All things discworld

[Steve-O]

I've been working my way through the Discworld books for the last year or so, during those rare times when I'm stuck somewhere where reading is the only means of entertainment.

I'm just finishing up Soul Music now and... well... it sucks.  It's dull, the plot goes nowhere slow, and it's basically a vehicle for Pratchett to unleash bad musical pun after bad musical pun.  By far the worst Discworld yet, although some of my distaste comes from the fact that this is the third book of the last seven which has had as its plot, "Some modern Earth invention suddenly appears in Discworld.  Hilarity ensues, I guess."  Fortunately, I'm told that this style was simply a phase, and the subsequent installments get away from it.

Nonetheless, I did like Moving Pictures, although that was largely due to the presence of Gaspode.

Weirdly, wedged in among the lowlights was Small Gods, which is my favorite to date.  I found the satire to be deeper than most of the other books, and the story was more moving than most as a result.  Guards!  Guards! and Reaper Man are also favorites.

By the way, I highly recommend The Annotated Pratchett, especially for my fellow Americans who are somewhat mystified by English slang.

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

THE ANNOTATED PRATCHET?

I am so there.

by the way once you get into the second and third books following gaurds gaurds youll probably behooked, i know i was.

[IronPigeon]

Hogfather was the first one I read.  Was the only time ever, in the history of me being in a book club, that I was glad I forgot to mail in that little slip marked "don't send!" Unfortunately, the same can't be said for that Lois and Clark book they sent me.

Guards! Guards! is my all time favorite. I do tend to prefer the Watch books, though I found they're getting a bit too serious for my tastes.

Are there any discworld books I don't like?  Just one. All I can say is stay away from Monstrous Regiment.  It was well...monstrous.

[IronPigeon]

It was SFBC. They sent me all sorts of books I never read. I was very bad at mailing in the 'don't send' thingie.  In the end, I figured it was cheaper just to go to the book store.

I found Monstrous Regiment a bit too predictable.  I mean, after the third or fourth one turning out to be a... Well, nevermind.  I don't want to spoil it for anyone!

[Pak-Man]

what is this special you all kepp talking about?

ps im a big fan of fred

Over in the UK they aired a TV Christmas special live-action adaptation of Pratchett's Hogfather. It rocked mightily and can be found on any number of reputable, honest websites. :^)

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

i think after the third and fourth one it wasnt supposed to be a surprise.


edit:  i dont think i can access any number of honest websites out here.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

Prrr.

I delighted in Thud. Oddly enough, it was the first Discworld Novel I ever read. (I was originally turned of Terry Pratchett by a novel called "The Zombie King", which apparently not only is not a work of Terry Pratchett, but which I have been unable to find anywhere since. Odd that. That and a short story he did which I found utterly distasteful.)

I love Vimes, with the Death Sagas a close second. Rincewind is one of my least favorite leads. Thud is my favorite novel of discworld. My second-favorite is Hogfather, it just filled me with sheer delight.

Actually, my favorite character, not protagonist, is Death's daughter. Not enough beautiful fat chicks in today's literature. =(

Terry Pratchett is awesome because he rolls everything I desire in books into one.

Fantasy, first and formost.

Comedy, enough to make me laugh till I cry, with a parody not only of fantsy, but of comedy and parody, and fiction in general.

Scifi, elements of. See Pyramids, Strata, etc.

Horror. He uses very careful measures of it, rarely, but it's there, and it works. See the House in Hogfather.

[Pak-Man]

I'm just glad to see a few US flags in this forum. It makes sense that there'd be more fans over in his homeland, but I was starting to think me and Tyrant were the only ones in the country enjoying these novels. :^)

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

bah you should know better than that.  Americans buy EVERYTHING we are told to buy.  So its easy to make quick money off of us.  Thats why there were so many notes in good intentions explaining things to us americans

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

I don't find the idea of a cowardly protag the least bit novel. Maybe it's my introduction to him. The first rincewind I read was The Color of Magic. Maybe it's that he always seems too be bumped around this way and that by reality-bending plot-devices and leaves plotholes in his wake. I just don't care for him. I don't care about him.

I like the Unseen University. I don't like Rincewind.

[Bartender]

Aww, I like Rincewind and Twoflower 
Thay're a good comedy duo, the tourist and the guide. And I don't really know how many plotholes have been left. I mean you have to remember that 'real' dragons are Thaumivorous, whilste Wyrmberg dragons are actually made of magic. But that's the nearest to a plot hole I can actually find.

Well, whatever, I like Vimes and the Nightwatch too. Death is great (in every book except for Wee Free men I think.)

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

is death in good omens the same death in discworld?

They are described the same for the most part.

[BathTub]

Good Question, I hadn't thought about it. I would say no, or he is very out of place if he is.  I have GO signed it is about the only signed book I have I think.

[BathTub]

I haven't picked up or read Good Omens yet. Mostly because of Gaiman, I guess.  I've read American Gods, which I thought was pretty overrated, and I know some people who just adore Gaiman (and they're fucking weird people--wicca, tattoos, blue hair, the kind of people who have no self-awareness and say just horribly stupid and embarrassing things without realizing it), so that puts me off him too.

Plus, you know, he wrote comic books...

Yeah that's right the universally panned Sandman,... 

lol

Not like there aren't Discworld graphic novels. Sandman is a pretty good read, you will miss out on some good stuff if you don't read 'comic books'.

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

yeah pratchet is always worth a read.