I've only read a couple of early ones, and participated in a read-through of a play version of a later one. But heard enough to know that I really should get round to reading more when I get the chance, and just how much the guy and his works are loved. Guess I'm a ripple that's still to be reached in that way.
I was like that about Iain M. Banks and then went on a massive reading spree after he died and got to be heartbroken about it months after the Collective Internet Mourning Period.
One of the amazing (and tragic) things about him is that his writing just keeps on getting better. The old ones were great; but they just keep getting better and better and better. And now he's dead. ;_;
We watched "Mulan" the other night, and so now I'm reading the kids "Monstrous Regiment," because my son hasn't tried it yet although it's in a stack of books I suggested he try. It's a good starting place because while one or two characters from the other books have appearances, mostly it's about completely new ones. Characters grow and change and progress in his world, so while you don't really need to have read previous ones to "get" later ones, time does progress so it can be a bit jarring to see earlier versions of characters (Commander Vimes of the City Watch has probably changed the most over the years, although other characters have, say, gotten married and things). Vimes is a favourite character of mine (okay, they're all favourites, but Vimes and the Patrician, Lord Vetinari, and Granny Weatherwax are probably my favourites. Oh, and Lady Sybil is fantastic.). "Guards! Guards!" is the first one involving the City Watch and is an excellent place to start. "Wyrd Sisters" involves three of the witches from a more rural area and is also a good place to start; it's more or less Pratchett's take on "MacBeth" (he will occasionally sort of be inspired by other stories; "Maskerade" is was inspired by "The Phantom of the Opera" and is also fantastic. Caveat: They're all fantastic). Um. "Going Postal" is another good entry point since again the main character is new to us although again people like the Patrician put in appearances.
Have you ever seen any of the BBC's adaptations? The live-action ones have Charles Dance as the Patrician, and he is marvellous. Oh, and cool: the adaptations of "Hogfather" (a Santa expy), "Going Postal", and "Wyrd Sisters" (animated) are all up on YouTube.
Even knowing it was coming, my heart dropped like a stone when I saw it just before going to bed. Major fan here, it's embarrassing that I've read the whole lot twice (except for truckers). That was a good 3-6 months though.
If you haven't read much, I think the guides which show how to follow different trajectories of the characters (e.g. reading witches one after the other) instead of in publication order, interspersed with other discworld books are the way to go - that's what I'll do next time.
After Mum died his books were the main thing that kept me going. I always meant to write and tell him that, and I dragged my butt for ten years and now it's too late.
There will never be another Diskworld book. I find that devastating.
He wrote exactly the sort of books one reads after loss. I think I went on a big spree after my step-dad died too. I could probably pinpoint why that is, but I'm groggy atm.
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Date: 2015-03-12 10:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-03-12 10:14 pm (UTC)I haven't read as many of them as I'd like (because he's written tons) but I'm positive you'd love him.
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Date: 2015-03-13 02:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-03-13 02:41 pm (UTC)I'm still crushed though.
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Date: 2015-03-13 12:02 pm (UTC)RIP.
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Date: 2015-03-13 02:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-03-20 03:20 pm (UTC)We watched "Mulan" the other night, and so now I'm reading the kids "Monstrous Regiment," because my son hasn't tried it yet although it's in a stack of books I suggested he try. It's a good starting place because while one or two characters from the other books have appearances, mostly it's about completely new ones. Characters grow and change and progress in his world, so while you don't really need to have read previous ones to "get" later ones, time does progress so it can be a bit jarring to see earlier versions of characters (Commander Vimes of the City Watch has probably changed the most over the years, although other characters have, say, gotten married and things). Vimes is a favourite character of mine (okay, they're all favourites, but Vimes and the Patrician, Lord Vetinari, and Granny Weatherwax are probably my favourites. Oh, and Lady Sybil is fantastic.). "Guards! Guards!" is the first one involving the City Watch and is an excellent place to start. "Wyrd Sisters" involves three of the witches from a more rural area and is also a good place to start; it's more or less Pratchett's take on "MacBeth" (he will occasionally sort of be inspired by other stories; "Maskerade" is was inspired by "The Phantom of the Opera" and is also fantastic. Caveat: They're all fantastic). Um. "Going Postal" is another good entry point since again the main character is new to us although again people like the Patrician put in appearances.
Have you ever seen any of the BBC's adaptations? The live-action ones have Charles Dance as the Patrician, and he is marvellous. Oh, and cool: the adaptations of "Hogfather" (a Santa expy), "Going Postal", and "Wyrd Sisters" (animated) are all up on YouTube.
Trailer for "Going Postal":
no subject
Date: 2015-03-21 01:00 pm (UTC)Oh. My.
no subject
Date: 2015-03-13 02:26 pm (UTC)If you haven't read much, I think the guides which show how to follow different trajectories of the characters (e.g. reading witches one after the other) instead of in publication order, interspersed with other discworld books are the way to go - that's what I'll do next time.
no subject
Date: 2015-03-13 02:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-03-20 03:24 pm (UTC)There will never be another Diskworld book. I find that devastating.
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Date: 2015-03-21 12:58 pm (UTC)For that alone, though, he was incredible.