SA Book & Challenge Lovers discussion

Terry Pratchett is one of those authors that people say either you love him or hate him. For years when prowling the library shelves I have been attracted to his very colorful book covers, but for some reason I have never really read anything that he has writen...until now. I am currently reading The Colour of Magic (Discworld 1) and so far Im not sure what to think about it.

What about you, are you a Pratchett fan? Have you never read this author before like me. Here we can discuss anything Pratchett related. I look forward to your comments.

I'm reading colour of magic as well and its going very slow. I'm not sure how to describe it, but its like he doesnt only write about a different world, its like he knows it, lives there...

The book has got a lot of detail and that gets confusing sometimes, but its an interesting and good book, I guess I just have to focus a bit more on the reading

I was also attracted to his covers as well, although I thought they looked a bit silly and that I wouldn't enjoy the books. However I kept hearing so many good things about him, and I"m glad I finally gave his books a shot, probably starting with Hogfather or Reaper Man.

After that I read quite a few, in whatever order I could find them in. Pratchett is now my go-to author when I want a light read that's smart and funny, or when I'm stuck in a reading rut. I love the way he weaves together mythology, folklore, and satire of modern life in a completely wacky world.

Its almost like a back-to-front world in a way. Imagine people years ago thought that the world was like Pratchett desribes it, flat ,sat on the back of 4 elephants who were sat on a giant turtle. Very wacky.

I am finding that when the author sticks to the story then I am enjoying the plot immensely, and then suddenly it changes and out of nowhere the characters are in a very different scenario. It takes me a few pages to catch up to what is going on, and it doesnt help that Pratchett is averse to Chapters. Are all his books written in this way? I am sure Pratchett fans can inform me.

The colour of magic - Rincewind the magician who cant do magic, and twoflower the tourist are very likeable characters, not to mention the luggage which is a box of tricks on legs. Will review this book when I am finished.

The color of Magic should rather be seen as a collection of interlocked short stories. That worked for me.

I think I should read it in the way you see it Crusader :)

I've been a Pratchett fan for years now. Read all the Discworld books.

I like the humour especially when contrasting Discworld to the real world. Some jokes are not immediately obvious but that makes it better when you finally get it.

As Niecole said, its a whole world and it great that not all the books have the same characters and types of story.

That's actually why I don't recommend that book as a start Emma - it's kind of random, and IMO, not that interesting. Later books have more cohesive plots. I don't think he ever uses chapters though.

I know Mark loves Pratchett, and I read witches Abroad which was very funny and I enjoyed it :)

I've read most he has ever written up to and including the books not set in Discworld and short stories written for anthologies. There are a few I haven't read yet but there aren't many and I can honestly say that I think that if I had started with The Colour of Magic I don't think I would be hooked on this writer. It is a very confusing read even if you have background knowledge. I think he is still experimenting with what he wants to write about, considering the fact that Strata and The Dark Side of the Sun have some similar ideas in them but are not Discworld novels. He settles on the principle of Discworld in this book and he has to work the kinks out. The Light Fantastic is already much easier to read and if you're not hooked by the time you've read Equal Rites (3rd book) or Mort (4th book) you'll never will. In those books his style is developed and these books are the standard to expect. Mort was even choosen as the fans favorite book written by Terry Pratchett. So try to stick it out untill the fourth book and give the series a chance. Considering the series has now 38 books and more are announced 4 books should be reasonable to give it a go.
About the chapters. He does sometimes uses blank spaces as an indicating of an end or beginning of a part of text, but real chapters I don't think there are any in the Discworld novels for adults. He does use them in the books about the Wee Free Men and in his non Discworld novels.

Lauren wrote: "That's actually why I don't recommend that book as a start Emma - it's kind of random, and IMO, not that interesting. Later books have more cohesive plots. I don't think he ever uses chapters though."

I think I am just the type of person that finds it difficult reading books out of order Lauren. And maybe in this way it might be nice to look back on the first book and say, yeah Ive come along way. Ill probably understand alot more by book 3 or 4 and it will be interesting to see the characters developed and new ones introduced. The book is definately growing on me the more I read it.:-) I am not giving up on this author because there are certain parts of the book that I love and everyone keeps telling me it does get better. For instance in this particular book there is no the side splitting humour that I had expected from Practchett, everyone says how funny he is, I find myself giggling from time to time though. I cant wait to start reading more, so thanks for all your info.

Lol, ok :) I hope Pratchett works out well for you. Barbara makes some excellent poiints about the development of the series as well.

On chapters: Pratchett has been quotes as saying he just never "got into the habit of chapters" :)

Barbara, I have to say I totally disagree with Mort as the favourite; it would not even have made my top 5! Anyone else with their two cents on the fans' favourite?

Well, my favourite is Night Watch, but that's because it's slightly darker than the rest.

Lauren says Barbara makes some excellent poiints about the development of the series as well.
Why thank you Lauren.

I have seen the same quote you're talking about. I don't miss the chapters in the books. Especially once you get used to his writing style and you get a feel for the flow of the books.

I also disagree with Mort being my favorite. But I can see why it was chosen. It does have some funny stuff. My favorite is and I think will always be the Hogfather, but that's just because I love Death. He is probably my favortie character ever. And a good Second is The Wee Free Men. I know it's a children's book, but I just love those little blue men with their accents and outlook on life and the passage where they take revenge on the cat has me cracked up no matter how often I read that. Just thinking about that passage makes me smile.

I have read most the Discworld books as well as some of his other works (inlcuding his collaborations) and I definately prefer the Discworld series. I did't start with The Colour of Magic (I think I started with Mort)but I agree it is a bit more confusing than the others. I enjoy the fact that each book can be read independently of the others which makes it easier when you are looking for something to read as I find it extremely frustrating to read book 1 of a series and then not find book 2. My favourite characters are The Librarian and Captain Carrot.

I find some of his books such a paradoy of what is happening in the world today and to see him pinpoint the reactions of people / characters - for example in Going Postal reading about post office doing the same thing because that's the way it has always been done and they don;t want to change reminds me so much of how we are when faced with new situations

I love the way he uses fantasy for parody as well. I also enjoy the character traits that parallel or parody odd human behaviours, such as:

- The Autocondimentor - someone who, whenever they are given any meal, immediately douses it in salt, pepper, hot sauce, etc. Ridcully is an example, and I tease my boyfriend with this because he tends to put sauce on everything too.
- Granny Weatherwax's 'headology', which includes giving people bottles of coloured water as medicine and 'cheating' at poker.
- The way Carrot is so honest he can't even sneak up on an enemy because it's deceptive.
- the way Ridcully ignores all letters and memos because if it's really important someone will make sure he finds out about it eventually.
- The ability of children and animals to see Death as the skeleton he is, while an adult will see what they want to see and tell children that that man is just very thin.

Actually, there are so many funny, memorable character traits and world details I could go on for ages. Which is part of what makes the Discworld novels so great.