CmdrKing wrote: ↑Sat Aug 24, 2019 10:22 pm
Witches starts with Equal Rites, which is okay, but all other Witches books are much better.
It's okay to skip to Wyrd Sisters since Granny Weatherwax is also a little different in Equal Rites (and Equal Rites is pretty stand alone except for her). It's the lack of Nanny Ogg and Magrat in that one. Incidentally I wonder if someone has requested a Wyrd Sisters review?
Also, I loved that Chuck referenced Sourcery while explaining eighth son of an eighth son. It's probably the weakest Discworld novel but I quite liked it.
Rocketboy1313 wrote: ↑Sat Aug 24, 2019 7:26 pm
This is the only Discworld book I have ever purchased and attempted to read.
I got up to (I think) chapter 8 (I recall a little demon popping out of the camera and saying they were out of pink) before I put the book down and never went back.
Yeah, the first couple books are really different from the rest. They're kind of broad parody farce making fun of the tropes at the time, silliness for the sake of being silly,and they don't go much deeper than that. It takes a couple books before Pratchett starts really putting his own touch and heart to things and really starts to have a voice and make the world his own rather than just a parody.
There is an interview which I believe to be Desert Island Discs where he says something along the lines of: ''fantasy books at the time were written by the people inspired by the people who were inspired by the people who were inspired by Tolkien.''
Basically, fantasy especially at that time but even today to an extent is just Tolkien. Regardless of what different names you've given them, you got elves and dwarfs and orcs and wizards and probably a magical mcguffin that drives the plot. Pratchett wanted to take the piss out of that and take the piss he did. It was only after a couple of books that he got bored of that and developed the series.
Rocketboy1313 wrote: ↑Sat Aug 24, 2019 7:26 pm
This is the only Discworld book I have ever purchased and attempted to read.
I got up to (I think) chapter 8 (I recall a little demon popping out of the camera and saying they were out of pink) before I put the book down and never went back.
It was a little too dense with shtick for me. I liked all of the bits, but there seemed like there was no break between all the insane-goofy for me to just chill out and process what I was reading.
From the description in the video (that what Discworld started out as and what it became) I guess this was the wrong book to start with.
Is there a preferred, "START HERE" book for newcomers? Because I have seen so many ideas from the setting discussed in a manner that makes me curious that I WANT to like it, but... there are so many god damned books...
It is like the Harry Dresden problem I have, where everyone keeps telling me, "It gets good around book X, but you need to read the early books to see everything being set up"... and I read the first 3 and was like, "Okay, it is fine, I guess, I understand why people like it."
There have been some good suggestions for start here books, my suggestion is that you pick the books that he wrote whilst in good health. It is generally agreed that once he got ill, Pratchett started to get more heavy handed with his political and religious views and the general tone got darker. Which is fine if those things do not bother you but others found them to be wanting. Its not a Discworld book, but ''Nation'' is notorious for being a sermon.
Rocketboy1313 wrote: ↑Sat Aug 24, 2019 7:26 pmIs there a preferred, "START HERE" book for newcomers? Because I have seen so many ideas from the setting discussed in a manner that makes me curious that I WANT to like it, but... there are so many god damned books...
Guards! Guards! is where it all comes together. If that one doesn't hook you, then skip the rest of the series because it's not for you.
I too agree with the common consensus. Guards! Guards! is a good book, written fairly early on in the series, and is the start of a long subseries, so it's a good jumping on point.
As someone who read them all in order, I greatly enjoyed them all. But if you want a developed starting point I have to say they are right with Guards! Guards!, and that subgroup I feel shows the most development over time and by that book Pratchett is showing what he's learned and it's more about the story and characters than it is about jokes.
jadenova wrote: ↑Sat Aug 24, 2019 10:12 pm
Can we talk about the casting problem of Rincewind? In the book he is a youngish guy and here he is played by an old man.
We already talked about it.
The "old man" is David Jason and he's a highly respected TV actor in the UK, so he was cast for the gravitas he brought to the role, or maybe they just couldn't find anyone else that they liked.
Guards! Guards! has been mentioned several times now so I'll just chuck my opinion in that agrees with it. It's the point where the series seems to have found its feet and its style. It all started off as a typical medieval setting but by that point had gained the more Dickensian feel that it stuck with, even though that developed further later.
