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Terry Pratchett

kjboe

Dreamer
i know I'm going to get some stick for this, but i have just finished reading The Colour of Magic, and am straight onto the Light Fantastic, both hilarious and extra ordinary these books are. Have any of you guys/gals read his works, if so whats you favourites?

Just a small fun thread for some social chat
 

Steerpike

Felis amatus
Moderator
I tried to read The Colour of Magic back when it first came out and failed to see anything special about it (I had been reading a lot of Douglas Adams; maybe the comparison is unfair). I think I made it halfway through. I'll try some more Pratchett, though.

Not to rain on the fun :)
 

Ireth

Myth Weaver
I'm a HUGE Pratchett fan. :D My mom and I own most of his Discworld books between us. Of the adult books, my all-time favorite is probably Reaper Man, and Hogfather isn't far behind it. Death is an awesome character. I also love the Tiffany Aching quartet and The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents.
 

kjboe

Dreamer
And in one foul swoop, the first reply pisses on the parade hahaaa, well to be fair, i did put it down for a few weeks, but a friend insisted i read on. I did, and i really enjoyed it.
 

kjboe

Dreamer
I'm a HUGE Pratchett fan. :D My mom and I own most of his Discworld books between us. Of the adult books, my all-time favorite is probably Reaper Man, and Hogfather isn't far behind it. Death is an awesome character. I also love the Tiffany Aching quartet and The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents.

That is the reply i was hoping for haha! yea, I'm really into the Discworld series at the moment, although i am only on the second book. I cannot wait to read more and more. The ending of the 1st book was hilarious, telling the demon in place of Death to "piss off". i was taking a while to get through it because it was hard for me to allow humor into a fantasy book after reading GOT and The Blade Itself. But i really did enjoy it, a few of my friends swear by the Wee Free Men.
 

lovecow

Acolyte
He's one of my favourites i got 23 of his books (11 hard backs YAY).I just finished Making money...again.
If you just started reading him you've got alot to look forward too.
Sometimes i find myself re-reading the same page over again just cos it was so good.
 
I absolutely love Pratchett. Everything from dragon's who have an immense interest in keeping a healthy digestive system, to death and his many skills. I don't remember what they all are called, but I do remember Rincewind "the Wizzard"!
 

Pyrsa

Acolyte
Anything with the witches in -- Granny Weatherwax, Magrat and Nanny Ogg. Witches Abroad might be the first one of these. With me the gateway drug was the book he wrote with Neil Gamain -- Good Omens. And I think it's still my favourite. It's a bit less packed and here's something about the relationship between Aziraphale the angel and Crowley the demon that actually I find touching. And then there are the ones themed on the City Watch guys, and the Making Movies one, very good. This is tough! I can't choose!
 

ALB2012

Maester
I love pratchett, I have read all of the adult ones. I love any of the ones with Death or Vimes in. I have sat down and read from cover to cover and not spoken to anyway because cant bear to put it down on more than one ocassion. I have also had to stop as I was laughing too much.

The only one I wasnt keen on was Lords and Ladies and I can't for the life of me work out why. I just wasnt. I just read snuff and re read making money.
 

Chime85

Sage
For me, Terry Pratchett is a hit and Miss. Colour of Magic was good, but I disliked the Light Fantastic. I LOVE the death books, they are so funny and yet insightful at the same time. My favorite book of his is Going Postal. I never thought I would enjoy a book about the post office, but this one had me in stitches, but pulling every ounce of my strenght to turn the next page.

If you are looking for a fun spin on a classic Shakespear, read Pratchetts very own Unseen Achademicals. So funny and yet tips its hat so well to our good friend, Billy Shakes.

x
 

robertbevan

Troubadour
here's some more piss for the parade.

i liked colour of magic alright. i chuckled once or twice, and i like the character rincewind. but i got bored with the series pretty quickly after that. i don't think i made it past the sixth book.

i recently blogged about my disappointment with the comic fantasy genre as a whole. i feel like the entire genre is made up of puns, anachronisms, and parody. and none of those are necessarily inherently bad things. but puns should be sprinkled in here and there. they shouldn't be dumped by the truckload. same goes for anachronisms. once in a while it can be cute or even a little funny, but don't drown me in them. and parodies... well they're fine if you want to read a parody. but i also want to read original stories that happen to be really really funny as well.

pratchett, i feel, is guilty of overusing puns and anachronisms. at least he writes original stories.


(I had been reading a lot of Douglas Adams; maybe the comparison is unfair)


i don't think that's an unfair comparison at all. they have incredibly similar writing styles. lots of asides and clever word play. i even heard the exact same joke used at least once in a discworld novel that i'd previously read in a hitchhiker novel (i'm not pointing any fingers. i don't know which one came out first.)

the difference, in my opinion, is that douglas adams was able to pull it off. i laughed out loud more than a few times while reading the hitchhiker books. i only got a couple of weak chuckles out of discworld.


no disrespect meant to the man. he is a novel writing machine and i have nothing but respect for him. i just can't get into his work though.
 

Steerpike

Felis amatus
Moderator
the difference, in my opinion, is that douglas adams was able to pull it off. i laughed out loud more than a few times while reading the hitchhiker books. i only got a couple of weak chuckles out of discworld.

Yes, that's exactly the same reaction I had to the two of them. And you're right, there isn't much good fantasy humor out there. I'm not sure why that is. I guess there isn't that much of it to begin with, and what there is of it isn't particularly well done.
 

Ireth

Myth Weaver
To be fair to Mr. Pratchett, his later books are much less parodic/satiric and more their own brand of wackiness as he settles into his world and fleshes it out. Sure, there are some obvious homages to other works, like Maskerade and Wyrd Sisters, but overall they get more and more original as you get further into the series. I myself haven't read The Color of Magic, and it's been ages since I've even seen our copy of The Light Fantastic. Actually, it's been a while since I've seen most of our Pratchett books, packed up in a box as they are.
 
I don't have any idea about Terry Pratchett and his works of novels. I would love to see some of his works especially with the Colour of Magic that you have been talking about in here. It seems that you have a good review with this kind of book. I am looking forward to own one and share my opinion about it.

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