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The Terry Pratchett Thread

Gawdzilla said:
Just read my first Discworld book, Hogfather. So, my question. Are they all like that?
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They're all unique, but I'd have to say Hogfather is one of the more atypical of them.

They do stand alone all right, but some of them form sequences (as noted), and the more of them you read, the richer the experience.

If you're used to straightforward, Harry Potter-style writing, you should know that Pratchett is a lot more arch and clever. I know I miss out on quite a few references by not knowing the British social referents. (The Annotated Pratchet File is helpful, as far as it goes.)
 
Gawdzilla said:
Just read my first Discworld book, Hogfather. So, my question. Are they all like that?
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No.

I didn't particularly care for Hogfather, although that could be considered sacrilege for the Susan fans out there.

My favorite so far is Small Gods, which is stand-alone, and also Thud! and Fifth Elephant that are aided by knowing something about the Watch, but don't really depend on it.

Oh, and the Tiffany Aching trilogy is absolutely wonderful.

Then get Neil Gaiman's 'Stardust' for a sense of deja vue.

V.
 
JoeTheJuggler said:
They're all unique, but I'd have to say Hogfather is one of the more atypical of them.

They do stand alone all right, but some of them form sequences (as noted), and the more of them you read, the richer the experience.

If you're used to straightforward, Harry Potter-style writing, you should know that Pratchett is a lot more arch and clever. I know I miss out on quite a few references by not knowing the British social referents. (The Annotated Pratchet File is helpful, as far as it goes.)
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Actually, I'm a fan of Zelazny and Graham Chapman, as well as Heinlein. I just found Hogfather a bit of slog.
 
Gawdzilla said:
Actually, I'm a fan of Zelazny and Graham Chapman, as well as Heinlein. I just found Hogfather a bit of slog.
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Really? Hogfather is one of my all-time favorites, along with Night Watch, Thud!, and The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents. But then, Death has always been one of my favorite characters, and Hogfather works a lot better if you know something about him already. It helps to flesh him out a lot.

I'd suggest Guards! Guards! as a jumping-on point for the series. It introduces the Watch, which is my favorite group of characters. It was how I got introduced to it.
 
Pure Argent said:
I'd suggest Guards! Guards! as a jumping-on point for the series. It introduces the Watch, which is my favorite group of characters. It was how I got introduced to it.
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Funny, I say that right after I've read or re-read one of that series. If I read one of the witch series, those are my favorite. Ditto the wizards.

Basically my favorite series seems to be whichever I've read most recently.

I stumbled upon Discworld starting with Jingo! It meant that I was sort of in medias res wrt to some of the characters, and I know that resulted in me getting a less than full appreciation of the novel, but in the long run, it didn't seem to matter.
 
Verde said:
What! When did he sneak Wintersmith in there? I've got to go hunting now.

V.
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If there is a rally, really nice mod about with a little bit of spare time they might consider updating my very first post - Just the bibliography.

Wintersmith is there but a few others are missing.


;)
 
OK, so for newbie who keeps hearing this name, which book should I read first?
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Small Gods, hands down.

Then it depends on what you want to read. The official guide someone linked there is good, though I would classify some thematically. [/i]Monstrous Regiment[/i] has a very similar feel to Unseen Academicals, for instance, despite only having one character in common. Fifth Elephant and Thud follow each other tremendously well because of the mutual focus on dwarf culture.

Pratchett's biggest weakness is his books that share protagonists always come out the same. Pick one book from each of the main arcs in that reading guide. Assume they're all going to be like that, and just go with the one you like most.
 
Also is this anything like the Steampunk phenom?
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Oh yeah, this. Dunno quite what you mean by that, but Pratchett enjoys a kind of similar style of anachronistic technology, mostly in the Watch and Industry books.

Instead of cameras, say, his characters use boxes with imps that paint pictures very, very quickly. The wife of one protagonist perpetually buys him newfangled "personal daemon assistants" like the Gooseberry mk 5, which can remember and hum up to a thousand of his favorite tunes but still calls him "Insert Name Here" because he threw away the manual with the setup incantations.

That and a good dose of clockpunk.
 
I haven't read the thread or have anything particular to say. I just feel obligated to post here.

:D
 
Skeptic Ginger said:
OK, so for newbie who keeps hearing this name, which book should I read first? Also is this anything like the Steampunk phenom?
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(This is a story I've posted before ages ago, I think.)
I was teaching Year 6children; one asked me if I'd read 'Truckers' and when I asked what that was, he was amazed and insisted that I read it. Bought it; was on a train with it; read halfway wondering what on earth this was all about and why it was good; nothing else to do so continued as children are always to be relied on I found; Shortly after that, I was creased up with laughter. from then on I read every TP book!
 
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