I have most of Sir Terry's books. The Bromeliad trilogy and the Science of Discworld books are must-reads.
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All things books and reading thread - 2016
- Thread starter AbbysMom
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Hmm. I think I missed the Bromeliad trilogy somehow. Science of Discworld I have.
I finished The Last Continent last night. It's been too long since I read it before; I had forgotten how it was resolved (I knew it rained, of course, but I had forgotten what Rincewind did to make that happen).
Haven't decided yet what I'm reading next. Maybe Gaudy Night, by Dorothy L. Sayers, or another Discworld. Or maybe something factual. I'll decide after I take care of errands; if I do it now I'll never get to the errands.
Margret
Perfect Sir Terry quote. I finally got my friend in Florida to buy a Kindle and start reading Pratchett by giving him the link to "The Color of Magic" video on Youtube. He has already caught on that the halfbrick can be used many ways - including Rincewind's favorite (in a sock).
He has read the first five in the series, and now has started Good Omens, with Neil Gaiman.
I like my Fire enough that on Amazon Day, I bought one (the first was a present) for $33.33. A disposable tablet. Who woulda thunk it?
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OK...Losing my mind here...what book introduced the Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier butler, who had be placed under a spell?
I've never heard of Terry Pratchett. What are his books about?
I'm still reading the Outlander books. Currently on the 6th one (A Breath of Snow and Ashes), but once I finish the series, I'll be looking for something new to read.
I'm still reading the Outlander books. Currently on the 6th one (A Breath of Snow and Ashes), but once I finish the series, I'll be looking for something new to read.
Terry Pratchett wrote the Discworld series. Imagine a space-swimmimg turtle 10,000 miles long, with four giant elephants on it's back, supporting a disc-shaped world.
It is hard to explain the books. See if your library has any.
Or watch the video.
It is hard to explain the books. See if your library has any.
Or watch the video.
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A space-swimmimg turtle 10,000 miles long, with four giant elephants on it's back, supporting a disc-shaped world ???? Yeah, that's pretty hard to imagine. I'll definitely have to be in a real fantasy mind-set if I should decide to try reading those books.
A flat planet riding on the backs of elephants, which are, in turn, riding on the back of a giant turtle, is taken from mythology. For something like this to work, it must be run by magic, and, yes, there's a lot of magic on the disk. It is magic that keeps the oceans full, despite the fact that they are continually pouring over the edge of the disc. The incredibly high magic field is the reason that Death actually appears as an anthropomorphic representation of death. The incredibly high magic field is the reason there are so many gods on the disc -- when almost everyone, at some time, meets a god (or several) in the flesh, atheism is a form of insanity. But, in a very real sense, the gods are created by humans. The power of a god is determined by the number of worshipers he or she has. And it's magic that has resulted in Death's granddaughter, Susan, having inherited enough of his abilities that, in a pinch, she is able to fill in for him, despite the fact that her mother was adopted by her grandfather and, genetically speaking, he's not a relative at all.A space-swimmimg turtle 10,000 miles long, with four giant elephants on it's back, supporting a disc-shaped world ???? Yeah, that's pretty hard to imagine. I'll definitely have to be in a real fantasy mind-set if I should decide to try reading those books.
And none of this captures the total humor in these books. Captain Carrot Ironfounderson of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, is a dwarf. A very tall dwarf, and I don't mean tall for dwarves, I mean tall (he was adopted). His girl friend is Sergeant Angua, also of the City Watch, who happens to be a werewolf. She attempts to keep her depredations down to the occasional chicken, and remembers where she caught it so she can go back in human form and reimburse the owners. Ruby is the wife of Detritus, both trolls. Ruby looks like a cave man's version of a mother goddess, made of rock. (And now you know where three of the cats on this site got their names.)
I could go on at length, but I have an appointment in two hours, so I won't. All I will say is that this series is wonderful! It is very human, and totally hilarious, and there is a very good reason why Sir Terry was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.
Margret
@Margret, well said. You captured the spirit of Sir Terry and his books, while still leaving many surprises for the new reader.
It was a very sad day for me when he died. No more new Discworld books.
Whenever I am feeling down, it doesn't take too many pages of any Pratchett's book to cheer me up.
It was a very sad day for me when he died. No more new Discworld books.
Whenever I am feeling down, it doesn't take too many pages of any Pratchett's book to cheer me up.
OH SPIT! Now I have to start re-collecting the Disc World books. I had forgotten so much about them, but the...the...the....HUNGER...IT HAS REAWAKENED!
It's so funny that I had just finished reading the new issue of Discworld Monthly and then got on the cat site to look at new posts and lo and behold the first one is talking about Discworld! I get so excited when I come across fellow Pratchett fans. I don't meet them very often, but I have introduced a few people to his work. I "converted" my 78 yr old mother by having her read The Bromeliad Trilogy. BTW I just read that they are making a movie based on The Wee Free Men and the screenplay will be written by his daughter, Rhianna, so I am hopeful that it will be pretty good.
@Margret thanks for the description of the Discworld books. I've put the first 2 on my "wishlist" at the library so someday I may check them out. Do you have to read them in order? I see there are 41 published, however, my library only has 35 e-books.
Yes, and no. As I see it, there are three major threads in these books:
- Witches.
- Wizards.
- Politics.
Part of the problem is that there's a good deal of overlap. Rincewind is the central character in The Colour of Magic, the very first book of the series, and this book explains how he came to have "The Luggage" (a trunk made of sapient pear wood, which follows him around, and keeps all his possessions in order -- it has a whole lot of little feet on the bottom and is a character in its own right), but, while Rincewind is one of the central characters he's not the best wizard around, so he's not the best introduction to wizardry, or to Unseen University, where wizards are trained and where most of them live. Any of his books will, however, introduce you to Death, as Death sees a lot of Rincewind (mostly from the rear -- Rincewind has become extremely good at running away from people who are trying to kill him).
The Wiki article lists the City Watch books as one of their categories; which is reasonable, but I tend to lump them into the politics books, since Lord Vetinari (the Patrician of Ankh Morpork -- he believes in one man, one vote, and he's the man who has the vote) keeps showing up in them. I'm inclined to say, start with Equal Rites, which will introduce you to both the witches and the wizards, proceed to either Guards! Guards!, which will introduce you to both the City Watch and the Patrician, or to Interesting Times, which will introduce you to Rincewind and The Luggage, as well as some of the gods. After you've read those three, read the others in pretty much any order you like, except for the Tiffany Aching books, which need to be read in order, and only after you've read at least one of the Witches books. In order, these are:
- The Wee Free Men
- A Hat Full of Sky
- Wintersmith
- I Shall Wear Midnight
And all of this is just my opinion. Feel free to jump in, all Discworld fans.
Margret
P.S. And always read the footnotes; that's where a great deal of the humor is.
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Monstrous Regiment is also a good stand-alone book. My favorite is Night Watch, though.
@Margret @catspaw66 thanks to you both for the additional Discworld info. I feel like I should cut and paste your messages and save them on my computer for future reference.
You're welcome.
Good plan. Also, be sure to bookmark the link to the Discworld Wiki article; it should give you a good deal more information once you've read two or three.
Margret
Good plan. Also, be sure to bookmark the link to the Discworld Wiki article; it should give you a good deal more information once you've read two or three.
Margret
Any idea when the movie comes out?
Is Discworld Monthly an online newsletter, or what? I've never encountered it.
Margret
No ETA on movie release - It will be a long time from now. They just announced that they will be making the movie on July 15th. It is being produced by The Jim Henson Company. I always wondered if Tim Burton could do Discworld justice.
discworldmonthly.co.uk is a newsletter. There is not much to it now that Terry Pratchett has passed but sometimes there is some news to report.
I'm still reading "The Passage". It's over 800 pages. I'm around page 460 or so. So it will be a while yet. There are 2 other books in the series. I hope they aren't as long. I like the story, but I'm find that there is never a need to spend almost 900 pages telling a single story; so much of it ends of being verbal diarrhea.
You're right, of course. That length is only justified when there are multiple story lines. Lord of the Rings, for instance. Technically, it's one story, but it's all full of sub-plots. Gandalf gets killed and then returns in the nick of time. Boromir betrays Frodo. Frodo and Sam go off on their own and take up with Gollum. Faramir doesn't betray Frodo (the movies libeled him). Merry and Pippin get kidnapped by Orcs and need rescuing. The king of Rohan has to be brought back to his senses, and the steward of Gondor can't be brought back to his senses. It looks like the elves of Rivendell will abandon humans to their fate until the very last minute. There's the love stories of Aragorn and Arwen, Eowyn and Faramir, Sam and Rosie, a rogue wizard, the long search of the Ents for their Entwives, and a huge backstory that's only hinted at. Sigh. I wonder what happened to my copy.
Well, I finished The Last Continent and am now reading Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which I had paid for in advance. I'm not halfway through yet, but so far it's pretty good. It's a bit disconcerting that it's a script rather than a book. Not bad, just, not the same. I miss having a viewpoint character; in a script you see things from more of a distance, it seems. Also, when you see a play performed the willing suspension of disbelief is fairly automatic, but it's hard when you're reading the stage directions.
Margret
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