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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Obligatory commercial: The North American Discworld Convention (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.
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.