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Hedrigall posted:Preordering is often the worst thing. The amount of times I've preordered a book only to then stare jealously at it in bookstores while I wait a week or more for it to come in the mail... IME amazon ships pre-orders so that they arrive at your door on release day.
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Nov 8, 2013 03:42
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MikeJF posted:I just had the mental image of the Witches handling a murder mystery on a train. It was glorious. Oh my god, this.
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Nov 8, 2013 04:29
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UnquietDream posted:I'm not too keen on the whole 'Capitalism makes everyone's lives better' but that seems to be a message that Pratchett keeps pushing in all of his books. Haven't read Raising Steam yet, but I got the opposite impression from the other Moist books. Going Postal had a corporate pirate running a murderous cartel as the main villain, and the Lavishes and Rusts are pretty damning indictments of the embedded upper class. In fact, with Vetinari pulling the strings, the story seems to favour benevolent government intervention in the economy quite a bit.
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Nov 8, 2013 07:20
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Professor Dog posted:Haven't read Raising Steam yet, but I got the opposite impression from the other Moist books. Going Postal had a corporate pirate running a murderous cartel as the main villain, and the Lavishes and Rusts are pretty damning indictments of the embedded upper class. In fact, with Vetinari pulling the strings, the story seems to favour benevolent government intervention in the economy quite a bit. Vetinari never denied he is a dictator, but he's also one who seems genuinely benevolent towards the city-state. Which means he'd be willing to cut the fat to keep the body healthy. Benevolent Dictatorships, as a political concept, aren't that bad. Too bad people get old and die and their offspring aren't necessarily as good.
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Nov 8, 2013 07:21
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Good thing Vetinari has no heirs, save for whoever he's picking out to be the best to take care of the city when he's gone.
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Nov 8, 2013 08:01
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Hedrigall posted:Preordering is often the worst thing. The amount of times I've preordered a book only to then stare jealously at it in bookstores while I wait a week or more for it to come in the mail... I tried preordering it as an E-book for the first time, and it actually worked out pretty well. The US and Canadian hardcovers aren't out yet, whereas overseas shipping from the UK is heinously expensive and would still take six days or so. Instead this morning I got an email that said 'hey you got a book' and it magically appeared on my Kobo.
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Nov 8, 2013 08:08
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veekie posted:Good thing Vetinari has no heirs, save for whoever he's picking out to be the best to take care of the city when he's gone.
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Nov 8, 2013 08:11
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Professor Dog posted:Haven't read Raising Steam yet, but I got the opposite impression from the other Moist books. Going Postal had a corporate pirate running a murderous cartel as the main villain, and the Lavishes and Rusts are pretty damning indictments of the embedded upper class. In fact, with Vetinari pulling the strings, the story seems to favour benevolent government intervention in the economy quite a bit. Ok thematic spoilers here, no plot or characters really but you have been warned; Now that I've had a night to think about it I think I can collect my thoughts more reasonably. Normally in Pratchett the stuff I don't approve of is more subtext while here its just text. Throughout the book you have the very Golem like thought that work sets you free and makes you better. This isn't nesseraily bad, but it becomes problematic when there is no counterpoint. In Discworld as a whole starvation is never an issue and the Morporkian Dream is seen as undeniably achievable where its real life equivalent is just a load of pretty bollocks. What you end up with is species who are freed from their former roles end up working harder and importantly succeeding. The message then seems to be free those in slavery, they'll still end up working for the gentry but working harder and longer because they want to. If Pratchett ever presented someone struggling and failing in spite of their hard work and effort then I'd be more sympathetic to the speeches about the virtue of hard work in this book. Ironically the one instance that I can think of where the above was the case is that of the poor matchstick girl in The Hogfather, ironic because Death himself could not allow her to die.
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Nov 8, 2013 10:09
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withak posted:IME amazon ships pre-orders so that they arrive at your door on release day. Havn't ever had that happen here in germany. At the same time most of the bookstores in town don't give a drat about embargos and street dates for anything smaller than harry potter "we;ll sue you for everthing you own if you think about breaking this".
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Nov 8, 2013 10:26
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veekie posted:Good thing Vetinari has no heirs, save for whoever he's picking out to be the best to take care of the city when he's gone. I think he's been doing his best to make sure it doesn't matter. Strong police and civil service and government organisations, setting things up so the system will keep on ticking along regardless of who's at the top.
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Nov 8, 2013 10:29
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withak posted:In case anyone didn't know: In the Kindle management settings on amazon.com, under "country settings", you can change your address to 10 Downing Street, order the ebook from amazon.co.uk, then change the address back to your previous address. Just to ask the possibly silly question, there isn't any sort of region control that would restrict you from freely using it on an US device? I really haven't had to learn the first thing about ebooks so far 
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Nov 8, 2013 14:51
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MikeJF posted:I think he's been doing his best to make sure it doesn't matter. Strong police and civil service and government organisations, setting things up so the system will keep on ticking along regardless of who's at the top. Yeah but he'd need people in charge of these things who can't be corrupted or suborned. They need to be able to resist his would-be successors before they can develop to be strong enough to become fixtures in their own right, yet have power dispersed, so no one nut can change things back to where it was before.
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Nov 8, 2013 15:39
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withak posted:In case anyone didn't know: In the Kindle management settings on amazon.com, under "country settings", you can change your address to 10 Downing Street, order the ebook from amazon.co.uk, then change the address back to your previous address. Just did this today; still works flawlessly. Also works for Neal Asher's "Jupiter War," which is out for a month in the UK and won't be out until next May US.
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Nov 8, 2013 16:41
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JerryLee posted:Just to ask the possibly silly question, there isn't any sort of region control that would restrict you from freely using it on an US device? The only restriction is on buying. Once you buy the ebook it doesn't care what your address is.
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Nov 8, 2013 16:45
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withak posted:The only restriction is on buying. Once you buy the ebook it doesn't care what your address is. Cheers. After a very brief fake life as a member of the Prime Minister's staff, I have the ebook.  Impression so far is that the distorted prose characterized by a lot more monologuing and awkward words is still present just as it was in Snuff, but for all that it's still a very nice read. So far Moist is the character who still seems most like himself, which probably says something. 
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Nov 9, 2013 04:20
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withak posted:In case anyone didn't know: In the Kindle management settings on amazon.com, under "country settings", you can change your address to 10 Downing Street, order the ebook from amazon.co.uk, then change the address back to your previous address. Thanks! Thought I was screwed because I'm using an android app rather than a kindle proper, but it worked just as well.
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Nov 9, 2013 06:33
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I have read almost all of Terry Pratchett's books, including all of Discworld through Unseen Academicals, the Bromedliad Trilogy, Nation and Strata. So I can call myself a fan, I think. The other week I got Snuff at a library book sale. And I started reading it, got a few pages in, put it down, picked it up again, got a few pages in, and...put it down again. It used to be that I could get a Discworld book, pick it up and finish it in an afternoon and want more. I guess my problem is that Pratchett seems kind of glib to me now. I always thought it was funny and amusing the way he would describe things in simple terms. But now it seems more simplistic than simple. His explanations of the world and its customs seem more like "wise old uncle" apologetics. Has Pratchett changed, or am I just noticing stuff now? Am I the only one who thinks that the serious character development has perhaps gotten a bit TOO serious?
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Nov 10, 2013 02:55
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He's dying of Alzheimers. He announced this in 2007, but I think his books have been off to one extent or another since Going Postal in 2004, and this has largely been hidden by most of his books in that time period focusing on new unestablished characters.
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Nov 10, 2013 03:20
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pseudorandom name posted:He's dying of Alzheimers. Although strangely enough, the books aren't showing signs of dementia, the are almost showing signs of the opposite. They are becoming a bit more predictable and safe. How much do we know about who is really writing the books? Is he coming up with outlines and having help putting the book together, or is it all still him? Also, my critique shouldn't be a sign that I am disrespecting him, especially since he has a terminal illness. I just wonder if anyone else is feeling some of the magic missing?
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Nov 10, 2013 03:45
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As far as we know, he's still doing the writing except that it's mostly by dictation and he's reliant on others to edit.
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Nov 10, 2013 04:47
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And that's because he's no longer capable of reading. 
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Nov 10, 2013 07:48
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The dictation really comes across in Snuff, too. The dialogue sounds organic and real, but everybody communicates in huge monologues. I think it's because monologues are a lot more fun to dictate and Pratchett gets caught up in it. Also it has a really weak plot, but so did Making Money. It happens sometimes.
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Nov 11, 2013 05:16
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Alzheimers can have a very slow progression. My grandmother was on a very slow decline for like 15 years until it finally killed her.
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Nov 11, 2013 07:14
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I picked up Raising Steam today, had to wait until I got paid. It's certainly much better than Snuff, but there's certain periods where people do act pretty out of character, and some of the dialogue and scenes just seem to... exist, with no substance to them at all. Edit: I especially did like the Reaper Man callback at the start, and the few other throwbacks in there. Crumpet fucked around with this message at 20:39 on Nov 11, 2013 |
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Nov 11, 2013 20:31
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glowing-fish posted:Although strangely enough, the books aren't showing signs of dementia, the are almost showing signs of the opposite. They are becoming a bit more predictable and safe. Most of the thread has been discussing this. Changing from written word to spoken word has definitely changed things. I'm of the theory that it's also his editors who are, understandably, being far nicer and less vicious with their knife. Pratchett is a good man and likely a good friend, and after 30 years of success, they don't have the heartlessness to push and criticize the poor man in his declining years. How do you ask someone you respect to go back and redo it AGAIN 20 times a day when he's clearly tired and doing it for the love of his craft? There's also a theory that he's having Rhianna ghostwrite a bit. This may explain why the characters are slightly "off." I can't say for sure, but it would not surprise me at all.
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Nov 11, 2013 23:51
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Mister Roboto posted:I'm of the theory that it's also his editors who are, understandably, being far nicer and less vicious with their knife. Pratchett is a good man and likely a good friend, and after 30 years of success, they don't have the heartlessness to push and criticize the poor man in his declining years. How do you ask someone you respect to go back and redo it AGAIN 20 times a day when he's clearly tired and doing it for the love of his craft? I agree with you but at the same time I find it really weird that they're doing that because in the past he's talked about just how crucial his editors are to the process, and that the bulk of his stuff, they wouldn't be half the books they are if he'd been all "gently caress you I don't need editors I'm perfect." Maybe it's just me but if I cultivated that kind of relationship with my editors I'd be really mad and think it was super disrespectful if I found out they started easing up on me. Maybe he just hasn't found out.
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Nov 12, 2013 03:52
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Mister Roboto posted:
It's plausible ... he's bequeathed the rights to Discworld to her already; maybe it's a transition of sorts for Discworld from Terry to Rhianna
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Nov 12, 2013 06:25
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I was rather disappointed with Raising Steam for two reasons. First, it's just not very funny and second almost every single 'good' character is portrayed as some kind of unstoppable fighting badass at one point or another; it just reads like some kind of bad fan service/wish fulfilment exercise. I think this is a problem Pratchett's had every time he's tried to focus heavily on social commentary - the righteousness sort of bludgeons the comedy and fun into non-existence.
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Nov 12, 2013 12:51
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LemonDrizzle posted:I was rather disappointed with Raising Steam for two reasons. First, it's just not very funny and second almost every single 'good' character is portrayed as some kind of unstoppable fighting badass at one point or another; it just reads like some kind of bad fan service/wish fulfilment exercise. I think this is a problem Pratchett's had every time he's tried to focus heavily on social commentary - the righteousness sort of bludgeons the comedy and fun into non-existence. I agree with this. I'm 17% through now and I'm just not having fun. There's no standout or fun characters. Where's a Stanley or a Grout? Even Moist is bland. Also the antagonist is radical
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Nov 12, 2013 13:06
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Canuckistan posted:I agree with this. I'm 17% through now and I'm just not having fun. There's no standout or fun characters. Where's a Stanley or a Grout? Even Moist is bland. Also the antagonist is radical Pretty much. I finished it yesterday, and I got the feeling it would have worked better as a collection of short stories, around the ides of the Disc's first train. The actual plot is pretty disjointed, hopping from place to place and mixed in with side-anecdotes and what seems like a 'best-of' collection of characters, without really letting anyone shine. Still a fun book, with plenty of great moments in it, but the overall narrative was a bit lacking.
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Nov 12, 2013 15:58
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Canuckistan posted:Also the antagonist is radical I kind of thought they were meant to emulate/ be drawn from radical orthodox jews, what with the grags covering themselves up and declaring that the non traditional dwarves in AM and elsewhere were not dwarfish.
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Nov 12, 2013 16:10
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Elfface posted:Pretty much. Re-read the ending. It reads like a farewell with a new door opening.
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Nov 12, 2013 19:11
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Geokinesis posted:I kind of thought they were meant to emulate/ be drawn from radical orthodox jews, what with the grags covering themselves up and declaring that the non traditional dwarves in AM and elsewhere were not dwarfish. I don't know much about them, but do radical orthodox jews radicalize younger people into doing the dirty work? I'm away from the book but there's a line about young dwarves being encouraged to attack the towers while the older dwarves do the planning. Perhaps it's not meant to be a specific religion but any radicalized point of view. In any case I'll slog it out. I missed the Reaper Man reference at the beginning. Can someone refresh my memory?
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Nov 12, 2013 21:48
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Canuckistan posted:In any case I'll slog it out. I missed the Reaper Man reference at the beginning. Can someone refresh my memory? It's Simnel's dad who built the mechanical harvester thing which inexplicably broke down.
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Nov 12, 2013 23:59
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Canuckistan posted:I don't know much about them, but do radical orthodox jews radicalize younger people into doing the dirty work? I'm away from the book but there's a line about young dwarves being encouraged to attack the towers while the older dwarves do the planning. Perhaps it's not meant to be a specific religion but any radicalized point of view. Your last sentence is 100% correct.
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Nov 13, 2013 00:23
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Hadn't that been an ongoing subplot in Fifth Elephant->Thud at least? That people were turning to the old conservative traditions because they are confused and uncertain in the rapidly changing world, with the hardcore conservatives meanwhile are reacting against the changing world by digging their heels in.
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Nov 13, 2013 07:50
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No, no, anything I find different about the new book (no matter if it's been an ongoing theme from earlier books that I forgot about) are simply because of bad editing/it's being ghostwritten/Alzheimers and The One True Book has now gone forever and can never be recaptured. In other news my copy should be arriving tommorrow, here's hoping it's not as rainy as it was today, I don't want a new book with water damage. 
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Nov 13, 2013 08:32
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Sapient. Sapient. Sapient.
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Nov 14, 2013 01:00
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I'd categorize it as a solid Pratchett book, not one of the best, but still very much worth a read. One issue is that it seems like Pratchett makes references to previous books more and more often nowdays, and in some cases they feel shoehorned in. Harry King is a good example, he's a good character, but I don't know why Pratchett chose to give him such a huge role in this book rather than invent someone new. I think it might be time to step away from Ankh-Morpork for a while and set the next few books somewhere else.
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Nov 14, 2013 01:25
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Konstantin posted:I'd categorize it as a solid Pratchett book, not one of the best, but still very much worth a read. One issue is that it seems like Pratchett makes references to previous books more and more often nowdays, and in some cases they feel shoehorned in. Harry King is a good example, he's a good character, but I don't know why Pratchett chose to give him such a huge role in this book rather than invent someone new. I think it might be time to step away from Ankh-Morpork for a while and set the next few books somewhere else. Harry fits the role pretty well though. His rise through society has been a background story through several books now. I'd like a non-AM book too. I'm not sure where he'd set it though.
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Nov 14, 2013 07:21
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