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If I were you, I'd simply read them in chronological order. That is, in the order they were published, which is mostly the same as plot-chronological-order. You'll jump around between story lines some, but that is okay, and will prevent you from getting jaded with any particular character.
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Jul 21, 2011 23:37
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Sophia posted:"It was all very well going on about pure logic and how the universe was ruled by logic and the harmony of numbers, but the plain fact of the matter was that the Disc was manifestly traversing space on the back of a giant turtle and the gods had a habit of going round to atheists' houses and smashing their windows." See, that quote is just perfect. The humor in it is just so fantastic, and did a really good job of hooking me early on. DontMockMySmock posted:If I were you, I'd simply read them in chronological order. That is, in the order they were published, which is mostly the same as plot-chronological-order. You'll jump around between story lines some, but that is okay, and will prevent you from getting jaded with any particular character. Is it possible to get burnt out on a character? I'm really attached to Rincewind, Twoflower, and The Chest right now, and I want to follow them to the end. e: I guess in addition to my last sentence, how many books end like The Colour of Magic? I can't not go on to the next book in an arc if it ends on a huge cliffhanger like that one does. A. Beaverhausen fucked around with this message at 23:48 on Jul 21, 2011 |
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Jul 21, 2011 23:45
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A. Beaverhausen posted:See, that quote is just perfect. The humor in it is just so fantastic, and did a really good job of hooking me early on. The "Chest"? I can't figure out if the Luggage would be scarier if it were an enormous ambulatory pair of murderous tits. But no, there's no more cliffhanger endings, really. Colour of Magic and the Light Fantastic are the only two-parters, and for a long time they were the only ones with chapters! The later books are better, I think, but slightly different in tone and composition.
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Jul 21, 2011 23:52
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A. Beaverhausen posted:e: I guess in addition to my last sentence, how many books end like The Colour of Magic? I can't not go on to the next book in an arc if it ends on a huge cliffhanger like that one does. Colour of Magic is the only book that really ends on a cliffhanger, though you might include Sourcery if you're being pedantic but considering the sequel was Eric it isn't that important. The rest of the Discworld books do work as standalone books in my opinion it's just that reading them out of chronological order you get a bit of whiplash from the development in Terry Pratchett's style as well as missing some of the references to older books and events. The Light Fantastic actually has a Mort reference that makes no sense if you haven't read that book for example. Vengeance of Pandas fucked around with this message at 23:57 on Jul 21, 2011 |
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Jul 21, 2011 23:55
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So I guess publishing order is the way to go then. Thanks everyone, I really appreciate the advice! Wait. Mort was published a year after The Light Fantastic. So I read out of publishing order if I want to 'get' that part? A. Beaverhausen fucked around with this message at 00:21 on Jul 22, 2011 |
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Jul 22, 2011 00:06
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Yeah just read them in publishing order, dude may be wrong about Light Fantastic having a Mort reference though since as you say it was written after Light Fantastic.
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Jul 22, 2011 00:19
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A. Beaverhausen posted:So I guess publishing order is the way to go then. Thanks everyone, I really appreciate the advice! Honestly I came to the Discworld series in a more random way, starting with Guards Guards and moving on to Mort and then whatever I could find at the library so this is the first time I've realised that Mort and Ysabel appeared in the Light Fantastic before Mort. I always assumed that the Light Fantastic was written after Mort, my bad, though it explains why the characters seemed a little off compared to Mort. To be frank if Colour of Magic didn't turn you off then you'll be fine to either stick to the published order or go by the series reading guide if you'd prefer. As a fan of world building myself I think I prefer the gradual development of the Discworld but I can understand wanting to follow your favourite characters. Edit: At one point in Light Fantastic Twoflower ends up in Deaths house and the version I read specifically states that Mort is playing cards with the other horsemen while Ysabel tries to keep Rincewind as a guest. So I always assumed it was a reference to the book Mort with him filling in for Death again for some reason. Vengeance of Pandas fucked around with this message at 00:29 on Jul 22, 2011 |
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Jul 22, 2011 00:26
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I went back and read that section again because you made me curious, and it actually looks like Pestilence and the others call Death "Mort" as a nickname, rather than the later character actually being there. It would make more sense that way, too, since they're obviously learning bridge and you only need 4 people (plus Twoflower the instructor) for that. But I would not be at all surprised if that throwaway line was what gave Pratchett the idea for the character name. From what I remember, he seems to do that a lot.
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Jul 22, 2011 00:47
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Oh wow I had completely forgotten about that, it seems like there was a gap of 3 years between CoM and Light Fantastic but then he wrote Equal Rites and Mort in the next year so he probably had an idea of what he wanted to do with Death while he was writing Light Fantastic. He was putting out books at a good clip in those days, two every year between 87 and 93 is nuts.
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Jul 22, 2011 00:51
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Sophia posted:I went back and read that section again because you made me curious, and it actually looks like Pestilence and the others call Death "Mort" as a nickname, rather than the later character actually being there. It would make more sense that way, too, since they're obviously learning bridge and you only need 4 people (plus Twoflower the instructor) for that. But I would not be at all surprised if that throwaway line was what gave Pratchett the idea for the character name. From what I remember, he seems to do that a lot. That actually makes a lot of sense, it's been a few years since I read The Colour of Magic/The Light Fantastic so I might do that soon and see for myself.
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Jul 22, 2011 01:11
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Got round to watching the tv adaptation of going postal last night. Was put off as I thought hogfather and COM were bloody awfull. Going postal was really impressive though. Great casting, nice effects, the jokes translated well and it just worked on TV. My only criticism was that ankh morpork didnt look grubby or as full of people as it should be. Guess that comes from lack of budget for extras I guess. Hope they do making money next!
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Jul 22, 2011 10:02
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A. Beaverhausen posted:So I guess publishing order is the way to go then. Thanks everyone, I really appreciate the advice! Publishing order is the way to go if you've already started with Colour of Magic. It'll keep up a nice variety of different characters and parts of the world.
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Jul 22, 2011 12:57
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Sophia posted:Pestilence and the others call Death "Mort" as a nickname, rather than the later character actually being there.
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Jul 22, 2011 17:56
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Penguingo posted:Colour of Magic and the Light Fantastic are the only two-parters I'm pretty sure Witches Abroad and Lords & Ladies were something close to a two parter.
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Jul 23, 2011 03:26
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StrawmanUK posted:Got round to watching the tv adaptation of going postal last night. Was put off as I thought hogfather and COM were bloody awfull. Going postal was really impressive though. Great casting, nice effects, the jokes translated well and it just worked on TV. My only criticism was that ankh morpork didnt look grubby or as full of people as it should be. Guess that comes from lack of budget for extras I guess. Hope they do making money next! They've cast Vetinari well, but otherwise it was even worse than Hogfather.
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Jul 23, 2011 10:16
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StrawmanUK posted:Got round to watching the tv adaptation of going postal last night. Was put off as I thought hogfather and COM were bloody awfull. Going postal was really impressive though. Great casting, nice effects, the jokes translated well and it just worked on TV. My only criticism was that ankh morpork didnt look grubby or as full of people as it should be. Guess that comes from lack of budget for extras I guess. Hope they do making money next! My only problem with the Going Postal TV series is that there was a Terry Pratchett book with that same title, and, coincidentally, it had many of the same character names and a few of the same plot points. While I was watching it, I kept thinking of that book and how much I'd like to see an adaptation of it.
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Jul 23, 2011 13:04
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The Pratchett TV specials are ALWAYS terrible. The cartoons are just painful. I don't understand why, either. British television is famous for its dry wit and humor, yet none of them seemed to grasp Pratchett's jokes and prose. It doesn't make sense. Like, they could have watched Blackadder and got tons of examples of timing and inspiration for historical/anachronistic humor. It's not like a big budget helps; the effects weren't much in this day and age.  Pratchett's works deserve better treatment than this.
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Jul 23, 2011 13:23
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Mister Roboto posted:The Pratchett TV specials are ALWAYS terrible. The cartoons are just painful. Here's hoping the fan-funded Snowgum Films version of Troll Bridge turns out all right...
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Jul 23, 2011 13:32
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I've only ever seen the cartoon of Soul Music, but I always thought they captured that one pretty well. I really liked the way they did the pivotal song at the end. Maybe that makes me a Pratchett-traitor.
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Jul 23, 2011 15:57
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The adaptation of Going Postal is pretty good, you're all crazy 
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Jul 23, 2011 17:20
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Going Postal changes some stuff significantly from the book's version, and the golems are terrible, but I really enjoyed it. Had a great knockabout atmosphere, treating post office logistics like a heist movie.
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Jul 23, 2011 17:22
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John Dough posted:The adaptation of Going Postal is pretty good, you're all crazy I've just bought it and am sorta looking forward to see it. But what was wrong with Hogfather? I found it pretty good.
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Jul 23, 2011 18:26
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Iacen posted:I've just bought it and am sorta looking forward to see it. But what was wrong with Hogfather? I found it pretty good. The title in the UK was Hogfather, Starting David Jason! while it should have been Hogfather, staring Death! And David Jason played Albert as a "loverly, cheery, always laughing" role. That's not loving Albert. Albert blew up a pub because the landlord had the audacity to remind Albert that he had a thousand year unpaid bar tab. And don't get me started on the Auditors. Each one had so much personality that they should have winked out of existence faster than the speed of a Monarch. And what the gently caress was with Veterinary lisping? And as for Colour of Magic, why was Twoflower American and not Asian!? GOD! ...I feel better now. [edit] Going Postal was awesome, the acting was top notch, the golems where great, considering the concept they had to work with, and while the plot changes where unexpected, I know a scene in a book sometimes just doesn't work when put in film, so all in all, I loved Going Postal. Ak Gara fucked around with this message at 18:39 on Jul 23, 2011 |
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Jul 23, 2011 18:35
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I really liked the voicework of the Wyrd Sisters cartoon, particularly for Granny and Nanny Ogg. The animation though was pretty bad.
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Jul 23, 2011 19:08
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People well cast and acting good in Going Postal (aka the only good parts): Vetinari, Drumknott, Stanley, Groat. Both Moist and Gilt were utter poo poo, both in terms of casting and script (which was enough to bury the production right there). The narrative changes were downright baffling, the whole letter confession angle was stupid, and the golems were really really terrible.
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Jul 23, 2011 19:11
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Ak Gara posted:And what the gently caress was with Veterinary lisping? That was Jeremy Irons trying to sound like Terry. :/ I thought Moist was well cast. That sort of chancer attitude was well brought across.
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Jul 23, 2011 20:41
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Xander77 posted:People well cast and acting good in Going Postal (aka the only good parts): I liked the casting of Moist, but then again, I watched Coupling. Gilt, maybe, but that's more cause the change of character. Drumknott's character was also changed, but I liked the change better. Like others said, it woulda been hard to do a full complete translation ,so I liked what they did.
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Jul 24, 2011 01:01
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bunnyofdoom posted:Like others said, it woulda been hard to do a full complete translation ,so I liked what they did. The changes were fine, because problems arise when you try and be too slavish to the source material. See Hogfather for this. Hogfather could have done with serious trimming to the plot.
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Jul 24, 2011 03:02
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The Wee Free Men is being made available to read online for free. Chapters 1-4 are available until 05/08, with chapters 5-9 becoming available 06/08.
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Jul 28, 2011 11:53
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Oh wow that's great timing, my readthrough of every Discworld book has been on hold because I can't find that exact book. Was going to go and buy it again.
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Jul 28, 2011 13:10
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Ak Gara posted:
If I remember correctly that how he was in the book, but then again Albert spent most of his time in Hogfather being drunk.
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Jul 28, 2011 21:33
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John Charity Spring posted:Going Postal changes some stuff significantly from the book's version, and the golems are terrible, but I really enjoyed it. Had a great knockabout atmosphere, treating post office logistics like a heist movie. It kinda runs out of steam in the second part though.
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Jul 28, 2011 21:35
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Alhazred posted:If I remember correctly that how he was in the book, but then again Albert spent most of his time in Hogfather being drunk. I think you're mis-remembering, at least in Mort and Soul Music.
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Jul 29, 2011 00:22
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Alhazred posted:If I remember correctly that how he was in the book, but then again Albert spent most of his time in Hogfather being drunk. He was pretty chuffed at getting to tank a million sherries, but also helluva worried cause Death was acting weird, and at one point he even threatens to abbreviate a page. jfjnpxmy fucked around with this message at 15:56 on Jul 29, 2011 |
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Jul 29, 2011 00:26
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OSheaman posted:I think you're mis-remembering, at least in Mort and Soul Music. In those books he was sober.
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Jul 29, 2011 13:25
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jfjnpxmy posted:He was pretty chuffed at getting to tank a million sherries, but also helluva worried cause Death was acting weird, and at one point he even threatens to abbreviate a page. That's still one of my favourite jokes he's ever done.
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Jul 29, 2011 18:17
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Ok, here's a question that bothers me every time I read the Monstrous Regiment: Polly sits down with Jackrum at the very end, Jackrum mentions being a part of the Thin Red lines that turned aside the charge of the Heavy Brigade - so far, so good, fairly neat conflation of references. Then we get "I saved the imperial flag from four real bastards in Raladan". I've got nothing, the annotated Pratchett people got nothing... is that a reference, and what to if it is?
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Jul 31, 2011 07:48
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Is that not him being a standard bearer and personally killing four men during a backstory-fluff battle? I don't think it's him foiling some sort of conspiracy of people who want to piss on a flag, or something.
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Jul 31, 2011 13:07
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There's a competition to win a copy of Snuff two months before it comes out, it was going to be a Facebook thing but something got messed up, so you just email discworld@transworld-publishers.co.uk with your name and the answer to the question "What is the 25th Discworld novel?" and you get entered.
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Aug 14, 2011 23:38
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Hey guys! Remember that lovely "Which Discworld characters appear in the first chapter of Snuff" thing I posted earlier? I'd like to draw your attention to this page where you can read a sample from Snuff. I'd gather it's around three pages or something like that and sure as hell won't read it, but here you are.
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Aug 15, 2011 13:13
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