This is topic Loreena McKennitt and Terry Pratchett in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.


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Posted by Narnia (Member # 1071) on :
 
I'm in the mood to go to Borders.

Background:

I own one Loreena CD (The Visit) and I really enjoy it. She's done a lot of other stuff, but I want to try to get the good stuff without too much trial and error. What do you suggest?

As far as Terry Pratchett goes, I must confess that I've never read any of his stuff. I know, it's terrible and it's not for lack of urging from friends and fellow fans. I want to laugh, so what should I read first?
 

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Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
 
Start with The Color of Magic and basically read them in order.

or, Small Gods and The Wee Free Men are pretty much stand-alone if you want to enjoy something without knowing for sure if you want to go into the whole series-long commitment.

You'll be hooked either way.
 

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Posted by Narnia (Member # 1071) on :
 
I'm ok with the commitment to a series. Thanks Bob!
 

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Posted by foundling (Member # 6348) on :
 
A great book that Pratchett was involved in is "Good Omens". He wrote it with Neil Gaiman. You'll become hooked on both authors after having read this book. I loved "The Wee Free Men", and the sequel, whose name I forget, was equally as enjoyable.

"The Mask and the Mirror" is one of my favorite Loreena Mckennitt albums, and has a very similar feel to "The Visit".
 

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Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
 
There are three or four different runs within the Discworld series.

I prefer the City Watch books, so I'd recommend "Men at Arms".

-Trevor
 

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Posted by Narnia (Member # 1071) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by TMedina:
There are three or four different runs within the Discworld series.

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1. The Ankh-Morpork City Watch
2. The Witches of the Ramtops
3. Death and the Grim Squeaker
4. Rincewind

1. Guards! Guards! (1989)
2. Men at Arms (1993)
3. Feet of Clay (1996)
4. Night Watch (2002)
5. Jingo (1997)

All of these titles revolve directly around the City Watch in some fashion or form.

I'm not bored enough to break the list down into the categories, plus misc.

-Trevor

Edit: The titles are different, so I think they are actually different books - the second with additional material. I don't know for sure.

Edit 2: If you click on the link, it pulls up a blurb about the book. The second book is a new printing with two stories inside, not just the one contained in the original.
 

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Posted by Narnia (Member # 1071) on :
 
Ah, I get it. Thanks for the info Trevor, now I'm really intrigued. If I get hooked, I'm probably doomed. I need to wait until I move out before I start buying them, I just won't have enough room!

I guess I could go to a library...but I hate that!
 

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Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
 
All of the books marked "omnibus" are previous books re-published with more than one of the original books in one volume. (Note that they aren't included in the numbering). Since the originals are pretty small paperbacks, this gets them up to a more "normal" sized book.
 

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Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
 
You can find all of them in "Mass Market" paperback - the smaller, standard size people think of when someone says "paperback".

-Trevor
 

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Posted by Zalmoxis (Member # 2327) on :
 
I recommend the Discworld Reading Order Guide.

I read the lower half of the guide first. I would actually recommend reading the upper half and then read the lower half so you end up* with the crescendo of Small Gods, Thief of Time and Night Watch.

*More or less -- Monstrous Regiment comes later.
 

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Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
 
On the music side of things, The Book of Secrets had Mckennit's biggest song "The Mummer's Dance". It's definately a quality album and if you were to buy another I can't see anything wrong with that one.
 

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Posted by Shan (Member # 4550) on :
 
I have all of Loreena's CD's - you can't go wrong with any of them, Cecily -
 

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Posted by JaneX (Member # 2026) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by TMedina:
I'm not bored enough to break the list down into the categories, plus misc.

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I am. But I don't know about the ten or so most recent ones, 'cause I haven't read them yet.

Rincewind:
1. The Colour of Magic
2. The Light Fantastic
5. Sourcery
9. Eric
17. Interesting Times
22. The Last Continent

Death:
4. Mort
11. Reaper Man
16. Soul Music
20. Hogfather

The Witches:
6. Wyrd Sisters
12. Witches Abroad
14. Lords and Ladies
18. Maskerade

The Watch:
8. Guards! Guards!
15. Men at Arms
19. Feet of Clay
21. Jingo
27. Night Watch

Miscellaneous:
3. Equal Rites (This actually has one of the witches in it, but I don't think it technically counts as a Witches book.)
7. Pyramids
10. Moving Pictures
13. Small Gods

...and that's the best I can do. If someone else wants to fill in the gaps, feel free.

~Jane~
 

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Posted by Narnia (Member # 1071) on :
 
Wow, so I need to read them in that order! How....unchronological!

Shan, I trust your judgement and that's kind of the feeling I've had all along. It's terrible for me to decide when I only can buy only one!! I'll just have to slowly collect all of them.
 

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Posted by JaneX (Member # 2026) on :
 
You can read them chronologically too, if you want. It works just as well.

~Jane~
 

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Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
 
The only problem with a chronological reading is that the first book in the series -- Colour of Magic -- is one of the weakest, and The Light Fantastic is a direct sequel. So you can start with Sourcery without too much pain, and then read the other two if you're a completist or really like Rincewind (or Twoflower).

I usually recommend that new Pratchett readers start with Mort, Small Gods, or even Good Omens.
 

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Posted by Bella Bee (Member # 7027) on :
 
The first book that I read of the Discworld, and which hooked me instantly, was 'Witches Abroad'. But I would definitely recommend 'Mort' to start with. I would actually advise not starting at the beginning, as 'Colour of Magic' always strikes me as rather different in tone to those that came later.
 

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Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
 
You don't have to read all the City Watch books to understand the Witches books, for example.

I would recommend picking a sub-series and reading from the beginning, however - starting in the middle isn't nearly as much fun if you don't follow the characters from the beginning.

The Rincewind set is one of the weakest, in my opinion, but any of the others are highly entertaining.

-Trevor
 

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Posted by Narnia (Member # 1071) on :
 
So Mort then. I'll start with that one. But I am a completist, so I'll probably read Colour of Magic anyway...

Bob said I'd be hooked no matter what and I have a feeling that I will.
 

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Posted by Shan (Member # 4550) on :
 
You could come visit, Cecily, and we could listen to all of them, and then you could go get the one that plucks most at your soul!
(grin)
 

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Posted by Tarrsk (Member # 332) on :
 
It's generally agreed that Pratchett, unlike many of his contemporaries, gets significantly better as you move through his backlog. His early Discworld books, particularly "The Colour of Magic" and "The Light Fantastic," are basically straight-up parodies of common fantasy cliches, but both his skill as a writer and his scope in terms of subject matter increase drastically in later books. "Small Gods," for example, is an insightful satire of organized religion, while "Maskerade" is an absolutely hilarious parody of "The Phantom of the Opera," and "Night Watch" (IMO his finest work to date) is simultaneously a gritty story of revolution based on Les Miserables and a complex character study of Samuel Vimes, head of the City Watch.

Personally, I recommend the Watch stories (as you can probably guess ), followed by the Death subseries and the Witches. Rincewind gets pretty boring after the third or fourth book, as he is one of the few characters who never develops in any noticeable way, but the rest of the Unseen University wizards, who tend to appear in Rincewind stories, are a riot, and a dead-on parody of academia to boot.

Edit:
BTW, the specific books I mentioned above should not necessarily be read first. "Small Gods" works as a standalone story, as its set of characters only appears in that one book, but to fully appreciate "Night Watch," for example, you really should work your way through the other Watch books first. There is a strong sense of continuity in each Discworld sub-series (no Star Trek "reset buttons" here!), and Vimes changes significantly enough between "Guards! Guards!" and the start of "Night Watch" that you won't get the full impact of the later book unless you've read the ones before it.
 

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Posted by Sartorius (Member # 7696) on :
 
The order I read Prattchet is the one I find his books in the library, and it's worked for me. I started with Equal Rites, which is still one of my favorites. I also highly recommend Night Watch, Carpe Jugulum, Small Gods, and The Hogfather.
 

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Posted by narrativium (Member # 3230) on :
 
The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents is also a good introductory book, because it's almost entirely independent of any other Discworld novel, aside from being one of my personal favorites.

And to add to JaneX's lists:

Rincewind
1. The Colour of Magic
2. The Light Fantastic
5. Sourcery
9. Eric
17. Interesting Times
22. The Last Continent

Death
4. Mort
11. Reaper Man
16. Soul Music
20. Hogfather
26. Thief of Time

Witches
6. Wyrd Sisters
12. Witches Abroad
14. Lords and Ladies
18. Maskerade
23. Carpe Jugulum

The Watch
8. Guards! Guards!
15. Men at Arms
19. Feet of Clay
21. Jingo
24. The Fifth Elephant
29. Night Watch

Tiffany Aching/The Nac Mac Fleegle
30. The Wee Free Men
32. A Hat Full of Sky

Miscellaneous
3. Equal Rites (This actually has one of the witches in it, but I don't think it technically counts as a Witches book.)
7. Pyramids
10. Moving Pictures
13. Small Gods
25. The Truth
27. The Last Hero
28. The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents
31. Monstrous Regiment
33. Going Postal
34. Thud!

This is by no means a reading order guide. Certain characters pop up in several series (most notably, the Wizards of Unseen University are all over the place), and it's best to read the books in the order they were published, starting from Equal Rites.

As an aside, 5 points to anyone who can tell me in which book(s) Death does not appear.
 

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Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
 
Just for the record, "Thud!" - when printed, will most certainly be a "Watch" book.

-Trevor
 

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Posted by Narnia (Member # 1071) on :
 
So I took my trip to Borders today. I sampled the Loreena CDs and decided on "Mask" for now (cause I'll get them all eventually). I really like it.

I was staring at the Terry Pratchett row and I happened to pick up "The Color of Magic" just to thumb through...and I got hooked so I had to buy it. So, against some of your advice, I'm starting with CofM and The Light Fantastic. They already have me snickering and I'm sure I'll tear through them in nothing flat.

And I also picked up a copy of The Once and Future King, but that's another story, never mind. Anyway....
 

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Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
 
I'm a great believer in the thumb test.

-Trevor
 

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Posted by Bekenn (Member # 6602) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by narrativium:
As an aside, 5 points to anyone who can tell me in which book(s) Death does not appear.

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quote:

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That is all.
 

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Posted by Sartorius (Member # 7696) on :
 
So who else loves Lord Vetinari?
 

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Posted by narrativium (Member # 3230) on :
 
Bekenn: WRONG.

Try again.
 

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Posted by Tarrsk (Member # 332) on :
 
Lord Vetinari is my second-favorite character, after His Vimesness.
 

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Posted by JonnyNotSoBravo (Member # 5715) on :
 

quote:

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And I also picked up a copy of The Once and Future King, but that's another story, never mind. Anyway.... [Wink]

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