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Keith Taylor

OK, time for another author. Rather than list all Terry Pratchett's novels I'm just going to go ahead and take it as read that if you don't have the entire Discworld series arranged in order of publication on your bookshelf you must be functionally illiterate, you poor thing.

Huh. Take it as read. It's like there's nothing you can do about that pun. You just have to stand there and watch it coming.

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B. Durbin (www):

Done it. Own them. In hardback where possible.

The key, though, is that you don't have to start at the beginning— in fact, you can start in the middle and work out toward both ends. My favorite individual book is Small Gods, and is a prime example of the satire which Pterry does so well; that one books says more about religion and the human condition than most people could think up in a lifetime. And it's funny to boot.

4.15.2005 2:04pm

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Keith Taylor (mail) (www):

For me you can't beat the night watch series. The characters are so well written, Sam Vimes especially, that you can't help but love them.

4.15.2005 2:23pm

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Eric (www):

I'm rather partial to some of the books that don't focus on recurring characters - Pyramids, Soul Music, The Truth and Going Postal, the most recent book was really fun.

4.15.2005 2:27pm

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Keith Taylor (mail) (www):

I just finished rereading Going Postal (god, I read the same books over and over). It survives a second read pretty well.

I always thought the standalone books were his weakest (still excellent, though).

4.15.2005 2:36pm

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Mythilt (mail):

Sorry, don't have them in order of publication, have them in order of preference. The ones I read often are closer to hand than the ones I only read occasionally.

Going Postal was a hoot, but then it had Vetinari, all books with Vetinary are good.

(Still looking for Science of Diskworld 2, I have 1 and it is excellently done, but 2 was as far as I can tell, never available in the US.)

4.15.2005 4:11pm

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Keith Taylor (mail) (www):

To be fair, my collection are mixed in amongst a pile of books and magazines under my bed (I read most night so they just fall off the bed and get left there). Somewhere towards the top of the pile is Science...2.

P.S. For about $6 extra you can probably get it delivered from Amazon UK. And I just noticed that Science...3 is due out in May. Oh yeah!

4.15.2005 4:41pm

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Dan the Highway guy (mail) (www):

I've only been reading his books for about a year, and have gone through over 50% of them. I actually started with a newer stand-alone book, The Wee Free Men, and even though it's a young adult book (it wasn't in that section in the store), I thought it good enoug to try others. Now I'm just worried I'll run out of his books to read too quickly.

So far, the books I've liked best have been the ones with vampires in them, with my favorite being Monstrous Regiment, and I just finished The Truth. The picture in my head of Otto Chriek dancing around taunting goons with boxing is just hilarious.

I really appreciate the fact that you don't have to read them in order to understand what's going on, but can hop around based on what the bookstore has in stock. Even missing the first appearance of a specific character doesn't ruin the experience.

4.15.2005 5:03pm

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gupps (mail):

My faves are "Reaperman", "Pyramids", and "Guards,Guards". I've fallen out a bit of reading him tho, I just dont have the time. Of his recent stuff (to me that is) I'd have to select "Interesting Times", you get Rincewind AND a Chinese version of CMOTD.

4.15.2005 10:05pm

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Jerry Kindall (www):

I have never not enjoyed a Terry Pratchett novel. The only trouble is trying to figure out which one to read next, since there are so many, and he keeps writing more.

But "Small Gods" is definitely a favorite. There is a small subgenre of fantasy novels in which the central conceit is that gods exist only as long as people believe in them, or at least that the gods are called into being by belief. Other books that address this theme include Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" and the late Douglas Adams's "The Long, Dark Tea-Time of the Soul." Coincidentally, both of these guys have ties or similarities to Pratchett, and coincidentally, both of these other books are brilliant.

4.16.2005 3:07am

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Casey Tompkins (mail) (www):

Ahh, yes, "Disembowel myself honorably" Diblah. I liked the Aussie (er...) XXXX version too! Heh.

I have, alas, fallen behind on the series. Just finally picked up a paperback version of Monsterous Regiment (which is, alas, the first Pratchett novel I've read which I would characterize as poorly written) and The Last Hero. Which reminds me: I've developed quite a bit of affection for Cohen the Barbarian. And, yes, I truly enjoyed Interesting Times. Possibly my favorite Rincewind novel so far, even over The Last Continent, although that's some competition.

If I really, really, had to, I would probably pick Reaper Man as my favorite Discworld novel.

Jerry, you mention Neil Gaiman. How can you not mention Good Omens!!?

Come to think of it, I am forced to mention the L-space Web, a magnificent example of "one-stop shopping" for the Pterry fan. One of my favorite links in L-space is the Annotated Pratchett File, which is regularly updated. They're up to version 9.0 these days.

Here are some example annotations regarding Guards!, Guards!:

- [p. 20/19] "'They were myths and they were real,' he said loudly. 'Both a wave and a particle.'"

Reference to the wave/particle duality theory of e.g. light, which appears to have the properties of both a wave and a particle, depending upon what context you are working in.

- [p. 21/19] "'That was where you had to walk on ricepaper wasn't it,' said Brother Watchtower conversationally."

Reference to the old David Carradine TV series, Kung Fu. In one of the earliest episodes our Shaolin monk-in-training was tasked to walk along a sheet of ricepaper without ripping it or leaving a mark.

- [p. 52/48] The fizzing and flashing illuminated sign outside Captain Vimes' office is a reference to the tired old visual cliché from most film noir. The seedy detective's office or apartment always has a big neon sign just outside the window.

- [p. 51/48] The motto of the Night Watch, "FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC", is dog Latin for "Make my day, punk".

"Go ahead, make my day" is a well-known Clint 'Dirty Harry' Eastwood quote. The 'punk' comes from another famous Dirty Harry scene (see the annotation for p. 136/124)

Notice also that the translation Terry supplies ("To protect and to serve") is actually the motto of the Los Angeles Police Force.

My source tells me that Hollywood writers and directors, notorious for the accuracy of their movies and TV shows, tend to have all police cars bear this motto. In a sort of reverse formation, this has caused some individual police forces across the USA to adopt it, so that by now the motto has become fairly wide-spread.

- [p. 53/49] "'The E. And the T sizzles when it rains.'"

The magic tavern sign Brother Watchtower is stealing has a burnt-out 'E' and a sizzling 'T' just like the 'HOT L BALTIMORE' sign in the play of the same name.

+ [p. 91/83] "And then he went out on to the streets, untarnished and unafraid."

"But down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid." is a well-known quote -- that describes Carrot to a tee -- from Raymond Chandler's essay The Simple Art of Murder.

- [p. 93/85] "'Who loves you, pussycat?', said Nobby under his breath."

Nice amalgamation of TV detective Kojak's use of the word 'pussycat' and his catchphrase "Who loves ya, baby?".

For the not-yet Terry Pratchett fans out there; this is just a small sample of Pterry's genius in blending modern culture into his work. There are over three dozen Discworld novels in print, and the references in each one range from movies, to music, modern physics.

The best part is that you don't have to understand any of the references to enjoy the books. they stand on their own.

4.16.2005 5:17am

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John Anderson (mail):

A few facorites:

Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life
(Terry Pratchett, Jingo)

"If you'd stop telling people that it would all be sorted out after they died, they might try and sort it out while they're still alive" - from Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

"Sin is just where you start treating people like things." Granny Weatherwax, Carpe Juglum (by Terry Pratchett).

4.17.2005 4:14am