Posts Tagged ‘discworld’

So this is it then, the final Pratchett novel. Worse, it’s a Tiffany Aching novel.

Pratchett comes out swinging for his final work. Perhaps it was his last chance to do something big, or perhaps he was trying to claw back readers from the popularity of George R. R. Martin, but I did not expect it to stat that way.

I did find a surprisingly amount of enjoyment in the book though. I have never been an Aching fan, but this was quite a good one. A nice way to go out on.

So this is it then. I’m at the end of Discworld. With Sir Terry sadly gone there is no more Discworld to look forward to. There is supposed to be another novel to be published posthumously, but it is a Tiffany Aching novel, so nobody is looking forward to that.

As a way to go out though, it was good. Moist von Lipwig is a cool character and Pratchett is not afraid to introduce big changes to the Discworld universe, possibly because he knew he wouldn’t have the chance to make many more.

More importantly, who doesn’t love trains?

Sam Vimes running round the countryside solving crimes. Honestly, I found it dull. Yet another Discworld novel about how society learned to accept yet another species. Fine, but I’m sure we have had this storyline over and over again. I thought the Willikins jokes were a bit overplayed too.

Don’t get me wrong, it was okay. I was just disappointed, especially with just one more Discworld novel to go after this. The end is nigh :(.

Boo, Tiffany Aching novels. They’re good, but they’re not adult Discworld good. The discussion of Tiffany’s life as the local witch was good but I wasn’t even really following the Cunning Man stuff. There was no drama as she was obviously going to beat him and did easily.

Ah foot the ball. And is there any better place to enjoy the beautiful game than the beautiful city of Ankh-Morpork? Probably, though the idea of the wizards of Unseen University putting together a football team is definitely not one to be missed. That is the narrative of Discworld 37, Unseen Academicials.

It was okay. The Moist von Lipwig novels have been really good and this was not as laugh-out-loud funny as those. Also, there was some Rinsewind, but not enough. It’s like Pratchett was teasing me.

Making Money is the second Discworld novel to feature Moist von Lipwig. Published in 2007, it is getting dangerously close to the present – only four to go after this one :S. The storyline follows Moist as he takes control of the city mint, albeit against his will.

Moist is a cool character. I did not enjoy this one as much as Going Postal but it was still a very enjoyable read.

A Tiffany Aching book that I actually enjoyed reading? Surely the world has turned upside down. I mean they were all okay, but this one I would upgrade to a full on “good”.

Maybe it just took a little time for Pratchett to build the universe (even though it is technically the Discworld universe). Discworld novels are like a sitcom, a lot of it is funny because you know the characters and situations. Starting again without many of the existing characters probably takes time to build up once again.

Plus it did have Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg in it.

Normally I am a big fan of Sam Vimes and the City Watch. I did not enjoy Thud! as much as I did some of the other novels though, due in part to finding it a bit harder to follow than most storylines.

It did produce a fantastic quote though.

Coffee is a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to your older self

And it is not like a novel with The Watch, trolls, dwarves and Death can ever really not be enjoyable.

For month after month I have long awaited the arrival of a Discworld novel entirely devoted to the postal system. So much so that I assumed I had built it up so much in my mind that it could only disappoint. But it did not!

Moist von Lipwig is a cool character. More importantly however there was an indepth discussion of the clacks and how it works. Technical details, that’s what I like to see. There was not much laugh out loud humour until nearer the end, but enjoyable the whole way through.

What is all this nonsense about chapters though?

I have never been a huge fan of the Tiffany Aching Discworld novels. Probably because I am no longer a young adult, despite what the barman at the Squinting Cat insists. Still, it was readable and the Nac Mac Feegle are cool characters.

Most excitingly, that makes the next Discworld novel Going Postal. Which, has now been built up so much in my mind that it can only be a huge disappointment…