Me neither – I still have all my Pratchett books, even Strata and The Dark Side of the Sun.
I have the original illustrated Eric, and that’s clearly the point. It’s to showcase Josh Kirby’s art. Much like Last Hero showcases Paul Kidby’s art, though that’s a better story, if a trifle forced.
I’ve read them all, including the Tiffany Aching series (can’t wait for Wintersmith) and also the Johnny series, the two SF books, and most of his short stories found round and about - there’s one in the Legends compilation (The Sea and Little Fishes) I should read a second time, as it is referenced in a subsequent novel I think.
My absolute favourite is Maskerade, followed by The Truth. My least favourite is Interesting Times, though I have only read it once (I loaned it out and it never was returned). I really don’t like the Vimes books either, I found Night Watch and Fifth Elephant to be irritating.
The Witches series and the Guards series alone are wildly different and can’t be compared. To me, one is about a bunch of guys who are simply doing their duty with a charismatic, strong, albeit reluctant leader. The other is a bunch of old harridans, one who is extremely nosy, one who is old and cantankerous, and one who just gets dragged in because she’s young and pretty and no other reason.
Ok, now I *know * everyone sees it differently but the two storylines are radically different.
Then if you start looking at some of the other ones, other difficulties arise. I couldn’t stand The Truth because that guy (forget his name) sniped at Vimes and Vimes is my absolute favorite character. If there’s to be criticism of him, some uppity press-guy shouldn’t be the one making it.
Rincewind is a totally different flavor, and while I love him, it’s all about a cowardly wizzard who gets into adventures. If you prefer Witches, I can see you not liking it because the one thing those women aren’t is cowardly.
And the others…they are of yet another flavor.
I don’t have a lot more to add to what’s been said (thought that’s never stopped me before) but I would like to add a passioned defense of The Last Hero. I rarely cry when reading but this one made me tear up.
I strongly recommend the Tiffany Aching books and The Amazing Maurice. I have genrally found the books since the *Night Watch * to be disappointing. All of them had great moments but were disappointing as a whole. Even mediocre Pratchett is better than any other fantasy writer out there, humorous or straight.
I am a big fan of the Night Watch books. I can’t get enough of Captain Carrot and Angua. I hope that someday there will be a book devoted to them. I like Vimes but I don’t think there’s a whole lot more that can be done with him. Carrot and Angua and their relationship have a lot of room for growth.
I’m hoping that Pratchett and the discworld are not played out. The quality of the Y.A. books gives me hope. If Going Postal and *Monstrous Regiment * had been my introduction to discworld, I probably wouldn’t have read on.
I liked all three of the Johnny books but got little out of the Bromeliad trilogy. Strata is only interesting as a sort of prequel to discworld. The world there is also flat and disc-shaped.
I envy somebody just starting out on Pratchett. i reread them all regularly but there’s nothing akin to finding a new author to devour (metaphorically, I mean. Terry himself would probably be tough chewing.) 