Bookish Thoughts

Like the first Science of the Discworld  book, this one alternates between non-fiction chapters and a story about the Discworld wizards exploring our world. The author's classify the non-fiction chapters as extended footnotes for the "story" chapters, and I guess that makes sense of the organization. Though those so-called footnotes are twice as long as the non-footnote material. Where the first book followed a linear time progression from big bang to the creation of life on earth, this one jumps around a bit more in time. As do the wizards. And while it coalesces around certain themes, this book ended up feeling a bit all over the place to me. It's much more thought experiment, being a history of civilization and philosophy and something of an extended argument against religion and for science. Which is all well and good, but it isn't entirely what I was expecting. There were, as always, a few fun tidbits. But this book ended up feeling a little all over the ...

The real draw of The Last Hero  is the artwork. The story itself is fun and interesting. It's probably the best of all the stories that involve Rincewind and Cohen, because those two are best in small doses. But it also does a good job of incorporating all the other characters, from Lord Vetinari and Captain Carrot, to the wizards, the gods, and, of course, Death. And it half seems like that was just so Paul Kidby would have an excuse to draw all of these characters. The story is simple and straight forward, with a classic Pratchett twist. Having read some of his earlier work I have a much greater appreciation for this story. It's still lacking in some ways, and there were a number of characters I wish had been woven into the story (like literally any female character at all who resides on the Discworld). But the artwork is stunning, and that's really what this book is about. The fantastic illustration of the characters, the gods, and the Great A'Tuin.

The Last Continent  is one of my least favorite Discworld  books. It's surpassed only by Eric , and it should come as no surprise that they're both Rincewind books. Rincewind is a frustratingly stagnant character. He does his level best to avoid everything interesting that happens to him. It's a sentiment I can identify with. Given my druthers I'd rather be sitting in a library with a never-ending supply of potatoes, too. But it's not terribly interesting to read about, and it get more and more frustrating with each additional installment in his series. It doesn't help that the Rincewind books largely function as a way to make fun of other cultures. This one centering on Australia. The plot threads never quite come together. Rather, Rincewind runs away from various terrifying creatures, drinks a lot of beer, and can't make heads or tails of the locals. The other wizards wreak havoc wherever they go. And everyone insists that Rincewind has to save the wor...

Interesting Times is arguably the worst of the Discworld books. Eric is my least favorite, but I think that has more to do with my lack of familiarity with Faust than anything else. I miss most of the jokes in that book. But in this one it's not so much that I miss the jokes as that they are awful and insensitive and the whole book is just a vehicle for delivering them. The story focuses on Rincewind, which is the first sign that I won't like it. He's interesting enough in his first books, but he fails to really grow as a character at all, so reading about him gets really repetitive. This time around he gets sent to the Agataen Empire, a conglomeration of Asian stereotypes, where he is expected to lead a revolution. But absolutely no one is interested in him actually doing that. What you end up with is a book that can't decide whether it's making fun of China or Japan because it doesn't seem to understand that there's a difference between the two. A ...

I don't remember liking  Eric  the first time around, and a second read through didn't change my mind. I used to think it was just that I didn't understand the Faust references, but I have a decent handle on those now. It's more Rincewind. Not Rincewind the character, who remains reasonabley likable in all his cowardice and practicality. But the Rincewind books and vehicles for Pratchett to poke fun at other culture, which is offensive at worst and just falls flat at best. Really, the best that can be said about this book is that it's the shortest in the  Discworld  series. Which is a good quality for the worst book to have.

The early part of the Discworld series sure is full of Rincewind. Three of the first five books star him, including Sourcery . It's a little disappointing, since I don't remember liking Rincewind very much. Though I think my dislike of him builds over the course of his series. I also don't really remember reading this book. Which at least means that I probably didn't hate it. To my pleasant surprise, I found myself enjoying this book more than I expected to on the re-read. Rincewind is still at the point that I identify with him. He just wants a quiet, boring life. None of these death-defying adventures that keep tripping him up. And I get that. I'd be perfectly happy with a little cottage and a quiet job in a library. I think it's in his next book that Rincewind really starts to become insufferable. There's a lot in here that I forgot, from the Ice Giants to the genie to the Pedestrians of the Apocalypse (their horses get stolen). It was fu...

I started reading The Light Fantastic before I left on my honeymoon. Then I forgot to pack it and bring it with me. So I came back to it two weeks later with only the vaguest memories of what had happened. But that's mostly okay because this is my second time through the book and the plot is sort of barely-there anyway. The second Discworld book is the only one that functions as a direct sequel to what came before. Rincewind and Twoflower spent The Color of Magic traveling farther and farther from Ankh-Morpork in the their adventures. Now they must race back to save the world from a mysterious star that's threatening to crash into the disc. As plots go it's pretty straight-forward. Everyone, including Rincewind, wants him back in the city. But they all have different ideas about how he's going to get there and what he's going to do when he arrives, so Rincewind continues to run away from nearly everyone he meets. Overall this book is a lot better...

Having almost finished Discworld , it was fun to go back to the beginning and see where it all started, with The Color of Magic . I always made a point of reading these books in publication order, and from the beginning I fully intended to read the entire series. You know, eventually. But it's not like I ever pushed myself through a book I didn't like. I remember enjoying every installment in this series on some level (well except for Eric , but that's just because I never read Faust ). So it was surprising to realize how rough the first book is. There are hints of the direction Discworld will go. We're introduced to some of the basic building blocks, like Ankh-Morpork and the Patrician and the various Guilds. Magic is dying out, but given how rare it is to find it in later books, it still seemed like there was a lot here. What really struck me was how different so many of the characters are. Death hasn't gone through is arc yet and comes off incre...

I've been reading Terry Pratchett's Discworld series for several years now. I actually read my first Discworld novel during my freshman year of college. But then I stopped taking every single class pass/fail and ran out of time to read anything I was being graded on. I didn't get back to the series until after graduation and have spent the last four years occasionally visiting the Discworld. I've read the first 26 (of 39) novels, without seeing much artwork. There aren't any maps included in the books (only an admonishment that you can't map a sense of humor). The covers of the editions I'm reading are fairly abstract. And I haven't sought out the movies or graphic novels. The world existed entirely in my imagination, and I was happy to let it. Then The Last Hero arrived in the mail and I was floored. The book is huge (10.8" x 9.2", according to Amazon) and fully illustrated. The illustrations, by Paul Kidby, are amazing. They...

The Last Continent is the 22nd of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels.  There are currently 38 such novels, with a 39th coming this fall.  Terry Pratchett is planning to continue writing them for as long as he can, and I've heard rumors that his daughter his planning to take over after he dies. If you've never read a Discworld novel, I highly recommend you pick one up.  They are satires set in a fantasy world.  They make fun of everything from rock and roll music to Ancient Egypt, from Christmas to Shakespeare, from affirmative action to opera.  The Last Continent is mostly a satire of Australia (which takes the form of the last continent: XXXX, pronounced EcksEcksEcksEcks), but it also pokes fun at the creation aspect of being a god and the absurdity of rain (water's heavier than air; how does it get up in the sky?).  It even explains how the platypus happened. This is the sixth book in the Rincewind arc, and the Rincewind books tend to ...