peterx | 30 Aug 2012 6:32 p.m. PST |
Do you read Terry Pratchett's books? If so, which are your favorite novels? Favorite characters? If not, why not? |
titusgroan | 30 Aug 2012 6:34 p.m. PST |
I've read and enjoyed about half a dozen of his books. I guess I liked The Colour of Magic (that the first one?) the best. I have also seen some live action and animated films on Discworld. That said, he does get old after a while. I doubt that I could get through all of the Discworld novels. |
McWong73 | 30 Aug 2012 6:53 p.m. PST |
Read the first, it did sweet FA for me and didn't bother with the rest. Rather liked the TV adaptations I've seen, but I believe they're from later books? |
elsyrsyn | 30 Aug 2012 7:02 p.m. PST |
Some, but generally in small doses. I think I may actually like his interviews and essays better than his fiction. Doug |
Crow Bait | 30 Aug 2012 7:05 p.m. PST |
I have read most. My favorites by far are those that feature the Night Watch. |
Jlundberg | 30 Aug 2012 7:06 p.m. PST |
one or two books were good, then it seemed all the same |
John the OFM | 30 Aug 2012 7:18 p.m. PST |
I could never finish the first one, the Rincewind one. If that was all there was to Discworld, I would never have read any more. Nome of the Rincewind ones are all that great. However, the Granny Weatherwax and the Witches books are fantastic. I also like the Watch books. |
Space Monkey | 30 Aug 2012 7:31 p.m. PST |
The guys I game with are all rabid Pratchett fans and reference the books ad nauseum during our games. They finally convinced me to borrow a couple and read them
So I gave them a try
and while I don't vigorously dislike them, I didn't care enough to continue past a couple of chapters. They're 'clever' but that's about all
and clever isn't enough to hold my attention. I got a lot further with them than I did Harry Potter though
that just annoyed me, till I stopped. |
Saber6 | 30 Aug 2012 7:31 p.m. PST |
Hogfather and Color of Magic |
Extra Crispy | 30 Aug 2012 7:40 p.m. PST |
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nazrat | 30 Aug 2012 7:49 p.m. PST |
Love every one, especially the Watch books. |
Jakar Nilson | 30 Aug 2012 7:58 p.m. PST |
I like him. Got to say that I like Rincewind more than most people. Need to read more Douglas Adams, just to contrast
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peterx | 30 Aug 2012 7:59 p.m. PST |
I like the Night Watch books too. The Sam Vimes character and the faux-detective/mystery/film noir/fantasy cracks me up. I don't know if I get through and read all his Discworld series. How many are there? 80? |
Mr Pumblechook | 30 Aug 2012 8:12 p.m. PST |
Simple answer : Yes and Yes. |
justBill | 30 Aug 2012 8:18 p.m. PST |
Yes, great stuff! Favorites so far are Small Gods and Thief of Time. |
Pictors Studio | 30 Aug 2012 8:40 p.m. PST |
I read a few of his books years ago. They were good but I found that he recycled a lot of the jokes as they went through. I had had enough by about the third one and didn't really read more after that. Lords and Ladies was my favourite. |
BigJoeDuke | 30 Aug 2012 9:00 p.m. PST |
When he focuses on a single character, the Witches, the Watch, etc, yes. But When it is Discworld in general, not so much. I think the Tiffany Aching (I Shall Wear Midnight) is my fovorite, but the Watch is a close second. |
BigJoeDuke | 30 Aug 2012 9:03 p.m. PST |
Oof. I'd like to add, I've read them all (Pratchett). All 408,986 of them. Or whatever he's up to. He and Piers Anthony need to team up and figure out when to end a franchise. Don't get me wrong, I love all the books but at some point it has to end. Closure for the reader and the author is a good thing. |
JJS001 | 30 Aug 2012 9:07 p.m. PST |
All of them, some of them several times. 'Witches abroad' is my favourite, along with all the follow ons. Also enjoy the Watch series. |
Khusrau | 30 Aug 2012 9:07 p.m. PST |
Top notch stuff. I really enjoy his cynical humour. |
Sergeant Paper | 30 Aug 2012 9:13 p.m. PST |
Nope. Tried several, not my cup of tea. |
henryspaintshop | 30 Aug 2012 9:37 p.m. PST |
absolutely love his books and his view of "his" discworld. I think Mort is my fave but do feel his earlier stuff was his best. I can also understand those who it doesn't work for. It does at times in the, later books, become a little predictable but enjoyable none the less. I personally think life can be taken to seriously and his sideways view of life I love. I meaan "it's a million to one chance, it's bound to work" read when you have the chance to relax and forget that there is a serious world, you'll find them funny, twisted and every now and then a moment of inspired truth.. or do whatever else makes you feel good |
Mooseworks8 | 30 Aug 2012 9:54 p.m. PST |
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PygmaelionAgain | 30 Aug 2012 10:06 p.m. PST |
The first one offered to me was "going postal", which did a great job of providing an antihero to root for. Others I have read since don't have the same draw. I agree with prior comments concerning Rincewind, as I don't find him compelling. I did rather like Mort, and Monsterous Company (the one with the fantasy monsters and a farmgirl joining up to serve their backwards country). I really thought I would like the Night Watch books, but as it turns out I was only really interested in Nobby, and would prefer to read an entire book about him, and then two concerning the goings on of golems. |
SECURITY MINISTER CRITTER | 30 Aug 2012 11:10 p.m. PST |
Love them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
Vis Bellica | 30 Aug 2012 11:49 p.m. PST |
Have read them all. Love the 'Witches' and 'Guards' franchises, and have read and re-read them many times, but not so keen on the 'Unseen University' and more general Discworld ones. Favourite characters? The Patrician, Esme Weatherwax, Sam Vimes. Favourite book? Oh, has to be "Thud!" without a doubt. Brilliant examination of religeous fanaticism that, once again, proves the rule that the best sci-fi and fantasy writing is actually all about the here and now whenever or wherever it's actually set. |
Phillius | 31 Aug 2012 12:03 a.m. PST |
Never read one. Watched the TV interpretation of one to see what it was about, and was not interested. |
Patrick R | 31 Aug 2012 1:31 a.m. PST |
Enjoyed the first few books and for some reason or another never bothered with the rest. |
The Monstrous Jake | 31 Aug 2012 1:33 a.m. PST |
I've read perhaps a dozen Pratchett novels, have all the rest except his latest on my "to read one of these days" shelf. I enjoy them quite a bit. The writing does get better after the first few, so if you only read the first one and didn't care for it you might like some of the later novels. My favourites are the Johnny Maxwell series. The only one I didn't care for that much was the pre-Discworld novel, "The Carpet People", which Pratchett wrote when he was 17 years old. Having said all that, I still prefer Douglas Adams. |
stenicplus | 31 Aug 2012 1:48 a.m. PST |
Read the first back in Poly in '88. Read them all since then, one or two that weren't up to scratch but on the whole he's given me a lot of pleasure reading them throughtout the years. The one with Neil Gaiman was very good too. |
advocate | 31 Aug 2012 1:49 a.m. PST |
I've read many and enjoyed most. I'd agree that he has improved over the period, and he touches on serious topics. I have been enjoying all the Watch books, but there has been a tendency to repetition in some of his themes. |
rick32 | 31 Aug 2012 1:58 a.m. PST |
I loved 'Good Omens' which he co-authored with Neil Gaiman. Read Night Watch and enjoyed. Tried a few other Discworld novels and never got beyond the first chapter. Prefer Douglas Adams. And Neil Gaiman. |
Buff Orpington | 31 Aug 2012 2:51 a.m. PST |
I'm actually quite fond of Rincewind, he's doomed and he knows it. As mentioned above, the best stories are the ones that reflect on real issues. He's covered racism(repeatedly), religious bigotry (Thud), rampant nationalism (Jingo) etc. Monstrous Regiment was brilliant, where the senior commanders wanted to cover up the issue of women in the ranks because many of the commanders were also women in disguise. Favourite characters: Sam Vimes, Granny, the librarian, Detritus the troll. |
Fish | 31 Aug 2012 3:07 a.m. PST |
I read Colour of Magic more or less when it came out and it just didn't work for me. Perhaps it compared badly to Bored of the Rings which I had read a short while prior and which I thought was over the top hilarious. |
flicking wargamer | 31 Aug 2012 3:36 a.m. PST |
Like The Light Fantastic. It was better than Color of Magic. Liked Going Postal and Color of Money. Very clever. I have a quote from him in my office. The one about building a man a fire. |
Rapier Miniatures | 31 Aug 2012 3:46 a.m. PST |
Yes, favourite is Moving Pictures, and my favourite character is the Librarian, closely menaced by the Luggage. |
forrester | 31 Aug 2012 3:56 a.m. PST |
Yes, all of them, though it is all merging into one continuous opus, and I cannot remember the individual books. He is the PG Wodehouse of the fantasy genre. He is a little more inclined to preach than he was initially, when it was just for laughs. |
Serotonin | 31 Aug 2012 4:18 a.m. PST |
Been a fan since my school days and the Colour of Magic. Ive read them all, and yes there are one or two duds that didnt do it for me, but so much good stuff it becomes hard to remember. Favourites are the Tiffany Aching one (aimed at kids apparently, but man that was a great trilogy and last book was so poignant), the Watch books of course- I agree Nobby is great, and the Witches were great, especially Granny Weatherwax. Rincewind never really did it for me either, but I still quite enjoyed him. The Unseen univeristy and the characters there are some of my favourites too. As to him bringing it all to a close, I suspect that has already been decided for him, and I often open the BBC site expecting to hear he has died. I think, without strayng into politics, that Pratchett will be the person that really kicks of the legalised euthanasier debate in the UK in a big time in the next wee while. :( Very sad. |
Parzival | 31 Aug 2012 4:49 a.m. PST |
"Yes" and "Very much." The first book is not the best, by a long shot. I think he wrote it just trying to create a spoof of fantasy tropes. Funny in places (and The Luggage is brilliant), but not up to par with the others. He really hits his stride once he introduces the witches in Equal Rites. My favorites are the Tiffany Aching novels (The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith (well, not so much that one) and I Shall Wear Midnight), the stand-alone The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents and the various Night Watch/Sam Vimes novels, of which Night Watch is my favorite— a very funny book that becomes an incredibly poignant commentary on the nature of service and sacrifice by the end. Pratchett is not without flaws; he can get bizarrely philosophical or a bit preachy in places, but it's mild enough that you can skim over it. So far, I've enjoyed every one of the novels I've read. I'll also recommend Mort, Small Gods, The Thief of Time, Hogfather and Going Postal. |
Frederick | 31 Aug 2012 5:18 a.m. PST |
Tried it once, never finished the book – can't recall which but I found it a bit light To be fair, I should probably re-visit them |
Sparker | 31 Aug 2012 5:55 a.m. PST |
You mean there are books other than those written by the blessed Terence Pratchett? The blasphemy
(First introduced to Disc World by my Killick's cast off dog eared tome at a very low point in my life
North Atlantic gales
Endless patrol
Cold
Wet
Seasick
Tired
no end in sight
then Disc World exploded into my life!) |
Parzival | 31 Aug 2012 7:17 a.m. PST |
By the way, I suspect that part of the problem that people have is the assumption the books are a series like The Wheel of Time or A Song of Ice and Fire or The Hitchhikers Two-books-more-than-a-trilogy. They're not; they're just books with shared characters and overlapping settings— there is no overall story arc, though some characters do advance and change over a course of several books. You can read them in almost any order (which is why Pratchett insists on having the list of Discworld books begin with the latest book written and continue backwards to the first!) Because of this, I would not advise reading more than one Discworld book at a time, or reading them back-to-back in succession. Every author has a certain style and voice which can grow too familiar if that's all one reads— like how a collection of short stories by the same author can begin to feel unsatisfying if read all at once, even though all the stories may independently be excellent. It's not that they're not good or enjoyable, it's just that they're like an interesting visitor who has nevertheless overstayed his welcome. So break the Discworld books up among other reading. For myself, I take the approach (after reading several varied books) that "it's time for some Pratchett" and go pick out another one to read. Then it becomes like sitting down with an old friend I haven't seen in a while and catching up on his latest funny stories and odd thoughts. And that can be a very pleasant time indeed. |
The Gonk | 31 Aug 2012 7:27 a.m. PST |
I read every Discworld novel up until a few years ago. I really enjoy them, although I'm not fanatical about them. It used to be you could hardly get them at US retailers, so when I went to Germany, I would visit The English Shop and stock up on them. |
richarDISNEY | 31 Aug 2012 7:40 a.m. PST |
Nope. But I did listen to the BBC Radio 4 shows. They were pretty funny. I liked "Guards! Guards!" the best of that series.
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parrskool | 31 Aug 2012 7:46 a.m. PST |
Read most. The ones with Sam Vimes in are the best. |
ChicChocMtdRifles | 31 Aug 2012 8:27 a.m. PST |
Nope X 2. What I saw never impressed me. |
Timbo W | 31 Aug 2012 9:00 a.m. PST |
Yes and Yes!!! Favourite is Night Watch (but also the Witches as they remind me of the Grandparents' generation very strongly) Characters: Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, Nobby and Colon, and Vetinari Agree with Parzival indeed, and they do vary quite a bit – the early ones pretty manic, and the later ones getting rather predictable – but that's not so surprising, sadly. |
CeruLucifus | 31 Aug 2012 9:02 a.m. PST |
Yes. I'm not huge fan, but I pick up one every so often, enjoy it enough to not regret the money spent, then wait a variable time until I am ready for another. I do agree Coulour of Magic is not the best one. I read that around when it was published and thereby ignored his subsequent Diskworld books for many many years. Strata is a better book from the same era. A parody of real world trends hidden within parody of SF but in a standalone narrative. Favorites? Monsterous Company. The one with elves (I love that paragraph contrasting adjectives and adverbs about them: "Elves are terrific. Elves are terrifying." or however it goes). The Night Watch. Love his treatment of Death. Good Omens with Neil Gaiman is fabulous and hilarious. I was at a Comic-Con panel featuring Neil Gaiman the year it was published, or maybe the year after, and a fan asked if it was hard to keep from laughing while collaborating on the book. Gaiman answered they were pretty serious throughout, but there was one long distance phone call where the two writers decided that in the main character devil's car, every cassette inserted into the player would morph into The Best of Queen . . . he said it took them about 10 minutes to recover enough to go on. |
x42brown | 31 Aug 2012 9:11 a.m. PST |
"Strata" was my favourite book of his but it is not really disk world book. Magic in it being a product of advanced technology. Also despite them being aimed at children (or maybe because) I enjoyed the "Nome" books. Disk word characters Carrot" would be my favourite but can't think of a favourite book. x42 |
Huscarle | 31 Aug 2012 9:18 a.m. PST |
I managed to plough through 3 of his books, and that was enough for me. I can safely say that I don't like his style nor his books, although most of my pals would disagree with me. |