, Cleveland
(sorry, I don’t know much more about this except that a fellow
author there will be Donald Westlake, which is just fine by me).
Wednesday, March 29 Dreamhaven Books, Minneapolis
6PM 912 W. Lake Street, Minneapolis, MN
(612) 823-6161
Thursday, March 30 University Bookstore, Seattle
7PM 4326 University Way, NE Seattle, WA
(206) 545-4363 Signing to be held on UW campus at Kane Hall
Friday, March 31 Powells Books, Portland
7:30PM 1005 West Burnside Street, Portland, OR
(503)228-0540
Saturday, April 1 Future Fantasy, San Francisco
1PM 2705 El Camino Palo Alto, CA 94306
(650)855-9771
Saturday, April 1 Booksmith on Page,San Francisco
7PM Park Branch Library, 1833 Page Street, San
(415) 863-8688 Francisco, CA
Sunday, April 2 Kepler’s, San Francisco
3PM 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, CA 94025
(650) 594-5935
Sunday, April 2 The Other Change of Hobbit
7:30PM 2020 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley CA 94704-1117
(510) 848-0413
Monday, April 3 Stacy’s, San Francisco
12:30 581 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 421-4687
Monday, April 3
7PM Dangerous Visions, Los Angeles
(818) 986-6963 13563 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
Tuesday, April 4 Waldenbooks/Brentano’s, Los Angeles
12:30PM 10250 Santa Monica Blvd Century City,
(310) 785-0204 CA 90067
Tuesday, April 4 Vromans, Los Angeles
7PM 695 E Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
(626) 449-5320
Wednesday, April 5 Barnes & Noble Astor Place, New York
7:30PM 4 Astor Place NY, NY 10003
(212) 420-0816
I subscribe to Discworld Monthly, which I get through e-mail. Oh, and here’s another interesting tidbit as I scroll through all this.
Terry will be a guest at the Gateway Sci-Fi Media Convention
(http://stlf.org/gateway) this summer and in honour of his presence
Beyond Reality Games is hosting a Discworld Live Action Role-Playing
game.
If you are going to be in the Mid-West of the United States on the
weekend of July 14-16, you might want to stop by. Even if you
aren’t or can’t, please pass this news on to anyone you know that
might be interested!
Below is the description of our event from the Gateway programming
page:
Discworld Live Action Role Playing - play the part of denizens of
the Discworld, in a 36-hour live game, featuring wizards,
witches, trolls, and possibly animated travel accessories. The
game is free form, allowing you to step out to get an autograph
or listen to a speaker, and step back in at your leisure. Space
may be limited, so please e-mail Josh Jeffryes
jspektr@sprynet.com for advance registration if you are
interested (there is a small charge to participate in the LARP,
paid when it begins. Pre-registration is for intent to play only,
it does not require advance payment).
If you want to subscribe to DM too, here’s the addy
http://www.ufbs.co.uk/dwm/
Hope that fills everyone in
Oh, and I should add one more to the list that I haven’t read - Guards! Guards! My first book was Men at Arms and I was hooked from then on. I’ve read the Bromeliad and Johnny Maxwell, Strata and Good Omens. And I have to agree, that book is one of the funniest I’ve ever read.
When are you going to realize being normal isn’t necessarily a good thing?
Oh, and for cher3 - I’m not entirely sure why it takes so darn long but I suspect since he’s enormously popular in England, and he’s from there, that his books have to run the gauntlet there first. Although like you I wish his books would get here a heck of a lot faster 
When are you going to realize being normal isn’t necessarily a good thing?
David B, YOU will definitely like Small Gods.