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Terry Pratchett
https://www.beexcellenttoeachother.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6091		 Page 3 of 3
Author:  krazywookie [ Thu Jun 13, 2019 19:33 ]
Post subject:  Re: Terry Pratchett
zaphod79 wrote:
Curiosity wrote:
Aye, then if you want to start with Discworld books I’d probably go with Guards! Guards!

Small Gods is excellent, but also pretty weird from what I remember.


So much of it was reused as the plot to American Gods :-)

Small gods is basically 'gods are what you make of them' along with 'dont trust organized religion' and 'who is top god now might not be later'

It does not rely on you knowing anything at all about discworld at all and other than DEATH (and a short guest spot by the Librarian (OOK)) none of the characters are in the other books.

Guards Guards is another excellent starting point but it then leads onto so many more (and although its good I think its probably one of the weakest 'watch' stories)

I regularly pray to annoya, goddess of stuck drawers. (If I remember that right)
Author:  Mimi [ Sat Jun 22, 2019 15:36 ]
Post subject:  Re: Terry Pratchett
Mimi wrote:

Not on audible, but I’ve got the first two (Truckers, and Diggers) so I’ll give those a listen then get the third if I’m enjoying them, then I’ll come back for more advice :D


I enjoyed Truckers. It was lighthearted but touched on a lot of human problems/disputes. I know there are a lot of very strong Pratchett fans out there, and I know these are not his ‘main’ books, and maybe for younger (?) readers, so I hope this doesn’t offend anybody, but the writing in truckers reminded me a bit of a cross between Ronald Dahl and Douglas Adams. A mix of the cheery, slightly removed conversational turn of phrase of Adams, with the character and situational stylings of Dahl.
Author:  Dimrill [ Sat Jun 22, 2019 16:32 ]
Post subject:  Re: Terry Pratchett
Yeah the Bromeliad trilogy, Johnny and the..., The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, and the Tiffany Aching series are all for the younger reader. I started with Lords and Ladies reading it next to a river in Wales when a young teenager. Bliss.
Author:  Mimi [ Wed Sep 25, 2019 11:02 ]
Post subject:  Re: Terry Pratchett
Hellooooo again.

Ok, so I read the Bromeliad trilogy and enjoyed them in a sort of Roald Dahl way. Then I listened to Small Gods and I loved it. Really really loved it.

So, should I listen to the other one next (Guards, Guards!) If I liked Small Gods muchly?
Author:  Cras [ Wed Sep 25, 2019 11:05 ]
Post subject:  Re: Terry Pratchett
Guards! Guards! is thoroughly excellent. Yes, do so.
Author:  Mimi [ Wed Sep 25, 2019 11:07 ]
Post subject:  Re: Terry Pratchett
Cool, thank youp.
Author:  zaphod79 [ Wed Sep 25, 2019 11:16 ]
Post subject:  Re: Terry Pratchett
Guards! Guards! is also the start of one of the long running series (around the city watch) so if you enjoy that there is a chain you can go through featuring a lot of the same characters

Small Gods is one of my favorites and although the ideas recur a lot you never really hear of Brutha or Omnia again.
Author:  Mimi [ Wed Sep 25, 2019 18:00 ]
Post subject:  Re: Terry Pratchett
zaphod79 wrote:
Guards! Guards! is also the start of one of the long running series (around the city watch) so if you enjoy that there is a chain you can go through featuring a lot of the same characters

Small Gods is one of my favorites and although the ideas recur a lot you never really hear of Brutha or Omnia again.


Cool. Though a shame about Brutha, because I liked him.
Author:  Mimi [ Mon Oct 14, 2019 22:43 ]
Post subject:  Re: Terry Pratchett
*ping*

Hi folks. Please tell me which I should read next. I tried to work it out by searching, but everyone says something different, and nobody says published order.

Thank you.

*ping*
Author:  Grim... [ Tue Oct 15, 2019 8:28 ]
Post subject:  Re: Terry Pratchett
Altered Carbon by Richard K Morgan.
Author:  MaliA [ Tue Oct 15, 2019 9:05 ]
Post subject:  Re: Terry Pratchett
Grim... wrote:
Altered Carbon by Richard K Morgan.


Having recently read it for the first time, I can't see myself reading it again. It's good, but not quite as good as the expectations I had of it.
Author:  Mimi [ Tue Oct 15, 2019 9:38 ]
Post subject:  Re: Terry Pratchett
I need something with a bit of levity, really. I like the fantasy/light hearted dialogue of Small Gods and Guards Guards so thought I’d stick with the Pratchett if they are written in the same style.
Author:  Curiosity [ Tue Oct 15, 2019 9:54 ]
Post subject:  Re: Terry Pratchett
If you want to go through the Guards books then:

Guards! Guards!
Men at Arms
Feet of Clay
Jingo
The Fifth Elephant
Night Watch
Thud!
Snuff

is the order.

If you fancy a stand-alone then go for Moving Pictures I reckon.
Author:  DBSnappa [ Tue Oct 15, 2019 10:12 ]
Post subject:  Re: Terry Pratchett
MaliA wrote:
Grim... wrote:
Altered Carbon by Richard K Morgan.


Having recently read it for the first time, I can't see myself reading it again. It's good, but not quite as good as the expectations I had of it.

I felt this. However, it is a first book and I suspect there was no budget for a decent editor
Author:  Mimi [ Tue Oct 15, 2019 10:21 ]
Post subject:  Re: Terry Pratchett
Curiosity wrote:
If you want to go through the Guards books then:

Guards! Guards!
Men at Arms
Feet of Clay
Jingo
The Fifth Elephant
Night Watch
Thud!
Snuff

is the order.

If you fancy a stand-alone then go for Moving Pictures I reckon.

Cheers. I might give Moving Pictures a go :)
Author:  zaphod79 [ Tue Oct 15, 2019 10:29 ]
Post subject:  Re: Terry Pratchett
Mimi wrote:
Cheers. I might give Moving Pictures a go :)


I'd also suggest hitting the starting point in one of the other long series , you know who and what the Watch are now so why not the Witches ?

I found Wyrd sisters harder to pick up than some of the others although I don't think you miss much by jumping straight into Maskerade which is Pratchett's version of The Phantom of the Opera and another of my favourite's
Author:  zaphod79 [ Tue Oct 15, 2019 10:44 ]
Post subject:  Re: Terry Pratchett
Mimi wrote:
Hi folks. Please tell me which I should read next. I tried to work it out by searching, but everyone says something different, and nobody says published order.


The problem with the published order (and what puts a lot of people off doing stuff in that way) is that the books get better as time goes on but the characters are introduced in the early ones and develop over time

For a lot of them you don't need to know the background on characters but it helps a little to understand where they have been and what has gone before.
Author:  Mimi [ Tue Oct 15, 2019 10:45 ]
Post subject:  Re: Terry Pratchett
Cool, I’ll do that too!
Author:  Da5e [ Tue Oct 15, 2019 12:45 ]
Post subject:  Re: Terry Pratchett
Grim... wrote:
Altered Carbon by Richard K Morgan.


You misspelt Market Forces.

Also, I recall the exact time I gave up on Pratchett: it was about thirty pages into Thief of Time, at my cousin's house. I just sort of... didn't like it any more, and haven't read any of his books newer than that. Shame really, Soul Music is one of my favourite things ever.

I did get heavily into Robert Rankin around that time, mind.
Author:  Grim... [ Tue Oct 15, 2019 12:55 ]
Post subject:  Re: Terry Pratchett
Da5e wrote:
Grim... wrote:
Altered Carbon by Richard K Morgan.

You misspelt Market Forces.

Never have I gone from "what a stupid concept" to "fucking in" as suddenly as I did when reading Market Forces. I don't even know what caused it, but at some point a switch was flipped in my head and road wars for job contracts became completely acceptable.
Author:  zaphod79 [ Tue Oct 15, 2019 13:12 ]
Post subject:  Re: Terry Pratchett
Da5e wrote:
Also, I recall the exact time I gave up on Pratchett: it was about thirty pages into Thief of Time, at my cousin's house. I just sort of... didn't like it any more, and haven't read any of his books newer than that. Shame really, Soul Music is one of my favourite things ever.

I did get heavily into Robert Rankin around that time, mind.


So all I can say is that i really loved thief of time but its not one I've re-read in a while - some of it (and Night Watch which is one I love) remind me a lot of Doctor Who

It may be worth picking up and reading a few pages of a different one if you loved Soul Music so much
One of the advantages of their being so many Discworld books is that there can be ones you think of as duffers but there are plenty of others to go for.
Author:  Jem [ Tue Oct 15, 2019 14:26 ]
Post subject:  Re: Terry Pratchett
Monstrous Regiment, Mimi :) probably my favourite Pratchett.
Author:  Pundabaya [ Tue Oct 15, 2019 14:45 ]
Post subject:  Re: Terry Pratchett
Grim... wrote:
Da5e wrote:
Grim... wrote:
Altered Carbon by Richard K Morgan.

You misspelt Market Forces.

Never have I gone from "what a stupid concept" to "fucking in" as suddenly as I did when reading Market Forces. I don't even know what caused it, but at some point a switch was flipped in my head and road wars for job contracts became completely acceptable.


Shame about the shitty ending.
Author:  Da5e [ Tue Oct 15, 2019 14:58 ]
Post subject:  Re: Terry Pratchett
Grim... wrote:
Never have I gone from "what a stupid concept" to "fucking in" as suddenly as I did when reading Market Forces. I don't even know what caused it, but at some point a switch was flipped in my head and road wars for job contracts became completely acceptable.


Yup. It's totally absurd, but something about it feels right. It helps that he writes action really well; there's a sort of terseness to his action scenes, like he's as impatient to get to the cool bits as you are.

I had high hopes for his games writing work, but he did Syndicate and Crysis 2 then quit, because writing games is hard and everything you submit gets changed and chopped up and broken :(

zaphod79 wrote:
It may be worth picking up and reading a few pages of a different one if you loved Soul Music so much


I've read everything up to and including the first thirty pages of Thief of Time and yeah, you're right. A lot of it is amazing.

I think there was a bit of a shift in Pratchett's mindset around Interesting Times, though, and the books became a lot more about the morality and justice of the systems that rule Discworld—I was reading a lot of stuff like Foucault and Ligotti at the time (because I was, and still am, a heavily pretentious idiot) and wanted Discworld to be funny jokes about fantasy tropes.

I reread a few of them every so often, and the Guards series is always fun. Even Jingo, which feels weirdly unfinished, like deadline day suddenly appeared and he needed to submit a final draft in the morning.
Author:  zaphod79 [ Tue Oct 15, 2019 15:17 ]
Post subject:  Re: Terry Pratchett
Jem wrote:
Monstrous Regiment, Mimi :) probably my favourite Pratchett.


Another +1 for Monstrous Regiment

"Fill yer boots"

From memory the only crossover is that the City Watch (or at least Vimes and Angua) make an appearance - but you could just treat it as another standalone
Author:  Jem [ Tue Oct 15, 2019 15:36 ]
Post subject:  Re: Terry Pratchett
zaphod79 wrote:
Jem wrote:
Monstrous Regiment, Mimi :) probably my favourite Pratchett.


Another +1 for Monstrous Regiment

"Fill yer boots"

From memory the only crossover is that the City Watch (or at least Vimes and Angua) make an appearance - but you could just treat it as another standalone


Yeah, they're not really sufficiently important to the plot IMO that you need to have read any of the other Watch books.
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