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Topic: Terry Pratchett has passed away (Read 10766 times)
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Morat20
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Posts: 18529
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I'll admit that the only thing I ever read of his was Good Omens (though I expect to change that this year). I only read it once and that's been close to 20 years now. But holy shit, that book was so incredibly funny and good that there are parts of it I still remember to this day.
If you're gonna start his other stuff, I'm pretty sure we have enough people here to set up a statistically significant poll on "Where should you start". :)
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Phildo
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I started with Small Gods and Night Watch, probably two of the worst books to begin with. I'd say read the initial two books (Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic) to get a sense of the world, then Guards! Guards!
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IainC
Developers
Posts: 6538
Wargaming.net
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The first two novels aren't IMO a good place to start. There is a very definite improvement after the series gets up and running. The Colour of Magic and Equal Rites were the first two and they are funny but in a more slapstick way that relied a lot more on punnery than later ones. I'd say they are his weakest books by far. By about Mort or Pyramids, Terry's writing style had matured a lot and the books, while still being funny, became a lot more thoughtful and characters started to be better defined. The character of Death for example changes quite a lot from his first introduction to his starring role in Mort. In any case there are several different storylines, each of which can be read as standalone series in their own right, they share a setting and some background characters but they take place in geographically different areas with entirely different protagonists.
This handy chart summarises them quite nicely.
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« Last Edit: March 13, 2015, 12:19:34 PM by IainC »
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WayAbvPar
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I haven't read any of his stuff yet. I was thinking it was Terry Brooks that died and couldn't understand why anyone gave a shit
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When speaking of the MMOG industry, the glass may be half full, but it's full of urine. HaemishM
Always wear clean underwear because you never know when a Tory Government is going to fuck you.- Ironwood
Libertarians make fun of everyone because they can't see beyond the event horizons of their own assholes Surlyboi
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Ironwood
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Posts: 28240
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If only there was a way to resize pictures.
If only we had a wheelbarrow !
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"Mr Soft Owl has Seen Some Shit." - Sun Tzu
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Mattemeo
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Posts: 1128
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I could sit here and nit-pick the hell out of that chart but I've seen much worse.
The Shepherd's Crown, his final novel and the last Tiffany Aching book will be out in autumn this year. And I thought 'I Shall Wear Midnight' was already throat-clenchingly poignant...
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If you party with the Party Prince you get two complimentary after-dinner mints
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HaemishM
Staff Emeritus
Posts: 42632
the Confederate flag underneath the stone in my class ring
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Most of the time when picking up a new author or series, I just go in chronological or series order, regardless of whether the novel is a prequel or shitty. I do the say with albums.
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Ironwood
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It's not the best way to do Pratchett, to be honest, but if you're going to stick with them, it'll work.
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"Mr Soft Owl has Seen Some Shit." - Sun Tzu
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DraconianOne
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Posts: 2905
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You cannot min/max Pratchett books. While some books may be better read after others (the most relevant that come to mind are the first few Guards books and Witches Abroad/Lords and Ladies) you can pretty much read them in any order. A colleague at work came to Pratchett late and now reads whatever he can get his hands on in whatever order. It annoys the fuck out of the geek in me but quite frankly, it doesn't diminish our chats about the books. Also, I know that he's still got some great fucking books still to read and I can't wait to share that joy with him. Don't neglect Pratchett's teenage and non Discworld books either. The Johnny Maxwell books are well past a re-read in this house and Nation is terrific. IMO of course.
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A point can be MOOT. MUTE is more along the lines of what you should be. - WayAbvPar
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Ingmar
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I like chronological order simply because that way you ensure you get all the references he throws in to previous books in other 'lines'.
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The Transcendent One: AH... THE ROGUE CONSTRUCT. Nordom: Sense of closure: imminent.
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MahrinSkel
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Posts: 10858
When she crossed over, she was just a ship. But when she came back... she was bullshit!
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I'm probably weird: I actually started with Strata, which is not at all a Discworld novel even though it introduces it. But I had burned out on Fantasy because of the wasteland of Tolkien imitators and "Parallel Universe Portal" dreck that made up most of the genre in the 80's, and Strata is Sci-Fi. Discworld was my gateway drug back into Fantasy, the idea that it could be fun and funny instead of ponderous and "Epic" wouldn't soak into the rest of the genre for another decade.
--Dave
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--Signature Unclear
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Mattemeo
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Posts: 1128
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I adore Strata. Long, long overdue a lavish reprint. Which, I guess, is more likely now.
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If you party with the Party Prince you get two complimentary after-dinner mints
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Miasma
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Posts: 5283
Stopgap Measure
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I think I started with Guards! Guards! which, at least for me, was probably one of his best. After that I went chronological and the books were still great even if I didn't think they were as perfect as Guards! Guards!. Out of the dozens of books of his I have read I only found two a chore to get through, Monstrous Regiment and the goblin one. Fake edit: Snuff.
You don't have to read discworld itself in order but you should probably start with the first book of any given multi-book series like Rincewind, night watch, witches, Lipwig. The only thing you would lose bouncing around series is the evolution of Vetinari, which would be a shame because after death he is my favourite.
I've never read his young adult books, maybe I will try those.
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Rendakor
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I started with Hogfather, because I got it from one of those mail book club things that I'd forgotten to cancel. Loved it, and read a decent chunk of Discworld thereafter. Shame Terry's gone, but better now than after his mind fell apart.
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"i can't be a star citizen. they won't even give me a star green card"
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Morat20
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I had a problem with Monstrous Regiment at first. Having finished it, and later reread it, it became one of my favorites.
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Comstar
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Posts: 1952
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I started with Guards Guards! and kept on, still need to read Raising Steam. Reading the discussion between him and Death got my eyes cleaned out of the eye drops I had.
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Defending the Galaxy, from the Scum of the Universe, with nothing but a flashlight and a tshirt. We need tanks Boo, lots of tanks!
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Morat20
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Posts: 18529
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I started with Guards Guards! and kept on, still need to read Raising Steam. Reading the discussion between him and Death got my eyes cleaned out of the eye drops I had.
The way Death has evolved has probably been one of the best parts of his work. Then again, who else is better suited to look at the big picture than Death?
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NowhereMan
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Most of the time when picking up a new author or series, I just go in chronological or series order, regardless of whether the novel is a prequel or shitty. I do the say with albums.
As others have said, if you're fairly determined to get through it that's a fine way to read them (there really isn't a wrong way) but just be aware you'll be starting with some of this weakest books. The writing is more slapstick and they're really pastiches of fantasy literature at the time. The world isn't particularly deep, the plot is barely anything and the jokes get thrown into your face with big flashing signs going 'I am a joke'. They're not really bad books by any stretch but they're definitely not the Discworld fans think of. Also some characters or series don't jive with certain people. If you're not liking it two books in then feel free to drop that and take up another series. Except for the Guards series. Everyone of sound mind loves the Guards books.
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"Look at my car. Do you think that was bought with the earnest love of geeks?" - HaemishM
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Morat20
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Posts: 18529
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Also some characters or series don't jive with certain people. If you're not liking it two books in then feel free to drop that and take up another series. Except for the Guards series. Everyone of sound mind loves the Guards books.
It's the only universally accepted test of literary taste.
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Cyrrex
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Posts: 10603
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I tend to go chronological as well. The first two books might be weak in comparison to his other stuff, but I still loved them. When I first read Color of Magic, I had no idea what kind of book it was and who the author was....I thought it was just some typical fantasy novel. I even remember the first bit of slapstick involving Rincewind. I had to go back and read the paragraph like three times just to realize what had just happened. And his use of the footnotes - I have seen a few other attempts to pull it off, but his were genius comedy, even in the early going. And while Rincewind might be in the weakest books in general, he is still somehow my favorite character overall.
So I would actually recommend starting with the first two. Enjoy it for what it is, and realize that it will only get better.
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"...maybe if you cleaned the piss out of the sunny d bottles under your desks and returned em, you could upgrade you vid cards, fucken lusers.." - Grunk
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Kail
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And while Rincewind might be in the weakest books in general, he is still somehow my favorite character overall.
I suppose it depends what you're looking for, I've always thought his Rincewind stuff was his funniest. It was actual parody of fantasy cliches so it worked really well with the setting, instead of the setting seeming like a bit of a hindrance (like it comes off as in some of the Vimes and Ankh-Morpork stories). But in terms of actual plot and story and drama and developed characters and stuff, yeah, it's probably not as strong as his other arcs.
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Chimpy
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The Librarian and Death of Rats are my favorite characters I think. Maybe because both can make a single word mean so much
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'Reality' is the only word in the language that should always be used in quotes.
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K9
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Posts: 7441
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Wyrd Sisters was my first Discworld book, then Moving Pictures; I'd read all the books from the Bromeliad previously, and The Carpet People.
Small Gods is probably still my favourite of them all, but I'm quite tempted to do a complete Discworld re-read sometime and actually rank them all.
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I love the smell of facepalm in the morning
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NowhereMan
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And while Rincewind might be in the weakest books in general, he is still somehow my favorite character overall.
I suppose it depends what you're looking for, I've always thought his Rincewind stuff was his funniest. It was actual parody of fantasy cliches so it worked really well with the setting, instead of the setting seeming like a bit of a hindrance (like it comes off as in some of the Vimes and Ankh-Morpork stories). But in terms of actual plot and story and drama and developed characters and stuff, yeah, it's probably not as strong as his other arcs. I'd say Guards! Guards! is about as fantasy parody as you can get while doing a really fantastic job of utterly ignoring the story tropes for nearly every cliched character in it. Vimes and the other guards obviously grew much more as characters than Rincewind too. I think Colon and Nobbs would be my favourite Discworld characters, though Granny Weatherwax is a close second (which is saying something since I didn't even like the Witches novels that much outside of her). Oh God I'm going to have to start a reread at some point, might need to see if there's a cheap deal on Kindle or something since all my books are on another continent.
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"Look at my car. Do you think that was bought with the earnest love of geeks?" - HaemishM
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Cyrrex
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The Librarian and Death of Rats are my favorite characters I think. Maybe because both can make a single word mean so much Ook. Ook.
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"...maybe if you cleaned the piss out of the sunny d bottles under your desks and returned em, you could upgrade you vid cards, fucken lusers.." - Grunk
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Morat20
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Posts: 18529
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It's funny, I've been reading Pratchett for years -- but listening to people talk about his books has led me to a few tidbits I never actually noticed. Like one of the benefits the Librarian has is he can now learn "knowledge men were not meant to learn".
Or that the reason Granny flipped out so much when the invitation for the christening/naming of the kid didn't arrive? Because Granny knows damn well how the old witch is supposed to react to being snubbed when a child is born.
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Teleku
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I started way back when with Sourcery. Absolutely loved it, and didn't even realize that books came before it. Rincewind stuff still remains my favorite no matter what people say, though all of it is great (watchmen stuff obviously being some it the top).
I have a small collection of his books, but it was always a pain to find his stuff at the used book stores because so many people wanted them. In Berkely they even had a small sign on the book shelf where his shit should have been saying they were paying even more money for anything of his, since it sold out so fast. I had been thinking of going on a buying binge when I go on home leave, but with this news it will be impossible to get any of his old books. Guess it's time for me to see how much it will cost to get every single discworld book as a kindle/ebook now.....
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"My great-grandfather did not travel across four thousand miles of the Atlantic Ocean to see this nation overrun by immigrants. He did it because he killed a man back in Ireland. That's the rumor." -Stephen Colbert
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Quinton
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is saving up his raid points for a fancy board title
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So very sad.
The Watch series is my favorite of the major discworld storylines, and I did find his first few books a bit rough, but they're an interesting part of the overall mythology and worth reading at some point. Small Gods (which I just started re-reading) and Good Omens are favorite standalone stories. I don't think I've *disliked* anything he's written, though some books don't grab me the way others do.
He definitely is best when it's clear he's writing in a righteous fury about something deeply broken in our world -- utter agreement with Gaiman's assessment.
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Tebonas
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Posts: 6365
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Damn, thats really sad. Thats the second time after Freddy Mercury I really feel a personal loss with the death of a celebrity.
My favourite books were the Watch ones as well, with the Witch books a close second. Farewell Pterry, I'll go and I finally read those Tiffany Aching Books in your honor!
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