Terry Pratchett

[nikolai]

There are some thirty(!) Discworld books out now, but Pratchett rarely gets mentioned much on these boards. What do you all think of him? And what do you think of his books? There are some definate changes in style between the earlier and later books in the series. Which are the best?

 

[shilsen]

[Gushing]I think he's brilliant. Being in a Ph.D. program in English, I get to read a lot of good literature, but Pratchett comes in at the top of my list, edging out Shakespeare for top spot. I think he writes the human condition better than anyone I've ever read and the fact that he serves it with a very juicy helping of humor and satire just makes it so much better. The fact that he's incredibly allusive about things I'm interested in also helps. I'm a little biased in my liking for two reasons. Firstly, I very, very rarely find fictiona characters I can empathize with, and Pratchett has a knack of writing people (Death and Granny Weatherwax, for two) whom I can very easily get into the heads of. He's also about the most cynical optimist I can think of among authors, which works very well with my take on life in general.[/Gushing]

His best books? Too many to mention, but some of my personal faves are Reaper Man, Hogfather, Lords and Ladies, Interesting Times, Feet of Clay, Carpe Jugulum, and The Fifth Elephant.

P.S. I don't regard him as a fantasy author any more than I regard Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales as travel literature.

 

[ewalden]

2nd

I don't have a PhD in English, but I agree that Pratcett does just edge out Shakespeare as the best author ever.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Just look at the username.

As for best books...um...all of them? Alright, I can pick a few at least. Guards! Guards!(the first one I read), Interesting Times, Reaper Man(anything with Death, in fact...so all of them again), Mort, Eric, Men at Arms, and the Wee Free Men books(Hat Full of Sky was great!). Hmm...Mosntrous Regiment and Nightwatch are great too. Bah! I can't pick.

Shilsen's really nailed it with Pratchett's writing on the human condition. The characters are just so great. And they've inspired not just one D&D characters. Had a Druid with a very Rincewind like attitude towards nature itself. "I like nature!...as long as it stays outside."

 

[Viking Bastard]

He is a god among men.

 

[drothgery]

I'd say the Guards subseries (Guards!Guards!, Men at Arms, Feat of Clay, Jingo, The Fifth Elephant, Night Watch) is probably the strongest, though Guards!Guards! is, like most of Pratchett's early work, not up to his later standards. The Death subseries (Mort, Reaper Man, Soul Music, Hogfather, Theif of Time) runs a close second, though, if you like Susan.

The Witches are fun but repetitive (pretty much every Witch book except Equal Rites is a variation on the same theme). And of the Rincewind books, only Interesting Times would make Pratchett's top ten; they just don't flow as well as the other series, for some reason. Of the standalones, I like Small Gods and The Truth somewhat more than Pyramids, Moving Pictures, and Monstrous Regiment.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Just look at the username.

As for best books...um...all of them? Alright, I can pick a few at least. Guards! Guards!(the first one I read), Interesting Times, Reaper Man(anything with Death, in fact...so all of them again), Mort, Eric, Men at Arms, and the Wee Free Men books(Hat Full of Sky was great!). Hmm...Mosntrous Regiment and Nightwatch are great too. Bah! I can't pick.

Shilsen's really nailed it with Pratchett's writing on the human condition. The characters are just so great. And they've inspired not just one D&D characters. Had a Druid with a very Rincewind like attitude towards nature itself. "I like nature!...as long as it stays outside."

There is a Death of Rats floating around these boards as well.

Pratchett is one of those writers that just keeps getting better. His earlier Discworld books were merely satire - among other things the D&D magic rules are lampooned. (Yes, once upon a time he played D&D...)

I pretty much ended up stealing his version of dwarfs from The Fifth Elephant, it just made too much sense.

And Paul Kidby was born to illustrate Terry Pratchett.

The Auld Grump - the Patrician is my hero, a very solid Lawful Evil producing good results.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

The Patrician Lawful EVIL?! Ha! Lawful Neutral all the way. The perfect Lawful Netrual. In fact, he's more Lawful Lawful than anything.

...its those mimes that are true Evil...

 

[Zappo]

Big fan here. I'm slowly picking up every book as my finances allow it. There is a definite change of style over time in Pratchett's books. I like the latest ones better than the first ones - The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic are fairly unfocused, they read a bit like collections of short stories and the characters aren't too well defined yet. The fact that the Italian translations are god-awful doesn't help either. Luckily, that was many years ago; I later got much better at reading English and now only buy the books in original language. Rincewind is my favorite character by far - it's that Discworld game that did it for me. Death is awesome, too.

I've also read a couple of his other books; Good Omen (with Gaiman) is truly masterwork, but I didn't like The Carpet People, probably because it's earlier and much more children-oriented.

 

[Berandor]

Pratchett hatchets other authors.