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I read them in pretty random order up until Feet Of Clay (or possibly the one before that), and then I've read them as they come out. It didn't hurt my experience at all, except for reading Men At Arms before Guards Guards and later on reading Witches Abroad, then Lords and Ladies, then Wyrd Sisters. Even so, that was only slightly weird, since it's easy to see the previous books as prequels if you gently caress up and read the later ones first. Oops, I read Eric sometime after Carpe Jugulum, but since it stands on it's own, it didn't really make a difference.
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Jun 15, 2011 10:53
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I also read them in random order at first and had no problem with it. Whenever I had to take train for example I would just buy a random Discworld book.
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Jun 15, 2011 13:24
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I tried to read them in publishing order, but it was pretty off-putting, since the first seven or so books are unbelievably lovely. Then I started reading them at random, it worked out so much better.
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Jun 15, 2011 22:01
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Dr I am a Doctor posted:I tried to read them in publishing order, but it was pretty off-putting, since the first seven or so books are unbelievably lovely. Then I started reading them at random, it worked out so much better. Since Mort and Wyrd Sisters are both in the first six books, I'm going to have to vehemently disagree with you.
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Jun 16, 2011 08:15
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AlphaDog posted:Since Mort and Wyrd Sisters are both in the first six books, I'm going to have to vehemently disagree with you. Apart from those two, I'd say that I'd include include Guards, Guards! and then expand the amount of books you'd be able to skip to Reaperman. I do like The Colour of Magic, but mostly because it establishes the universe and not so much because it's good. I don't think there's a single book, counted from Reaperman, that's as not-stellar as the first 7 books (excluding the ones previously mentioned).
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Jun 16, 2011 08:43
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AlphaDog posted:Since Mort and Wyrd Sisters are both in the first six books, I'm going to have to vehemently disagree with you. Two or three of the first lot are spotty but indeed, the rest are gold. Especially Mort and Guards! Guards!
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Jun 16, 2011 10:51
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Also, I don't think I'd call any Pratchett book "unbelievably lovely", even the few I didn't really care for. The early Discworld stuff was fairly clever fantasy parody, especially in the 80s. I really didn't like The Carpet People much, but I still wouldn't call it lovely, especially for a first novel. Everything else has been average or above, really.
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Jun 16, 2011 12:53
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I think everyone agrees that it was just after Mort/Wyrd Sisters that Pratchett found his own voice instead of just mocking fantasy. Color of Magic/Light Fantastic/Equal Rites/Sourcery aren't very good "stories" at all, and just parody one fantasy cliche after another. Pyramids, too, seems lost at times. Even Wyrd pushes it a bit, being a big Shakespearean parody, but that seemed to have a cohesive narrative to it. By the time Guards! Guards! came out, that's when Discworld was definitely on the right track. Moving Pictures being just a slight setback. Mister Roboto fucked around with this message at 13:16 on Jun 16, 2011 |
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Jun 16, 2011 13:02
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I might be the only person on the planet who liked Equal Rites but didn't like Mort. That might be because Granny is hands-down my favorite character (neck and neck with Vimes), though. And Death's daughter annoyed the poo poo out of me in Mort. I'm glad she existed because I also like the Susan books, but she grates on me so much. Edit: Then again I think I'm one of the few for whom Thief of Time would crack the Top 5 favorite Pratchett books so I might just be a weirdo. 
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Jun 16, 2011 13:14
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Sophia posted:I might be the only person on the planet who liked Equal Rites but didn't like Mort. That might be because Granny is hands-down my favorite character (neck and neck with Vimes), though. And Death's daughter annoyed the poo poo out of me in Mort. I'm glad she existed because I also like the Susan books, but she grates on me so much. I quite like Mort, but I also loved Equal Rites, which I admit is not a common thing. Granny and Vimes are my favorite characters too, and I hope they never interact.
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Jun 16, 2011 13:16
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Speaking of older Discworld books, has anyone actually READ the original Eric? Not the written book, the original graphic novel it was conceived as. I've never seen it anywhere, nor heard of anyone owning it. Might be the one Discworld book I need for my collection...
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Jun 16, 2011 13:18
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Isn't the original Eric called Faust?
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Jun 16, 2011 13:20
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SeanBeansShako posted:Isn't the original Eric called Faust? Never heard of it...
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Jun 16, 2011 13:23
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Mister Roboto posted:Never heard of it... Odd really but it was really big in Europe for the last few hundred years. Books and Operas big. I suspect every folk song about the dude doing something with the devil was inspired by it. Also, I thought Terry did a good job taking the piss out of eighties fantasy before finding his own voice too.
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Jun 16, 2011 13:27
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SeanBeansShako posted:Isn't the original Eric called Faust? 
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Jun 16, 2011 14:18
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AlphaDog posted:Also, I don't think I'd call any Pratchett book "unbelievably lovely", even the few I didn't really care for. Anyway, sorry, I overreacted. And forgot about Mort, too
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Jun 16, 2011 15:09
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God I hate the Kirby looking trolls. So much.
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Jun 16, 2011 15:28
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SeanBeansShako posted:God I hate the Kirby looking trolls. So much. Trolls are grey not yellow 
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Jun 16, 2011 16:15
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Mister Roboto posted:Speaking of older Discworld books, has anyone actually READ the original Eric? The first version of Eric I ever read was like the Last Hero, an illustrated novel that my local library had a copy of about fifteen years back. Not my favourite Discworld book, in fact at times it read more like Tom Holt if I'm being completely honest but the illustrations were kind of fun though if you hate the Kirby covers then you're not going to dig it.
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Jun 16, 2011 16:16
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I know that I must have read Eric a long time ago but I have really no memory of the story (though I have the gist of it if it's based off of Faust). What do people think of it? Is it good / bad / mediocre?
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Jun 16, 2011 16:18
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Sophia posted:I know that I must have read Eric a long time ago but I have really no memory of the story (though I have the gist of it if it's based off of Faust). What do people think of it? Is it good / bad / mediocre? It established that Rincewinds ancestor was the master mind behind the Discworld version of the Trojan Horse. That is all I remember anyway. Only read it once around 2003.
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Jun 16, 2011 16:28
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I'm rereading the entire series in published order, I started when I Shall Wear Midnight came out but stalled at Soul Music for some time (I couldn't find it and didn't remember liking it that much). So Eric is somewhat fresh in my mind, it's ok but it's only 200 pages so it takes about an hour and a bit to read which seems pretty crazy. I'm just nearing the end of Thief of Time now so I'm in the non stop awesome story block already and it's just going to keep getting better. I might try to time it so that I finish ISWM again just in time for Snuff.
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Jun 16, 2011 16:34
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Sophia posted:I know that I must have read Eric a long time ago but I have really no memory of the story (though I have the gist of it if it's based off of Faust). What do people think of it? Is it good / bad / mediocre? I liked Pratchett's versions of Hell. One version is like an episode of the Office (Astfgl is pretty much Michael Scott) and the other version is a place where the souls of people pretend to be tortured. The idea of the Tezumen, a tribe who awaited return of their god just so they could kill him because they blamed him for their miserable existence, was also pretty neat. Alhazred fucked around with this message at 17:16 on Jun 16, 2011 |
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Jun 16, 2011 16:35
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AlphaDog posted:Also, I don't think I'd call any Pratchett book "unbelievably lovely", even the few I didn't really care for. The only Discworld book I think is genuinely bad is Monstrous Regiment, mostly because the joke is predictable and old by the time you're a third of the way through the book. Otherwise there are a few that I don't like -- the early Death books especially -- but they're still good books, they're just not to my taste. Monstrous Regiment though I honestly think is a failed work. Even Homer nods.
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Jun 16, 2011 16:46
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Sophia posted:Is it good / bad / mediocre? There are no bad discworld novels, nor mediocre. So I'll just say it's not amazing.
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Jun 16, 2011 17:03
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LooseChanj posted:There are no bad discworld novels, nor mediocre. edit: which for the record I liked. Although the joke at the end went on a bit too far.
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Jun 16, 2011 17:08
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Monstrous Regiment owned, sorrySophia posted:I know that I must have read Eric a long time ago but I have really no memory of the story (though I have the gist of it if it's based off of Faust). What do people think of it? Is it good / bad / mediocre? It has the best version of Hell I've ever read, plus the Sisyphus joke is great.
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Jun 16, 2011 17:12
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:
I like Monstrous Regiment. For one thing it proves Truffaut wrong, it is possible to make a work of fiction that is anti war without glorifying it.
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Jun 16, 2011 17:15
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Sophia posted:I know that I must have read Eric a long time ago but I have really no memory of the story (though I have the gist of it if it's based off of Faust). What do people think of it? Is it good / bad / mediocre? I rate it as slightly poorer than Sourcery for what it's worth.
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Jun 16, 2011 17:21
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Well if it's that short it sounds like I might as well grab it and speed through it, geez. Even if it's not great it couldn't have been that horrible if I don't remember it, and it sounds like a lot of people in here enjoyed it. I also liked Monstrous Regiment, though as everyone else says the joke drags on too long at the end. I enjoyed the fresh characters and country quite a bit, and Polly was probably my favorite standalone protagonist except for Brutha. Moving Pictures is easily my least favorite Discworld book. It's even under CoM/LF.
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Jun 16, 2011 17:40
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Sophia posted:
Yeah, this one I don't get; I think Moving Pictures is great if only for the characters it introduces, especially Gaspode.
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Jun 16, 2011 20:41
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I liked Moving Pictures alot more after I took film classes and got more of the references. I expect it's the same with Soul Music and knowing alot about that stuff.
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Jun 16, 2011 20:54
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thebardyspoon posted:I liked Moving Pictures alot more after I took film classes and got more of the references. I expect it's the same with Soul Music and knowing alot about that stuff. Yeah, I could see that -- I took a lot of film classes back in the day.
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Jun 16, 2011 20:58
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I honestly can't tell if you're taking the piss or not, I did film analysis at college but what I meant was watching old films and reading about the early days of Hollywood. Which I did in that course.
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Jun 16, 2011 21:03
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What irritated me about Moving Pictures was the Flintstone'ish tech. Vimes' personal organizer annoys me for the same reason. Soul Music suffers from the same sort of out of place shoehorned memes. Like trying to do rock stuff in a world without electricity.
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Jun 16, 2011 21:04
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LooseChanj posted:What irritated me about Moving Pictures was the Flintstone'ish tech. Vimes' personal organizer annoys me for the same reason. Soul Music suffers from the same sort of out of place shoehorned memes. Like trying to do rock stuff in a world without electricity. Yeah, the Dis Organiser has two things going for it - the rather good pun in the name, and the bit in Jingo where it gives Vimes updates for the parallel world where he made the opposite decision, of all the watchmen dying. The imp PDA is poo poo every other time.
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Jun 16, 2011 21:13
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Yeah, this one I don't get; I think Moving Pictures is great if only for the characters it introduces, especially Gaspode. Gaspode is pretty great, but the main human characters (Victor? Sally?) really irritated me. I'm not really sure what it was about it but I didn't even really remember chuckling at it that much. Even the wizards weren't very funny. It could be that I'm not a film buff; I'd never thought about that angle!
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Jun 16, 2011 22:05
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Sophia posted:Gaspode is pretty great, but the main human characters (Victor? Sally?) really irritated me. I'm not really sure what it was about it but I didn't even really remember chuckling at it that much. Even the wizards weren't very funny. It could be that I'm not a film buff; I'd never thought about that angle! Moving Picture reminds me of something. It seems like the plot of almost all the early books has something to with the Dungeon Dimension, but nowadays no one even mentions it. Not even in Thud! a book with a villain that seems like it would fit right in there.
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Jun 16, 2011 22:24
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John Charity Spring posted:Yeah, the Dis Organiser has two things going for it - the rather good pun in the name, and the bit in Jingo where it gives Vimes updates for the parallel world where he made the opposite decision, of all the watchmen dying. That side-story gave such an unexpected weight to an already amazing book. I won't lie. If there's any side-character I can picture perfectly and want to come back, it's 71-Hour Ahmed. And Susan with Lobsang in tow, but I still can't picture Lobsang at all.
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Jun 16, 2011 23:12
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I always kind of pictured Lobsang as Cameron from Ferris Bueller, but more Asian. 71-hour Ahmed owns though. I'd also like to see Didactylos come back sometime. I like cynics.
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Jun 16, 2011 23:34
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