# Discworld Latecomers Ongoing Discussion (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [January 12, 2017, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-latecomers-ongoing-discussion-open-spoilers/776979 "2017-01-12T18:35:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-latecomers-ongoing-discussion-open-spoilers/776979/81 "2017-06-06T01:57:20Z")
**Equal Rites** My first witch book, though I understand Wyrd Sisters is considered the first true “witches book” in the series. Still, I didn’t want to read that without starting with this one. I suppose it is a good sign that I found Granny Weatherwax to be a far more interesting than Esk, who was kind of the lead character. I see that Esk does not return to the series for a long, long time, but I found her to be along for the show more than having much of a personality. Granny Weatherwax, though, was fun. I liked her interaction with the leader of Unseen University was a lot of fun. Better than the Light Fantastic, my least favorite Discworld book so far. Next, I read A Wizard of Earthsea(a new series for me). After that, I return to read Wyrd Sisters. This thread does not have to be all about me at all. If anyone else is a latecomer, share your thoughts with us! ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-latecomers-ongoing-discussion-open-spoilers/776979/82 "2017-06-06T01:58:27Z")
[Oh, here is my spreadsheet, with very brief comments and my “out of 5” star rating of each book I’ve read.](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10CP8IIxuGfBAmSQk2KT1qUwApiV0ZSPk5UNSrUanLjo/edit?usp=sharing) ---
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-latecomers-ongoing-discussion-open-spoilers/776979/83 "2017-06-06T02:14:45Z")
Granny is bang up boss! I want to grow up to be just like her! Earthsea is… mmm much slower and introspective than Discworls. I reread Wizard a couple of years ago. The second is the one I remember the most about. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-latecomers-ongoing-discussion-open-spoilers/776979/84 "2017-06-06T02:34:36Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#): > > Earthsea is… mmm much slower and introspective than Discworls. I reread Wizard a couple of years ago. The second is the one I remember the most about. I just finished all 5 books in the Book of the New Sun. I’m patient. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-latecomers-ongoing-discussion-open-spoilers/776979/85 "2017-06-16T20:54:28Z")
Reading Wyrd Sisters. I’ve been doing a mix of listening to the audiobooks and reading the books themselves. **Celia Imrie** is the narrator on this one and Equal Rites and she…is horrible. I am hating her narration voice and many of her voices are terrible. Granny Weatherwax is a good voice, but the others are horrible. She is ruining these two books for me in some ways. I see Nigel Planer returns for the next Witches book. Thank goodness. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-latecomers-ongoing-discussion-open-spoilers/776979/86 "2017-06-16T20:57:50Z")
Would it be terrible to quit Wyrd sisters and watch the animated movie of it? How different are they? ---
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-latecomers-ongoing-discussion-open-spoilers/776979/87 "2017-06-16T21:41:35Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Would it be terrible to quit Wyrd sisters and watch the animated movie of it? How different are they? Quit the audio and read the actual book? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2017, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-latecomers-ongoing-discussion-open-spoilers/776979/88 "2017-06-17T13:31:53Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#): > > Quit the audio and read the actual book? I was just wondering how different the movie version is from the book. Having read 40% of it, I wondered if I could switch to the movie and get a decent experience/understanding of the book. I really prefer Nigel Planer’s narration. I have yet to reach Stephen Briggs. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2017, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-latecomers-ongoing-discussion-open-spoilers/776979/89 "2017-06-17T14:38:33Z")
I’ve never gotten around to watching the _Wyrd Sisters_ cartoon, but I’ll go out on a limb and say that there is virtually no whatsoever that you’ll get a decent understanding of the book. Movies are a pale reflection of a well-written book. Take for example the opening lines of Wyrd Sisters: The wind howled. Lightning stabbed at the earth erratically, like an inefficient assassin. Thunder rolled back and forth across the dark, rain-lashed hills. The night was as black as the inside of a cat. It was the kind of night, you could believe, on which gods moved men as though they were pawns on the chessboard of fate. In the middle of this elemental storm a fire gleamed among the dripping furze bushes like the madness in a weasel’s eye. It illuminated three hunched figures. As the cauldron bubbled an eldritch voice shrieked: “When shall we three meet again?” There was a pause. Finally another voice said, in far more ordinary tones: “Well, I can do next Tuesday.” Nothing in a movie/TV series/TV special can make up for a loss of description like that. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2017, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-latecomers-ongoing-discussion-open-spoilers/776979/90 "2017-06-17T15:28:55Z")
Ook! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2017, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-latecomers-ongoing-discussion-open-spoilers/776979/91 "2017-06-17T16:45:44Z")
Buggerit! Millennium hand and shrimp! ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-latecomers-ongoing-discussion-open-spoilers/776979/92 "2017-06-20T03:12:11Z")
Well, I finished the book AND watched the movie. I had lost the story a bit in the middle and the curiosity got to me. The movie has horrible animation, but is one of the most “to the book” adaptations I’ve ever seen. I mean, it’s as close to “word for word” as any book-to-movie I’ve ever seen. I actually recommend it for those who have read the book or have had my experience with the awful audiobook. Good example of a good story/script elevating low quality animation. Now, they just need to re-record Equal Rites and Wyrd Sisters with a better voice-actor. ---
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-latecomers-ongoing-discussion-open-spoilers/776979/93 "2017-06-20T03:44:58Z")
I can’t read Wyrd Sisters again, I barely made it through the last time. Hand mutilation is one of my serious quicks. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-latecomers-ongoing-discussion-open-spoilers/776979/94 "2017-06-20T03:49:43Z")
I started reading Hogfather to my daughter last night, she’s fascinated by the covers so why not? I had to stop reading her the Earthsea books though - they’re a lot darker then I recalled. But reading the first few chapters aloud really made me realise just how awesome a writer Ursula Le Guin really is. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2017, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-latecomers-ongoing-discussion-open-spoilers/776979/95 "2017-06-24T21:08:00Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I just finished all 5 books in the Book of the New Sun. > > I’m patient. Great writing in many ways–the guy has the vocabulary of a 100,000 word dictionary–but it does take some patience. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2017, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-latecomers-ongoing-discussion-open-spoilers/776979/96 "2017-06-24T21:13:07Z")
Obligatory commercial: The [North American Discworld Convention](https://nadwcon2017.org/) (NADWCon 2017) is happening in New Orleans the first week of September. Warning: the site is not all that visually friendly for those with seeing challenges. You won’t be sorry you attended. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2017, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-latecomers-ongoing-discussion-open-spoilers/776979/97 "2017-06-24T21:21:54Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Ultimately, Reaper man was a book that worked for me in some parts and not others. > … > The ending was, however, absolutely fantastic. I take it you _do_dance, Mr. Bill Door? FAMED FOR IT, MISS FLITWORTH. I’m a musician, and the dance leaves me in tears every single time. This is what we strive for, but never quite manage: He was aware that tunes were turning up at the ends of his fingers that his brain had never known. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2017, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-latecomers-ongoing-discussion-open-spoilers/776979/98 "2017-06-24T23:44:35Z")
I’m actually reading Nation, a non-Discworld book by Terry Pratchett right now. I’ve had a copy for years that Scholastic Books sent me free of charge. [Anyone like Nation?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nation_(novel)) ---
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2017, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-latecomers-ongoing-discussion-open-spoilers/776979/99 "2017-06-25T00:50:43Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I’m actually reading Nation, a non-Discworld book by Terry Pratchett right now. I’ve had a copy for years that Scholastic Books sent me free of charge. > > [Anyone like Nation?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nation_(novel)) Wave hand! I did! The ending was a bit flat but I really enjoyed the book. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2017, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-latecomers-ongoing-discussion-open-spoilers/776979/100 "2017-06-27T19:58:48Z")
Nation made me cry. In the good way, I guess. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-latecomers-ongoing-discussion-open-spoilers/776979.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-latecomers-ongoing-discussion-open-spoilers/776979.md?page=6)