Disc world

Post by **hierachy** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 2:49 am

These happen to be one of my top series.... what do you think of him compared to other writers?

Post by **[Syl]** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 7:47 am

Funny as hell.... wait, Larry Niven or Terry Pratchett?

Post by **variol son** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 1:05 pm

If you're talking about Terry Pratchet, I LOVE him. He's just so damn funny!

I love the way he has a paragraph of soaring archetypal, fantasy-esque prose, only to punctuate it with something incredibly anti-climactic, or the way he mocks the fantasy genre. Such as in The Colour Of Magic.

She was the Goddess Who Must Not Be Named; those who sought Her never found Her, yet She was known to come to the aid of those in greatest need. And, then again, sometimes She didn't. She was like that. She didn't like the clicking of rosaries, but was attracted to the sound of dice. No man knew what She looked like, although there were many times when a man who was gambling his life on the turn of the cards would pick up the hand he had been dealt and stare Her full in the face. Of course, sometimes he didn't.

It was the King Colour, of which all the lesser colours are merely partial and wishy-washy reflections. It was octarine, the colour of magic. It was alive and glowing and vibrant and it was the undisputed pigmentof the imagination, because wherever it appeared it was a sign that mere matter was a serventof the powers of the magical mind. It was enchantment itself.

But Rincewind always thought it looked a sort of greenish-purple.

It was all very well going on about pure logic and how the universe was ruled by logic and the harmony of numbers, but the plain fact of the matter was that the disc was manifestly trtaversing space on the back of a giant turtle and the gods had a habit of going round to atheists' houses and smashing their windows.

Don't you just love it?!

Sum sui generis
Vs

Post by **I'm Murrin** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 11:56 pm

A great series, although I do prefer the earliest books, before he discovered the concept of plotting (while Pratchett himself seems to think his books are etter after that point)...
Of course, Small Gods has to be the best by far.

Post by **Ryzel** » Thu Oct 02, 2003 5:13 am

The books are somewhat uneven. The best of them, like Guards, Guards and Würd Sisters are amongs the best fantasy you get and funny as well. The worst (Moving Pictures) are weaker versions but still pretty solid.

Post by **[Syl]** » Thu Oct 02, 2003 6:29 am

Yeah, most of the earlier ones were better, but I really enjoyed Thief of Time (anybody who can intelligently satirize eastern philosophy is alright in my book).

Post by **Foamfollower1013** » Thu Oct 02, 2003 3:01 pm

Rincewind. 'Nuff said.

~Foamy~

Post by **hierachy** » Thu Oct 02, 2003 9:03 pm

yea Rincewind is the best

Post by **CovenantJr** » Sat Oct 04, 2003 3:19 am

Rincewind is the man

I wasn't that keen on the Colour of Magic, though the Light Fantastic was ok. My favourites of the ones I've read are probably Mort, Soul Music, Sourcery and Interesting Times. Apparently it started as a pastiche of hoary old fantasy cliches (which explains a lot about the Colour of Magic) but soon took on a life of its own.

Murrin -- Small Gods was the first Discworld book I read. It's one of the most insightful and intelligently written, but I find it a bit heavy for a Discworld book...

Post by **Forestal** » Sat Oct 04, 2003 6:09 am

i have only one thing to say about terry pratchett:

"the luggage said nothing.... the luggage said nothing again, but louder this time"

haha....

Post by **Nav** » Mon Oct 06, 2003 2:22 am

I found Small Gods a bit heavy too, although the bit at the end when Vorbis is struck between the eyes by a tortoise travelling at ten metres per second is just priceless.

I think one of my favourite quotes comeds from Reaperman:

It is generally thought, on those worlds where the mall lifeform has seeded, that people take the wire baskets away and leave them in strange and isolated places, so that squads of young men have to be employed to gather them together and wheel them back. This is exactly the opposite of the truth. In reality, the men are hunters, stalking their rattling prey across the landscape, trapping them, breaking their spirit, taming them and herding them to a life of slavery. Possibly.

The last one I read was feet of Clay, where somedbody tried to posion the Patrician. The interplay between Vimes and Vetinari was brilliant.

Post by **CovenantJr** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 8:40 pm

With regard to the excessively high levels of wizardry claimed by "excitable foreigners":

They impressed the Unseen wizards about as much as the porcupine-sized epaulettes on the shoulders of a shifty-eyed banana republic generalissimo impress a battle-hardened soldier

I couldn't tell you which book that quote is from, but it sticks in my mind.

Post by **variol son** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 11:19 pm

I'm currently reading Night Watch, where Vimes has gone back in time and has happened to meet Sandra, a real seamstress who has taken up friendship with the other seamstresses who are not, strictly speaking, actual seamstresses. If you know what I mean. Makes for a laugh.

Sum sui generis
Vs

Post by **CovenantJr** » Fri Oct 17, 2003 10:23 pm

I just re-read Reaper Man a couple of days ago

Perhaps you could just hand me the celery and think hammering a stake?

Post by **Mistweave** » Mon Oct 20, 2003 3:49 am

My Books are in storage but I think its in Witches Abroad when a vampire accidently gets knocked out the air and while lying on the ground recovering himself is 'found' by Granny Ogg's cat. Everyone has heard of a vampire rising from the grave but no vampire has ever risen from Greebo!

And I loved it when Greebo was turned into a human rogue!

Post by **Ermingard** » Fri Dec 05, 2003 8:00 pm

This topic seems to be dormant, if not dead, but I'll give it a try anyhow

I find the books irresistable, funny and satiric.
I've read most of them several times. I still like the feeling when I succed to trace a (twisted)quote in the books to its original source, makes me feel smart!

Most posts on this thread seems to think that the earlier books are better I disagree! I think the first books are funny but the caracters lacks depth, and are funny stereotypes of the classical fantasy figures. In the later books the caracters are more fully developed.

I didn't get really hooked on the books untill I read "Small gods" wich undoubtedly is a bit different from the rest.

I totaly agree that the books are a bit on the uneven side, some of them seems to be written just to keep people interested untill the next "real" book sees the light. As exemplified by "Moving pictures" or "Maskerade" that while they still are funny they are a bit weak.

Post by **variol son** » Sun Jun 27, 2004 10:17 am

Having devoured all 27 of Terry Pratchet's Discworld novels that are currently available in paperback, I have turned to his Discworld novels for children and finished Wee Free Men yesterday. I must say that Pratchet is one of the best writers I have ever read. While it didn't explore some of the deeper issues that books like The Hogfather and Night Watch did, as pure entertainment I could hardly put it down, and I found myself laughing out loud much more than usual.

The only problem is that now I want my very own clan of blue-skined, red-haired, sword-toting pictsies.

Ach, crivens.

Sum sui generis
Vs

Post by **CovenantJr** » Sun Jun 27, 2004 7:20 pm

I didn't realise he had written any kiddie Disc books. The return of the Nac Mac Feegle, eh?

Post by **variol son** » Sun Jun 27, 2004 8:00 pm

Aye, that's right, ye bloustie ol' callyack. An' if ye don' like it, then ye can ha' a heidful o' heid. Crivens.

Mr Pratchets first Discworld book for the bairns, The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents, won the Carnegie Medal.

Sum sui generis
Vs

Post by **CovenantJr** » Sun Jun 27, 2004 10:55 pm

variol son wrote:An' if ye don' like it, then ye can ha' a heidful o' heid.s

Ah, so accurate. But reading too much Nac Mac Feegle hurts my head- I mean- ma heid

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