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Jedit posted:A Life in Footnotes is out in paperback, for those who were waiting. It's really really good, if a bit harrowing at the end, read it if you haven't.
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Jul 20, 2023 20:07
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The bit towards the end where Terry was terrified of the traffic in the rain because he thought he was being attacked by spaceships was loving harrowing. To even imagine that kind of situation happening to me, let alone someone I care about...
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Jul 20, 2023 21:19
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I went through multiple grandparents going through dementia, I’m not sure I have the heart to read it happening to my favorite author
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Jul 20, 2023 21:24
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It gets pretty brutal towards the end.
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Jul 20, 2023 22:03
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It's unsparing.
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Jul 21, 2023 04:00
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It is a tough read in parts, and yeah it brought back memories of watching my dad dying of a brain tumor. Don't know if that personal resonance made it easier or harder to get through overall. But Rob does a fantastic job relaying the story, warts and all. He in unsparing in telling the story while also not feeling like he's milking every lurid detail for the shock value. It's deeply human and caring. And it does a good job of explaining how Terry wanted to show people what he was going through, unflinchingly, to help others who might face similar situations. It's very impactful, and it did make me feel sad all over again that his life was cut so short. But it also made me feel deeply grateful that he lived and shared so much with us. There is much to take away besides insight into tragedy; if you're a Pratchett fan, it's really really worth the read.
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Jul 21, 2023 19:03
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"I think I was good, but I could have been better" 
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Jul 22, 2023 00:41
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Copied from the main SF&F thread: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dunmanifestin/good-omens Official GN adaptation of Good Omens, illustrated by long time Gaiman collaborator Colleen Doran. £5 discount on the book if you back in the first 24 hours, which is still the case at time of posting.
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Aug 2, 2023 11:44
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Did Kickstarter ever walk back their Blockchain bullshit?
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Aug 2, 2023 12:29
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Osmosisch posted:Did Kickstarter ever walk back their Blockchain bullshit? According to an article from the end of June, yes, they walked it back. They haven't sworn off it but claim they have no plan to move Kickstarter to it at this time.
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Aug 2, 2023 19:07
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https://shop.royalmail.com/special-stamp-issues/terry-pratchetts-discworld
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Aug 4, 2023 06:41
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okay but they should have made a full set of Going Postal stamps
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Aug 4, 2023 07:17
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https://www.discworldemporium.com/product-category/discworld-stamps/
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Aug 4, 2023 09:53
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Sadly the ones I'd want are out of stock For some reason I can't seem to be able to pre-order the collectors sheet from the royalmail site, just says that it failed with no other explanation. Oh well Jusupov fucked around with this message at 10:15 on Aug 4, 2023 |
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Aug 4, 2023 10:07
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Ordered! Thanks!
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Aug 5, 2023 00:14
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Myok posted:According to an article from the end of June, yes, they walked it back. They haven't sworn off it but claim they have no plan to move Kickstarter to it at this time. Thanks! That's nice to hear, though there does still seem some breathing about the bush instead of just dropping the stupid idea. Still, looks like it was mostly the ex-ceo being a weirdo. Good to know I can look at stuff on there again.
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Aug 5, 2023 15:50
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Finally got around to starting A Life With Footnotes and was not expecting it to tear my heart out so quickly.
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Aug 6, 2023 11:59
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Small Gods and Unseen Academicals were the only Discworld books my local library had so I checked them both out. I loved Small Gods but haven’t started Unseen Academicals yet because now that I know I like the series I’m thinking maybe I should start at the beginning. Does it matter or no?
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Aug 13, 2023 02:22
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Sublimer posted:Small Gods and Unseen Academicals were the only Discworld books my local library had so I checked them both out. I loved Small Gods but haven’t started Unseen Academicals yet because now that I know I like the series I’m thinking maybe I should start at the beginning. Does it matter or no? Strictly speaking, no, they're all self-contained but things do progress and people change. But I'd save UA for later.
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Aug 13, 2023 02:29
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UA definitely benefits from reading all the previous books that exist
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Aug 13, 2023 04:13
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agreed. UA is very solidly for me in the category of "want to read a discworld book but I'm running out."
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Aug 13, 2023 05:37
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UA is where Discworld starts getting really weak. I still haven't read Pyramids myself I need to dig into the standalone Discworld stuff by now, man he wrote a lot of books...
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Aug 13, 2023 05:59
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The best Discworld book to read next is "whatever you can get your hands on," but if you've got easy access to them all, then publication order is best. Some books, like Small Gods, are almost entirely self-contained. But some books DO share quite a lot of characters, so reading them out of order can be a bit of whiplash occasionally with regards to character growth. Still, they all work on their own - there are no cliffhangers or complexly woven plots that stretch across multiple books like it was A Song of Ice and Fire or something. Do be aware that the first two books (The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic) are tonally a bit different (less serious, more directly parodying fantasy literature), so if you don't like them as much, don't worry - that ends after those two books.
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Aug 13, 2023 06:01
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Sublimer posted:Small Gods and Unseen Academicals were the only Discworld books my local library had so I checked them both out. I loved Small Gods but haven’t started Unseen Academicals yet because now that I know I like the series I’m thinking maybe I should start at the beginning. Does it matter or no? What else do you like to read, what else are you into? There's probably something Pratchett wrote which will speak to it.
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Aug 13, 2023 09:38
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If you like Small Gods you might enjoy Pyramids
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Aug 13, 2023 09:48
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Trin Tragula posted:What else do you like to read, what else are you into? There's probably something Pratchett wrote which will speak to it. I’m not really even sure. I know there are series within the series like Witches and Night Watch? I typically like more serious stuff (Wheel of Time, Dune series, Expanse series) and couldn’t get into the Hitchhiker’s books, but the Discworld series is so beloved I gotta give it a fair shake.
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Aug 13, 2023 22:45
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Sublimer posted:I’m not really even sure. I know there are series within the series like Witches and Night Watch? I typically like more serious stuff (Wheel of Time, Dune series, Expanse series) and couldn’t get into the Hitchhiker’s books, but the Discworld series is so beloved I gotta give it a fair shake. Thing about the Nights Watch for example is that yeah there’s continuity, but only in a very broad strokes sense, like in one book a character is marrying someone and in a later book they’ve got a kid, so clearly there’s some overarching development there, but internal to the specific book it rarely matters beyond framing that character’s status and journey within the plot of the book. Of course, coming to an earlier book after reading a later one may then have a few things spoiled, but those sort of beats are rarely subtle or unexpected, like you’ll know who’s marrying who pretty darn quick, it’s more about the journey than a surprise twist.
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Aug 13, 2023 23:17
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Sublimer posted:I’m not really even sure. I know there are series within the series like Witches and Night Watch? I typically like more serious stuff (Wheel of Time, Dune series, Expanse series) and couldn’t get into the Hitchhiker’s books, but the Discworld series is so beloved I gotta give it a fair shake. Read the Watch books if you can.
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Aug 13, 2023 23:20
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Seconding the Watch series, if you want more serious stuff the Watch series is the way to go. Though I believe that the Witches series is the best, 100% because of the Tiffany Aching books, Terry's best work
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Aug 14, 2023 00:46
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Witches > Death > Unseen Faculty > Watch in my opinion, but that's fine, you're all allowed to be wrong and I can't stop you. I couldn't pick an absolute favourite but if hard-pressed I might submit Witches Abroad because of the scene where Granny takes advantage of the Law of Contagion going both ways when having the fight with Mrs. Gogol, or Reaper Man because it started the Dark Morris and also has that whole......everything, with the mechanical harvester being pointless because it doesn't love the grain, and what reason has the grain to be, if not for the care of the reaper-man? I did have trouble getting into Unseen Academicals but tbh I am not a sports guy in any way, shape, or form, which is probably why.
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Aug 14, 2023 03:18
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If you don't enjoy the style of HHGTTG, Discworld is probably going to be a bit of a minefield because Pratchett has a lot of the same kind of humor and sensibilities. Watch and Death books are probably the farthest from that style, with Witches and Non-Rincewind Wizards being closer, and Rincewind books basically being Arthur Dent With A Pointy Hat.
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Aug 14, 2023 04:41
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I think it depends on what you don't like about HHGTTG, excluding maybe the Rincewind books none of the Discworld books have the same disregard for coherent narrative and a-b-c storytelling as hhgttg. It might not be immediately clear why one thing leads to another at first but they're usually fairly tightly plotted at least for the sake of a solid joke recurring later, if not the actual plot. To put it another way, hhgttg often goes "thing a happens, and then we random transition to thing b, elsewhere, thing c is happening also for no reason", and Discworld doesn't do that much. They do have a very similar sense of humor though.
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Aug 14, 2023 07:29
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Sublimer posted:Small Gods and Unseen Academicals were the only Discworld books my local library had so I checked them both out. I loved Small Gods but haven’t started Unseen Academicals yet because now that I know I like the series I’m thinking maybe I should start at the beginning. Does it matter or no? unseen academicals isn't very good, and you won't lose anything if you don't read it or any that were published after it DontMockMySmock posted:The best Discworld book to read next is "whatever you can get your hands on," but if you've got easy access to them all, then publication order is best. yeah the first two books are more like general satire with some specific fantasy parodies. some discwordly things are already there, but pratchett really starts making the discworld series unique and good later. mort, wyrd sisters, and guards guards are good starting points. or if you are an avid reader, just start with the first one, the colour of magic
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Aug 14, 2023 09:43
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tl;dr the right way is to start
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Aug 14, 2023 18:32
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Sublimer posted:I’m not really even sure. I know there are series within the series like Witches and Night Watch? I typically like more serious stuff (Wheel of Time, Dune series, Expanse series) and couldn’t get into the Hitchhiker’s books, but the Discworld series is so beloved I gotta give it a fair shake. You'll probably dig Men at Arms, give that a go.
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Aug 14, 2023 20:11
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Actually I'm now curious how UA would land for someone who hasn't read 30+ dw novels
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Aug 15, 2023 05:24
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Mad Hamish posted:I couldn't pick an absolute favourite but if hard-pressed I might submit Witches Abroad because of the scene where Granny takes advantage of the Law of Contagion going both ways when having the fight with Mrs. Gogol, or Reaper Man because it started the Dark Morris and also has that whole......everything, with the mechanical harvester being pointless because it doesn't love the grain, and what reason has the grain to be, if not for the care of the reaper-man? Witches Abroad doesn't get enough love. I particularly enjoyed the "this one" answer. "What can the harvest hope for, if not for the care of the reaper man?" still gets me every time. I'm tearing up a little bit right now.
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Aug 15, 2023 05:37
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CommonShore posted:Actually I'm now curious how UA would land for someone who hasn't read 30+ dw novels That experiment is unethical and should be illegal. Yet another case of the science leaving law behind, trying to keep up.
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Aug 15, 2023 05:53
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mllaneza posted:Witches Abroad doesn't get enough love. I particularly enjoyed the "this one" answer. I just finished re-reading Reaper man last week and I burst into tears at the end. Really hits you different when you understand your own mortality.
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Aug 15, 2023 17:57
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Reaper Man, Catch-22, and Slaughterhouse-Five are my three "these books shaped who I am" picks. Well, pretty much all of pratchett and vonnegut but if I gotta pick it's those ones.
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Aug 15, 2023 22:21
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