Pepper is the Antichrist?I thought the children were surprisingly non-annoying, no mean feat considering one was the Antichrist.
I found it the most heartbreaking (although I still haven't read the Shepherd's Crown, so I still have a new Discworld novel to look forward to...) It was clearly his own requiem to his creation, the obvious ending of an era: magic replaced by technology. And yet, as with so much of his stuff, there is way more to it than that. He evokes the magic, the life, that animated steam technology. The end of an era marks the start of a new one, after all. The discworld abides. And now I am crying again.Raising Steam is probably the least funny of the books that I've read
Even more familiar if you read Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere.....two of the baddies in The Truth will be very familiar if you've seen Pulp Fiction, and there's a family straight out of The Railway Children in Raising Steam!).
Interesting question, who would be the best DEATH?
I don't know many actors but could I have a case for that Benefits Cucumberpatch or whatever he's called?
Mr. Lee wasn't available. (I wonder if he had fun voicing DEATH?)
Interesting question, who would be the best DEATH?
I don't know many actors but could I have a case for that Benefits Cucumberpatch or whatever he's called?
I must admit, I'm a bit tired of Bagoshit Thumpabitch too.No, thank you. I think we've all overdosed on Benylin Thundertrunks.
James Earl Jones has the right voice, just wrong accent
This amazing guys voice
I think Alan Carr should do the voice of Death.
I'll see your Carr and raise you a Pasquale.
Neither of these statements any longer hold true (although there's still Dodger, so...).I still haven't read The Shepherd's Crown, so I still have a new Discworld novel to look forward to...
It is clear that The Shepherd's Crown was not finished, and to be fair there is an acknowledgement of this in the afterword. As they say there, "there is a beginning, a middle and an end, plus all the bits in between", but there clearly wasn't time to grind away the excess weld on the joints. Even more than Raising Steam, it is an explicit acknowledgement of an era ending - I daren't say more than that, for fear of spoilers. Mind you, even though it was not finished, there is enough happening in there for me to be thinking about it still. What a tremendous talent he was; how lucky we were to have him, and that he was able to tell as many of his stories as he did.TP's books are really very well crafted. Everything hangs together
Even more familiar if you read Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere.....
Wm.
I should re-read The Truth, myself. I remember Vimes being portrayed in a very different light in that book. I completely mis-remembered the relationship between Tiffany and Esme Weatherwax in I Shall Wear Midnight, so I'm curious to find out if I have similarly mis-remembered the relationship between the Guard Commander and MVL.Which I now have - must reread The Truth in that light.
My thoughts exactly, perfectly expressed KrepostnoiNeither of these statements any longer hold true (although there's still Dodger, so...).
It is clear that The Shepherd's Crown was not finished, and to be fair there is an acknowledgement of this in the afterword. As they say there, "there is a beginning, a middle and an end, plus all the bits in between", but there clearly wasn't time to grind away the excess weld on the joints. Even more than Raising Steam, it is an explicit acknowledgement of an era ending - I daren't say more than that, for fear of spoilers. Mind you, even though it was not finished, there is enough happening in there for me to be thinking about it still.
What a tremendous talent he was; how lucky we were to have him, and that he was able to tell as many of his stories as he did.
I read all of the Discworld Stories after Guards Guards as they were published, but drifted away and only later re-engaged with Jingo.
And what a superb book to rekindle my love of his writing--one of his very best in my view. It even manages a Paul Simon joke!
It's been a while now, but I remember thinking at the time that Nightwatch was the best of the 75% of the total I had read.
My favourite is probably Reaper Man, but Pratchett's 'middle period - from say Pyramids to Thief of Time - is in my opinion only comparable to the naval saga of Patrick O'Brian (up to The Commodore, after which it also tails off somewhat) . This is literature, not mere amusement.
In neither case do I regard the tailing off as severe, just noticeable to a fanatic P O'B had the advantage of some preliminary trials before embarking on his great series, whereas Sir Pterry had to evolve from humorous SF pastiches to a full blown novelist within Discworld. Having said that I value the first two Discworld books enormously, but they have fewer layers of meaning than the peak period.
I do agree with those above who see Raising Steam as a sort of farewell to the world he created.