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The Terry Pratchett Thread

Not one of his best but that leaves a lot of room before it gets to being bad!

One thing I didn't like was the fact that it was not really a stand alone book in that you do need to have read Postal to understand the story yet there was still a fair amount of rehashing of Postal (and other Discworld novels). (Reminded me in a way of the Hogfather TV adaptation - that didn't quite make sense unless you already knew Discworld and the book).

And it strengthens my opinion that Discworld is becoming too restrictive for Pratchett to be as creative as he used to be. In the earlier novels there were huge swathes of the "universe" of Discworld that were, at best, labeled "here be dragons" but he's now fleshed it out so much that he is having to write between everything else he's already created, which he does well but is very restrictive.

I really would like him to drop Discworld for a time so his incredible creativity and inventiveness can have free reign again.
 
Darat said:
And it strengthens my opinion that Discworld is becoming too restrictive for Pratchett to be as creative as he used to be. In the earlier novels there were huge swathes of the "universe" of Discworld that were, at best, labeled "here be dragons" but he's now fleshed it out so much that he is having to write between everything else he's already created, which he does well but is very restrictive.

I really would like him to drop Discworld for a time so his incredible creativity and inventiveness can have free reign again.
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Interesting notion. Perhaps that's one reason that the later Rincewind books are good: Not so much because of Rincewind, but because he's usually somewhere far-off, meaning that Pratchett can start almost anew with another country, such as Four-Ecks...

Maybe Pratchett should send him to some India-like country next time? Or perhaps some modern Japan, who suddenly shows up to be a contestant to the Ankh-Morpork dominance not by war, but by money?

Having re-read Making Money it definitely makes more sense, and when you see the ending coming, it won't throw you off so much. Apart from that, the most disappointing thing is that Adora Belle still isn't half the cynic she is from the first Lipwig book.
 
So when I heard the theme of Making Money, I was worried it was going to come close to an idea I've had that I'll probably never do anything with. So any of you into writing Discworld fan fiction, try this:

Behind Unseen University there is a sprawling market (whose name I forget--but it is near the rear gate to the University). It's a hive of activity, bright colors, exotic aromas and a babble of haggling voices. As always, the magical leakage (especially from the high energy thaumaturgy buildings) ended up causing a gestalt of the market to take on a sort of presence. When you step back and hear that very generic hum of activity, you're close to hearing the Market itself.

Well, it eventually solidifies or incarnates as an invisible hand. Unfortunately, it is a purely malevolent force, so people walking alone in the area end up strangled to death by the invisible hand of the marketplace.


It's not the sort of enlightened self-interest sort of capitalism exemplified by CMOT Dibbler (who should figure in the story as a foil--sort of like a Mom and Pop business in the face of Walmart). The invisible hand is a soul-less, ammoral entity.

It's an incarnation of the market, but maybe it starts when someone comes up with the similar concept of the legal fiction of "incorporation"--where an entity exists independent of any of the people who founded it, but is nevertheless granted legal "personhood". So those sorts of documents, exposed to leaking magic. . . . .

Let's see--the story would have to have lots of Jack the Ripper references, so the victims should be members of the oldest profession--the seamstresses. The pigs sold in the marketplace speak to each other in a kind of pig-latin. They are the ones who witness some of the murders which are accompanied by that humming sound (the gestalt of the babbling of the market). It sounds like a swarm of bees, so naturally they call it "e-bay".

The story would have to follow the police investigation. It'd be nice to have a character that brings in some more modern forensics--like CSI. (I just love Vimes' distrust of clues--this one's no good because it's got fingerprints all over it. Can you imagine his reluctance to rely on Ponder Stibbons' analysis of DNA evidence--or its magical equivalent?)

And. . . well, that's about as far as I've thought about it. I can hear Colon saying something about "laissez faire". . . .
 
I've just re-read Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic, his very first two Discworld books. Such a contrast to his later work. Way more swordfights and half-bricks, much thinner characterisations.

He just gets better and better with time.
 
Darat said:
And it strengthens my opinion that Discworld is becoming too restrictive for Pratchett to be as creative as he used to be. In the earlier novels there were huge swathes of the "universe" of Discworld that were, at best, labeled "here be dragons" but he's now fleshed it out so much that he is having to write between everything else he's already created, which he does well but is very restrictive.

I really would like him to drop Discworld for a time so his incredible creativity and inventiveness can have free reign again.
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As far as Discworld being too fleshed out goes, there are still large parts of Discworld we don't know much about. Genua comes to mind, and there are a few countries where all we know is the name, such as Muntab. Of course, even there all of the fundamental rules of Discworld would apply, so it couldn't be a completely new story, but there is less back story to work around.

Personally, I like the fact that the newer stories are taking place against such a well-defined history, because it gives the novels a depth that its hard to achieve any other way, but it has changed the stories a lot.
 
I've just come back from the Cheltenham Literature Festival where Terry Pratchett was speaking. As usual (this is the 4th or 5th time I've heard him) it was a very entertaining hour.

He talked about the TV version of Colour of Magic which is currently being made, with David Jason as Rincewind. I got the impression he was a bit dubious at first about the casting, but having watched the filming he was very happy with how he was playing the part. Apparently he has a "stunt runner" ;)

He's just been to the US, where he appeared at a Book Fair and got told off for the length of his signing queues (it upsets the poets). He'd also been to Hollywood, where the on again/off again film of Wee Free Men is still in development hell. He said he'd brought back some draft scripts to look at, but I got the impression it would be unwise to hold my breath. He clearly preferred working with the people who are doing the TV adaptations, as he can get much more personally involved.

He admitted that the Discworld was getting full, making it more difficult to write original stories. He does have plans for more, but the book he's currently writing is not set on the Discworld (though as he's writing it, it's still Discworld-ish). It's set on a parallel earth "a couple of universes over" and is about a very devout sea captain whose ship is carried far inland by a tsunami. It's called Nation.

What else? Moist is based on Richard Branson (he thinks of new ways of looking at old problems). If all the Discworld characters got into a fight, the final result would probably be a standoff between Vetinari and Granny Weatherwax (that was in response to a question from a small boy in the audience). Another question about the tendancy of literary prizes to go to obscure authors/books rather than popular authors like himself provoked the response that he saw the Booker Prize as being like Tibet: it's interesting and he's glad it's there, but he doesn't expect to visit or be made Dalai Lama.

Responding to a question about slowing down - only one book a year instead of two :rolleyes: - he revealed he's had some health problems recently, including a small stroke which left him unable to remember how to tie a necktie. He lamented that he could still remember all sorts of useless stuff, though, like advertisement jingles from the 60s.

An interesting quote, though I've forgotten the context: "At the heart of every Pratchett book you will find a book".

He skirted dangerous territory when he was asked about the pastiches of the early Discworld books: he said he doesn't do them any more, and he wouldn't dare do Harry Potter because he would get death threats - "badly written death threats". He hastened to add that he had no problem with J K Rowling, saying they'd met once and had a pleasant chat about how nice it was "to fall backwards into a pile of cash the size of St Paul's Cathedral".

OK, that's as much as I can remember :)
 
Thanks Pixel42

Pixel42 said:
...snip...

He admitted that the Discworld was getting full, making it more difficult to write original stories. He does have plans for more, but the book he's currently writing is not set on the Discworld (though as he's writing it, it's still Discworld-ish). It's set on a parallel earth "a couple of universes over" and is about a very devout sea captain whose ship is carried far inland by a tsunami. It's called Nation.

...snip...
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That's good news!
 
Pixel42 said:
I
He's just been to the US, where he appeared at a Book Fair and got told off for the length of his signing queues (it upsets the poets).
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And the Poets' Guild is second only to the The Guild of Fools and Joculators and College of Clowns in being pathetic.
 
No, but there are some frantic gestures:D

(And I got it from one of the DW books, so it has to be true)
 
I few other snippets that have come back to me about the talk in Cheltenham.

[I should explain I'm doing this for friends on a Discworld forum who are scattered all over the world and never get the chance to hear Terry speak, but I see no reason not to share it with you too :) ]

Terry said David Jason gives the definitive performance of the "being thrown out of somewhere and having your stuff thrown after you" slapstick routine in Colour of Magic.

He said he liked writing for Moist and that he described him to a friend who doesn't read Discworld books, and - after he explained how the more Moist told people how he was cheating them and taking their money, the more they laughed and gave him their money - his friend said "Ah, there's an autobiographical element in him then".

Discussing the dedication at the beginning of Making Money he said he'd be willing to undertake field research into the relationship between women's hemlines and levels of national crisis provided he was given "a large grant, a tape measure and immunity from prosecution".

There was a question about Vetinari which prompted some thoughts about the character. He said Vetinari would find the idea of human rights amusing, as he would see rights as something members of a society mutually agree to give each other rather than things which "drop from the sky". The character had grown and developed in ways that seemed to surprise even him. [He said at another point that sometimes he set out to write scenes he'd planned and the characters just refused to do what he expected]. There may well be advantages to a benevolent dictatorship like Vetinari's, but he said if he lived in such a society in the real world he would join the resistance.

There are only two real differences between writing for children and for adults: you bear in mind that your shared experience with children is much smaller than with adults (e.g. you don't put in references to things that happened before they were born), and you don't put in so much red hot sex. He added that he wasn't very good at red hot sex anyway ("write what you know" ;) ). You shouldn't give a ten-year-old a book written for a ten-year-old; you should always give a child a book written for someone a few years older, that's how they learn.

He also made a couple of comments about his most dedicated fans. Apparently he stole some props from the set of Hogfather and auctioned them at a Discworld convention (for charity) and was horrified by the ridiculously large sums they went for. The problem is if he told them "You're all lunatics" they would just reply "Yes". He'd also obviously read some of the online discussions about Making Money, and referred to one criticism that had been made that he didn't mention Groat. He said he was considering putting something at the front of each new book to reassure readers about the characters he doesn't mention - "X is on holiday, Y's in bed with flu, Z has moved and didn't leave a forwarding address ...".
 
Thanks Pixel42 - Terry is such a hoot live, isn't he? I'll never forget at one of the Discworld Conventions (may have been the first one?) when he read to us (first draft, off his laptop!) scenes from 'The Hogfather' - The scene in the department store when Death is being Santa & the scene with Susan clobbering the monsters under the bed

I was at DragonCon in Atlanta recently and was on a panel about Terry & the Discworld - it was completely full, standing room at the back! And that was just to talk about him! lol! I think DragonCon would be pretty thrilled if TP ever goes over... sheer magic!
 
Thanks Pixel42! Reminds me of the time I met Pratchett briefly at a book signing for The Truth seven years ago. I had four copies signed, each for different people including my sister. She's not a fan but at the time she was News Editor at the Bucks Free Press, the paper Pratchett worked at. When I mentioned this he started reminiscing about his time there and about how the building at Gomm Road was hot in summer and cold in winter - something my sister had mentioned several times in the past.

So I thought I'd have a look for future book signings and found this:

Terry Pratchett will be signing his new book 'Making Money' on Saturday 13th October 1 - 2pm in Forbidden Planet's London Megastore on Shaftesbury Avenue.
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http://www.londonisfree.com/2007/10/terry_pratchett_making_money.html

Anyone in the London area interested? I'm hoping to make it down there myself but I'm not certain I can at the moment - work as usual taking over my life!
 
Just FYI, here's a video of Terry giving a talk at a Barnes & Noble branch in New York. Can't see a date on the page, but I think it was within the last few months. I searched the whole thread and didn't see it already linked.
Terry covers a lot of the same things Pixel42 reported; the new CoM/LF movie, the non-discworld novel Nation, some talk of Wintersmith and Making Money.
It's an hour long, with more than half being an audience Q&A.

http://media.barnesandnoble.com/index.jsp?fr_story=66ea36effacb12f8d42a1294411c2b525c7706bf

ETA: It's also worth watching just to hear Terry sing. More than Once.
 
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Kell said:
Just FYI, here's a video of Terry giving a talk at a Barnes & Noble branch in New York. Can't see a date on the page, but I think it was within the last few months. I searched the whole thread and didn't see it already linked.
Terry covers a lot of the same things Pixel42 reported; the new CoM/LF movie, the non-discworld novel Nation, some talk of Wintersmith and Making Money.
It's an hour long, with more than half being an audience Q&A.

http://media.barnesandnoble.com/index.jsp?fr_story=66ea36effacb12f8d42a1294411c2b525c7706bf

ETA: It's also worth watching just to hear Terry sing. More than Once.
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Many thanks for putting that link - I have just spent a very pleasant hour or so listening to it. I love the bit about the Carnegie medal!
 
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