Discworld Timeline

[Jo of the Gates]

Hello, All.
I used to be mildly active here, but I've been away a looong time. I am now revisiting the Discworld and old memories are surfacing. Long ago, I recall seeing a timeline of the Discworld universe. It wasn't just a reading order (I have that) but more like an entire history of Discworld with names, dates and events. Can anyone point me in the right direction?
Next question: Is there a comprehensive list of the Calendar years in Discworld time? You know--Year of the Complicated Monkey, Year of the Spinning Mouse, and so on. Who will be creating these now that Sir Terry is gone?
Last question (for now): Of all the Discworld board games, which is the favorite and most-played? Is there a US source for the games? If I make my own board and pieces, where can I get a copy of the rules for Thud? (I know, that was 3 questions)
And one more: Are there any other Discworld movies besides Colour of Magic, Soul Music, Hogfather, and Going Postal? These are the ones I know about. There is also the Snowdrop film about Conan, can't recall the title.

 

[Molokov]

Hi Jo,

Some of the stuff you may be thinking of is on L-Space: http://lspace.org/
Specifically - a timeline (quite out of date): http://www.lspace.org/books/timeline/dw ... intro.html
Also some info on the wiki: http://wiki.lspace.org/mediawiki/Catego ... d_Timeline

The Discworld years... not all that many have been officially sanctioned, but I'm sure they're in the diaries somewhere.
The Wiki also has a few listed: http://wiki.lspace.org/mediawiki/Discworld_calendar
It's obviously not complete (e.g. last year was the Spinning Mouse, and an almanac was released in the Year of the Prawn etc)
I'm not sure anyone's put together a complete list...

Out of the board games: Ankh-Morpork is probably the best, although the new Clacks game could give it a run for its money - personally I haven't played Clacks enough yet to make that decision. In my opinion, A-M is better than The Witches (which is OK), Guards! Guards! is too long and complicated. I don't rate Thud alongside the others because it's a different beast entirely.
As far as I'm aware, all of these games' licenses are expiring so there are not likely to be any new print runs beyond the current ones, but you should still be able to get all of them at least through online retailers - for the US, try coolstuffinc.com or miniaturemarket.com or even Amazon.

Otherwise, Discworld.com and discworldemporium.com will have copies of some of the games, and The Emporium are probably the only people who stock Thud any more (the mass market version went out of print years ago). If you're making your own set, you may have to ask a kind fan to scan the rules for you as I can't find them online in any of the probably locations.

Films: The only commercially produced one you've missed is the 1996 cartoon version of Wyrd Sisters (similar to Soul Music) - it should be available on DVD from some stockists if you're lucky. Snowgum Films is working on the Troll Bridge fan film, which should *hopefully* be finished this year, with any luck http://trollbridge.film

 

[Jo of the Gates]

Wow! I think you got all of them! Thank you so much! It's lonely in the US Midwest - I never meet another Pratchett fan.

 

[Penfold]

Great to see you here again Jo!

 

[Molokov]

Wow! I think you got all of them! Thank you so much! It's lonely in the US Midwest - I never meet another Pratchett fan.

You'll have to make the effort to go to a Discworld convention then... such as the next North American one... http://nadwcon2017.org

 

[Who's Wee Dug]

There was a timeline carousel with dates and info at the top of the page where the banner graphic when you clicked on books tab, but that seems to be only books now.

Colin Smyth's(Terry's Publisher) website it's quite comprehensive.
Search for it on Google it won't allow me to copy the link, then it should say visit the wayback machine for the main site.

 

[Tonyblack]

As well as the animation of Soul Music, the same company did a version of Wyrd Sisters.

 

[RathDarkblade]

True - and they were roundly criticised for the witches having West Country accents instead of Lancashire ones. Now I'm no expert, but I quite enjoyed that particular Wyrd Sisters, regardless of the accents. It was very faithful to the book, and having Sir Christopher as Death was a very fine bonus. What did you think?

Also, what did you think of their Soul Music? Did Imp Y Celyn's accent sound "Welsh" to you (if there is such a thing as a "Welsh" accent)?

 

[Penfold]

I only saw Wyrd Sisters and must say that I found it very enjoyable.

 

[Tonyblack]

I only saw Wyrd Sisters and must say that I found it very enjoyable.

One of the best jokes in that, that wasn't in the book.

 

[Penfold]

I only saw Wyrd Sisters and must say that I found it very enjoyable.

One of the best jokes in that, that wasn't in the book.

I do remember seeing 'Soul Music' now you've jogged my memory and surely the joke is in that and not Wyrd Sisters.

"We are bigger than cheeses"

 

[Tonyblack]

Brain fart

That's the one. I don't know how I read "Wyrd Sisters" as Soul Music. :doh:

 

[raisindot]

Wow! I think you got all of them! Thank you so much! It's lonely in the US Midwest - I never meet another Pratchett fan.

Jo, I think you, Catch-Up and Tina probably represent the midwest contingent of DW readers, at least on this board.

I'm on the east coast and I rarely meet Pratchett fans either. Other than the one Pterry speech/book signing I went to, the only time I ever saw someone reading a DW book was on a subway train--and she turned out to be English.

 

[RathDarkblade]

So, Tony... question for you.

I used to think that there was such a thing as an "English accent", being an uneducated Forecksian who had never been to England. Now that I've actually listened to them, "English accents" differ depending on where you come from - e.g. a Lancastrian would sound different from a Yorkshireman, who again would sound different from a Liverpudlian, and so on.

Is there such a thing as a "Welsh accent"? For that matter, is there such a thing as an "Irish accent", or a "Scottish accent"? I'd guess not, but I don't know.

Thanks!

 

[Penfold]

I'll answer for Tony if I may. The Welsh do indeed have their own accent, as does the Scots and Irish, and these are further split into different accents dependant on where they come from within that country. It never ceased to amaze me that the language and tone can change so much in such a relatively short distance from each other (Glaswegian and the rest of Scotland, for example).

Here's a few examples;

Max Boyce - Wales
Billy Connolly - Glasgow
Dave Allen - Irish

 

[Tonyblack]

It goes even further than that. We have a different accent in Cardiff to those people in Newport (about 12 miles away).

If you've ever seen Torchwood, you'll have come across the Welsh accent.

 

[RathDarkblade]

I haven't seen Dave Allan before, but Ireland's had some very fine comedians (George Carlin among them).

The thing is, I'm asking whether Wales (or Ireland, or Scotland for that matter) have different accents, depending on where you go. For instance, if you go to Scotland, would a fellow from Glasgow sound different from a fellow from Perth or Aberdeen etc. Or, if you go to Ireland, would a fellow from Dublin sound different from a fellow from Cork or Kilkenny or Galway... or, if you go to Wales, would someone from Cardiff have a different accent from someone from Swansea or Betws-y-Coed, and so on.

****EDIT**** Whoops... looks like Tony's already answered my question? Never mind...

(Oh, and no - I've never seen Torchwood. What is it?)

 

[Tonyblack]

Torchwood is a Doctor Who spin-off set in Cardiff.

 

[Who's Wee Dug]

And really rather good, pity they haven't made any more.....but I'm looking forward to visiting it next year when I'm down for the Eastercon (Paragon) next year.