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/lit/ - Literature

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17831205 No.17831205 [Reply] [Original]

Discworld thread?
When did the books peak?
Fave book? Fave arc?
Least fave?
Most importantly, which bit was the funniest?

>> No.17831370

>>17831205
I liked the part were I dont read books because reading is for nerds

>> No.17831439

>>17831370
Then the fuck go away :DD D

>> No.17831621

>>17831205
>Discworld thread?
Sure, why not, even tho we'll get hate for 'being Reddit'
>When did the books peak?
For me, somewhere around Going Postal, not saying GP was the beast, but that's when i started feeling it was going worse.
>Fave book? Fave arc?
The Color of Magic. Favorite arc must be Rincewind
>Least fave?
Several works dealing with current technology like the movies, industry, and similar as I am more interested in the fantasy part, like magic and gods, etc.

>> No.17831659

Best arc was the Guards series. Small gods was good too.

>> No.17831662

is this the same series as Wheel of Time but a different name for another market?

>> No.17831738

>>17831662
It's to fantasy what 'hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy' is to sci-fi

>> No.17831773

>>17831659
>Best arc was the Guards series
I'm with ya
Detritus when he gets to use his crossbow is the purest of kino

>> No.17831794

>>17831738
parody?

>> No.17831803

Books peaked at Night Watch
Favourite book is Guards Guards and arc is Vimes.
Least favourite was Making Money.
Funniest either Colour of Magic (whimsical) or Unseen Academicals-

>> No.17831819

>>17831205
The peak is the City Watch original three: >Guards, Guards!
>Men at Arms
>Feet of Clay
because the whole Ankh-Morpork milieu with Vimes, Patrician, Carrot etc is the richest environment and the Vimes character arc is the best.

There are lots of other good characters though:
- Death (Mort, Reaper Man, Hogfather)
- Granny Weatherwax + Nanny Ogg (Weird Sisters, etc)
- The wizards, especially Ridcully (Moving Pictures, etc)

The best stand-alone book is probably Small Gods I guess.

As for best scene: there's lots of great ones. I've always had a soft spot for the bit in Hogfather where Death (standing in for Father Christmas) goes to the department store and gives the children amazing presents.

>> No.17831836

>>17831773
The Piecemaker hahaha

>> No.17831873
File: 1.52 MB, 2649x3194, LHero.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
17831873

>>17831205
Night Watch is the best book but they peak at
Thud, it starts to go downhill a bit after there.
Night Watch, Vimes is the best arc.

I always thought The Last Hero was underrated, I think people skip over it because it's an illustrated novel.

>> No.17831880

>>17831205
I find the world too chaotic sand magic for me to enjoy, everything seems ore like a dream than reality, making so there are little stakes no matter what.
But I'm also an autist who somewhat enjoys hard sci-ci. so take that with a grain of salt.

>> No.17831901

>>17831880
Did you read any of the later books? I find that's true of the first few. A lot of people recommend starting with Guards! Guards! because the world is more coherent after that point.

>> No.17832023

>>17831205
>When did the books peak?
After the first two books he got into his stride and stayed consistently great for 30 or so books.
Some of the later ones reached a new peak of length and sophistication, but also he finally started to repeat certain ideas and methods of his composition in a big way.
>Fave book?
Some of the standalone stories were great, Pyramids because it was the only one to ever feature the assassins guild prominently - Small gods was genius -
But generally the city watch arc had the best books. The development of the watchouse, the additions of new officers, and the mysteries/crimes they had to deal with, they had the most going on and could be fresh and familiar at the same time. A couple of the later ones are written almost like real crime novel police investigations. The fact that he was able to do that showed just how huge and detailed he had made the discworld, and how much skill he had developed as a writer to be able to change genre within his own series
>Least fave?
Can't remember exactly, a few of the later ones were just running through the motions.
>Most importantly, which bit was the funniest?
Foul ole Ron. My sides would cave in whenever he appeared. A different dibbler appearing in every nation was pretty good too.

Considering the guy was developing alzheimers, I can forgive some small stagnation toward the end of a giant run of like 40 books. He was still producing novels as he was losing the ability to put on a tie and do normal stuff, it's just unreal.
The one where the city starts developing an obsession with professional football was the big goodbye. Basically all the recognisable characters are in the stands at once watching the game at the end, and it was like when a theatre cast does a curtain call and bow together at the end of a play. That marked the end of an era, where the torch was handed over to JK Rowling. The guy was the biggest writer in the UK before her, he was a total leviathan.

>> No.17832038

>>17831819
>Patrician
Pyramids is the one that contains his origin, highly recommended to anyone who hasn't got that one.

>> No.17832330

I've read about 20 so far and I honestly havent liked any as much as the first two. The ones that came closest after that were Guards! Guards! and Small Gods, but I really liked Rincewind and the whole story arc in the first couple of books.

>> No.17832357

>>17831205
I read only two or three and have had enough of the series, 40 books seems way too much. Mort was fun. The other two were something Rincewind (iirc) related and there was one with a girl who could become a wizard (or a boy who could turn into a witch, some sort of double whammy like that).

>> No.17832373

>>17831794
Yes but in that specific very safe redditty mildly amusing british way

>> No.17832504

>>17831205
night watch was definitely the peak, I didn't think Thud was quite as good. However I enjoyed all of the books after even if they weren't quite as sharp. At least until Unseen Academicals :(

>> No.17832564

do any of you remember the discworld games on pc? are they based on any of the books? that's all i know of the series and it's hard to get into if you don't know where to start.
inb4 charts

>> No.17832695
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17832695

OP here. Thanks for the replies ladies and gents, you've really made my night

>>17832023
>Unseen Academicals
>like when a theatre cast does a curtain call and bow together at the end of a play

What a lovely way of putting it.

>> No.17832736

>>17831205
I've only read Going Postal and Mort. I guess that makes Going Postal my favorite

>> No.17832760

Are the Science of Discworld and other additional ones good? I've only read Mrs Bradshaw's Handbook and it was really meh.

>> No.17832812

>>17832760
I'm a pathetic completionist and I've got the Handbook; it was mildly funny - if you get all the English place names it's parodying, with the real local history it's referencing. Seriously, it's worth reading up on those bits purely for the sake of the trivia and you discover more layers of the joke. Not many book series are that good that you'll do homework on them IMO.
>Epping Forest
>Effing Forest
>Effing Great Tit


SoD is interesting, but it's half story half facts, and alternates each chapter, and the story's a bit minimal.

>> No.17833965

>>17831205
The first two are the best.

>> No.17834106

>>17832023
>consistently great for 30 books

Don't think so, the sequence from Jingo -> The Truth was a serious wobble, with the Fifth Elephant probably the weakest pre-Alzheimers book, the one where it seemed like he had no ideas other than send Vimes somewhere. Then with Thief of Time he came back on fire, had his absolute best years before the decline.

>>17832760
The Science book is barely discworld but it's a fun pop sci intro. My favourite non Disc books are the diggers ones.

>> No.17834990

>>17831205
> peak
Peak was somewhere around Men at Arms but the series stayed strong until Making Money
> fave book
Probably Feet of Clay or Lords and Ladies
> fave arc
City Watch definitely but Lancre witches and anything with Death/Susan are also good
> least favorite
Unseen Academicals - haven't read anything by him after that
> which bit was the funniest
Granny Weatherwax being badass always hits me
>>17832023
As a big fan of his reading Unseen Academicals was physically nauseating - you could feel the Alzheimers eating away Pratchett's talent
>>17832564
The first game is based on Guards! Guards! But the adventure circles around Ricewind, the second one is based on Reaper Man. Discworld: Noir is apparently the greatest of them.
Just read them in publishing order no need for charts.

>> No.17835011

>>17834990
Discworld Noir is a really great game, but I can't get it to run on any recent operating system. I want my nephew and niece to play it but they probably never will :(

>> No.17835014

>>17835011
psx emulator?

>> No.17835017

>>17832038
The Night Watch also has a youthful Patrician in it (when he's at the guild of Assassins, IIRC).

>> No.17835604

>>17831205
Why not
>When did the books peak? Fave book?
Small Gods. I'm not original here.
>Fave arc?
Death
>Least fave?
Industrial Revolution series. I don’t know, they are all not very interesting, I don’t even know which one is worse.
>Most importantly, which bit was the funniest?
I don't remember laughing somewhere.

I would say that the first and second books (The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic) sort of separate. There he really plays with the cliche of the fantasy genre. Then he got tired of it and he began to play with the laws of the world he invented and wrote his best books. At the same time, he increasingly began to write simply satire on the modern world, such as a movie, a steam locomotive, currency, twitter, 4chan, etc. appear in the Discworld. The Discworld ceased to be so "disc" and I wanted to finish reading all the books. It was hard to be honest.

>> No.17836076

>>17831205
>When did the books peak?
Night Watch
>Fave book? Fave arc?
Maybe Feet of Clay but I have a huge soft spot for Monstrous Regiment too, I feel its underrated as the later books go.
>Least fave?
One I can't remember, maybe Snuff for the sheer drop in quality. Glad we got the shepards crown as the last book despite massive chunks of it being clearly missing.
>Most importantly, which bit was the funniest?
Nanny Ogg finding out Granny Weatherwax is an honored and respected guest at the most highly rated brothel in Ankh-Morpork.

>> No.17836279
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17836279

>>17831621
>The Color of Magic. Favorite arc must be Rincewind
Fine taste.

>> No.17836330

>>17831205
somewhere before monstrous regiment, probably nightwatch

>> No.17836361

Top 5 for me are probably
Nightwatch Soul Music, Hogfather, The Last Hero, wee free men

>> No.17836379

>>17831773
Detritus in the meat store was a favourite of mine

>> No.17836592

>>17831901
>Did you read any of the later books?
No I just went for the first ones, I might give them a try then, if the setting becomes more "solid and physical" after a while. I did enjoy the writing just not how things were presented.

>> No.17836608

>>17831205
I read Pyramids recently and loved it. In my head it played out like an 80s Terry Gilliam movie.

But I know that Pratchett is best enjoyed in bits, it will be a while till I continue with the next book.

>> No.17837649

>>17831205
How do I read these? There are so many and they all seem so varied.

>> No.17837998

>>17837649
Chronologically. Lots of reading lists say you can start from whichever first book of a series but the first books are great introductions to his style and you can see it evolve as you go, plus some books might have random references to other older books which you will definitely miss otherwise.

>> No.17838555

>>17837998
>Lots of reading lists say you can start from whichever first book of a series
you potentuailly can for one or two, like soul small gods but you miss a few jokes

>> No.17839441

>>17831205
Is the discworld series worth reading?

>> No.17839479

>>17837998
Is it fantasy ? Or sci fi? That “color of magic” looks cozy bit of its sci fi idk if I’m in the mood

>> No.17840667

>>17831205
Soul Music is the best. Nothing beats the imagery of the wizards in a punk band.

>> No.17841492

>>17837998
>you can see it evolve as you go
This is the reason why you should read chronologically despite many people recommend different list. It just feels to weird as the author's style develops and you keep skipping back and forth

>> No.17841620

>>17831803
Correct

>> No.17841625

The best book is Thud!
I will not elaborate
Thank you and good day

>> No.17841636

>>17839441
yes

>> No.17841716

>>17831205
>Small Gods
>Last Continent
>dunno
>The 5th Elphant and Raising Steam(absolute shit)

>> No.17841720

>>17832023
For me, it's Duck Man

>> No.17841750

>>17831370
Incredibly based.

>> No.17841758

>>17831205
>When did the books peak?
I don’t think there was one peak but the quality started rapidly falling after Thud! which itself was ok but got a bit too misty eyed about the characters.
>Fave book? Fave arc?
My favourite is Guards! Guards! usually read it every few years because I find it comfy. Definitely one of his most focused books, a tight well paced story which is something I appreciate more and more in this age of YA-sanderblob clones.
Characters are spot on throughout, straddles the line between surrealist humour and actually telling a damn story (Sir Terry’s biggest pitfall is overcommitting to a bit a derailing an entire book for a pun which is part of why I like reading his work but it can get overbearing).
Favourite arc has to be the watch – the roster of characters and the city itself are more or less perfect.

Honourable mentions for anyone looking for a recommendation:
>Moving Pictures
bit of an offbeat pick, I know a lot of people are pretty down on this one and I understand why. However if you’re in the mood for something light and whimsical it’s a top read.
>Lords and Ladies
maybe it’s because I’m from rural bongland but the way he uses European folklore lands incredibly well it has the feeling of an old fairytale but with Pratchett’s usual flare.
>Interesting Times
the closest Rincewind gets to Flashman, all round fun romp.
>Small Gods
a solid story which explores concepts of faith and divinity with an intelligence and good will entirely lacking in the hooting new-athiest losers who tend to champion it.
>Night Watch & Going Postal
Both corking stories that would stand well enough with the humour stripped away & set entirely outside of discworld

>Least fave?
Last Continent for being way too unfocused & possessing the connective logic of a family guy episode.

>which bit was the funniest?
"What's a philosopher?"
"Someone who's bright enough to find a job with no heavy lifting."

>> No.17841770

Making Money > Going Postal >>>>>>>>> Raising Steam
Anyone else think Moist could be played by Ryan Gosling

>> No.17841788

>>17841770
>Anyone else think Moist could be played by Ryan Gosling
I think Richard Coyle did a wonderful job, it's just as I imagined Moist to be

>> No.17841829

>Peak
Men at Arms
>Favourite
Small Gods
>Least favourite
Raising Steam
>Most importantly, which bit was the funniest?
Carrot's foster father telling him he's not a dwarf gets me every time

>> No.17841909

>>17831205
>When did the books peak?
Probably Going Postal. Stuff just wasn't as satisfying after that.
>Fave book? Fave arc?
For me it was Reaper Man, for some reason Death's plea to Azrael and Windle Poon's sendoff really got to me. I guess it's also because it touches on being tired of living but doing it anyway, which is how I feel. Small Gods is a very close second because that entire book was just solid throughout.
>Least fave?
Probably Snuff. It felt really draggy and off to me.
>Most importantly, which bit was the funniest?
Just about any scene with Greebo in it.