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hanales posted:The city watch is always a favorite but I recommend reading in publish order. You’ll get Easter eggs and references that way that make the world more fun. I'd say this as well unless you fall in love with one set so much you want to chase their whole line down. At least try the others, the Witches are common favorites though Equal Rites is a bit of what makes them great before it really gels. Weatherwax works better with other characters to bounce off of.
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Jan 8, 2020 02:33
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I Shall Wear Midnight? I thought it was fine.
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Jan 9, 2020 04:41
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YggiDee posted:The Shepherd's Crown. Ah, I haven't read that one and forgot about it. Wasn't trying to do some memory-hole joke.
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Jan 9, 2020 19:15
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I've come to like Academicals more on re-reads. Steam... it felt like everyone had the same voice. There were a few moments where the Pratchett diamond shone through (the Railway Children bit) but the rest felt like something was missing.
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Jan 11, 2020 22:27
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I thought it was Cheery on the right?
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Jan 18, 2020 01:15
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SirSamVimes posted:I like how over time, Bloody Stupid Johnson went from making things with extremely dumb proportions (the ho-ho, the Ankh-Morpork landmarks) to feats of incredible engineering (the Unseen University private bathroom) to bending the fabric of reality (Empirical Crescent, The New Pie). He truly perfected his craft, just along a different axis.
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Jan 26, 2020 23:49
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I tend to imagine Vimes as Telly Savalas Kojak.
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Jan 28, 2020 02:07
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u brexit ukip it posted:Now now, there are plenty of movies where his character doesn't die, such as Ronin and, uhm... National Treasure -- just gets arrested Troy -- he's Odysseus, surviving is kinda the point Percy Jackson -- gets his lightning back and leaves. E: last I heard he was at about a 33% death rate, up there with the great monster movie actors like Bela Lugosi, but with a smaller number of films. Bruceski fucked around with this message at 19:26 on Feb 5, 2020 |
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Feb 5, 2020 19:23
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DontMockMySmock posted:I think they're pre-safety-pin fasteners. Like sewing pins, but the head of the pin can be decorative in various ways. They were completely obsoleted by safety pins, zippers, buttons, etc. and no one uses them anymore. Still used in sewing. Safety pins are more annoying to fiddle with when you just need a few extra hands for a minute. Edit: oh, you SAID "like sewing pins". I missed that somehow. 
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Jun 22, 2020 04:15
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Moola posted:It took that exact moment in the podcast to get me to realise it was phoenix "down" I love these moments where you find out there's a disconnect you never even noticed. Something in my upbringing led to feathers being the first way I instinctively parsed it and I'm sitting here wondering how anyone can see it otherwise. I mean, I get that they CAN, it's just hard for me to get into that mindset.
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Aug 3, 2020 22:27
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As for the *actual* topic of conversation, my only complaint about Raising Steam is it felt like the characters all had the same voice. As others have said, a first-draft problem rather than a bad-writing one.
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Aug 3, 2020 22:30
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Gambrinus posted:The striking looking lass with the crossbow is quite something. Assume she's supposed to be Angua? Yup. I think her look would've been great as Nobby instead. Carrot on the right (he and Vimes look great IMO), not sure who the one on the left is. I kinda love a lot of the shots I've seen of that show, but I hate which names are given to the people in them. But that's all road we've traveled before, now I'm just waiting to see how it actually plays out. Bruceski fucked around with this message at 10:27 on Aug 8, 2020 |
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Aug 8, 2020 10:24
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SirSamVimes posted:I only know Greg Davies from the Taskmaster game show but that's enough to say that you are absolutely right. Alex Horne as the Bursar then.
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Aug 18, 2020 04:57
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I think the thread has established by now that while Pratchett is Pretty Dang Good throughout his lexicon there's a tonal shift as the books go on that means some resonate better with some folks than others.
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Sep 10, 2020 10:41
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Doctor Jeep posted:Was that Vimes playing a guitar in a band? Wyld Dragons
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Oct 10, 2020 16:36
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Serperoth posted:Also Terry was the absolute nerd king, wasn't he? He had a knack for collecting trivia. My favorite is the Selachiis and Venturis as old feuding families. Once I learned about the Venturi effect in fluid dynamics it led to some frantic googling to get the rest of the joke.
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Oct 25, 2020 00:24
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Strange Cares posted:I just went down this google hole and god drat it Terry. They were fascinating books to grow up with because as we got older we'd spot a new joke every time we re-read them.
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Oct 25, 2020 01:19
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Beachcomber posted:Haven't both she and Vimes pulled that in the books? Vimes did in Guards Guards. quote:“A streak of green fire blasted out of the back of the shed, passed a foot over the heads of the mob, and burned a charred rosette in the woodwork over the door.
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Dec 12, 2020 00:31
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VanSandman posted:If it were an original series I'd be very interested. Yeah, if I weren't going to be comparing it to the source material every step of the way I'd be pretty hype for this.
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Dec 12, 2020 00:32
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The_Doctor posted:Fan film Troll Bridge is live streaming for free today: That was lovely, thanks.
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Dec 24, 2020 19:05
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toasterwarrior posted:Dang, now that I remember this, yeah, I don't think that's the quote. It could be another Night Watch quote though, because now what comes to mind is roughly "something something about the game, you may not be invited back," in reference to Lord Winder. Thanks though! Something like "those who are sore losers may not be allowed back to play again".
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Jan 7, 2021 06:23
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Colour of Magic and Light Fantastic are almost pure parody of a crude form even beyond later parody-esque books (like Soul Music) where there's enough character going on to drive things. They're good enough if you recognize the things being mocked, but aren't really representative of the rest and tend to be harder reads without character/satire helping to keep things moving.
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Jan 27, 2021 07:30
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I've never been able to decide if Lias being a Big guy who Bops his instrument is an intentional reference or the effect of a kinda generic musician name.
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Mar 25, 2021 19:12
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Jedit posted:The Big Bopper reference is intentional. I've never been able to figure out how or if Glod Glodsson relates to Ritchie Valens, though. That's what was causing me doubts, if two then it's gotta be three, right?
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Mar 25, 2021 19:47
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Oregon has a lot of hiking, yes. Also a lot of weirdos. I used to have a nice walking stick I won in a silent auction, had an owl whittled into it. Wish I could remember where it wound up. If someone asked me that I'd just say "nope, no knob on the end."
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Jun 22, 2021 23:16
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I love rereading Pratchett because there's always something new to notice. Small one today, but in Small Gods when Om is turned over in the sun his panicked thoughts are "I'm on my back and it's getting hotter and I'm going to die!" Jump ahead to the climax of the book where he's hearing Brutha's thoughts and it's the exact same line. I'd gotten the parallels before, but I'd never noticed the echo.
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Aug 2, 2021 18:51
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I think the line about "Black and White lived in perfect harmony, and ganged up on Green" from Equal Rites was the only one where he over-glossed the topic for the sake of a one-liner. Most of the time humans are allowed to be nasty and bigoted at each other, it's just framed as country/region of origin rather than color.
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Aug 20, 2021 14:55
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Yeah, Lavish didn't work for me either. After the wonderful Reacher Gilt in Going Postal made everything feel threatening, Lavish made things feel... annoying? Felt like both the obstacles and takedown were accidental.
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Oct 26, 2021 05:54
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Imagined posted:I'm reading 'The Fifth Elephant' right now, and this bit made literally I've always enjoyed the one in Thud. quote:“Is it?” he insisted. “Is this it? This time I die?”
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Nov 5, 2021 22:25
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YggiDee posted:I was just going by "whatever the local library had available" IMO that's the way to reat Pratchett. Just bounce around all over the place peeking in on the universe at various times.
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Nov 13, 2021 03:48
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Trin Tragula posted:One person's obvious resonance is another person's lateral leap. My favorite one -- probably because I somehow made the connection all on my own -- is the Selachii and Venturi families of Ankh-Morpork, who hate each other. They get a page or so in the spotlight in Night Watch, I believe them and their feud is mentioned in passing a couple of times in earlier books. Anyway, their family names refer to sharks and jet engines, so it's a stealth West Side Story reference. As for Miss Flitworth and the Revenoo, I got that and I got references there and in other books to Death being "the other one", but I never made the connection that the Auditors were truly the other part of that joke.
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Dec 1, 2021 07:41
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The Sweet Hereafter posted:If it helps, think of Soul Music more as the first Susan story, as it's her character that really starts to progress from there on. Hogfather and Thief Of Time are very much Susan books, with Death more as a secondary character who needs her to do something. I have a soft spot for Soul Music simply because it's one of the few Pratchetts I had when I was young and I've read it so many times, but I agree the story is a bit of a halfway house between the type of Death story you've described, and the Susan-gets-things-done stories coming up. It also relies on a lot more specialist jokes, as you say - I loved Moving Pictures for the cinema jokes but I know a lot of people who bounced right off them. Yeah, Soul Music can be fun, but it's an "every sentence is a reference or pun or both, the ones that aren't are just ones you missed" sort of humor that can feel like it's sacrificing the characters for the sake of the joke when usually he goes the other way. I mainly like it because it feels like every time I re-read it I spot something new, it's so dense with references.
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Dec 1, 2021 07:48
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citybeatnik posted:Really do wish that we had more cartoons than that and Wyrd Sisters. I love the animation on those. It's grungy, but in a fun way. Did they (or someone else) do Reaper Man as well? I have some images in my head... Fake edit: looks like a pilot was done but never finished, it's on some of the Soul Music DvDs. MockingQuantum posted:Also I guess it depends on the person as to whether the particular subject matter or media is going to really be an entertaining one to see referenced for an entire book. I'm a big music fan but some of the jokes have kind of fallen flat for me, but on the other hand I work in live theater and absolutely loved Wyrd Sisters and Lords and Ladies, and I could see some of the more obscure references being totally lost or just not funny for someone else. With that background I think you'll either love or hate Maskerade, if you haven't read it yet.
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Dec 1, 2021 23:23
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Chloe Jessica posted:what's yalls favorite Pratchett pun ever and why is it "felonious monk" The Selachi and Venturi families of Ankh as old rival families. The Sharks and the Jets... it's a couple of steps for each one
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Jan 29, 2022 03:04
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Gambrinus posted:Well, gently caress me sideways. My dad would take a Pratchett book with him on every business trip, and when he came home tell us a new pun or reference he'd spotted. They're so full of them I never get tired of re-reading.
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Jan 29, 2022 03:07
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I think Granny works for me because it's aware of the facade, her skill and pride in her skill is at the same time both a strength and a flaw and the books use that well. Stories that see her from the outside, I still find myself able to remember that. Vimes in contrast, anything inside his head (except maybe Snuff, I'm split on that one) works for me, but any viewpoint from the outside is too much. Like his stuff in Raising Steam, you need his denial and inner monologue to make god-Cop stuff like that work.
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Feb 15, 2022 06:39
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Scaramouche posted:I think Moving Pictures and Soul Music's biggest weaknesses, other than the domain knowledge pointed out, is that their primary protagonists are simply not that interesting. Like their internal lives and motivation seem lacking as compared to others. That may be because they were one and done characters, but Maskerade et al have similar lore issues (Phantom, Vampires, the fae) but they're anchored by one Agnes Nitt. Yeah, in Maskerade the references not landing becomes the joke because you have other characters outside the Opera trying to make sense of it. I loved Soul Music and Moving Pictures but I can really understand why they don't click for some folks. They're reference-driven rather than character-driven in their main humor.
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Jun 20, 2022 21:28
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I know I read others before then, but the first one I remember was my dad reading Witches Abroad to me. He liked to do voices when reading, and one scene (the birthday cameo) has stuck in my head. He was a good influence for me getting into them, because he helped me spot some of the various references. The first book reads a lot better if you know the pulp fantasy stuff it's riffing on, for example.
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Aug 8, 2022 06:12
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The reference I feel proud of myself for getting is the Selachii and Venturi families who are rivals in Ankh-Morpork high society. Selachii is the clade for most sharks, and the Venturi Effect is used for some jet pumps. I have no idea where I picked up the knowledge for that one, it sounded familiar when I was reading Night Watch and about a year later things clicked but they're not topics I know well. Bruceski fucked around with this message at 02:19 on Jan 4, 2023 |
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Jan 4, 2023 02:16
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Main thing I noticed for Raising Steam was that nobody had different voices. Usually you could just have the dialogue of a Pratchett book and follow along mostly fine. It's a sad but interesting example of how much effort goes into the editing and polish that he simply didn't have the bandwidth for any more.
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Jan 12, 2023 10:20
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