dodger

[Who's Wee Dug]

I also don't have a real problem with covers. Actually, I'd rather a cover had less rather than more and no depiction of the characters. I'd rather decide for myself what the characters look like.

Ooh yes, I had forgotten about that! Covers showing too many characters from the book can be a little annoying - especially when you go back to check after reading the book and think "did the artist even READ this?". Kidby does a fabulous job with character art though, I can't think of a time when I've found his ideas of how the characters look disagreeable.

I did like the Josh Kirby covers though, there were as you say busy with sometimes more characters from the book than you could shake a stick at , loved them.

 

[Catch-up]

Don't much care about the covers one way or the other, as long as I get to read the story.

Didnt much like Nation and massively disappointed with Snuff, so ripping off Dickens is probably going to annoy me anyway.
That wont stop me buying it, of course

Hi Sylvia!

 

[ladyramkin]

Hi you!!! How are you all?

 

[Thales of Miletus]

I'm not sure about this cover. Seems to fall into a gap between Disc And non-Disc covers. I.e. the shadows of the figures in the foreground are wearing top hats, while the shadowy figures in the background have fedoras on.

 

[Anonymous]

Friday the 13th = More Dodger News, we have a little synopsis of the book thanks to Lynsey:

Dodger is a tosher – a sewer scavenger living in the squalor of Dickensian London.
Everyone who is nobody knows Dodger. Anyone who is anybody doesn’t.
But when he rescues a young girl from a beating, suddenly everybody wants to know him.
And Dodger’s tale of skulduggery, dark plans and even darker deeds begins . . .

 

[high eight]

And to have my old-grumpy-man-ramblings off the list:
Are you still going to say there ain't a rather scatalogical turn in the past few works?

Yes. There has always been a vein of good old British scatological humour. remember the Via Clocoa?

 

[high eight]

It seems to be set in the same world as Nation - an alternative Victorian Britain. I know a lot of people didn't much care for Nation, but I loved it.

Me too - I think it is close to PTerry's masterpiece.

 

[Anonymous]

It’s exactly four months till Dodger is dodging its way to bookshelves and to celebrate Lynsey has revealed some characters that appear in the book! Dodger features real characters of the time in which it’s set including the following, Charles Dickens!, James Mayhew, Disraeli. Sir Robert Peel and even Queen Victoria!
http://discworldfanatics.co.uk/dodger-c ... -revealed/

 

[Tonyblack]

Thanks Rich! I'm looking forward to this one somewhat more than Long Earth (not sure why).

 

[pip]

I'm the same . I'm wary of The Long Earth but this book actually excites me.

 

[Anonymous]

Same here as well. Hopefully both novels will be awesome

 

[pip]

We can but hope

 

[Palle]

In the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist there is a character called the Artful dodger, Jack Dawkins.
Is it possible that this book will be about that character?

 

[Molokov]

From the blurb, It's about a similar /type/ of character, and considering I think Dickens was mentioned as one of the characters making an appearance, perhaps the titular Dodger is the character that inspires Dickens to include him in Oliver Twist?

 

[poohcarrot]

Waterstones free sampler of the first 15 pages. :dance: :dance:

 

[=Tamar]

From the blurb, It's about a similar /type/ of character, and considering I think Dickens was mentioned as one of the characters making an appearance, perhaps the titular Dodger is the character that inspires Dickens to include him in Oliver Twist?

That sounds likely. In Roundworld Dickens made Dodger a pickpocket rather than a mudlark and also rather less vicious than this one looks like being. Maybe our Dickens left out Dodger's early life before Fagin got hold of him, or thought it was obvious enough for those who knew so that he didn't have to mention it specifically.

 

[pip]

Waterstones free sampler of the first 15 pages. :dance: :dance:

Damn it , no waterstones left here

 

[poohcarrot]

You'll have to be nice to Bouncy for a while.

 

[pip]

Double Damn

 

[OrangeEyebrows]

Wee spoilers for Snuff and Feet of Clay

I'm super-excited about this one, because I've actually written a YA novel (unpublished) about a tosher in an alternate Victorian London, so it will be fascinating to see what Mr Pratchett has done with similar material. I'm just a massive Victoriana geek in general, and particularly when it comes to Victorian London, and particularly particularly when it comes to the various underground worlds of Victorian London. If anyone's interested in some background reading, I can recommend a couple of really fascinating non-fiction books on the subject.

As for scatalogical content...well, it's going to be pretty unavoidable given the subject matter, yes? I did notice a lot more scatalogical references in Snuff than in previous books, but I saw that as deliberate, particularly in terms of characters like Young Sam, Felicity Beedle and Harry King, who see something worthwhile or interesting in things other people consider to be disgusting waste, with the obvious parallels to the goblins.

Terry Pratchett has always thought poo is funny - he's English In Feet of Clay, for example, there's a memorable scene with a whole city full of panicked animals doing...what comes naturally to panicked animals. Not to mention Colon's trip down the "river". And sexual content is nothing new either - the entire concept of the Seamstress's Guild is one long nudge-nudge wink-wink.

IMO, one of Mr Pratchett's many charms as a writer is that he appeals on so many different levels, from the incredibly clever and nuanced to shouting "Underpants!" and running away.