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The Turtle Moves!: Discworld's Story Unauthorized
After growing from humble beginnings as a Sword & Sorcery parody to more than 30 volumes of wit, wisdom, and whimsy, the Discworld series has become a phenomenon unlike any other. Now, in The Turtle Moves! , Lawrence Watt-Evans presents a story-by-story history of Discworld's evolution as well as essays on Pratchett's place in literary canon, the nature of the Disc itself, and the causes and results of the Discworld phenomenon, all refreshingly free of literary jargon littered with informative footnotes.
Part breezy reference guide, part droll commentary, The Turtle Moves! will enlighten and entertain every Pratchett reader, from the casual browser to the most devout of Discworld's fans.
Part breezy reference guide, part droll commentary, The Turtle Moves! will enlighten and entertain every Pratchett reader, from the casual browser to the most devout of Discworld's fans.
296 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2008
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378 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
August 13, 2016
This is lighthearted examination of Terry Pratchett's Discworld. He covers all the books individually, then by series (although he does not use the series groups that I would choose), then he discusses recurring themes.
I feel ambivalent about this book. On the one hand I kept thinking that this was a good way to introduce a friend of mine to the Discworld. On the other hand I don't agree with all of his theories. For instance he believes that all of the Discworld stories are about stories. While the effect of stories is a recurring theme I do not believe that all of the stories are about that. And I feel that, like most fiction, the Discworld is mostly about what it is like to be us here and now. I am one of the people who feel that what Pratchett says about religion and magic is a critique that has real world applications.
I feel ambivalent about this book. On the one hand I kept thinking that this was a good way to introduce a friend of mine to the Discworld. On the other hand I don't agree with all of his theories. For instance he believes that all of the Discworld stories are about stories. While the effect of stories is a recurring theme I do not believe that all of the stories are about that. And I feel that, like most fiction, the Discworld is mostly about what it is like to be us here and now. I am one of the people who feel that what Pratchett says about religion and magic is a critique that has real world applications.
February 4, 2009
Good review of different subsets of Discworld, including the Science of Discworld. Good job at not revealing spoilers within the books.
October 13, 2008
A good look into the Discworld novels.
June 15, 2024
It took me a while to rate this fan-written guide to the Discworld. The humor helped to keep the reader interested, right down to the footnotes (195 apparently).
The author provides a synopsis of each novel in the the Discworld series including short stories up to I shall Wear Midnight, currently in the works at the time this book was published. I thought I had read each story, seems I missed one short story.
The book did serve to make me want to read Going Postal and Making Money again. I haven't read them in some time.
The one thing that bothered me though, Lawrence Watt-Evans was either unaware or did not want to mention Sir Terry Pratchett's imbuggerance, as Terry called his Alzheimer's affliction. I believe most Discworld readers were probably aware of his announcement about the time Thud was published.
The author provides a synopsis of each novel in the the Discworld series including short stories up to I shall Wear Midnight, currently in the works at the time this book was published. I thought I had read each story, seems I missed one short story.
The book did serve to make me want to read Going Postal and Making Money again. I haven't read them in some time.
The one thing that bothered me though, Lawrence Watt-Evans was either unaware or did not want to mention Sir Terry Pratchett's imbuggerance, as Terry called his Alzheimer's affliction. I believe most Discworld readers were probably aware of his announcement about the time Thud was published.
May 11, 2022
A great and fun read, not as great and fun as Pratchett, but fun nonetheless. What I figured out was that I have forgotten so much about the Discworld books that I might want to read them again. That would be quite the undertaking, since there are so many of them. Also, I now am intrigued in this authors own fantasy novels...
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August 27, 2017Very repetitive and didn't go deep enough for me. A surface skim for newbs
April 10, 2022
A humorous look at the Discworld books. A fun read with an analysis of the books in different formats - as individual books and as part of a series subset.
February 7, 2017
Now I want to go back and reread the whole series
November 1, 2014
There are two groups of people who will benefit most from this overview volume: Dedicated fans of Sir Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels (of whom I am very much one) and those who are thinking about attempting one of them and are wondering where to start. As his readers know, the thirty-odd books about the Discworld aren’t really a single series; they’re a collection of story arcs, each focusing (more or less) on a particular theme or group of characters -- though individuals and locations and bits of history from any of the books are apt to appear in any of the others. Watt-Evans, himself a professional fantasist, has identified the arcs the books belong in, plus a couple of singletons or one-offs, too. And then he provides a brief discussion of each book (and, later, of each arc as a whole), noting how Pratchett’s work has become much more nuanced and sophisticated over time -- which is why you probably don’t want to start with the actual first book published about the Discworld, because it’s far from being the best -- and ferreting out his apparent philosophy of life, the universe, and everything. And Watt-Evans pretty much gets all of it right, in my opinion, especially in his theory that the overarching theme of the Discworld books is that they’re about stories. Not that they tell stories -- they’re actually about stories. Storytelling, to Pratchett, is one of the things that defines humanity. Though Watt-Evans explicitly denies he’s committing literary criticism here, you will find a number of comments and points that will make you rethink your reactions to some of the books. In fact, for the fan, I recommend you read this book and then start the Discworld series all over again, in “proper” order, keeping in mind what you’ve read here. If only he hadn’t gotten so carried away with the footnotes.
June 19, 2015
I'm not sure if anyone who has never read the Discworld books would find this book appealing simply because if they haven't already started reading the books, there's no real reason for them to read this one.
That being said, as a long time devotee of the series, I enjoyed LWE's insights and theories, even while not necessarily agreeing with all of them. He approaches the series from the point of view of an author as well as a reader and that comes across in this book and definitely makes his commentary more interesting. To be honest, I've never found any other review of the series to be as engaging a read, most likely due to LWE's talents as a fantasy writer himself.
As a fan of both authors, this book was an insightful and enjoyable read, refreshing my memory of concepts and characters I enjoyed from the Discworld books while also reminding me why I have also been a big fan of LWE's writing for so many years. He may not consider himself to be on a par with Pratchett, but to my mind he is most definitely an author worth reading, whether it be in his own fantasy series or the fascinating insights he provides in works such as these and the books he has stood for as editor.
That being said, as a long time devotee of the series, I enjoyed LWE's insights and theories, even while not necessarily agreeing with all of them. He approaches the series from the point of view of an author as well as a reader and that comes across in this book and definitely makes his commentary more interesting. To be honest, I've never found any other review of the series to be as engaging a read, most likely due to LWE's talents as a fantasy writer himself.
As a fan of both authors, this book was an insightful and enjoyable read, refreshing my memory of concepts and characters I enjoyed from the Discworld books while also reminding me why I have also been a big fan of LWE's writing for so many years. He may not consider himself to be on a par with Pratchett, but to my mind he is most definitely an author worth reading, whether it be in his own fantasy series or the fascinating insights he provides in works such as these and the books he has stood for as editor.
April 8, 2015
I liked it. It's a mixture of a companion guide and easy-reading literary criticism. The author recognizes that he can't compete with http://www.lspace.org/ in terms of annotations, so instead he gives an overview of all of the books, then talks about the themes and recurring motifs found in the series.
On the downside, I didn't really learn anything. Rather than a guide aimed at fans and non-fans, I would've preferred deeper analysis, including plot details (the book goes out of its way to avoid spoilers, mostly). But I can't fault the book for not being something else.
On the downside, I didn't really learn anything. Rather than a guide aimed at fans and non-fans, I would've preferred deeper analysis, including plot details (the book goes out of its way to avoid spoilers, mostly). But I can't fault the book for not being something else.
November 23, 2013
Meh. I really need to stop reading these fan driven books that are both gushing and at the same time smug in their personal interpretations of the books. Which, of course, must be true, because they took the time to sit down and write a 200 page book about it.
November 16, 2013
Fun, pretty lightweight. Easy way to check on titles I haven't yet read but don't want to miss.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews