Tag: Discworld

Categories
7 books reading

Seven Books Challenge

So I’ve decided to break my long blog hiatus with a new reading project/challenge. Seems appropriate. It’s been one of the most consistent features of my blog since the beginning.

This is inspired by two things:

  • I recently re-read the Harry Potter book challenge posts. (They start here)
  • I watched this video.

What I liked about the old challenge posts was the every day nature of them, a quick summary of where I was. However it also reminded me how brutal some of that period was – all reading all the time until I was sick of it.

Similarly with the video above I liked the idea of it, of someone re-finding a love a reading. But I don’t have the kind of job or reading speed where I can do a book a day.

So I decided to construct a challenge that was about reading every day, about completing a fixed number of books in a short-ish time and would involve blogging every day with the kind of updates I did for the Potter challenge.

So the challenge I’m setting is for 7 specific books (see below) to be read by 7th April. This is the release date of Amongst Our Weapons – the next book in the Rivers of London series.

Without further ado, here’s my list of books with, where appropriate, reasons for picking them:

Doctor Who and the Abominable Snowmen – a novelisation of a “lost” classic Doctor Who story. Quite short (~35,000 words) and on the list because I’d already started reading it.

False Value – book 8 in the Rivers of London series and the next unread one for me.

Thud! – my next unread Discworld book, number 34 overall. I’ve had various plans to finish the DW series since before Pratchett sadly passed. I initially was going to make that the challenge (it’s only 8 books) but I wanted some variety in my list so it’s only the next three.

What Abigail Did that Summer – book 9 Rivers of L. A novella rather than a full novel.

Wintersmith – Discworld book 35.

Wired Love – a short novel (~50,000 words) I’ve been trying to read for a couple of years. To be honest I added this so I didn’t have two DW books back to back. More about this when I read, and blog about, it.

Making Money – Discworld #36. The next (last?) Moist Von Lipwig book. I enjoyed Going Postal so this seemed like a good “landmark” to aim for in lieu of not completely finishing the series (yet!).

As I said I already started reading Abominable Snowmen. However I only read for about 10 minutes last night before falling asleep, so today/tonight will be my first “official” reading day and I’ll do my first post tomorrow.

Categories
book reading reviews

The Wee Free Men – Terry Pratchett

So… Discworld #30 (there are currently 39) so hurray for progress! Maybe I’ll catch up by the end of the year.

Wee Free Men concerns a young girl, Tiffany Aching, who lives in a sheep-farming part of the Disc known as The Chalk. He grandmother was a wise if somewhat awkward old woman who knew a lot about sheep. Tiffany stumbles upon evidence that another world is about to collide with the Disc. It’s not going to be pretty and someone needs to do something. Tiffany decides that someone will be her.

Along the way she’s aided by the Nac Mac Feegle, who are the Wee Free Men of the title. We first met these in Carpe Jugulum and they are, I suppose, entertaining though I could never quite get over the obvious stereotype they draw from.

Wee Free Men is another Discworld YA book and again I had the feeling it wasn’t aimed at me. Doubly so because the protagonist is a young girl and there’s a lot in there about not being taken seriously because you’re a) a girl, b) smart/bookish and c) not interested in being a girly girl. All of which is fair enough and a great thing for its target audience, it’s just not who I am, obviously.

That said I did like Tiffany. I also liked her grandmother, who was similar to but identical with Granny Weatherwax (who makes a brief cameo). It’s no huge spoiler to say that a large part of the book took place in a world where dreams and reality inter-mingle and I felt like I’ve seen that done a lot better, including by Mr Pratchett, before. I did however like the the scene where an over-indulgent queen gives a small child every kind of sweet he could ever want, and he freaks out because as soon as he chooses one he’s automatically not choosing any of the others – which is kind of how I feel about choosing the next book to read 😉

7/10 – a Discworld book about witches – therefore fun.

Categories
book reading reviews

The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents – Terry Pratchett

One of the things I’ve always thought was very clever about the Discworld is that it’s an entire world. It’s big enough, and like the real world, diverse enough that it can cover virtually any type of story. Certainly you can parody gothic horror, classic fantasy, crime fiction and on and on. I mention this because sometimes the only connection between one Discworld novel and the next is that it’s set on the Disc.

The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents is a bit like that. It’s the Discworld’s first ‘YA’ novel and it’s basically a riff on the idea of the Pied Piper, from the point of view of the rats (er and a cat called Maurice). For all that it contains talking animals and a little magic it could easily take place in a generic fantasy world rather than the Disc per se.

Maurice as I said is a cat and a talking one at that. He travels with a band of also talking rats and a ‘stupid-looking’ boy called Keith. Together they perpetrate a scam whereby they turn up at a town, create a very visible nuisance of themselves until Keith offers to play his pipe and lead the rats away, for a reasonable fee. This usually goes very well until they arrive in a town that already seems to have a very serious rat problem and some pretty effective rat-catchers. Soon Keith, Maurice, the rats and a girl they meet along the way are uncovering what’s really going on and it’s not pretty.

When I first started this book I was very aware that the language was aimed at a YA audience. However that faded fairly quickly as I became engrossed in the story. I will say that this is quite dark for a book for younger readers. It does have some disturbing scenes. However the humour is there as are the likeable characters.

I know I often complain that Pratchett has apparent difficulty ending a book and there’s really only two endings here, which is not that many compared to some, but I would have preferred a single show-down/climax and then a coda. That said I enjoyed the book overall. There’s some interesting thoughts here about leading/following, the need for and dangers of stories.

7/10 – a good story that works for old-not-so-YA-ers like ne.

TBR is up again to 255 (from 254) because I had a Christmas Amazon gift token to spend.

Categories
book Read Every Day reading reviews

RED 33: The Last Hero – Terry Pratchett

The Last Hero is the next in my on-going quest to catch up on the Discworld books.

Just like in the legend on our world, fire on the Disc was stolen from the Gods. Cohen the Barbarian, the eponymous hero of the title, has decided it’s time to take it back. Unfortunately this leads to the very real possibility that the Disc will be doomed and so a team from Ankh-Morpork attempt to stop this from happening by launching a spacecraft to loop around the Disc and land on Cori Celesti the home of the Gods.

So essentially what you get is a series of jokes about heroes and getting old (which we’ve seen before but ok) and a pretty decent Apollo 13 parody.

The Last Hero is subtitled “A Discworld Fable“. I’m not quite sure what makes it a fable. Perhaps the publishers were just looking for something to describe it with due to its different format. Which is that it’s a large 176-page book with lots of illustrations and full page pictures. However it’s not a graphic novel and the text is complete in itself. The pictures, as nice as they are and they are very well done, are illustrations only. You could read just the text and not miss out on anything. Also it’s a Discworld story in exactly the same way that any of the others are. It just happens to be shorter. So a novella yes, fable well maybe.

I mention this only because I struggled with the form-factor a little. I’d’ve preferred an ebook or a regular sized paper-back. So the irritation of handling a ‘big book’ for what was an ok-ish but short Discworld story detracted from the overall experience.

I am hoping that the Discworld books, or my enjoyment of them, picks up again. Reading Rivers of London reminds of what it used to be like to read a light, fantasy-themed book with lots of humour and good characters. However for the umpteenth time I must note that I don’t know that it’s Pratchett’s writing that has changed or just that I’m too familiar with it. That said I did enjoy this, just not as much as I’d hoped.

6/10 – a shorter story that could have happily lived in a smaller book imho.



Categories
book Read Every Day reading reviews

RED Book 27: Thief of Time – Terry Pratchett

I originally started this review with “I didn’t plan it but it turns out that my 26th book is Discworld #26 Thief of Time” – except I’d miscounted, it’s my 27th. Anyway this was a book I was looking forward to because I knew that it was a favourite of many people. There’s perhaps one more Discworld book that I am looking forward to in this way and that’s #29, Night Watch.

Thief of Time is a story about the History Monks and how they manage Time on the Disc. It’s about a young apprentice to Lu Tze, the Sweeper, who first appeared in #13 Small Gods. It’s also about the building of a clock so accurate that it follows the tick of the Universe.

I almost don’t know how to review Discworld books any more because I keep coming back to the same themes, that they’re good but I don’t love them like I once did, that I’m not sure if that’s the books or me, that maybe I just know the patterns of humour too well, that they’re always at least pleasant and some are excellent.

So by reputation this was supposed to be an excellent one and whilst it’s toward the better end, particularly of the Discworld books I’ve read lately it didn’t blow me away.

There’s a lot of fun to be had though and I wouldn’t want to put anyone off.

7/10 another reliably good Discworld read.




Categories
book Read Every Day reading reviews

RED Book 24: The Truth – Terry Pratchett

Yay! Discworld #25. And I’m now into the 21st Century with my catch-up.

The Truth is an Ankh-Morpork centred novel about the arrival in the city of the printing press and the newspaper industry. I knew that this was one of Melissa’s less favourite discworld books and so I was prepared for it to be not that great. So maybe partly because of lower expectations I actually quite enjoyed it.

It was a little odd to have a story in which Vimes and Vetinari appeared but were not a huge part of the plot. There were a couple of new characters that seemed to be a bit over the top just for the sake of it. But I quite liked the protagonist, I liked his assistant/romantic interest and I enjoyed a couple of the other minor characters.

My reviews of Discworld books risk getting samey (like the books themselves?) so I’ll leave it there I think. I’ll try to save myself for the books that make more impact, and I believe #26 is supposed to be very good.

7/10 – another fun discworld romp.

Categories
book Read Every Day reading reviews

RED Book 21: The Fifth Elephant – Terry Pratchett

So we’re up to Discworld #24 – only 15 books behind now!

Fifth Elephant is a City Watch novel. Or actually it’s a Vimes book with some appearances by other Watch characters, notably Carrot and Angua.

Vimes is sent as Ankh-Morpork’s ambassador to Uberwald for the coronation of the Dwarves new Low King. However when he gets there he becomes involved in solving a crime, the theft of a precious cultural artefact. This in turns leads to him being embroiled in political machinations and a power struggle between the Dwarves, Vampires and Werewolves who are the various ruling factions of Uberwald. As the plot unfolds Vimes finds himself fighting just to stay alive.

The early part of the story, is centred on this theft which functions both as a pleasing “locked door” mystery, and a gentle fun-poking at the idea of “locked door” mysteries. I enjoyed both elements.

I also liked the character interactions especially between Vimes and Lady Sybil, but also between Carrot and Angua – whose family is from Uberwald (remember she’s a werewolf). As ever Vimes is a character I enjoy, though he is a little too competent at times. However there were at least a couple of how’s-he-going-to-get-out-of-this? situations where it was luck or someone else that effected his escape/rescue rather him just being super-cop.

It’s an interesting problem, perhaps unique to a series like the Discworld books, because if I read this book as a stand-alone I wouldn’t have an issue with Vimes coming out on top – he’s the hero. So despite not having the raw strength of a werewolf, the powers of a vampire, the fighting skills of an assassin or sheer numbers of the dwarves, he wins through, mostly on his wits. As I say this shouldn’t be a problem, and it wouldn’t be…

…except there’s this niggling thing because I know there are other Discworld books where the protagonist is a Wizard or a vampire or an assassin and the story is from their point of view and it seems like magic or the dexterity and skills of a trained killer, or supernatural ability or whatever becomes the final word in competency. And maybe that’s all ok. Maybe it can be any of those things in different stories and really it is just about pov, but somehow I feel like I back in my days of Buffy fan discussion arguing who’s stronger than who, or what[1]. Anyway that’s all probably just me.

This was one of Pratchett’s “many endings” books, which I’ve mentioned before as being a weakness for me. I think I mind it less here but there are several plot strands that get set up and when what I think is the big climatic scene, which ties up say 2 or 3 of them, there are still a few left to wrap – which is does but in a relative sedate fashion. I think at a certain point[2] you have to accept that’s his style and at least live with it.

Overall it’s an enjoyable book. Not my favourite Discworld, not even my favourite Watch book[3] but definitely worth the read.

7/10 – Discworld delivers another solid fun read.

[1] Classic case would be the ‘cage’ in the Library which at various stages contained various monsters, at least one of which managed to escape by forcing his way out and was then bested by another who was never able to get out of that particular cage.
[2]book 24 perhaps?
[3]Guards Guards![4]
[4]at least so far. I’m told Night Watch is excellent.




Categories
6000 pages reading reviews

6000 Pages, Small Gods – Terry Pratchett (pages 329-717)

Having read quite a lot of crime, crime-related and horror over the past year I felt it was time for something lighter, so what better time to go back and fill the gaps in my Discworld reading?

Small Gods is the first of those gaps. Actually I’ve read later Discworld books, but at the time this first came out – when I was still devouring each new Pratchett novel that came out in paper back – I wasn’t sure I wanted to see religion so effectively mocked as I was sure it would be. Weird huh?

Anyway I went back to it after – (checks) – 17 years (wow!).

Small Gods follows the story of Brutha a novice monk in a religion that worships the Great God Om, as he starts to hear the voice of his deity. He is somewhat surprised to find that Om takes the form of a small tortoise. What follows is a satire on religion and the usual romp around the colourful lanscape of the Discworld.

Discworld books in my experience fall into one of two categories. The first are very funny, very affecting and can be thought-provoking and even profound. The second are very funny, amiable and a little forgettable. Small Gods is one of the later kind – a chinese meal of a book – fun while it lasts but in a little while it’s left so little impact that you could easily have another.

What’s good about Small Gods is that it does effectively skewer the kinds of religion that deserve it without really attacking sincere faith. It has something interesting to say about institutional religion and how institutions take on a life of their own that can be oppressive and destructive of those involved in them. I also liked the character of Brutha. Pratchett’s good at creating likeable heroes who aren’t necessarily very smart or skillful or charming or charismatic but have … decency I guess.

What it shares with some of the weaker Discworld books is an inability to get to an ending – it’s not quite Lord of the Rings multiple endings drawn out but I did feel that it was basically done about 50 pages before the book actually ended.

7/10 – a weaker Discworld book which means still a fun, light read.

Pages Read so far: 717