Does anyone know what DW book is going to be released this year? Amazon lists something called "Monstrous Regiment ", but the details are sketchy. The University has stopped newgroup access so I can’t access the alt.fan.pratchett group, and Og knows when the Lspace site going to get a fresh update.
And, of course, Death makes an appearance in Good Omens.*
“I DON’T CARE WHAT IT SAYS. I NEVER LAID A FINGER ON HIM.” - Responding to a trivia question about the death-year of a Mr. E. Presley.**
But what sold me on Discworld, though I’ve yet to read any other of the books, is the scene in The Last Hero where Death’s assistant is trying to explain the whole concept about a cat in a box, and Death keeps insisting that of all people HE would know whether the cat was alive or dead without looking in the box.
Incidentally, while perusing the annotations page for Good Omens I found all the proof I will ever need that everything in this universe is somehow connected. Just scroll down and read the full entry for - {p. 165/107}
[sub]*But then again, he’d have to, it being a story about the Apocalypse and all. FYI, in case you were wondering, my footnotes are nowhere near as funny as Mr. Pratchett’s.[/sub]
[sub]**Got the precise quote from here. See? Not a bit funny. The footnote, that is. The linked page is quite hilarious.[/sub]
But see, when I found out, about twenty minutes ago, as I read the above-linked page-'o-Death-related-quotes, that the Motto of the City Watch is:
FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC*
…I became even further committed to the notion that I’m going to start reading all the Discworld books immediately upon finishing the book I’m currently on.
[sub]*translation: “Make my day, punk.” OK, that was funny. But then, I didn’t write it.[/sub]
Man, I’ve got some catching up to do. Maybe I’ll blow the Borders gift card that I’ve been clinging to on Wee Free Men… or, I could do my usual wait-for-it-at-the-library routine since I am cheap like that. Our local library is pretty good about keeping up with Pratchett, though they lack some of his older works. (Hmm… maybe I’ll get one reference for the Quantum Library and a couple paperback Pratchetts. That might work.)
My fave characters… probably a tie between Death and the Watch. Runner-up, the witches. Gotta love Nanny Ogg! However, being a city gal I can relate better to the Watch. Second runner-up, Unseen University NOT including Rincewind. (Rincewind is very seldom actually at the University.) Last, as usual, is Rincewind. He is SUCH a loser. Though the Luggage is great.
First book IIRC was Equal Rites. Favorite book… um, I’ll get back to you on that.
Boy, do I feel old. I’ve been reading Discworld since The Light Fantastic.
I just finished rereading Jingo which was really spooky with the current situation with the U.S. and Iraq.
Has anybody else ever heard about an island in the Medeterranian like Leshp? I read an article on it, but I can’t find it now Apparently it comes up every now and again due to volcanic activity and the last time Sicily and Libya were arguing over territorial rights. Anybody got any confirmation on this?
My first was Hogfather, and I’d still recomend it as a good starting place. It gives you the feel, and you don’t really have to know the rest of the stories, or (personal opinion here) have to put up with the characters finding their feet.
I started with The Colour of Magic, then read The Light Fantastic, and then just kept going. I’ll have to say that the newer books are vastly better than the early books, and this is from a guy who loved the early books. The Ridcully-driven Unseen University is much more credible and funny than the old cutthroat university. Vetinari is much more interesting than the old faceless Patrician.
I also adore the way the books handle serious matters these days. Pterry doesn’t fear letting the books go dark. The Fifth Elephant, where Vimes philosophizes over life as a policeman and how he has killed so many people and why he’s better than the people he’s killed, is just glorious. In fact, that entire book is glorious, with its spies and diplomats and international politics.
Oh to heck with it, they’re all glorious with their Watchmen and undead and wizards and bartenders and monk^H^H^H^Hapes and dwarves and witches and elves and luggages and warlords and gardeners and inventors and boats and cities and towers and heroes and dragons and gonnes and werewolves and noblemen and commoners and swords and crossbows and intrigues and mysteries and all the other stuff.
I started with Guards, Guards. Not a bad introduction to the Watch, though probably not the best starting point for Discworld. The introductory scene with the secret club meeting and all the passwords had me in hysterics and I knew I was going to like Pratchett. I think next was Reaper Man, which I found honestly touching and is definitely one of my favorites. There are a few newer ones I haven’t read though, and I haven’t read Wee Free Men.
Another rabid fan here. Own every Pterry book including the non discworld ones. He writes it = I buy it. There is no comedy author, IMO, who can touch him.
I’m buisy rebuilding my Pratchett collection due to divorce, flood and theft, I don’t have all my books.
My wife doesn’t understand how I can buy a book I’ve already read. Some people just don’t get it.
Personally, I like the books that center of the Watch and the University the best. Vimes and Ridcully are probably my favorite characters.
I know I’m going to incur some wrath, but I have to admit that the books I like the least are the ones that center of the witches. In fact, my least favorite book… don’t hit me anyone… is Equal Rites.
i started with the ‘colour of magic’ and never stopped, i got every single book the minute it came out in hardback, and my prized possessions are the few signed copies i received for birthdays and xmas.
i also own all the non-dw novels. of which the ‘johnny’ series is my favourite.
Pratchett is amazing, and the Discworld series is unique. I can’t think of any other author or any other long-running series where the books keep getting better for so many years. Usually the quality starts to decline as the writer gets complacent and stops listening to his editors. That hasn’t happened so far, and if it were going to happen at all it would have already.
I haven’t actually read Wee Free Men though - I only ever buy paperbacks so am always several months behind. Wonder if it’s out here in paperback yet? Off to Amazon…
Oh, forgot to mention: I first got into Pratchett via Good Omens, which an ex loaned me. That will always remain one of my favourite books. My favourite characters are Death and Granny Weatherwax (I always feel like cheering when Death makes a cameo, like the audience used to cheer Fonzie in Happy Days). I don’t like Rincwind as much as the other characters, but he’s OK. Favourite book? Probably Mort, tied with Equal Rites. Doesn’t bother me if other people disagree on that though!
The Johnny Maxwell books are great too. The characters are pretty similar to the kids in Good Omens, but in different situations. The Carpet People and the Truckers books are excellent too.
I wouldn’t recommend reading the two serious books Pratchett wrote, though. They were so bad I’ve stricken the titles from my memory. Pratchett is, at heart, concerned with deep, serious issues, and he needs the medium of comedy to convey them without becoming obscure, didactic, and, well, boring.
Apart from those two, I love the guy. My hero!
I had a friend who wrote for a newspaper and got an advance copy of Good Omens to review (not sure if this was before the UK version, or just the US version) Having read both Terry and Neal, I was surprised at how wonderfully their styles blended in that book. I own two copies, a hard cover and a paperback.
Read them all, didn’t really like the first ones. Really liked ‘The Truth’ and ‘The Night Watch.’ Ooh, and ‘The Fifth Elephant.’ And ‘Feet of Clay’ and… well, all of them, basically, but I’d say the watch ones are my favourites.
I’m happy to say that I now own all of Pratchett’s “adult” Discworld books - I still need to pick up “Amazing Maurice” and “Wee Free Men.” They just keep getting better! The early ones were great, but I just love “Thief of Time” and “Night Watch.” The fact that Agnes (Perdita) Nitt is my favorite character probably tells you -way- more about me than you need to know! Although I’m also extremely fond of Lu Tze, the Death of Rats (SQUEAK) and Shawn Ogg.
My introduction to Discworld was “Equal Rites,” which a friend lent me to read because Terry Pratchett was going to be Guest of Honor at a science fiction convention I planned to attend (I like to read something by the GoH ahead of time, just on general principles). I liked it, and bought a copy of the latest release at the time (Soul Music) to get autographed. Even better!
BTW, Mr. P is wonderful in person! As soon as I finish the roll of film and get it developed, I’ll have a picture of me standing next to him, with his arm around me (“I never pass up a chance to fondle women” was his comment). He is wearing a wizard’s robe (complete with the pointy hat with floppy brim, and decorated with suitably occult symbols).
And is anyone else as crazy about Paul Kidby’s illustrations as I am? He gets everyone absolutely right!!
There are so many layers to each book nowadays, one almost has to re-read them to get everything.
Ríncewind was not very interesting in the first books, but lately, though a coward and weasel on the surface, he’s turned into Pterry’s humanitarian voice. The Last Hero, Interesting Times and The last Continent show this. Also, the science books show hem maturing as a character, too.
I started with TCOM, which I didn’t really like. Basically I picked it up to get to know what all the fuss was about. The a couple of years later, I got The fifth Elephant and there was no looking back.
My least favorite is ‘Sourcery’. His best work, IMO, is ‘The Amazing Maurice…’ and my favorite is prolly ‘Jingo’.
its not a nice thing to say im glad josh kirby died, because im not, but i am glad that his death seemed to force the issue of having more adult and less cartoony cover art. the parody of rembrant for the ‘night watch’ cover is a joy.
My first book was Soul Music, and it was just great. It was my reintroduction to my “Reading for Fun” stage, and it’s caused me nothing but trouble since (too much money spent on books over the past couple of years). I love the character of Death, and the concept that a small rat skeleton, his horse, and a crow were convincing a 12 year old girl to become Death was just great!
Outside of the Death books, my favorites are the Watch stories, although with every one, Carrot becomes more and more confusing to me. I liked him a lot in Guards, Guards! and Men at Arms, but since Jingo he always starts off the first half of the book being a complete choad. It isn’t until the last few chapters that he seems to become likeable to me again, which is a real shame, because in the first two books, he was just such a great character.
Vimes, on the other hand, just gets cooler and cooler. I haven’t read Night Watch yet, but it’s on my book case waiting for me to finish my next “real” book before I delve back into fantasy.
I also love Rincewind, simply because he seems the most real of the characters. I mean, he’s a screw up to the nth degree, he’s a coward, yet he always tries to do the right thing reluctantly, and generally gets screwed over in the end (dropped off the side of the planet, stuck in a demon dimension, lost on a foriegn country). I don’t like to think myself that much of a coward, but he’s the easiest character to relate to (I think his harsh sarcastic whit helps as well).
The Witches don’t quite do it for me, but I haven’t read but three of their stories, so maybe I’m just missing the best ones.
Overall, though, I think Small Gods is my favorite. Just bloody brilliant!
Started with The Light Fantastic. Somewhere along the way I found out the the UK was a couple books ahead of us (U.S.) and started importing them.