# this might not be a good idea **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [February 9, 2007, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-might-not-be-a-good-idea/391431 "2007-02-09T00:09:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2007, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-might-not-be-a-good-idea/391431/21 "2007-02-09T23:10:38Z")
Dammit, **Worblehat**! Look at me while I’m shouting at you. You didn’t get _all_ the old yearbooks, you know! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-might-not-be-a-good-idea/391431/22 "2007-02-10T00:31:55Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] Dammit, **Worblehat**! Look at me while I’m shouting at you. You didn’t get _all_ the old yearbooks, you know! 😉 [/QUOTE] It’s just a Bizzaro world today. Huh? And welcome to **The Librarian**. ---
**Author:** ![According\_to\_Pliny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@According\_to\_Pliny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/According_to_Pliny)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-might-not-be-a-good-idea/391431/23 "2007-02-10T00:46:02Z")
I once knew a ‘The Librarian’ at a message board that was just about word origins. Forget the name of it. Run by a woman who wrote a book about them. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-might-not-be-a-good-idea/391431/24 "2007-02-10T01:55:34Z")
[QUOTE=IvoryTowerDenizen] It’s just a Bizzaro world today. Huh? And welcome to **The Librarian**. [/QUOTE] There is some underlying geek book thing going on that surprisingly I am out of loop on. I would guess Discworld related at this point. **Qadgop the Mercotan** provided the clue with [Worblehat](http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&q=Worblehat&btnG=Google+Search). Jim ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-might-not-be-a-good-idea/391431/25 "2007-02-10T02:09:39Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] There is some underlying geek book thing going on that surprisingly I am out of loop on. [/QUOTE] Yes, you are. The books involve elves, dwarves, trolls, men, some flying dragons, a skin-changer or two, etc. You should check it out! But only if that sort of thing interests you. 😉 Any good PTerry fan will get my _references_ (snerk). I’m sure **the Librarian** is ignoring me, since he can’t bounce me on my head from here. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-might-not-be-a-good-idea/391431/26 "2007-02-10T02:20:44Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] Yes, you are. The books involve elves, dwarves, trolls, men, some flying dragons, a skin-changer or two, etc. You should check it out! But only if that sort of thing interests you. 😉 Any good PTerry fan will get my _references_ (snerk). I’m sure **the Librarian** is ignoring me, since he can’t bounce me on my head from here. [/QUOTE] I read a few of the earliest ones years ago. They do not turn up in used book stores very often and I guess I need to break down at some point and get a chronological list and buy them all. The core is a klutzy apprentice who is kind of sorta of an Elric like eternal hero, but played for humor instead? Is that a reasonable summation? Jim ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-might-not-be-a-good-idea/391431/27 "2007-02-10T02:30:18Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] I read a few of the earliest ones years ago. They do not turn up in used book stores very often and I guess I need to break down at some point and get a chronological list and buy them all. The core is a klutzy apprentice who is kind of sorta of an Elric like eternal hero, but played for humor instead? Is that a reasonable summation? Jim [/QUOTE] No, not really. Much more nuanced and complex than that. But the tale grew in the telling, and lately the author has been accused of writing ‘literature’! :eek: Search for discworld threads here and you’ll find nice summaries of how to approach the series. Or go to wiki on discworld. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-might-not-be-a-good-idea/391431/28 "2007-02-10T02:40:48Z")
Here’s a nice [reading order guide](http://www.lspace.org/books/reading-order-guides/the-discworld-reading-order-guide-1-5.jpg) for you. Personally, I’d recommend starting at “Guards, Guards” or “Equal Rites” or perhaps “Small Gods”. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-might-not-be-a-good-idea/391431/29 "2007-02-10T03:09:21Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] Here’s a nice [reading order guide](http://www.lspace.org/books/reading-order-guides/the-discworld-reading-order-guide-1-5.jpg) for you. Personally, I’d recommend starting at “Guards, Guards” or “Equal Rites” or perhaps “Small Gods”. [/QUOTE] thank you for the link. I have shortcutted it to my desktop. I have my copy of Colour of Magic from 1985. I think this is the first book. I also have Interesting Times. I have Equal Rites and Witches Abroad. Small Gods and finally Men at Arms. I guess you are saying the \*\*Rincewind \*\* books are not the best. Perhaps why I never avidly pursued this series. I guess I could reread “Equal Rites” and then get “Wyrd Sisters” leading me back to “Witches Abroad”. I do not recall any of these. So rereading should be a pleasure. I might check the library for the missing ones. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-might-not-be-a-good-idea/391431/30 "2007-02-10T14:23:24Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] I guess you are saying the \*\*Rincewind \*\* books are not the best. Jim [/QUOTE] The first two discworld books (both Rincewind books) were not all that hot, IMHO. Fortunately, I stumbled into Small Gods first, and loved it, and followed it with Soul Music. Later Rincewind books were better, but he’s never been my favorite character. Death rocks, however. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-might-not-be-a-good-idea/391431/31 "2007-02-10T14:54:12Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] Here’s a nice [reading order guide](http://www.lspace.org/books/reading-order-guides/the-discworld-reading-order-guide-1-5.jpg) for you. Personally, I’d recommend starting at “Guards, Guards” or “Equal Rites” or perhaps “Small Gods”. [/QUOTE] I happened upon “Guards, Guards” first and was immediately hooked. And I LOVE Binky. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-might-not-be-a-good-idea/391431/32 "2007-02-10T20:21:54Z")
Hey, guys, the Cafe is ----------------------------------------\> 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Catalyst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@Catalyst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catalyst)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-might-not-be-a-good-idea/391431/33 "2007-02-20T10:52:48Z")
Checking my reg date. edit: oh. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-might-not-be-a-good-idea/391431/34 "2007-02-20T13:06:20Z")
How did you get a join date of 2002? Were you a lapsed member after the boards went paid, then paid and reactivated your old name? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-might-not-be-a-good-idea/391431/35 "2007-02-20T18:39:07Z")
> [@](#): > > How did you get a join date of 2002? Were you a lapsed member after the boards went paid, then paid and reactivated your old name? Joined, never paid, lurked a fair bit\>\> decided to join. It’s a shame I can’t find my copy of ‘Good Omens’; it has this nice passage about lurking. ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2007, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-might-not-be-a-good-idea/391431/36 "2007-02-20T18:46:35Z")
[QUOTE=hajario] Would you believe almost five years? Your only other post (so far) was in May of 2002. [/QUOTE] And that one was snarky! A great addition to the board ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-might-not-be-a-good-idea/391431/37 "2007-02-21T04:51:02Z")
Are you by any chance a fan of “Read or Die”? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-might-not-be-a-good-idea/391431/38 "2007-02-21T16:28:54Z")
[QUOTE=Autolycus] Are you by any chance a fan of “Read or Die”? [/QUOTE] No, I had to Google “Read or Die” before I understood where you are coming from. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-might-not-be-a-good-idea/391431.md?page=1)