Terry Pratchett

[Umbra]

Found the line that had me in absolute hysterics when I first read it some eleven years ago. A vampire had encountered Nanny's cat Greebo...

The bat squirmed under his claw. It seemed to Greebo's small cat brain that it was trying to change its shape, and he wasn't having any of that from a mouse with wings on.

Especially now, when he had someone to play with.

And a little later, the line...

Under the table, Greebo sat and washed himself. Occasionally he burped.

Vampires have risen from the dead, the grave and the crypt, but have never managed it from the cat.

Still brings a smile to my face.

 

[kolvar]

If I read only one book a year, it is my pratchett I get at x-mess-eve (if all goes well I have read it the second time by new year). Alas, I have to read two books a year (the second pratchett).
The reason, why there are so few pratchett threads here? There are so many Pratchett-boards out there, why bother to post here?
Best? Night Watch (The Angels rise up, rise up: I got the complete song and nearly cried) (maybe followed by Last Hero, because it is so beautiful)
Worst? Equal Rites: The only one I read twice, only.

About German translation: I found them horrible. There is a file on the internet with mistakes made by the translator (come on, Enemy of Dust when said to a sweeper ist not "Enemy made of Dust"). Says something about the auther, that even the translator could not destroy his work. (And I started with the German translations: Farben der Magie, Goldmann, black cover with some strange woman that was so typical for those days (that was before it went to Heyne and back to Goldmann). And I realy did not get the name of this Game (some building to cross a river) until I sat in a train and made everyone look at me from my silly laughs (OK, I was 14))

Some comments:

Mort: This was more like it. I liked the final battle in the sand room between Death and Mort, but it was a little too "happy" an ending for me, with everyone getting married an all.

Well, you have to read Soul Music. Mort loses a bit of its "happy" Ending.

Guards, Guards: This is a good example of the 'anticlimatic' endings. The little dragon essentially defeated the novel's villain by altering its body to fart at super-sonic speed, and then the two went off to mate. I thought Carrot ended up being underused as a result.

But that is the greatness! He is the ultimate Hero (at least, he would be in any other novel): Young, naive, powerful, royal-blooded. But it is not he, who saves the day. And the novel, where he shines, like he could (Men at Arms and the end of Five Elephants), he does so, because he denies his heritage.

Moving Pictures: This one's mixed for me. I liked the climatic battle in Ankh-Morpok quite a bit, especially the King Kong parody, but I didn't really get the whole "Oswald" bit at the end.

You must be kidding. Have you ever watched the "Oscars". How the actors and what-evers sit there, self absorbed, grinning. The thought (wish), that it would be a good thing, that something drained all these smiles away, gets rather strong at times.

 

[Brakkart]

I'm a semi-regular reader of Pratchett's books, tend to be very picky with everything I read and I'd read a few of his less impressives novels, so I don't read everything he puts out.

Having said that I love the Guards series of books, Commander Sir Samuel Vimes is far and away my fave character from the Discworld (with Igor as a close second).

As for fave books, I'd say Feet Of Clay is probably top of my list, followed by Hogfather (gotta love the Oh God of Hangovers!), and a tie between Fifth Elephant and Nightwatch for third place.

I really like the novel Soul Music, but I actually prefer the cartoon of it, I just find that a satire on rock music and such works better when you can actually hear the songs. Especially as the songs in the cartoons (and the Band With Rocks In's stage costumes) all parody various artists as well, adding to the effect.

 

[LordVyreth]

But that is the greatness! He is the ultimate Hero (at least, he would be in any other novel): Young, naive, powerful, royal-blooded. But it is not he, who saves the day. And the novel, where he shines, like he could (Men at Arms and the end of Five Elephants), he does so, because he denies his heritage.

Yeah, I did like him in Man at Arms. I don't know, it just felt too sudden some how. It's hard to describe.

You must be kidding. Have you ever watched the "Oscars". How the actors and what-evers sit there, self absorbed, grinning. The thought (wish), that it would be a good thing, that something drained all these smiles away, gets rather strong at times.

Oh, I got the Oscar=Oswald reference. I just didn't get the mechanism for how it worked exactly. How did reviving Oswald end the Holywood effect? (Heh, it almost sounds like something out of Silent Hill there, especially with all the fog and...nightmarish...monsters. Wow, that is a weird coincidence.) Were all the dead people in the audience killed by the Dungeon Dimension monsters, like what almost happened in Ankh-Morpok? If so, why were they still smiling? I just felt like I missed something at the end there.

Oh and on that note, didn't Gaspode come back in Men At Arms? If so, did they explain how he could still talk and think? It's been a while, and reading them out of order made remembering tricky.

 

[demiurge1138]

Gaspode's return to intelligence was never really explained; it was just that Pratchett liked the character and brought him back. My theory is that he became intelligent again in the same manner as Ankh-Morpork rats and The Amazing Maurice, due to magical runoff from Unseen University.

Of course, it doesn't really need explaining.

Demiurge out.

 

[Tonguez]

Gaspode's return to intelligence was never really explained; it was just that Pratchett liked the character and brought him back. My theory is that he became intelligent again in the same manner as Ankh-Morpork rats and The Amazing Maurice, due to magical runoff from Unseen University.
Demiurge out.

Thats exactly how it was explained (can't remember which book but I know it involved the beggars)

- Gaspode had taken to sleeping under the University and the fall-out affected his Thaumatic field (sort of like Greebo's 'extra talent')

 

[LordVyreth]

Oh, and though I did gripe about a lot of the endings, I just finished Small Gods, and I have to say that the ending to that one was great! Probably my new favorite ending, especially the final scene with Brutha and Vorbis in the Desert of Judgement.

 

[shilsen]

Oh, and though I did gripe about a lot of the endings, I just finished Small Gods, and I have to say that the ending to that one was great! Probably my new favorite ending, especially the final scene with Brutha and Vorbis in the Desert of Judgement.

That's one of my favorite Pratchett novels. Incidentally, did you note the change in tone in "Small Gods" from many of the others? I find that Pratchett's satire and irony gets a little ... how do I put it? ... grimmer when he writes about subjects like that.

 

[LordVyreth]

Yes, this was definately darker than I expected. I can see why some reviewers have said this was the first real "grown up" Discworld novel. Even Brutha was much deeper than most of the core Discworld protagonists.

 

[shilsen]

Yes, this was definately darker than I expected. I can see why some reviewers have said this was the first real "grown up" Discworld novel. Even Brutha was much deeper than most of the core Discworld protagonists.

First real "grown up" Discworld novel? Sounds like reviewers who should re-read something like Witches Abroad and think about what that book says on the subjects of identity, political power, the nature of good and evil, cultural parochialism. And pumpkins, of course