Discworld

[Mike P]

Has anyone else here read the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett? Good stuff... it's a fantasy satire thing and... stuff. I suck at stuff like this, so I won't be doing it again.

[pjalne]

I've read everything up to Mort. I'll try to pick up on the rest of the series in the near future. Great stuff.

[executioneer]

I have read (almost) everything with Rincewind in it :D I still have to read Last Continent :o

-willie

[Zhukov]

I think Death and Foul 'ole Ron are my favorite characters.

Reaper Man is probably my favorite book.

[Mike P]

Reaper Man is great. I especially like the part where the wizards start fireballing shopping carts.

[UtterParadox]

Reaper Man and Interesting Times are probably the two best books in the series. Rincewind and Death are probably the two best characters (although I have to give Cohen the Barbarian some space on that particular list).

Thief of Time, however, is the worst book in the series - muddled, talky, and generally lapsing in the standards (plus, it has the worst character in the series - Myria LeJean/Unity).

[MK IV]

Night Watch - All about Sam Vimes , really good

HogFather - the *oh god* of hangovers . best character in any book ever.

[Zhukov]

You said it Utter Paradox. There were times when I found it hard to figure out what was going on.

Hogfather is also very good. But I doubt whether MK IV has actually read it.

[Pub Lover]

Originally Posted by UtterParadox

Thief of Time, however, is the worst book in the series - muddled, talky, and generally lapsing in the standards (plus, it has the worst character in the series - Myria LeJean/Unity).

Originally Posted by Zhukov

There were times when I found it hard to figure out what was going on.

Just because you're stupid, it doesn't mean that the book is bad.
Also, if your looking for the worst book in the series, then I'd call 'Eric' it.

[DamnthatDavid]

Vimes is good, but I think Carrot is kickass.
The weird sister stories bore me though, which is why I stay with the Watch Series and Susan Death books.

And the best seconday charachter is the Death of Rats.

[pjalne]

I loved Wyrd Sisters, but you have to get all the references if the story is going to work for you.

[MK IV]

Originally Posted by Zhukov

You said it Utter Paradox. There were times when I found it hard to figure out what was going on.

Hogfather is also very good. But I doubt whether MK IV has actually read it.

Are you calling me a liar

[UtterParadox]

Originally Posted by Pub Lover

Just because you're stupid, it doesn't mean that the book is bad.
Also, if your looking for the worst book in the series, then I'd call 'Eric' it.

While "Eric" is definitely a weak entry (except for portions of the Hell sequence), I stand by my judgment. Thief of Time has a problem that seems to have crept into the series as a whole: there's not so much dialogue as a series of linked speeches. Lobsang and Soak are the primary examples of this.

Actually, now that I think about it, cancel that. The WORST book is "The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents". EVERYONE makes speeches - long, dry speeches - in that book, and it brings in two characters worse than Myria - Dangerous Beans (a sanctimonious, whining "know-it-all") and Peaches (my least favorite character in any book I've ever read - so annoying, controlling, and utterly unpleasant that I wish the Death of Rats would just cut her down). The plot isn't too bad, but it unfolds too slowly, and the most interesting characters (Darktan and Sardines) are never given enough development. An utter waste.

[DamnthatDavid]

The cat was interesting, but I overall agree with you. The book took to long to get to the point. WAAAAAAAY to long.

Soul Music though, that was hella crazy. Death and his bike where kickass.

[MK IV]

Except it wasnt really his bike he stole it , and it fell apart after 2 pages

[Mike P]

The series does seem to have fallen on hard times, creatively. "The Amazing Maurice" was actually not an entry into the actual Discworld series, but instead "A Tale of Discworld" or something like that, written for younger children. "Eric" was quite weak, but I think that could be partially due to the fact that it was cowritten by someone else, the name of whom I can't remember.

One of the things I've found very interesting about the series is the saga of Rincewind. Unlike the rest of the novels, which can be read fairly independently of one another, the saga of Rincewind is rather dependent on the knowledge of what has happened in the rest of the saga, or at least the previous book. A brief overview to illustrate my point:

The first and second books in the series (Color of Magic and The Light Fantastic) were connected by a literal cliffhanger, and ended with the conclusion of the storyline of Rincewind the Guide and the Spell. The next four books in the saga (Sourcery, Eric, Interesting Times, and The Last Continent) are basically one whole story. The transitions of one book to another are very apparent, and are unseen throughout the whole of the Discworld novels (save for Witches Abroad and Lords and Ladies, which is my favorite novel featuring Granny Weatherwax). The only thing I really don't get is why Rincewind is on a desert island at the beginning of Interesting Times...

My least favorite of the various character arcs has got to be the Granny Weatherwax arc. She's a good character and all, but those stories imparticularly seem to be very lesson heavy.

The Death specific stories aren't really focused on Death, however, save for "Reaper Man". "Soul Music" is basically about Buddy and Susan, "Hogfather" on Susan and Teatime, and "The Theif of Time" on those monks from "Small Gods"...

I think this post is entirely too long and messy. Sorry.

[ziggytrix]

I have to disagree with the Theif of Time nay-sayers. The Sweeper is one of my favorite characters.

[MK IV]

i agree they follow on, but so do the death books, except there focused on Susan sto-helit at different periods of her life (cept Mort, but thats needed to explain why she is), and of course Death and the way he becomes more 'human' , and the little things he learns.
Personaly I think the Gaurds series is really good, and the main characters well developed, especialy at the end of Night Watch, and the patricians relationship to vime's REALY starts to fit together nicely

[UtterParadox]

Originally Posted by Mike P

The only thing I really don't get is why Rincewind is on a desert island at the beginning of Interesting Times...

At the end of Eric, he leaves Hell... and we're not told what happens next. It's safe to presume that the exit to Hell dumped him on that desert island. (Hmmm... was Monkey Island out by this point?)

[MK IV]

Monstrous Regiment :

Pratchett's newest discworld addition, Just read it and although I did enjoy the book , I kinda have mixed feelings, the plot wasn't exactly origional for Pratchett (kinda a mix of equal rights and Men at Arms, with a splattering of satire[parody even] courtesy of the Sharpe books) which is all I can say without giving Too much plot away, also unlike many other of his books , where the plot seems to get pushed forward by the characters, the plot for this book seems to drag the characters with it.

Although im being critical it still is a good book, though far from Pratchetts best, it's was easy to sympathise for the main character Polly/Ozzy, which meant there were a few, very emotional moments in the book for me, although some other characters were weak (Maladict* and the Troll), it also had one of the better characters Pratchetts made - Sergeant Jackrum who is the embodiment of what a soldier should be (except he's fat).

Not a bad book, worth a read.



*except his vietnamn flash backs

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by UtterParadox

At the end of Eric, he leaves Hell... and we're not told what happens next. It's safe to presume that the exit to Hell dumped him on that desert island. (Hmmm... was Monkey Island out by this point?)

Ah, but whatever happened to Eric?

As for Monstrous Regiment, I'm glad to here that it's pretty good (in one's opinion). I just hope that soon there's another book with Rincewind in it. Poor guy hasn't been seen since "The Last Hero", and granted, he has a job at Unseen University now, but that's no reason for him not to get caught up in some odd adventure.

[executioneer]

Ah, but whatever happened to Eric?

Rincewind ate him to keep from starving

-willie