Fantasy Aficionados discussion

I've only read Good Omens, which was co-written with Neil Gaiman, but I loved it. I have The Colour of Magic somewhere to read when I get the chance.

Any other fans out there?

As for me, I'm like you Caity. I've only read Good Omens. I love Gaiman, but have had no real interest in reading Pratchett for some reason. I'll probably get around to reading him sometime.

It can be tough with the lack of paragraph breaks in his books but he's very fun. I like his Wyrd Sisters books the best. try them and see what you think.

I've read a few of the Discworld books, way back in highschool. I can't remember which ones, but I remember they were funny as heck.

I installed the discworld fortune on a lappy I used for years, so I feel like I've read all of them.

He's great fun! My favorites are the Wyrd Sisters, Death, and the Wizard series (Rincewind and his luggage are very funny). Pratchett likes to poke fun at so many things, including the "proper" way to write a novel.

There are several books to the Disc World series, and it helps to read them in order...but, if you find that say the Guard series doesn't appeal to you, you can just read the group series that does.

Sounds interesting. I think that I'll have to check him out sometime soon.

I heard recently that Terry Pratchett has Alzheimer's disease. Does anyone know if this is true?

I found my copy of The Colour of Magic finally. I hate moving.

I'm still missing some books...

I hate moving, too. Not only do you lose books, but you find that you have double copies of some books. LOL

Yes, sadly, it is true, Jason. He's talked about it a little bit after he was diagnosed in 2007. He's been able to write some and added Unseen Academicals to his growing Discworld series.

That's too bad.

He's one of my favourite authors, because it's real fun to read his books, especially the Discworld novels. You just have to love characters such as DEATH, Rincewind or the librarian. Storywise there are better authors but none of them have that many (and funny) references to Shakespeare, Homer, fairy tales,...

I read the first few Discworld, they were OK but not great. The only one I truly loved was Carpe Jugulum.

I loved Wyrd Sisters- and bought about 25 more Pratchett books- I am reading Reaper Man now- and while I am enjoying it- I am finding it far more confusing plot-wise than Wyrd Sisters

Rick - Reaper Man is great, and though not necessary, it helps to have read Mort before it. The DEATH "series" is my favorite.

i'm currently working my way through Pratchett's works he's my go to guy when I'm waiting on a novel to come out.
I remember back in highschool my friends would insist that i should read his books and I never did. don't know why. but last year I picked up his The Wee Free Men and I laughed so hard. i got hooked immediately.
Nation I loved. There is no other word for that novel other than beautiful, it was so well written, so vivid, I felt that I could reach out and touch the characters.
Carpe Jugulum so hilarious I remember reading this on the bus and people giving me strange looks because i was laughing so hard.
I haven't read anything of his yet that I don't like but i've barely cracked the surface of his works, so we'll see.
I'm also not reading his novels in any particular order I just pick a title that I like and go is that recommended?

I started reading Pratchett when Interesting Times was released in the US. I got hooked, but it was tough to find a lot of the earlier Discworld books. I read them as I could get my hands on them, all out of order. I remember my husband went on a business trip to London and I sent him with a shopping list of all the books I hadn't been able to scrounge up here. And of course they started re-releasing them a few months later. :)

I also love his YA stuff. The Tiffany books are great, but I have kind of a tiny grudge against them because I miss getting more new Lancre witch books. My favorite of the YA stuff is Amazing Maurice, and I also have a soft spot for the Bromeliad books.

For anyone just getting into his stuff, this is the best explanation of how the books tie together:
http://www.lspace.org/books/reading-o...

If you're going to start with Pratchett, I think you're best off reading Guards! Guards! first. That book was, in my opinion, where he really found his foothold. The first few books were more about parodying fantasy as a genre, but starting with Guards! Guards!, Discworld really became its own entity.

I love Terry Pratchett books! I started on them by accident when I was looking for a Neil Gaiman book to read. Good Omens was the only book my library had in stock. From there I was hooked. I love the "witches" books and Death's books.
@Shen
Like Donna said Lspace has a good but slightly confusing reading order. I've pretty much read them in the order that they were written but I would reccomend starting with "Mort". Its a great book and its the first "Death" book.

Nicki wrote: "I love reading them in the order they're written, but I have to admit that the first few are not representative of his later work. Mort is definitely my favourite of the early ones."

How far are you into the Disc world series?

I just finished both of those. I Shall Wear Midnight was fantastic but I think it might be the last of that series.

You and me both! Its going to be a terrible loss when he can't write anymore.

Moved in with my fiance a couple of months back, and he has the whole set of Discworld books, so I'll likely be reading them. While I did like Good Omens, I think that was more Gaiman's influence that had me hooked. I'm not a fan of comedy, generally speaking. Still, Pratchett seems like a great man and no doubt a skilled author, even if the substance of his works doesn't seem to be in my tastes.

Alexandra Victoria wrote: "Moved in with my fiance a couple of months back, and he has the whole set of Discworld books, so I'll likely be reading them. While I did like Good Omens, I think that was more Gaiman's influence t..."

Here's a tip....don't try reading them in bed while he is trying to sleep!!!! I did that to my hubby and he rolled over and took my book away so I had to go pick something else. The giggling was apparently keeping him awake! LOL

DISCWORLD SERIES!
I'm about to read "Men at Arms"
I must admit I only red "Mort", but I loved it so much I bought "The Color Of Magic". Everyone was recommending that book and I thought "Why not?".
And there comes the problem - they started translating it in my language a long time ago and they couldn't find me a copy. So I had to buy it in English.. Honestly, I didn't read it.

But he is an amazing autor, his books are really amusing.

Mort. Brilliant. Hilarious. Quote worthy. That's what I read first. Cause don't you find after a while his humor is so carved in stone, it isn't funny anymore? He doesn't alter tone even to create a new character's voice. It's Piers Anthony-esque. First you think he's brilliant. Then you think--one brilliant idea.

Nicki wrote: "CicadaGrrl wrote: "Mort. Brilliant. Hilarious. Quote worthy. That's what I read first. Cause don't you find after a while his humor is so carved in stone, it isn't funny anymore? He doesn't a..."

I agree with you about the characters, and I find myself liking some far more than others. Mort, Death, Rincewind--those are probably my favorites. I've not read anything recent of his yet, so I can't really speak to the changes.

I never read Pratchett until about a year ago when a friend I respect for her excellent taste in books (so like mine) highly recommended the Discworld series. I began at the beginning, and it was a while before I realized that wasn't necessary.

Mort and Guards, Guards! are two of my favorites, and Death is by far my favorite character. I love how many books are in the series. That's really satisfying.

I like the Nightwatch parts of Discworld the best. The books featuring Vimes, Carrot, Nobby etc. make a great little sub-series within the entire series. I especially liked The Fifth Elephant.

The audiobooks read by Stephen Briggs are great too. I listened to and absolutely loved Monstrous Regiment.

I'm slowly working my way through some random Pratchett books (mostly my fiance's favorites), and I'm still pretty mixed. I just don't care for the humor, I guess. I've read/watched things with similar sorts of humor, but Discworld just isn't doing it for me. He's a great writer, though, so I'll probably keep reading for a few more books to see if any of them grab me.

@ Alexandra his books fall into series even though they don't seem to. Each of them reads a little different to me. There's the wizard, witches, night watchmen, and death books. So maybe you haven't found your characters yet. There's also books that are independent. He is one of my favorite authors but I haven't loved everything. My favorites are the wizard & death books.

Alexandra Victoria wrote: "I'm slowly working my way through some random Pratchett books (mostly my fiance's favorites), and I'm still pretty mixed. I just don't care for the humor, I guess. I've read/watched things with sim..."

Ninety percent of the time I love his humor, but sometimes it grates in me. I can easily understand not liking it.

Another thing I love about this series is how obviously he loves cats. This is especially clear in Mort.

Yeah, the cats are fantastic "characters"

I was quite surprised that some of the Discworld books made some quite passable TV miniseries.

(Sir :) Pratchett does have to be one of my favourite fantasy authors (and I do love the Death books - got myself a Death of Rats tattoo from one of the art books years ago ;)

While a lot of the funnies do tend to be along a similar vein, I haven't found them to become less fun as time (and the series) goes on. Plus I love his use of the footnote, even if it does sometimes break my concentration.

I caught an interview recently that he did with ABC TV here in Australia, talking about the progression of his Alzheimer's, but it was more along the lines of the right to die with dignity, which he argued very well.

I 'lost' a bag of Discworld books last time I moved house. Upset me for a year until I found them again.

I also loved that death rat. I agree that some of the humor does get worn after a while.

Does anyone know where I could find the board game for "Thud"?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Thud-Discworld-bo...

Thanks Grant! Now all I have to do is see if I can talk my husband into it.

Better to ask forgiveness than persmission ;)

My birthday is later this month so I have to talk him into buying it for my birthday.
For me its easier to ask permission than forgiveness I hate apologizing!

Good luck, Sara!

The Wee Free Men (Tiffany Aching, #1) is free to read here on Pratchett's site.

I like Pratchett's Discworld novels, they're so much fun to read (especially when you want a break from the heavier reads). All of the books I've read so far have been those where Death is the main character (yeah, he's my favourite character) but I've also read Going Postal, Good Omens and Unseen Academicals.

I read Colour of Magic many years ago and haven't read anything since. Where should I start?

You can really start about anywhere but I would suggest Mort, which is the "1st" Death book or Guards! Guards!, which is the "1st" watch book. I read them all in the order that he wrote them.

Sara wrote: "You can really start about anywhere but I would suggest Mort, which is the "1st" Death book or Guards! Guards!, which is the "1st" watch book. I read them all in the order that he wrote them."

Thanks! I'll be sure to check those two, for starters.

Has anyone read the Johnny Maxwell trilogy? It's one of his non-Discworld series.

I just read the first one, Only You Can Save Mankind, the other day. It was pretty cute - nothing world-changing or anything, but had some decent moral lessons which weren't too heavy-handed, for the most part, and it's super short and quick.

I was introduced to Pratchett at school when Pyramids had just come out. I've subsequently read all the novels as they've been released and caught up with the old ones. I've also seen the TV shows, right from Cosgrove Hall's take on Truckers through to Sky's Going Postal. I've been to a few stage adaptations and four of the UK conventions.

I suppose all that makes me a fan.

I recently finished Snuff, so I'm not quite caught up. I'm getting there though! I read Johnny and the Dead recently too. Not as good as a Discworld book, but still a fun read.

Terry Pratchett is my favorite author. I love the discworld series. Some people jump around, but I am reading it in order. I’m really excited about the Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch miniseries that comes out this year!

Candice