Thursday Next Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 What's in my minds eye when I read that: They are pretty great mind, but really should be read in arcs than in order. While I take that point, there are characters that are pivotal in some books, (like Granny Weatherwax) that have walk on parts in other books (like Thief of Time). If you read the DEATH books first then the events of Lords and Ladies are much less tense. I like reading them in order of release. It helps prevent me getting burnt out on Sam Vimes, DEATH or Granny books and gives characters that don't necessarily have whole books to themselves, like Vetinari, a consistent feel. I think this is one of those matters of opinion like watching Star Wars movies in release order (to maintain Vader is Luke's father suspense) or chronological order (to get the worst one out of the way first), same goes for Hobbit and LotR trilogies, though I imagine most would be happy with Hobbit --> LotR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saturnine Tenshi Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 I'm with Thursday on this one. I'll take a bite out of your KitKat. You just have to come to terms with the fact that what you're reading may have happened before something you read at another time. And I do like jumping from character to character, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thursday Next Posted March 12, 2015 Report Share Posted March 12, 2015 Interesting Times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted March 12, 2015 Report Share Posted March 12, 2015 Reaper Man may be more appropriate? No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faiblesse Des Sens Posted March 13, 2015 Report Share Posted March 13, 2015 I finished Haruki Murakami's latest Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage. Pretty good. One of his better "realistic" novels, certainly. Of course there were still fucked up surreal dreams because it's Murakami. One big bonus: It's not overly long. It's really about the perfect length. His pacing was crap for 1Q84 as they combined 3 books into one release outside of Japan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted March 15, 2015 Report Share Posted March 15, 2015 My wife would like to read some of the Discworld books, but not all of them. Any suggestions on the best place to start for someone who would like to read maybe 2 or 3 of them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted March 15, 2015 Report Share Posted March 15, 2015 Hmm, well there's different arcs. Colour of Magic is the first one so a natural starting point, but at that point it was very clearly a fantasy parody thing, rather than the full Discworld universe and his writing style hadn't crystallised as much. It's also the start of the Rincewind stuff which is more focused on the wizards, as well as a bit more focus on the fantasy side of things (Cohen the Barbairian, speaking swords, dragons, etc) Guards! Guards! is the first of the Watch books and a fave of mine (the arc). The Watch books are more crime focused and generally set in Ankh-Morpork (Discworld's main city, sort of a parody of London). Vimes is also a favourite character of Pratchett and certainly popped up in more n more books as the series progressed. Mort is the first of the Death books, which mainly focus around Death (the personification), and his granddaughter Susan. However it might be best to start with Hogfather here, if only cos there's the TV film to watch for it. Also I rather like Deaths revelation near the end. Not sure how I'd describe them apart from more abstract (death, time, belief etc). Oh Death appears in all but one book (and I'm not sure which it is). Death is a fan fave, and I really like them alongside the Watch stuff. Death being such a well developed character is part of why Pratchett dying has been taken so well, he has crafted it so that he experiences one of his characters rather than an event. Equal Rites is technically the first of the Witches books, but kinda a nascent idea at the time, so doesn't really start until Wyrd Sisters. They're mainly rifs and parodies of other works, such as Shakespeare and Brothers Grimm and such. Personally I'm not a huge Witches fan but there are folks out there that enjoy them. I imagine if you're into Shakespeare and Brothers Grimm you'll enjoy them but I came to them at a time when I was having to study that stuff for school. Maybe I should give them a fair shake at some point myself. Moist Vin Lipwig stuff is the newer stuff ("industrial" below) and more focused around the development of Ankh Morpork (which does tie in with some of the later Watch novels) as Vetinari brings it kicking and screaming out of the Century of the Fruitbat and into the Century of the Anchovy. It starts a few books before Going Postal (where Moist joins) with The Truth (though chart below adds in Moving Pictures but I've always felt that's somewhat standalone like Small Gods and Pyramids). While I generally like these ones, though unfortunately the more recent "Raising Steam" does show signs of his alzhiemers, they're much further along in the series and do somewhat assume you're familiar with the general concept of the Discworld and its quirks by that point. Personally for myself I started with Sourcery which is like the 8th book, and several books into the Rincewind arc, so don't even need to start reading at the start of an arc to get into them. I lent my colleague a copy of Guards Guards the other day, so I think that might answer my initial suggestion. But some folks might have a mental block around wanting to start right at the beginning, but I think the initial style may turn a few folks away before they've gotten going. Mort is also good to get into the Death stuff, but as I said there's Hogfather which has a bit of the wizards alongside Susan and Death as well as Mr Teatime. Oh yeah, I mentioned the Hogfather TV movie, was the first of the Sky Discworld stuff. There's also Colour of Magic (which covers Light Fantastic too) which has David Jason (who you might not know), Sean Astin (Sam Gamgee), Tim Curry (Frank n Furter), Jeremy Irons (Scar) and Christopher Lee as Death who is a great choice. And also Going Postal, which has a more British known cast, though they swapped out Jeremy Irons for Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister, which I'm to understand is a similar role). They're worth acquiring if you're wanting a bit of a quicker way to get into the series, just be aware might colour your initial imagination of everyone a bit (oh yeah: aim for Josh Kirby covers where possible cos they're really what should paint your initial impressions of the characters) (Paul Kidby is fine, especially his Night Watch cover, though I dislike the more recent trend to swap all out for these unified black and gold covers) I imagine other people would have their own suggestions. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thursday Next Posted March 17, 2015 Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 I think industrial is a good jumping on point. It's the most relatable Discworld and features a lot of Vetinari who is my second fave character (after Death). Otherwise, Pyramids and Small Gods are both self contained, and there's only two in that arc, so it's not daunting. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nexus Posted March 22, 2015 Report Share Posted March 22, 2015 I finished Haruki Murakami's latest Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage. Pretty good. One of his better "realistic" novels, certainly. Of course there were still fucked up surreal dreams because it's Murakami. One big bonus: It's not overly long. It's really about the perfect length. His pacing was crap for 1Q84 as they combined 3 books into one release outside of Japan. I really enjoyed this novel. Hated the awkward sex scene he levered in, though - deservedly nominated for the "bad sex writing" award. Just finished reading Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson, and moving swiftly on to the next in the series. I love getting lost in high fantasy worlds for a little bit 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faiblesse Des Sens Posted March 23, 2015 Report Share Posted March 23, 2015 I started Ancillary Justice. Pretty good so far. A lot of really interesting far future sci-fi sort of stuff going on. Still working through it but I do like the way it bounces between stuff that's really heavy sci-fi then back to something more grounded. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted April 9, 2015 Report Share Posted April 9, 2015 Wrapped up American Gods. Reading it on Kindle meant I wasn't aware how thick it was until Kenshi showed me his copy. It has some neat ideas, but I feel the starting took a bit too long to get going, and spent a bit too long in Lakeside, and then wrapped up at the end a bit too quickly and neatly, especially with the epilogue stuff just tying up "loose ends" that the story was left with. Now moving on to "His Dark Materials" which passed me by as a teen, though I vaguely remember watching Golden Compass but don't really remember much but something about a polar bear fight, and something on ripping souls from kids as an energy source or something. I hear the series is quite good so yeah quite keen on this. Then maybe some Philip K Dick after. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted April 9, 2015 Report Share Posted April 9, 2015 Sadly The Golden Compass is the best of that series, it's all downhill after that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thursday Next Posted April 9, 2015 Report Share Posted April 9, 2015 Philip has some great stories but awful awful awful titles. "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale". Awful. "Counter-Clock World". Awful. "Dr. Futurity" Awwwwful. Although, "The Man Whose Teeth Were All Exactly Alike" is somewhat amusing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted April 9, 2015 Report Share Posted April 9, 2015 Yeah, Total Recall and Blade Runner likely to be the ones to read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nexus Posted April 9, 2015 Report Share Posted April 9, 2015 Saw an advert for Child 44 (film) on TV. Started reading Child 44. Enjoying it so far. Also finished the Mistborn Trilogy last week, and read Haruki Murakami's 'After Dark' - didn't enjoy it as much as Norwegian Wood or Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, but thought it was slightly better than 1Q84. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mal Posted May 1, 2015 Report Share Posted May 1, 2015 Finally got a good start on Dune. Quite background dense in just 26 pages. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted May 1, 2015 Report Share Posted May 1, 2015 I love that book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baconrath Posted May 6, 2015 Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 So far Ready Player One is like The Devil Went Down to Georgia but instead of a fiddle contest its a coin-op arcade game from the 1980s and that's pretty neat. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faiblesse Des Sens Posted May 6, 2015 Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 So far Ready Player One is like The Devil Went Down to Georgia but instead of a fiddle contest its a coin-op arcade game from the 1980s and that's pretty neat. I've been reading this and just about an hour ago got far enough into it to know exactly what you mean. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mal Posted May 22, 2015 Report Share Posted May 22, 2015 Dune is done. Fantastic. I'm deciding how to go about the sequels and prequels. I'm learning towards finishing Frank's books before I go into Brian's, in release order. To be honest, I'm scared of what I'll find with Brian's works. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted May 22, 2015 Report Share Posted May 22, 2015 If you're going to read Brian's then release order is definitely the way I'd do it. I read all of Frank's and then like 1.5 of Brian's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faiblesse Des Sens Posted May 22, 2015 Report Share Posted May 22, 2015 Ready Player One was a fun read. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mal Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 Dune Messiah is done. Dune was better overall but to be fair it is technically three books. Each book within Dune is at about the level of Dune Messiah. Dune just have the advantage of creating a rich universe while Dune Messiah advances it. I have to say though, introducing the Bene Tleilaxu at this point is odd. Their faction is the sort you introduce back in Dune. Tonight... onto Children of Dune! See this thread again on Saturday. Quote of Dune Messiah: "Sire, are you blind?" - Stilgar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted June 11, 2015 Report Share Posted June 11, 2015 Started The Martian last night, got 20% of the way through it. I'm liking it a lot so far, but it's definitely a nerd book for nerds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hot Heart Posted June 12, 2015 Report Share Posted June 12, 2015 Says the guy who's "20% of the way through" a book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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