ah. if it comes down to sheer numbers it would have to be my local hero Agatha Christie. I tend to think that she and Terry have something in common, that their sheer popularity means the quality of their writing is somewhat underrated, like some kind of snob factor. Aside from her indisputable skill at writing mysteries, she had a beautiful writing style and had a particular gift for characterisation.
Is Discworld the best?
- Thread starter author3
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author3 said:
I was just wondsering if everyone thinks Discworld is the best series or do you prefer something like Hitch-Hikers.
So basically is Discworld the best series of books you've ever read?
For me it definitely is
So basically is Discworld the best series of books you've ever read?
For me it definitely is
It's sort of impossible to answer because how can you compare where there's no common ground? I love the Hitchhiker's Guide series, but then I prefer the radio series slightly to the books, and then there's questions of which is the canon etc etc...
Or take His Dark Materials: I don't care for The Amber Spyglass much but my love for the first book Northern Lights is so overpowering is still balances out as one of my favourite series' (and I'm also very fond of books 2, The Subtle Knife). Proportionally, therefore, I love two thirds of HDM. I probably love (LOVE rather than just really-really-like) about two thirds of Discworld. So proportionally - about the same. But whereas two thirds of HDM means two books, that's like 26 books from Discworld. It doesn't seem a fair comparison... it's like trying to decide if you like Buffy The Vampire Slayer of Firefly better.
And then there's stuff that just doesn't seem compatible because the material is so different - how can I compare Discworld to the Philip Marlowe books or the Sherlock Holmes stories and say which I love the best? They just offer a completely different experience.
But if you held a gonne to my head for an answer I guess I'd have to say yes; Discworld is my favourite series.
Or take His Dark Materials: I don't care for The Amber Spyglass much but my love for the first book Northern Lights is so overpowering is still balances out as one of my favourite series' (and I'm also very fond of books 2, The Subtle Knife). Proportionally, therefore, I love two thirds of HDM. I probably love (LOVE rather than just really-really-like) about two thirds of Discworld. So proportionally - about the same. But whereas two thirds of HDM means two books, that's like 26 books from Discworld. It doesn't seem a fair comparison... it's like trying to decide if you like Buffy The Vampire Slayer of Firefly better.
And then there's stuff that just doesn't seem compatible because the material is so different - how can I compare Discworld to the Philip Marlowe books or the Sherlock Holmes stories and say which I love the best? They just offer a completely different experience.
But if you held a gonne to my head for an answer I guess I'd have to say yes; Discworld is my favourite series.
Having just got back from seeing Sir Terry in Brighton, I was most struck by the sheer diversity of the age range of his audience. This ranged from obvious school kids right up to octogenarians (and probably above). Do other writers have such a wide age gap of fans? (I ask this because I have not attended any events involving other writers and really don't know.)
