Search
Mistress Jessica (3 KP) rated The Art of Discworld in Books
Mar 8, 2018
Patrick Williamson (6 KP) rated Mort in Books
Mar 29, 2018 (Updated Mar 29, 2018)
His best book IMO
An early ish Discworld book and the first to introduce Death.
Because of the vast number of Discworld books written there is a lot of crossover in the later books and a lot of folklore building. The actual stories sometimes suffer for this but not in Mort. It works as a standalone as well as part of the series.
I'm so glad and lucky to have a signed copy.
RIP Terry Pratchett.
Because of the vast number of Discworld books written there is a lot of crossover in the later books and a lot of folklore building. The actual stories sometimes suffer for this but not in Mort. It works as a standalone as well as part of the series.
I'm so glad and lucky to have a signed copy.
RIP Terry Pratchett.
David McK (3425 KP) rated Sourcery: Discworld: The Unseen University Collection in Books
Nov 27, 2022
One of the earliest Discworld (#5) books by the late, great, Sir Terry Pratchett, and it shows.
At this point the series was still very much in its infancy; very much still a parody of classic 'Sword and Sorcery' (especially where Rincewind is concerned) instead of the exploration of the human character it would later become.
Everybody has their own favourite 'subseries' of Discworld novels - The Witches, Stand-alones, Industrial Revolution, City Guards, Death - for me, personally, the Rincewind series has also fallen towards the bottom of that ranking (although they do get better around about the time of Interesting Times).
Having said that, it's still interesting to see the beginnings of Pratchett's evolution of the Discworld here - like any great symphony, they all need to start somewhere!
At this point the series was still very much in its infancy; very much still a parody of classic 'Sword and Sorcery' (especially where Rincewind is concerned) instead of the exploration of the human character it would later become.
Everybody has their own favourite 'subseries' of Discworld novels - The Witches, Stand-alones, Industrial Revolution, City Guards, Death - for me, personally, the Rincewind series has also fallen towards the bottom of that ranking (although they do get better around about the time of Interesting Times).
Having said that, it's still interesting to see the beginnings of Pratchett's evolution of the Discworld here - like any great symphony, they all need to start somewhere!
Another fantastic Discworld book
This was the second book I ever read in the Discworld series, and was a great introduction to Death as a character.
The book itself is a fun take on Father Christmas and is full of humour, if not slightly bonkers at times. It also has one of my favourite quotes:
"Susan has never been able to see the attraction in cats. They were owned by the kind of people who like puddings" - means more to a cat lover!
The book itself is a fun take on Father Christmas and is full of humour, if not slightly bonkers at times. It also has one of my favourite quotes:
"Susan has never been able to see the attraction in cats. They were owned by the kind of people who like puddings" - means more to a cat lover!
David McK (3425 KP) rated Moving Pictures in Books
Jul 11, 2021
Discworld Industrial Revolution #1
<2021 update>
I hadn't realised that this book had the first appearance(s) of Ponder Stibbons, Arch-Chancellor Mustrum Ridcully alongside that of Gaspode the Wonder Dog! (well, maybe I knew the latter)
<original review>
Book #10 in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, which (for my money) stands alongside Soul Music as one of his best works, perhaps because these are the two books it is easiest to catch the many allusions in!
This is the one where Discworld discovers the magic of the Motion Picture, culminating in a not-quite-right scene of a giant lady carrying a screaming ape up a tall building (Ankh-Morpork's Tower of Art in the Unseen University), and is also, perhaps, the only book where CMOT Dibbler is actually a major character rather than an extra.
I hadn't realised that this book had the first appearance(s) of Ponder Stibbons, Arch-Chancellor Mustrum Ridcully alongside that of Gaspode the Wonder Dog! (well, maybe I knew the latter)
<original review>
Book #10 in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, which (for my money) stands alongside Soul Music as one of his best works, perhaps because these are the two books it is easiest to catch the many allusions in!
This is the one where Discworld discovers the magic of the Motion Picture, culminating in a not-quite-right scene of a giant lady carrying a screaming ape up a tall building (Ankh-Morpork's Tower of Art in the Unseen University), and is also, perhaps, the only book where CMOT Dibbler is actually a major character rather than an extra.
Rachel (48 KP) rated Small Gods in Books
May 24, 2017
Funny (4 more)
Philosophy
Fantasy
Terry Pratchett
Excellent fiction
The 13th Discworld book
Small God's is the 13th book in the Discworld series. You do not have to have read any of the other books to understand this one as it features characters that (mostly) only appear in this book.
As with all of Pratchett's work it is a subtle blend of humour and humanity. It uses amazing characters and situations to highlight the hypocrisy and insanity of real life.
This book focuses on Brutha; a 'slow', ordinary monk for the God Om. It is the biggest, and most ruthless, religion in this part of the Discworld.
Brutha is gardening, as he always is (not much use for anything else) when a tortoise literally drops into his life and changes his world......
This book questions the hierarchy of religion, the wisdom of power, philosophy, the righteousness of war and whether a tortoise really does make good eating.
As with all of Pratchett's work it is a subtle blend of humour and humanity. It uses amazing characters and situations to highlight the hypocrisy and insanity of real life.
This book focuses on Brutha; a 'slow', ordinary monk for the God Om. It is the biggest, and most ruthless, religion in this part of the Discworld.
Brutha is gardening, as he always is (not much use for anything else) when a tortoise literally drops into his life and changes his world......
This book questions the hierarchy of religion, the wisdom of power, philosophy, the righteousness of war and whether a tortoise really does make good eating.
Sarah (7798 KP) rated Moving Pictures in Books
Aug 11, 2017
Discworld Spin on the Birth of Film
I'm a massive film geek, so I love this purely on the fact that it's about the introduction of Film and cinema - with a uniquely Discworld take of course. Like Going Postal, it's always great to read Terry Pratchett's take on a revolution or invention as it's always funny and unique. My main issue however with this book is that I think the characters may be a little weak. In most of the Discworld books, there is usually a loveable and strong main character or supporting character but Moving Pictures appears to be lacking in this area. Victor isn't a bad character, he just isn't strong or interesting enough to be the main protagonist. Gaspode and the Librarian were my favourite supporting characters although they sadly weren't around enough. Fortunately the story was good enough to carry itself, but you do notice the lack of strong characters.
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated The Truth (Discworld, #25; Industrial Revolution, #2) in Books
Nov 27, 2019
For the 25th Discworld novel, Pratchett tackles investigative journalism, introducing a newspaper to Ankh Morpork run by William de Worde (much to the annoyance of his aristocratic family) with reporter Sacharissa Crisplock. They soon stumble on a plot to discredit Lord Vetinari, putting themselves and The Truth in danger.
This is all handled with Pratchett's typical humour with a great cast of characters. William and Sacharissa are pitted against the villainous duo of Mr Pin and Mr Tulip, who very much channel Mr Wint and Mr Kydd in Diamonds Are Forever.
Although a very enjoyable read (as are all Discworld novels), this one doesn't quite come together for me. There's just not enough to satirise in the subject and the underlying plot is perhaps a little flimsy. I had to look up the details of the plot, which is a bad sign for any book.
Still worth a read but by no means the best Discworld novel
This is all handled with Pratchett's typical humour with a great cast of characters. William and Sacharissa are pitted against the villainous duo of Mr Pin and Mr Tulip, who very much channel Mr Wint and Mr Kydd in Diamonds Are Forever.
Although a very enjoyable read (as are all Discworld novels), this one doesn't quite come together for me. There's just not enough to satirise in the subject and the underlying plot is perhaps a little flimsy. I had to look up the details of the plot, which is a bad sign for any book.
Still worth a read but by no means the best Discworld novel