Pratchett II: The Wrath of Om

[MinDonner]

Or, there's the fact that the Discworld is about as internally consistent as Malazan, and Thief of Time was a book-long cringing apology for all the timeline errors...

[Werthead]

According to Pratchett, the Discworld novels move on at about the same rate as real life. In fact, going by the dates given in various sources and the fact that the current century on the Discworld changed about the time of our Millennium, there seems to be a popular theory that the date in The Colour of Magic was 1983 by the Ankh-Morpork calendar and the date in ISWM is 2010 by the same. That means it's been 23 years since the events of Equal Rites, so Esk should be 30-ish by now. Not having read ISWM yet, I don't know if that tracks or not.

[alguien]

Or, there's the fact that the Discworld is about as internally consistent as Malazan, and Thief of Time was a book-long cringing apology for all the timeline errors...

I always wondered if that was his way of explaining any inconsistencies from the earlier books. Also wasn't sure if its what caused Vime's time jump in Night Watch.

[alguien]

I would be thrilled if anyone has any insight on this. At first I thought it was

Preston, but earlier in the story, Preston says that his mother taught him to read and write, and that didn't go over well with his father. I can't really see Esk settling down with someone who's hostile to education, especially after her experiences with Simon and the UU and so forth. And I don't remember precisely, but I don't think Preston was in any particular danger at that point in time (when Esk says she has to protect her son)

.

I know that endings aren't always Pratchett's strong point, but this one particularly flummoxed me.

(By the way, hello; first time poster here - it amuses me that the only place on the web I could find where someone's asking this particular question about Pratchett, is a forum dedicated to the Martin series which I just discovered, and fell irretrievably into, three weeks ago. Serendipity!)

Glad my question brought you here! Welcome! Its a great board to be a part of, and we always need more Pratchett fans!

[MinDonner]

According to Pratchett, the Discworld novels move on at about the same rate as real life. In fact, going by the dates given in various sources and the fact that the current century on the Discworld changed about the time of our Millennium, there seems to be a popular theory that the date in The Colour of Magic was 1983 by the Ankh-Morpork calendar and the date in ISWM is 2010 by the same. That means it's been 23 years since the events of Equal Rites, so Esk should be 30-ish by now. Not having read ISWM yet, I don't know if that tracks or not.

If that's the case, then Rincewind was suspended in the air falling off the Disc for three years, during the wait for The Light Fantastic to be published... :unsure:

[Angalin]

If that's the case, then Rincewind was suspended in the air falling off the Disc for three years, during the wait for The Light Fantastic to be published... :unsure:

Maybe time off the Rim passes at a different rate, due to closeness to the elephants? :dunno:

[Werthead]

Or when the Spell saved them and returned them to the Disc, it was 2 years later ;) Or, more likely, Pratchett didn't seriously think about it until The Discworld Companion was published in 1994 and came up with that answer then, and forgot about the books' only real cliffhanger ending and resolution.

[MightilyOats]

This has always been my favourite Pratchett book.

You'll never learn more about people, or being a person.

[Angalin]

Yes, I wondered about this very much:

Who the hell is Eskarina's son!?! That was kind of just thrown in there at the end. Was it the hare running around on fire? Or was it Preston?

Yes, I'm stumped on that one too. Overall I really liked it, but that throwaway comment - which I missed on the first read - really has me wondering. In a good way! Looking forward to another Vimes book.

[Rakka]

Am I the only one who thought Tiffany kept getting more stupid by the book. The first time she doesn't cause the problem that she solves. The second time she causes the problem because she doesn't know what she was doing was dangerous. The third time she... explicitly fails to keep her nose out of something despite being told to stay out of it, and gets hell lot of other people involved. Wintersmith was a disappointment. Yeah, we all do stupid shit, but what the hell?

[Zap Rowsdower]

Perhaps this has been posted before, I do not know since I do not assiduously follow these boards and my search skills are perfunctory, but I recently ran across this presentation with Pratchett about Alzheimer's disease and assisted dying. Quite moving.

Link.

[Galactus]

Am I the only one who thought Tiffany kept getting more stupid by the book. The first time she doesn't cause the problem that she solves. The second time she causes the problem because she doesn't know what she was doing was dangerous. The third time she... explicitly fails to keep her nose out of something despite being told to stay out of it, and gets hell lot of other people involved. Wintersmith was a disappointment. Yeah, we all do stupid shit, but what the hell?

Isn't that kind of a witch thing though? Poking your nose into stuff that's none of your business?

[Angalin]

What was up with the flaming hare?

Can you point me to a page number for that? I thought the whole point was that it didn't go on fire (but I'm also trying to finish my to-do list for Christmas and may have missed it in the reread).

As I said earlier, I believe that Esk is going to be significant in the next Vimes book, and perhaps her son will be there as well. What's the family history of Moist?

On the other hand, considering her mastery of Time it could be referring to the Time boys in Thief of Time, but their mother is made fairly clear, a retcon isn't impossible though.

Could the Cunning Man be Esk's son? Remember, she was there when he burned ("I walked", she said).

[Squattin' Heifer]

I recently finished reading the whole of the Discworld series back to back, more or less in order. What I enjoyed most about Pratchett’s novels is the humor, obviously. What I found refreshing is that he is almost never heavy handed with humanity’s pitfalls. He understands that the human condition is a work in progress.

I do, however, think that his observations about social injustice are antiquated. Intolerance in any form is widely, if not universally, rejected. So when it comes to the moral of the story, it’s basically just yeah, yeah, yeah, we know that. But his stories are fun and, well, funny: the troll knocking one of his teeth out every time the band is broke in Soul Music, the conversation the witches have when seeing the mounted lion’s head in Witches Abroad, the casual conversation that Vimes and his nearly drowning would be assassin have. I could go on and on, but that’s why I read Pratchett, not for the social commentary.

[Lord Toblerone]

Can you point me to a page number for that? I thought the whole point was that it didn't go on fire (but I'm also trying to finish my to-do list for Christmas and may have missed it in the reread).

I think that's from the first time

Old Tiffany

appears. The Hare is aflame but unharmed.

And I think it's pretty clear what the hare is. She's Old Tiffany's familiar. She always appears accompanying Old Tiffany.

[Zizoz]

Old Tiffany

?

[Angalin]

I think that's from the first time

Old Tiffany

appears. The Hare is aflame but unharmed.

And I think it's pretty clear what the hare is. She's Old Tiffany's familiar. She always appears accompanying Old Tiffany.

Okay, thanks. I'll go back and reread it with that in mind. :)

[Jussi]

Snuff will be published in October.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Snuff-Sir-Terry-Pratchett/dp/038561926X/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1296554936&sr=1-5

The publication of a new novel from Terry Pratchett is always a major event. All we can reveal at this stage is that his 39th Discworld novel features the popular Sam Vimes, Commander of the City Watch...

[SkynJay]

While I don't trust that date, i am thrilled to see the next one is a Vimes novel.

[Galactus]

You know, i never thought the day would come when I wasn't excited by a Pratchett novel.

Mind, I'll still read it, but I'm really not feeling the love.