End of an era...

[Graham Lemon UK]

Having read every Discworld novel, in order of publication, right from the first, I am going to buy "Shepherd", read it (including the last page!), then put it on the bookshelf with all the others and pick up "The Colour of Magic" and start again. I believe in that way, there will always be a 'New' pTerry novel to look forward to.

Sometimes, it just is, OK!

[Paul Kemner]

One reason is that Pratchett's first Discworld stories were reasonably-good play-around-with-fantasy tropes parody. As he wrote more, his writing skills skyrocketed. They also fall into an odd category- they have humor, but the characters are in serious jeopardy and the stakes are usually high. In most humor/parody we just laugh at the jokes but don't care about the characters. When people decide to give his work a try, they usually start with the first books, and wonder what all the fuss is about. If you start with one of the later books, you don't know the backstories of many of the characters. Another approach is to read one of the standalone books, like Dodger or Nation. That way you can get a better appreciation for his style and themes, and see if it's worth your time slogging through the first few novels. Or you can watch the Hogfather movie. ;)

[Paul Kemner]

They do seem to hold up to repeated reading. I noticed the same thing with the Fritz Lieber "Fafhrd & Grey Mouser" stories- having read them again after several decades. It's fascinating to see Lieber creating many of the tropes that Pratchett riffs on. Guilds for thieves and assassins that discourage competition? A personification of death with a quirky craftsmanlike approach to his work? A major decadent city, awash with pollution, with Ankh in its name? It's all there!

[Slow Eddie]

Like the reference to Pyramids. I will of course run out and buy and read the book this weekend. Thanks for the update. It is too bad the last book isn't about Rincewind. (Who knows maybe he is in there !!) It would have come full circle. I will truly miss the man and his Works. Speilberg should do a discworld movie the british efforts I have seen have not been up to par. The eight year old kid in my 66 year old head would love that. :laugh:

[David Days]

AND A VERY IMPORTANT LESSON

vuolsi così colà dove si puote ciò che si vuole, e più non dimandare --The answer to Minos and any question of "Why are we doing it this way?"

[WilWol]

Spectrum has published a lot of Pratchett's works: See e.g De boekenplank.

[Sander Rossel]

Thanks, will look into it!

Visit my blog at Sander's bits - Writing the code you need. Or read my articles at my CodeProject profile.

Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. — Edsger W. Dijkstra

Regards, Sander

[sandyson]

I've only read The Colour of Magic, which I enjoyed very much. My kids are much more current and one of their friends gave us this DVD - Hogfather[^], which, again, I enjoyed quite a bit. It's made for TV, so maybe under the radar. On another note, if you also appreciate Neil Gaiman, there's always Good Omens[^]

In theory, theory agrees perfectly with practice. In practice, this is virtually never the case. "*the {VOiCE} says: The truth is analog - not digital." - jonathan HICKMAN

[moongarden]

So let me get this straight... You don't read novels. There's a novelist you've never heard of. Could the two facts be connected?

[Sander Rossel]

moongarden wrote:

There's a novelist you've never heard of.

There's many novelists I haven't heard of, as goes for everyone. There seems to be only one of us who doesn't read though, as I've clearly said I've heard of Terry Pratchett, as wel as many others ;)

Visit my blog at Sander's bits - Writing the code you need. Or read my articles at my CodeProject profile.

Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. — Edsger W. Dijkstra

Regards, Sander

[moongarden]

"I don't know any Terry Pratchett story." is what you said. I paraphrased that as "there's a novelist you never heard of". Apologies (I guess).

[Sander Rossel]

moongarden wrote:

Apologies (I guess).

Usually I make people grovel and beg, but I'm in a good mood today. Apology accepted! :laugh:

Visit my blog at Sander's bits - Writing the code you need. Or read my articles at my CodeProject profile.

Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. — Edsger W. Dijkstra

Regards, Sander

[irneb]

Sander Rossel wrote:

I don't really read novels, so I'm really waiting for a Discworld movie. Is the mini series any good?

If you mean "mini series" as in a two part TV movie consisting of the 1st two books of the Discworld series ... yes it's pretty good, though personally I think it's not his best storylines. It's basically the intro to Rincewind the Wizzard (yes with 2 Z's) and his escapades. As for movies: There's always Hogfather (sort of a Christmas story with the "daughter" of death). And then Going Postal was also turned into a 2 part TV movie (i.e. "mini-series"): Going Postal. There's a few other "true" TV series like Wyrd Sisters (the witches of Discworld), Truckers (the Bromiliad Trilogy - not a Discworld story, takes place on Earth) & Soul Music (Death takes a holiday) - but they're animated and more intended for "the younger viewer". If you're not too into reading ... you could always try the audio books. All of his books have been turned into listen to the book instead's ... Most of his fans have at least read the Discworld novels, but personally I found that some of the other novels were even "better". I've not got too much love for the Wizards books (a bit too much of "stupid" for me), but do like the Nightwatch, the Witches, and some of the solo-stories of the Discworld. Stuff like Strata and Good Omens are very good too. And of course all those Discworld spinn-offs like the Science of Discworld trilogy's not bad either. Personally I'm still trying to find time to read the Long series (Long Earth, Long Mars, Long War, Long Utopia).

[irneb]

I'm feeling just the same! Actually I feel that way every time I start getting close to the end of any of his books - I just don't want it to end!