Pratchett II: The Wrath of Om

[The BlackBear]

I read Monstrous Regiment, quite liked it. Pyramids was probably the third one I read after Colour and Light. Of any particular grouping I've probably mostly read the Watch stuff.

 

Out of Discworld I've only heard a radio adaptation of Good Omens, and I've read the Carpet People that I remembered from when I was a kid.

[alguien]

I also enjoy how so many people have very different top Discworld books. 

 

In no particular order, my top ten are:

 

Men At Arms

Feet of Clay

Night Watch

Wee Free Men

Hat Full of Sky

Lords and Ladies

Thief of Time

I Shall Wear Midnight

Snuff

Carpe Jugulum

[Werthead]

Right folks give me your top ten books. I want to read some more Pratchett. I've probably only read 1/3 ish of them.

 

Small Gods

Guards! Guards!

Lords and Ladies

Pyramids

Men at Arms

Night Watch

Going Postal

Moving Pictures

Witches Abroad

Feet of Clay

 

I'd say the weakest, by far, are Carpe Jugulum, The Last Continent, Interesting Times and Unseen Acadmicals. And they're all still perfectly readable. I'd go as far as saying that Pratchett has never produced a really awful novel, which is startling given how prolific he was.

[Fez]

That's tough one. In no particular order, I think my top ten would be:

 

Night Watch

Reaper Man

Small Gods

Going Postal

The Fifth Elephant

Hogfather

Interesting Times

Thief of Time

Sourcery

Soul Music

 

I never read the Tiffany Aching stories, so I can't comment on those. In general, I think my favorites are the City Watch and the DEATH stories, and I usually think the Witches are on the weaker end. 

 

I can say that Night Watch is definitely my favorite, but I really can't order the other nine (and quite a few of them could easily be replaced by others that I really like).

[Gasp of Many Reeds]

I'd say the weakest, by far, are Carpe Jugulum, The Last Continent, Interesting Times and Unseen Acadmicals. And they're all still perfectly readable. I'd go as far as saying that Pratchett has never produced a really awful novel, which is startling given how prolific he was.

Again, what was it people don't like about Carpe Jugulum? Read it a long time ago, but remember enjoying quite a bit.

[MinDonner]

Ahhhh I only just finished a complete Pratchett reread and now I wanna reread all the good ones again.

[Werthead]

Again, what was it people don't like about Carpe Jugulum? Read it a long time ago, but remember enjoying quite a bit.

 

It was okay, but it felt like a rewrite of Lords and Ladies, just with vampires instead of elves. It wasn't bad, it was just that I felt that I'd read that story already.

[HexMachina]

That's tough one. In no particular order, I think my top ten would be:
 
Night Watch
Reaper Man
Small Gods
Going Postal
The Fifth Elephant
Hogfather
Interesting Times
Thief of Time
Sourcery
Soul Music
 
I never read the Tiffany Aching stories, so I can't comment on those. In general, I think my favorites are the City Watch and the DEATH stories, and I usually think the Witches are on the weaker end. 
 
I can say that Night Watch is definitely my favorite, but I really can't order the other nine (and quite a few of them could easily be replaced by others that I really like).

Boo you :p The Witches is probably my favourite sub-series. I love Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg

[SkynJay]

Ahhhh I only just finished a complete Pratchett reread and now I wanna reread all the good ones again.

I have basically been on a reread for ten years.

[Gasp of Many Reeds]

 

It was okay, but it felt like a rewrite of Lords and Ladies, just with vampires instead of elves. It wasn't bad, it was just that I felt that I'd read that story already.

Fair enough. Glad you share the love for Moving Pictures.

[HairBearHero]

I can say that Night Watch is definitely my favorite, but I really can't order the other nine (and quite a few of them could easily be replaced by others that I really like).

 

Same here. I literally read Night Watch to pieces. One of the most well-intentioned but poorly-received Christmas presents my mother has ever given me was swapping my much-loved and horribly battered copy for a pristine new version.

[MinDonner]

Night Watch is one of my favourite books ever written, by anyone. It's not quite a perfect book (I find the History Monks a bit too convenient and annoying, and wasn't terribly convinced by the upper-echelon politics story) but it's so very moving anyway. And was especially interesting to reread in light of the recent policing fails out of the US :(

[End of Disc One]

 

I literally read Night Watch to pieces. 

 

Whoa!

[SkynJay]

Night Watch is one of my favourite books ever written, by anyone. It's not quite a perfect book (I find the History Monks a bit too convenient and annoying, and wasn't terribly convinced by the upper-echelon politics story) but it's so very moving anyway. And was especially interesting to reread in light of the recent policing fails out of the US :(

I liked the monks, almost forth wall breaking and hilarious.  The politics was the weak point in my mind, especially the 'assassination' that left me quite confused.  It may be one of two or three time travel stories that doesn't fall apart under its own weight I have ever read as well.

[lokisnow]

Ach, I loved Shepherd's Crown, perhaps it helps I barely remember lords and ladies. Granted this is a remix book like a lot of the post nation books have been, but it's not bad like those. And the ending it builds to is fairly elegant wondeful and perfect.

Not sure if spoilers work on tapatalk, but I'll try

[Spoiler] I love how Pratchett handled this sideways disenchantment of the world in his final book. I usually hat it when authors do this. Particularly his dark matetials. Instead Pratchett leaves magic in, but it's the magic of the everyday. perfect. The disenchantment is more metaphorical than literal. Also perfect. The world is leaving behind the dangerous heuristic lies of fairy stories but is not losing the truth of human behavior of those stories, even in the face of the "completed" industrial revolution as represented by the railways. I love this--keep the magic that makes us human while embracing the the "magic" of progress that let's us see what's really there. So in a sense, it's a perfect culmination to the Discworld series, and it almost makes a garbage entry like raising steam much more worthwhile. [/spoiler]

[lokisnow]

Top ten Discworld

1. Night watch
2. A hat full of sky
3-10
Moving pictures
Small gods
Men at arms
Pyramids
The truth
Hogfather
Thief of time
Eric

Pratchett I most want to reread is monstrous regiment because I think about it a lot and suspect it may be top ten material.

Nation might well be his finest book, though, better even than night watch.

[alguien]

I finished The Shepherd's Crown late last night, after returning from a camping trip. 

 

There are some absolutely beautiful passages in there, moments that made me tear up all over again as I did when I first heard about Terry's passing.  

 

Per the note by Terry's assistant Rob at the end, this wasn't quite a finished work, and you can tell in some places where the story is given short shrift. But the good bits outshine the spare bits (none of which are actually bad) and I enjoyed myself.  

 

Also, I found it sort of fascinating to read over what a quasi-first draft of a discworld book reads like. I could almost see what ideas he was looking to develop and wondered what, if anything, he was going to cut. According to Neil Gaiman, there was actually few different things planned for the cat You. 

 

In any event, I recommend it. It's not a perfect Discworld book, but I'm glad to have read it to say goodbye.  :crying:  :)

[End of Disc One]

Looking back at the last two pages, the most popular here (unless I miscounted) are:

 

1. Night Watch

2. Small Gods

3. Lords and Ladies

[polishgenius]

Finished Shepherd's Crown. I quite like it. It's not fantastic; clearly unfinished, and Pterry indulged in a little too much of the 'ooh this person/thing is really special' that he tended to more subvert in older works, but as an attempt to wrap up

 

Granny Weatherwax it wasn't bad. It was less necessary as a Tiffany book- tbh her story should have finished with I Shall Wear Midnight- but I don't feel it wrecked her. It just didn't tell us anything we didn't already know. She didn't really need the Shepherd's Crown when she already

knew she was Land Under Wave.

Same went for the Elves plotline.
I liked the touch that Granny's first book was about a girl becoming a wizard, and her last was about a boy becoming a witch.

[Jo498]

I read a bunch of the early ones when they were fairly new in German translations (those did not appear before ca. 1990). Then I "lost touch" (maybe partly because the early ones are mainly parodies of fantasy tropes and some of the wit and humor is lost in translation) until I discovered "Men at Arms" (in translation) on my shelves about 2 years ago. I was pleasantly surprised. Since then I read the following

Reaper man: The main plot is good, the secondary plot (alien supermarket) is quite ridiculous and too independent/irrelevant. 6-7/10

Night Watch: I know this is a big favorite of many and I did not dislike it but I fail to see its greatness. It's not very funny (or what's funny is fairly trite like Nobby as street urchin or misunderstandings about "seamstresses"), rather predictable, the political plot is not really connected with the revolution plot and the "social commentary" is also rather shallow. The message that we should all just behave like decent people and see humans, not enemies or policemen is shallow and does not even try to capture the dilemma of violence against an unjust government. Sure, it's not meant to be Hugo or Dickens, but it tries to be a little like that and clearly fails. 7/10

Spoiler

I do not understand why this had to be cast as a time travel plot with a lame frame story and old Vimes taking the part of John Keel. He did not really change the historical outcome by his knowledge - why not tell the story of Keel without time travel?

I also thought the captain of that torture squad was an android or so because of his odd speech and movements but this was apparently a red herring or a joke/allusion I missed.

Thief of time: Partly hilarious but with a weak climax/resolution. 7/10

The colour of Magic: As this was the very first, I was surprised how much discworld is already there, despite some things having a different mood and atmosphere. 6/10 (the last story/episode is better than that, the dragon story maybe weaker)

Small Gods: This is by far the best of the ones I read recently. 10/10

I have the Fifth Elephant next (wanted to close the gaps in the "Watch books") and will then probably go back to the first ones, partly to find out which ones I read >20 years ago (the only ones I am sure about are Mort and Guards!Guards!).