Terry Pratchett's Diskworld

[Shaunie007]

I absolutly love all discworld books, at least all the ones I've read wich is a pityful amount in comparison. I like all of Deaths household except for Susan's parents (in other words Death, Death of Rats, Susan, Albert and that raven whom I can never remember the name of- it's like Quorth or something). I also like all of the mondern wizards and Vimes. My favorite books are Hogfather, Small Gods and Night Watch.
PS. There are no characters or books that I dislike  

[Harbone]

I'm a pretty big fan of Terry Pratchett myself. I loved MONSTROUS REGIMENT and GOING POSTAL, for instance. One of Terry Pratchett's best tricks is to take a fantasy cliche and then assume that it applies to everyone in that secondary world. For instance, in MONSTROUS REGIMENT, a young woman cuts her hair, disguises herself as a lad and joins the army - only to discover that every single other member of her regiment is also a young lady who cut her hair, disguised herself as a boy and ran away to join the army! That's BRILLIANT!

Alas, sometimes, he falls flat, for me. THUD! really made me frown as did MASKERADE and a couple of his others. But, everytime I think he's finally lost it, he comes up with a wonderful new spin on the theme, like HAT FULL OF SKY or GUARDS! GUARDS! (THUD! is pretty much the sad end of the Ankh Morpork City Watch saga for me - I mean, that... that goodier-than-thou vampire who joins makes me ITCH! ugh! It's exactly the sort of persona that shows up in every lousy fantasy novel I've ever read, usually he skewers that kind of... oh, well.)

But, even if I don't like a few of the books in the series, everyone I've ever introduced the books to has enjoyed them (even, to my dismay, some of the ones I strongly dislike.) He's quite good at adding both a touch of humanity and a touch of common sense to the genre.  

[Cassandra_the_Prophetess]

Harbone

I'm a pretty big fan of Terry Pratchett myself. I loved MONSTROUS REGIMENT and GOING POSTAL, for instance. One of Terry Pratchett's best tricks is to take a fantasy cliche and then assume that it applies to everyone in that secondary world. For instance, in MONSTROUS REGIMENT, a young woman cuts her hair, disguises herself as a lad and joins the army - only to discover that every single other member of her regiment is also a young lady who cut her hair, disguised herself as a boy and ran away to join the army! That's BRILLIANT!

Alas, sometimes, he falls flat, for me. THUD! really made me frown as did MASKERADE and a couple of his others. But, everytime I think he's finally lost it, he comes up with a wonderful new spin on the theme, like HAT FULL OF SKY or GUARDS! GUARDS! (THUD! is pretty much the sad end of the Ankh Morpork City Watch saga for me - I mean, that... that goodier-than-thou vampire who joins makes me ITCH! ugh! It's exactly the sort of persona that shows up in every lousy fantasy novel I've ever read, usually he skewers that kind of... oh, well.)

But, even if I don't like a few of the books in the series, everyone I've ever introduced the books to has enjoyed them (even, to my dismay, some of the ones I strongly dislike.) He's quite good at adding both a touch of humanity and a touch of common sense to the genre.

I read MASKERADE recently and really liked it! Phantom of the Opera anyone? Most of the witches books seem to parody a traditional story, eg: Wyrd Sisters = Macbeth. I LOVED Going Postal and Monstrous Regiment though! They are probably my favourite 2. I even used Regiment as a related text in my final high school exams!  

[Harbone]

Shaunie007

I absolutly love all discworld books, at least all the ones I've read wich is a pityful amount in comparison. I like all of Deaths household except for Susan's parents (in other words Death, Death of Rats, Susan, Albert and that raven whom I can never remember the name of- it's like Quorth or something). I also like all of the mondern wizards and Vimes. My favorite books are Hogfather, Small Gods and Night Watch.
PS. There are no characters or books that I dislike

The Raven's name is Quoth, as in Quoth the Raven.
(It's a line from Poe: "Quoth the Raven, Nevermore.")
Get it?!? It's FUNNY! (*Slams fist in parody of an angry, desperate man*)  

[Cassandra_the_Prophetess]

From the poem entitled ....... ready? ...........

THE RAVEN!  

[GACK04]

I like the main character of going postal  

[Merlinssister]

I feel like such an idiot. I'm in the middle of the Colour of Magic, it's really hard to find the early books in the library around here sweatdrop . So far I really like it althoug Rincewind isn't the most loveable main character. I love the Gods and of course Death so far 3nodding  

[Harbone]

Merlinssister

I feel like such an idiot. I'm in the middle of the Colour of Magic, it's really hard to find the early books in the library around here sweatdrop . So far I really like it althoug Rincewind isn't the most loveable main character. I love the Gods and of course Death so far 3nodding

Well, no need to feel foolish. Rincewind, for instance, isn't supposed to be loveable as a typical fantasy hero. His appeal lies in the fact that he's more human than the average fantasy hero. He's cowardly, treacherous, pessimistic and unlucky - quite refreshing, actually. And he makes a great counterpoint to Twoflower's eternal optimism!

Also, the Discworld books do not focus exclusively on Rincewind and Twoflower. You could have begun reading about the series with Guards! Guards!, Wyrd Sisters, The Wee Free Men or even Mort, each one starts its own trail of characters. Guards! Guards! and Men at Arms and Feet of Clay, for instance, form a sort of mini-trilogy about the members of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, from their humble beginnings as an all-but-disbanded night watch (in a very corrupt city) to their emergence as the premier police force in a world on the edge of a magical industrial revolution. It's actually quite exciting! And silly.  

[Merlinssister]

That would have been a better idea but I've started at the beginning now so I might as well keep going. I do love Rincewind even though he's such an idiot (although not as stupid as Hrun and most of the other heroes). I might randomly read whichever ones I feel like and see what happends 3nodding  

[Detective_Parker]

I started at the beginning, well i read the first 3, then i realised that there were different story lines and such. After that i didn't really worry about reading them in any kind of order, i would just see one and read it! Couldn't resist the urge! I love the Death books, he makes me feel so sorry for him, immortality is a bit of a raw deal!  

[nanti]

Olivia Benson

hey cool, new post......I was starting to think that this thread had died on me......Death of Rats says SQUEAK......always in caps too......any want to know the story of how death of rats got there?

If u read Reaper Man u will find that Death splits up into loadsa deaths and when he gets himself back together, he left the Death of Rats out for some reason  

[Cassandra_the_Prophetess]

Coz he wanted a friend! blaugh  

[Harbone]

You know, someone was saying earlier how they weren't fond of Susan Sto Helit's parents, Mort and Ysabelle, but I rather liked them. They seemed like a pretty normal match (I had lots of gangly, awkward male buddies settle down with lots of dumpy, soppy-but-capable overly-romantic girls. It just seems to happen. And I've seen quite a few slobs end up with princesses, too, to the chagrin of both parties. But relationships take ugly amounts of work for very little reward, eh?)

I was actually quite sad to hear of Mort and Ysabelle's deaths, in Soul Music, as I recall.  

[DirectedScion]

My favorites of his are HOGFATHER, GOING POSTAL, and WEE FREE MEN. I didn't like MONSTEROUS REGIMENT for some reason...I love the tyrant of Ankh-Morpork and Conan!  

[Harbone]

That's fascinating. I'm curious to hear what you don't like about Monstrous Regiment. You're certainly entitled to your opinion, but what bugged you about it? I'd love to know!