Poll: Terry Pratchett

[justnotcricket]

Terry Pratchett's style of humour is one of my very favourite things in the world =) It's so sad that he has Alzheimers...

 

[Diablini]

Take a look at my avatar, and then guess.

That's Rincewind, right? Wait. Who wants to be Rincewind? He can't use magic, nor hold a sword. But he is incredibly lucky.

Correct. And when you are incredibly lucky, what else do you need?

A half-brick in a sock! Mightiest weapon on the Disc...

Not quite the fan of "Cohen the Barbarian" huh? Yep, I like him too, at least he's got some common sense (Sense maybe, but skill - no). I liked Men at Arms very much, and almost at the end it turns out that:
Every single one of the soldiers in that troop is a woman in disguise. Even the general.

You're thinking of Monstrous Regiment. Men at Arms was the Watch book about the gonne.

OT: He's my very, very favourite writer. His books have almost all been solid gold in terms of quality. Unfortunately, he's definately slipping. Unseen Academicals, while funny in a few places, simply cannot measure up to the quality of his previous works. The storyline is duller, and a lot more cliched. A lot of strange quirks are seeping in too, that were less evident in earlier books - random non-sequiters, duller characters, and oddly enough a lot more swearing. I think a large part of the problem is that he no longer writes the books himself, he is forced to narrate them. The writing process is probably very different now.

However, there are still times that the brilliance shines through. I loved Dr Hix, and his concept of acceptable evil by college statute :-D

Whoops. Sorry 'bout that. It's just the damned name translation. Anyway, it was a very interesting read.

 

[Diablini]

Not quite the fan of "Cohen the Barbarian" huh? Yep, I like him too, at least he's got some common sense (Sense maybe, but skill - no). I liked Men at Arms very much, and almost at the end it turns out that:
Every single one of the soldiers in that troop is a woman in disguise. Even the general.

That would be Monstrous Regiment, no? Just saying, you might be traumatising some poor souls who've not read it.

Yes I am. Damned name translations.

 

[Diablini]

Bahhaha!

I've read almost all of his.

Bloody fantastic.
Damn shame about the Alzheimers, though.

Well he's still prevailing over it. I hope he doesn't reach the point where he thinks he's Sam Vimes.

Anyways, love him! He is a genius.

Take a look at my avatar, and then guess.

That's Rincewind, right? Wait. Who wants to be Rincewind? He can't use magic, nor hold a sword. But he is incredibly lucky.

Correct. And when you are incredibly lucky, what else do you need?

A wacky companion with some magic Luggage.

Well, quite.

The reason Rincewind is one of my favourite characters is not because he is a hero, but rather because he is not. He's an incompetent coward that survives merely on the virtue of his wit, incredible luck and his ability to run like the clappers whenever the situation demands it (which is quite often). And as a consequence is much more interesting to read about than yet another standard cliche sword-wielding warrior or spell-flinging wizard.

Not quite the fan of "Cohen the Barbarian" huh? Yep, I like him too, at least he's got some common sense (Sense maybe, but skill - no). I liked Monstrous Regiment very much, and almost at the end it turns out that:
Every single one of the soldiers in that troop is a woman in disguise. Even the general.

 

[The Golden Sun]

He's one of my favorite writers. I love the city watch ones and Going Postal.

 

[JasonBurnout16]

I have every single one of his books. They are brilliant!

Every single on of them is amazing. If you haven't read one of his books, try it, you shouldn't be disappointed with it

 

[Andalusa]

Ah, he's brilliant. I love his books.

 

[CakeDragon]

I lovelovelove Moist von Lipwig, I think the books with him are amazing..!
I also love the watch and the witches. Oh, and also the wizards.
Ohh, he is such a good author!

Wait there is a pre/sequel to going postal cool what?s its called
In case that makes no sense there are other books with moist are there and what are they

It's called 'Making Money'... He runs the bank. It's goood

 

[Captain Pancake]

Yes I have, actually. I've read a few, mainly from his night watch series (you know, the ones following vimes, carrot etc.), including thud! feet of clay and most of men at arms, about 3/4 of the way through it at the moment. I think he's brilliant, such a cheery author and the perfect 'resting' book to read after taking in something heavy like Catch-22.

 

[Thr Long Man]

I have read every single Discworld book saving the following three: The Last Hero, Where is my Cow? and the new one.
I own every other aside from the one with Death's apprentice and the wannabe summoner that summons Rincewind.
And I bloody love the series, and I dread they day I will have had enough of this, because that's the day they replace my heart with and Ipod.

 

[thepj]

Thought id make this thread, 1. cos his new just came out. 2. A stage version of 'Nation' is playing at national and im going to see it. 3. He is a truly brilliant author.
Also there seem to a disproportionate amount of gamers who like Terry Pratchett, is there something about him that appeals specifically to gamers? So do you like him or not? say why and if you haven't read any yet I strongly recommend you do.

it's not just gamers, most of my non-gamer friends who've read terry pratchet seem to like him, sadly no one reads for fun anymore exept for places like the escapist, amoung the last bastions of inteligence on earth =(

sorry i've gone off on a tangent, yeah i love terry pratchet, what's his new book called again? and my respect for him only increased when i found out he had alziemers, if he can write so well with that debilitating condition then there's no excuse for any other author to be shit in my eyes.

 

[historybuff]

The guy is awesome. I love his books. My favorite ones are the ones about the Night Watch and DEATH (and his brothers and his granddaughter).

 

[Redingold]

Yeah, Pratchett's gotta be my favourite, though I have to agree that Unseen Academicals is, unfortunately, not quite up to scratch.

 

[Reaperman64]

Interestingly it dosent seem to affecting his writing style that much

Hmm?

He only got it rather recently.
We'd have to wait for his new book to come out to see any difference.

It has had an effect, sadly. I actually posted in another thread because I've recently gone back and read some of his books. Monstrous Regiment and the ones that he's written after that seem to have lost a lot of the...I don't know what to call it. I can't put my finger on what's missing from the new ones, but it's definitely noticeable. I read the most recent book, Unseen Academicals, and had to rush through just to finish it. I was sad that one of my favorite authors seems to have lost his edge and pissed off that his being sick is affecting him in this way.

sorry for double post but had to comment
i know what you mean. while moist von lipwig is officially my favourte charecter, the book is a strong departure from his style
when reaing his work you instantly get the *Yup tis pratchett* and recently its lost some of that
however i thourougly enjoy all of it, monstourous regiment was a low point as it just seemed too....unlikely i suppose

I actually like Moist a lot, too. Out of the discworld novels that Terry has written in the past 6 years, the ones involving him are much more like his older books. It's too bad that he's only been in two books, but I remember having read somewhere that there will likely be a third novel with him as the main character.

Ummm i read somewhere thats itll be called raising taxes, and pretty much leads on from the end of making money, if you rember the ending of it...should be interesting

 

[Trotgar]

He is me favourite author, even though I don't really like the witches (though Maskerade was good) and his early production wasn't that good. But when he found his current style... oh god are the books fantastic.

 

[tomdavi]

Yeah, Pratchett's gotta be my favourite, though I have to agree that Unseen Academicals is, unfortunately, not quite up to scratch.

I do get what people are saying about Unseen Academicals not being quite as good as some of his other stuff, but it is really like comparing the first matrix to th other two. The first was considered by many to be utterly brilliant, and whilst the others were actually pretty damn decent films, if not astounding, they were doomed to be in the shadow of the original. I get the feeling it's a bit like that with Pratchett.

It's still a very good book, it just doesn't hit the same heights as his earlier writing. Just that he is still going and making high quality books that can outsell plenty of other writers, whilst having a condition like alziemhers, is testament to his skill and passion for writing.