Isn’t it fun, watching Ponder hop around thinking he’s a frog?
See if your nearest public library has any of the books you want to read.
I was delighted to find several of Neil Gaiman’s novels and The Sandman series at the public library.
I have to admit, begrudgingly, that I like Terry Pratchett too. I say that because it means my wife was right and I was um well…wrong. I’m not as addicted as my 18year old son or my wife, but there are some interesting stories.
I am not a fan of most of the hack fantasy/SciFi books. I only like a few writers (Lois McMasters Bujold). I find most need a really good editor and the more popular they are, the more they seem to need one. Pratchett’s books are one of the few exceptions. Very entertaining and an absolute great airplane read.
Just a shot in the dark, but was it the bit where Death explains that you have to believe in the little lies, like the Hogfather or the Tooth Fairy, in order to believe in the big lies, like Justice and Mercy? Cuz that’s always been way up on my list of “totally profound ideas”.
In these days, post the Iraqi war, everyone should read Jingo. I’ve rarely read abetter and more profound book about xenophobia, cultural clashes, minority groups and ethnic stereotypes.
Sheep’s eyeball anyone?
I just went out and bought The Last Hero last night, the softback with the 16 extra pages of Paul Kidby’s artwork …the fact the US readers get the garbage covers, and the UK gets the Paul Kidby covers is bunk, and it’s entirely due to the fault of the US publishers. US publishers decided that the Paul Kidby covers won’t sell them books, so they stick to the garbage fluff covers more suited to a Danielle Steele novel. Write to Harper Collins and demand our Paul Kidby cover artwork!!!
Also bought Moving Pictures and Hogfather, gonna dig into one of those, a bottle of white wine, and a hot bath tonight. =)
Yeah, send him over my way, I’ve got a hell of a fly problem just now.
Granny Weatherwax is my role model. She has been ever since I laid my hands on Equal Rites.
From Jeanster:
Hell, I MUST have my own copies of them all. They are my late night companions, I enjoy re-reading them.
I like the US covers. Especially the slightly older ones, with the shimmery covers. Kidby’s a great artist, but Pratchett is one author where I don’t need, nor particularly want, someone else’s visualization intruding.
And before I decide to write angry letters to the publishers, I’d like to know wether or not they’re right. Pratchett never sold well in the States when he was saddled with the awful Darryl Sweet covers (to say nothing of the abominable Kirby covers. Thankfully, not many of those got printed over here.) However, he’s been doing much better lately. Is it because of the covers? I don’t know, but the people who job it is to figure these things out say it makes a difference.
I saw Terry a few nights ago in DC, Cerri and he said exactly the same thing. HarperCollins decided that Kidby’s art won’t work over here, and Terry said he was reluctant to “drop the bomb” on them by throwing his weight around. He suggested fans write to HC instead.
Regarding his books, I, too found it hard to get into them, but I started with “The Color of Magic,” which was more of a fantasy parody. I had misspent most of my young adulthood reading fantasy – yards of the stuff, from Tolkien and Howard down to John Norman – and found it hard to get into it.
It took a couple of tries, but the hook sunk and I’ve been a fan ever since, and at my age, I’m too cynical to be a fan of anything. He’s golden.
Miller, he touched on that very thing in his talk. His earlier publishers gave him absolutely no support at all in this country. During his signing tours in the U.S., he would see more books published in the U.K. than here. He’s extremely grateful HarperCollins picked his books up, and he’s happy with the support he’s been given.
Personally, I would much rather see the British “Night Watch” cover than the dog’s dinner that’s the cover over here. Even if it wasn’t a TP novel, the quality of the artwork and concept Hoovers.
I’m waiting for Kidby to publish “Night Watch” as a poster.
In other words, it wasn’t until he got a competent publisher that he started getting these “dog dinner” covers. Seems to prove my point, doesn’t it? As bad as the US covers are, that’s what sells in the US right now. I’m just happy more people are reading his books.
Pratchett and Bujold are my two favoritest writers ever.
I cant believe that people dont like the Josh Kirby covers!
They are perfect for the books.
Well, that’s what the publishers think sells right now at any rate. I disagree with their stand completely, and think the Kidby artwork covers surpass the US covers by a milestone…but then again, I like good cover artwork with attention to detail, and they clearly don’t want that for Pratchett’s works.
The Last Hero did very well here, both in hardback and softback printings, and the artwork was most of the point…the feature of the softback being 16 extra pages of all-new illustrations, so no, I don’t see how they can think the US covers wouldn’t sell here. I wrote to Harper Collins and will continue to do so, urging them to use the UK covers instead of the god-awful mass production ones we have here.
Take the cover of Soul Music for instance. Susan on the cover is portrayed as an incredibly sexy curvaceous woman. Which obviously describes the Susan of the actual novel not at all. Susan was 16 and skinny as a rail. To quote the book itself: "As far as looks were concerned, Susan had always put people in mind of a dandelion on the point of telling the time.
Look at Monstrous Regiment… US cover UK cover The UK artwork puts so much more effort into it it’s not even funny.
Night Watch isn’t as bad, but still not anything to rave about on HC’s account, in my opinion. US version UK version
(they being Harper Collins in my first paragraph, if that was unclear)
Ye gods, those US covers are eye-bleachingly hideous.
The UK covers are not only more aesthetically pleasing, but are subtle parodies of other relevant images (the UK version of Night Watch even shows the original Night Watch painting by Rembrandt for comparison). What the hell is wrong with HarperCollins?
(In case you’re not familiar with the Rembrandt, there’s a picture here. Compare with the UK cover linked above.)
Because apparently, trite, ugly and unimaginative cover art sells books here. =p
The Monstrous Regiment cover, is a take on the Iwo Jima image
