I really loved Thud! and it’s up there with my favorites!
This is my first ever read through, and on one hand I’m kicking myself for waiting so long, but also now I’m taking breaks in between books because I’m afraid of getting to the end.
Wintersmith has been a pleasant surprise for me, because while I like Tiffany and the Feegles, the stories feel more small scale compared to many of the other book, but this one is really going into the in-and-outs of what being a witch in this world is all about, and I’m loving that. In the whole series, I have liked how while the wizards have real magic, most of it is much more trouble than it’s worth, while witches are more about the headology where they’re more just being exceptionally good neighbors 90% of the time and then the last bit is some of the most badass stuff in the entire series.
Pratchett just puts such a great spin on any expectation in each story and always keeps me surprised and laughing.
Pratchett was incredibly wise… and incredibly angry at injustice. But such a deep deep understanding of human nature - I think the best examples are Nobby and Colon. They are so incredibly and completely human.
I have on single piece of advice, take it as you will: Do not sleep on Shepherd’s Crown when you get there. I cried most of the way through it. Not because it was a polished novel - it was clear with the last 2-3 or so that he wasn’t able to put as much editing time in - they feel more like he was writing/dictating the stories and not able to go back and edit them well - but it was still absolutely worth the read, and clearly his goodbye to us.
Every time I read them - and this is probably around my eighth complete re-read - I catch new things and grow more and more fond of them. They are old friends and visiting them is comforting.
For being fiction, there is a rather lot of wisdom in them. Headology is a case in point. And being someone making those hard decisions - that may not be right, but someone has to choose. It’s hard to have to be that person.
I’ve been a bit stunned that Discworld doesn’t seem to have quite the following as Lord of the Rings, other than that it doesn’t take itself as seriously. The world building and character development has been so wonderful. And that one could really pick up nearly any book as their first read and not be lost while there is so much referential content really highlights how natural the world feels. And what you read has such actual value in real life. I’m affirmed some thoughts and feelings that I’ve had, but it’s also gotten me to think about things I hadn’t given much thought to or how to process some things I couldn’t come up with words for expressing.
Nobby and Colon are great examples of both character building, not just for themselves, but Vimes as well. Night Watch and Thud! showed how far they had come since Guards! Guards! and it’s not that they’re written differently to make them less useless, it’s that Vimes has taken account of what he has to work with and has become such a great leader that he can turn what would be a disadvantage to most into just the right thing the situation needs.
The other character that I really love that I wouldn’t have anticipated is Detritus. From when he temporarily gains intelligence from the cold weather to when he defends Cheery in front of all the dwarves, he’s become so much more than he started as. The vampires, golums, and zombies all shine too and bring so much to the stories. No one feels like a throwaway character.
I do want to see how it all wraps up. I don’t expect everything to end up all neatly settled, but that kind of thing, the books have shown me, is for stories, but the Disc is alive and likely won’t have a storybook ending. Or maybe it will. I love that I still don’t know what to expect after nearly 40 books.
The good thing about getting to the end is that you can start again from the beginning, and see them all differently with the foreknowledge of the whole thing.
Man, I generally object to film adaptations of books because they never get it right, but I would so love to see him taking control of the robot army in Interesting Times get put to film.
I recently watch the Amazing Maurice adaptation, and that wasn’t bad. They skipped some of the piper stuff and everything about the green wobbly bit, but it was a good time overall.
I would have no objection to seeing a good live action or animated Mad Hamish either, I love that guy.
The adaptations of Hogfather and Going Postal were actually pretty good too. David Jason was sorely miscast as Rincewind, though. And Twoflower was written as a parody Japanese tourist, not American.
I recall there was a Cohen The Barbarian short film put out some years ago that showed promise for a film adaptation of The Silver Horde that sadly never happened.
GNU Sir Terry Pratchett
I’m on Thud! on this readthru :)
I really loved Thud! and it’s up there with my favorites!
This is my first ever read through, and on one hand I’m kicking myself for waiting so long, but also now I’m taking breaks in between books because I’m afraid of getting to the end.
Wintersmith has been a pleasant surprise for me, because while I like Tiffany and the Feegles, the stories feel more small scale compared to many of the other book, but this one is really going into the in-and-outs of what being a witch in this world is all about, and I’m loving that. In the whole series, I have liked how while the wizards have real magic, most of it is much more trouble than it’s worth, while witches are more about the headology where they’re more just being exceptionally good neighbors 90% of the time and then the last bit is some of the most badass stuff in the entire series.
Pratchett just puts such a great spin on any expectation in each story and always keeps me surprised and laughing.
Pratchett was incredibly wise… and incredibly angry at injustice. But such a deep deep understanding of human nature - I think the best examples are Nobby and Colon. They are so incredibly and completely human.
I have on single piece of advice, take it as you will: Do not sleep on Shepherd’s Crown when you get there. I cried most of the way through it. Not because it was a polished novel - it was clear with the last 2-3 or so that he wasn’t able to put as much editing time in - they feel more like he was writing/dictating the stories and not able to go back and edit them well - but it was still absolutely worth the read, and clearly his goodbye to us.
Every time I read them - and this is probably around my eighth complete re-read - I catch new things and grow more and more fond of them. They are old friends and visiting them is comforting.
For being fiction, there is a rather lot of wisdom in them. Headology is a case in point. And being someone making those hard decisions - that may not be right, but someone has to choose. It’s hard to have to be that person.
I’ve been a bit stunned that Discworld doesn’t seem to have quite the following as Lord of the Rings, other than that it doesn’t take itself as seriously. The world building and character development has been so wonderful. And that one could really pick up nearly any book as their first read and not be lost while there is so much referential content really highlights how natural the world feels. And what you read has such actual value in real life. I’m affirmed some thoughts and feelings that I’ve had, but it’s also gotten me to think about things I hadn’t given much thought to or how to process some things I couldn’t come up with words for expressing.
Nobby and Colon are great examples of both character building, not just for themselves, but Vimes as well. Night Watch and Thud! showed how far they had come since Guards! Guards! and it’s not that they’re written differently to make them less useless, it’s that Vimes has taken account of what he has to work with and has become such a great leader that he can turn what would be a disadvantage to most into just the right thing the situation needs.
The other character that I really love that I wouldn’t have anticipated is Detritus. From when he temporarily gains intelligence from the cold weather to when he defends Cheery in front of all the dwarves, he’s become so much more than he started as. The vampires, golums, and zombies all shine too and bring so much to the stories. No one feels like a throwaway character.
I do want to see how it all wraps up. I don’t expect everything to end up all neatly settled, but that kind of thing, the books have shown me, is for stories, but the Disc is alive and likely won’t have a storybook ending. Or maybe it will. I love that I still don’t know what to expect after nearly 40 books.
The good thing about getting to the end is that you can start again from the beginning, and see them all differently with the foreknowledge of the whole thing.
I sometimes have to remind myself they aren’t real people because I do feel proud of how far many of them have come.
No matter who you are, you can probably find a character you can relate to that overcomes what has been holding them back.
I’ve always had a soft spot for Rincewind, personally. The inveterate coward that gets shit done anyway just because no-one else seems to want to.
Once he can no longer run away, the only option left is to be awesome! 😁
Man, I generally object to film adaptations of books because they never get it right, but I would so love to see him taking control of the robot army in Interesting Times get put to film.
And he invented Vegemite!
I recently watch the Amazing Maurice adaptation, and that wasn’t bad. They skipped some of the piper stuff and everything about the green wobbly bit, but it was a good time overall.
I would have no objection to seeing a good live action or animated Mad Hamish either, I love that guy.
The adaptations of Hogfather and Going Postal were actually pretty good too. David Jason was sorely miscast as Rincewind, though. And Twoflower was written as a parody Japanese tourist, not American.
I recall there was a Cohen The Barbarian short film put out some years ago that showed promise for a film adaptation of The Silver Horde that sadly never happened.