quote:

I read somewhere that the next book be was planning was not going to be a Discworld book

heresy!

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Originally posted by The Wanderer:
On that note I picked up a couple of books I hadn't got to yet the other day because I had some gift cards to burn at Barnes and Noble. Both are Rincewind stories, (Sourcery and Interesting Times) which I generally avoid because he kinda annoys me and makes me want to shake him and say "Grow a freaking spine already!", but we'll see how it goes.

Posted these mini-reviews over in the what are you reading thread, but I probably should put them here as well:

Sourcery didn't do that much for me. It never really seemed to find its groove and narrative rhythm, slid into that kind of smooth, make me get lost in the story feel that I'm used to from Pratchett. Adding in that the only result cold be returning things to status quo at the end made it kinda meh for me. I also felt that the side characters, (some of whom seemed promising) wound up being either uninteresting, undeveloped, or unresolved.

Interesting Times was far better on the issues of narrative flow and such, and I enjoyed it far more. There were bits that really rather tested my suspension of disbelief, notably when it came down to the facing off of Cohen's Silver Horde vs the armies of the nobles, but it never fully broke that. Also, I was a tad disappointed in Lord Hong, as I thought he'd be quite a good villain, only to rather quickly, (but believably, since for all his perfection the thing he never could grasp was humanity and human nature), devolve into a fairly typical Grand Vizier villain.

I have a fondness for Sourcery, but since I started off with Pyramids and quickly needed more, that was one that I re-read many times. I almost never do now, unless I'm really bored and decide to re-read *all* the Rincewind/wizards books. Now I generally pick up Interesting Times and The Last Continent if I want a Rincewind fix. and The Last Hero, although I have the hardback and that thing is cumbersome to read whilst in bed.

yeah, sorcery didn't push many buttons for me. i can't remember much of it which means i can't have re-read it much. i did like interesting times.
but i read all of the discworld series chronologically not that long ago, and it really is striking how they develop over time. i have trouble reading the very early ones now without thinking "is that it?"

Anyone other than me ever read Strata, The Carpet People or Dark Side of the Sun?

Yep! And I like the Johnny books, particularly Johnny and the Dead. I've squirrelled them away for kidlet.

quote:

Originally posted by Maeve:
Anyone other than me ever read Strata, The Carpet People or Dark Side of the Sun?

Me me me!

i loved the carpet people. didn't like strata tho, although i'd like to read it again and see why. think i've read dark side of the sun but i can't remember it. and i liked the johnny books, and the bromeliad trilogy

Yes, yes and yes.
Dark Side of The Sun got me through one particularly horrific train journey last summer - the kind where they open all the doors at every halt to try and cool the train down, and the idea of things radiating cold was a great comfort.

I tried reading The Bromeliad to Dev, but he didn't seem too into it. or Amazing Maurice. He gets all fidgety if he's not interested. He adored the Tiffany Aching books though. I should try some Roald Dahl.


It took me several reads to get into Strata. I get halfway through it and think, damn, this should be a movie. and then I think, nah, it'd be impossible. I sometimes think I like Dark Side of the Sun least, until I read it again. Despite Strata being set on a flat world, Carpet People seems the most Discworld-ish to me.

i've read the carpet people, loved the johnny books, and the bromeliad trilogy. I also enjoyed the unadulterated cat.

and good omens wasn't too bad either

ah i haven't read unadulturated cat. i loved the amazing maurice tho maeve, it was amazing. and definitely get the roald dahl out, i couldn't get enough of them when i was a kid (although george's marvellous medicine always gave me a faint sense of unease)

I've had a hard time getting through the Johnny books. I don't know why.

Maeve, definitely try Roald Dahl. I loved him as a kid. Still do. And I adore Quentin Blake's illustrations.

Quick question to the Pterry fans: did you ever get a "Ho hum, been there, done that" feeling while reading his books?

not that i can recall. maybe a few times in the earlier ones but no specific examples that i can remember

although a friend once asked me if i ever read the entire great a'tuin introduction anymore and i have to confess that i don't. even though it's not exactly the same in every book, i know what it;s going to say.

so yeah, i guess when he explains events that have occured in previous books, because i've read them all. but all authors do that (the exceptions i've found are guy gavriel kay and stephen donaldson, who both summarise previous books at the beginning, before beginning the next)

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Originally posted by Thirith & His Enormous Tibia:
Quick question to the Pterry fans: did you ever get a "Ho hum, been there, done that" feeling while reading his books?

yes

i find his latest books very hit or miss.

i loved thud and found the moist ones fine, but some of them are very...okay, better than most other books but not as oculd as he could do.

or is that not what you meant?

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Quick question to the Pterry fans: did you ever get a "Ho hum, been there, done that" feeling while reading his books?

To a degree... he does have a tendency to go over the same ground, ESPECIALLY with his villains. I'm a big fan of having a good villain in a piece and while plenty of Terry's are good, most are the same: anywhere from slightly to highly sociopathic, amoral, tend to think well outside the box.

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Originally posted by Smaug:
or is that not what you meant?

Yep, it's more or less that. My question comes from the fact that I liked the first couple of Pratchett books that I read, especially the Death books, but after a while I felt that his humour was getting repetitive and predictable.

Which is probably why I liked The Night Watch so much. It wasn't primarily a funny book, and the characters hold up pretty well, especially Vimes. There's actual character development. This might also be the reason why I'm not overly keen on the Rincewind books - I never felt that there was much of a real character there.

i *adored* nightwatch, i was close to thinking he'd lost it when i read that it all came back.

nightwatch is without a doubt my favourite. i went back and read all the guards books after that and the vimes character development is great.

that's mainly why i want another witches book, because i think he's been doing a similar thing with granny