posted
Well, if you haven't looked at it, in this column OSC extolls the virtues of a new book he was reccomended--Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair (by the way, if you read this, zip through Lost in a Good Book and head straight for The Well of Lost Plots, the former good in general and the latter fantastic for writerly types). He also mentioned he's about to start Thud!, by Terry Pratchett.
As a sworn fan of Pratchett and Fforde, this is one of those reviews that just made me happy inside to read. It's always nice to see someone else hooked on a book you like, and when they're the type what can get others a'reading it, well, that's pretty awesome.
So . . . Not much point to this. Just thought I should share my happiness. And warn that though Thud! is good, it's not Pratchett's absolute best--for that, I'd lean to Night Watch or Carpe Jugulum.
Posts: 1735 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
Wow. I've never heard anyone call Carpe Jugulum Pratchett's best; it's rare to see it on anyone's Top Ten list (which is not to say it's bad, mind you; even Pratchett's lesser works are good reads). Did you start reading the series late in the run?
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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I was tickled that he liked Thursday Next. I was wondering if it would be the sort of book he would care for. I checked the upgrades over at jasperfforde.com, and it seems that the errors Uncle Orson found have not been noticed by anyone else. Or at any rate, they didn't make the upgrade. Do you think we should email?
Posts: 364 | Registered: Dec 2005
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Hmm, I don't know if Thud is where I would start reading Pratchett. Interesting Times or The Last Continent are more stand-alone. The Vimes books build on each other to a much greater extent that the Rincewind ones. Maybe Going Postal or The Truth would be even better.
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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Yes, that's what I thought. There's way too much backstory involved in the Watch series which doesn't really get recapped in 'Thud'. I'd hate for OSC to give up on Pratchett just because he didn't get what was going on. Personally, I always find it very hard to begin a series halfway though. It's all 'What? Who? When? Huh?'
Except that, now I think about it, I'm torn because Pratchett has, IMO, improved so much over the course of the Discworld series. I mean - Rincewind's great and all, and very funny, but kind of light compared to something like 'Night Watch'. And Vimes is just wonderful. I'm such a Vimes fangirl. Posts: 1528 | Registered: Nov 2004
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Or a standalone, like Going Postal, makes a good starter, even though it has such a distinctly different style than most of them.
See, Weatherwax is one of my favorite characters. In fact, probably my favorite Pratchett creation. And I think Carpe Jugulum and Lords and Ladies are some of the best witches books.
Has anyone heard much about the new one coming out?
Posts: 1735 | Registered: Oct 2004
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