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Post by Andy Turnbull on Mar 14, 2015 23:12:53 GMT
I was first given a copy of The Light Fantastic by a friend who said I would enjoy it, and I did indeed. Then devoured the rest of the books to get me up to speed.
A wonderful series of books and an utter joy to read.
Andy
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Post by The Doctor on Apr 7, 2015 20:30:22 GMT
Finished 'A Slip of the Keyboard'. Jings, some of the essays take on an edge now he has left us.  -Ralph |
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Post by Philip Ayres on Apr 7, 2015 20:36:55 GMT
It's a bit tough going in places :-(
Currently reading Small Gods, after enjoying the others I previously mentioned.
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Post by Pinwig on Apr 7, 2015 21:24:14 GMT
I've been rewatching the animated version of Truckers. Love that.
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 4, 2015 22:07:59 GMT
I have a number of Terry Pratchett Books. Some of them are even unsigned. Mort has come off the shelf to be re-read. Probably closely followed by Wyrd Sisters, Pyramids, Guards Guards, Small Gods and The Truth. Which was then followed by Going Postal, Making Money & Raising Steam. I then wen back and read the rest of the Guards books in order: Men At Arms, Feet of Clay, Jingo, The Fifth Elephant, Nightwatch and Thud. I followed that with Unseen Academicals before going back to some earlier wizard books. Interesting Times and Lost Continent were harder going, but nowhere near as though as Making Movies proved. the last time I can remember reading that was on the train to Southampton for my interview in early 1991! Currently reading Reaper Man which is holding up better than I remember, much better, though I'm seeming to recall some dissatisfaction with how the plot threads come together, or don't, at the end! Masquerade is next on the menu followed by Monstrous Regiment and Thief of Time I think. I,ve basically been re-reading Pratchett ever since he died and have read more of his stuff this year than probably in the last decade combined. |
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Post by Pinwig on Aug 4, 2015 22:21:46 GMT
Reaper Man has one of my favourite passages of all of the Pratchett books. I love the bit with the mayflies talking about the good old hours. Just brilliant.
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 24, 2015 20:49:33 GMT
Thief of Time was ok but Monsterous Regiment was just superb. Loved it.
So what's left?
Colour of Magic
Light Fantastic
Equal Rites
Sourcery
The post Wyrd Sisters witches books
Soul Music
Hogfather
I'd have read the last two prior to Thief of Time had I remembered Susan was in it before I started!
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Post by Llama God on Aug 24, 2015 22:26:01 GMT
Just this evening finished reading Wings to the Cub. That's the first time I've read the Bromeliad Trilogy since... since I read it the first time. Which would've been some point in the early '90s. I wasn't a huge fan of it back then - I preferred the crazy, skewed look at fantasy at the time, and I don't think I fully engaged with the satire, which is what the Bromeliad really is.
It's odd, I think - and my memories of reading his earlier books are possibly also distorted by time - but if you compare the Bromeliad with the Discworld novels he was writing at the time, the Discworld stuff ended up more like the Bromeliad. Which has kind of surprised me.
But it shouldn't have surprised me. This was, of course, Pratchett.
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 25, 2015 9:23:46 GMT
Shepherd's Crown is due out Thursday.
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 25, 2015 9:39:22 GMT
To my mind there's several distinct phases to the Discworld books. 1) Colour of Magic - Equal Rites The earliest books. The tone varies, and Colour makes very odd reading now. But something clicks at the start of Light Fantastic. 2) Mort - Guards, Guards! It's during this period he invents the majority of the characters and situations he returns to later. This is the point his popularity really takes off. 3) Moving Pictures - The Fifth Elephant A LOT of repetition in here with the same characters cropping up again and again. Moving Pictures stabilises the University faculty but apart from that the only new characters he'll reuse are Susan, who's an extension of the Death/Mort idea and new guards. Small Gods stands out here as a situation and characters that aren't returned to and really is the only completely original idea there. For my money the Guards books work best in this period and the witches, save their excursion to Ankh Morpork, are very much a case of diminishing returns. It's notable that Carpe Jugulum is their final appearance. 4) The Truth - onwards The Truth is the first real extension to the character set for a while. The idea had been floating around for some time as William De Worde is mentioned years previously in a Discworld encyclopaedia. And it's about something, the idea that just cos it's in the newspapers it isn't necessarily true. Several of the books from this point on will also have a message and there's a real anger in some of them. For my money The Truth is his best book. It's from here that Ankh Morpork starts to progress technologically in the final few books and Moist Von Lipwig, the final returning character makes his debut. |
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 27, 2015 18:47:00 GMT
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Post by Pinwig on Aug 27, 2015 19:11:51 GMT
I noticed this made the ten o'clock news last night talking about the midnight openings.
I'm in no rush to read this. It seems to have been whipped up into some kind of JK Rowling like frenzy, but this is the end! I don't want it to end! I've still got the last four or so Discworld books deliberately unread, and I'll savour them sparingly.
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Post by Bogatan on Aug 27, 2015 19:20:39 GMT
Stupidly glanced at a review.
Still I wont be reading it for a while sl plenty oftime to forget.
I realised I havent read the Long Earth books. So I'll read those (and wait for the final books release) and any others that might have slipped past me before I come back to the last discworld book.
I'm really not in a rush to run out of new Pratchett.
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Post by Shockprowl on Aug 27, 2015 20:11:09 GMT
Mrs Shockprowl read the review, and started to cry again.
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Post by The Doctor on Sept 1, 2015 21:04:33 GMT
Did this bypass the supermarkets? I did not see it there like I usually do with Pratchett books.
-Ralph
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Post by Philip Ayres on Sept 1, 2015 21:12:48 GMT
Swindon Sainsburgeries had it for a tenner last Thursday.
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Post by Pinwig on Sept 1, 2015 21:28:24 GMT
Yes, it's been everywhere here for a tenner. Tesco, Sainsbury's, the lot.
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Post by The Doctor on Sept 1, 2015 21:32:57 GMT
Couldn't find it locally. Will put in a request at the library!
-Ralph
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Post by Fortmax2020 on Sept 2, 2015 8:55:08 GMT
Couldn't find it locally. Will put in a request at the library! -Ralph Good man. Support your local library. I am informed by someone in the know that libraries are getting it in but some of their suppliers may have made a bulls up of taking TP off their suppliers list given his death and have now been caught out with this new release so some are experiencing minor delays getting stock in. |
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Post by Llama God on Sept 2, 2015 12:21:34 GMT
Presumably they also don't supply anything by Shakespeare, for the same reason..?
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Post by The Doctor on Sept 2, 2015 22:01:13 GMT
There are 15 copies on order in the Edinburger library system, none of which are currently reservable.
-Ralph
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Post by Philip Ayres on Feb 11, 2017 21:39:05 GMT
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Post by The Doctor on Feb 11, 2017 23:03:07 GMT
I shall catch that on the Iplayer tomorrow!
-Ralph
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Post by Llama God on Feb 12, 2017 0:16:22 GMT
I... still can't bring myself to.
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Post by Benn on Feb 12, 2017 1:05:44 GMT
I have to get round to it. Pratchett is... was such a big part of my growing up.
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Post by Shockprowl on Aug 24, 2017 21:00:42 GMT
Eldest has discovered Pratchett. And so, onto The Next Generation....
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Post by Philip Ayres on Aug 30, 2017 9:41:36 GMT
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Post by Pinwig on Aug 30, 2017 10:02:02 GMT
Oh what a shame. I can see him not wanting to succumb to the monetise every snippet possible mentality that's happened to authors like Adams and Tolkien, but a coffee table book on what might have been would have been a nice end cap.
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Post by The Doctor on Sept 3, 2017 20:31:00 GMT
Indeed but we must respect his wishes.
-Ralph
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Post by blueshift on Sept 3, 2017 21:04:17 GMT
Indeed but we must respect his wishes. -Ralph And also we don't really know how he worked, do we? The liklihood is that there was a lot of crazy stuff there never destined to be printed, but were ideas he was playing with. So you wouldn't want to tarnish his legacy with "OH MAN Patchett's last book was going to be about ALIENS in Discworld wtf???" or something like that. If there were ten books in various drafts there, he strikes me as a guy who throws things at a wall and sees what sticks |
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