Least favourite Discworld book
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So I guess I am at a loss there.
I don't believe ANY author can produce that amount of work to a consistent standard, or without a certain amount of repetition.
Steinbeck produced some real duds. Orwell's earlier novels lack the sheer genius of his last two, or the passion of Road to Wigan Pier. TP is sometimes accused of repetition in reviews, and I think there's some truth in it.
I didn't like Equal Rites, because it's clearly a transitional book between the self-contained style of CoM and the more fully realised Ankh-Morpork of the later books. I didn't like Carpe Jugulem much because it just didn't work for me, and Last Continent and Thief of Time are just too laboured and complex .. they seem to be written in an attempt to get all the themes into the available pages.
I'm not a fan of I Shall Wear Midnight because it seems to me to suffer from a syndrome, but not the one previously mentioned... Niven's Syndrome, by which the plot is contorted into increasingly unworkable shapes in an attempt to tie up a whole range of plot themes which were originally unrelated or had no logical connection.
Ringworld is brilliant, but the subsequent sequels become tangled to the point of unintelligibility. Asimov's later work tends to stray into this area as well, the originally-unrelated "Caves of Steel" "Foundation" and "I, Robot" threads becoming increasingly entangled in an attempt to produce a unified continuity between things that were originally unconnected
Steinbeck produced some real duds. Orwell's earlier novels lack the sheer genius of his last two, or the passion of Road to Wigan Pier. TP is sometimes accused of repetition in reviews, and I think there's some truth in it.
I didn't like Equal Rites, because it's clearly a transitional book between the self-contained style of CoM and the more fully realised Ankh-Morpork of the later books. I didn't like Carpe Jugulem much because it just didn't work for me, and Last Continent and Thief of Time are just too laboured and complex .. they seem to be written in an attempt to get all the themes into the available pages.
I'm not a fan of I Shall Wear Midnight because it seems to me to suffer from a syndrome, but not the one previously mentioned... Niven's Syndrome, by which the plot is contorted into increasingly unworkable shapes in an attempt to tie up a whole range of plot themes which were originally unrelated or had no logical connection.
Ringworld is brilliant, but the subsequent sequels become tangled to the point of unintelligibility. Asimov's later work tends to stray into this area as well, the originally-unrelated "Caves of Steel" "Foundation" and "I, Robot" threads becoming increasingly entangled in an attempt to produce a unified continuity between things that were originally unconnected
Monstrous Regiment. I found the book itself quite boring but then the twist came along and was used so many times that it lost all impact [though it didn't have much to begin with].
I somewhat dislike Night Watch because it was the end of the City Watch books as books about the Watch and the start of them being books about Vimes. There were strong hints before but NW was the final nail in the coffin. The book itself was good.
I somewhat dislike Night Watch because it was the end of the City Watch books as books about the Watch and the start of them being books about Vimes. There were strong hints before but NW was the final nail in the coffin. The book itself was good.
MR has a plot fallacy which has to be overlooked.. that a war has been going on for so long that there are virtually no able-bodied men LEFT ( as per the scenes of returning veterans, who all appear to be male ) yet it still isn't generally realised that a significant proportion of the fighting troops are female.
I quite enjoyed it, but I did rather end up feeling that it could have been cut to novella length and focused around Polly and Sgt Jackrum with much the same result and a better structure.
I would disagree about the Watch/Vimes issue. To me, the Watch stories are increasingly falling into a number of elephant traps; most importantly, the Star Trek one whereby Kirk supposedly runs a huge starship but doesn't have anyone on his establishment whose job it is to do the sort of thing he spends most of his time doing.
Plus, the character-driven plot lines are stalling. Fred Colon has aged visibly but Nobby is still the same old Nobby. Carrot and Angua are getting nowhere, or at least not heading in any apparent direction. One-note characters like Washpot and the various dwarfs and trolls - all expecting to be promoted to sergeant - are apparently the mainstay of the force.
I quite enjoyed it, but I did rather end up feeling that it could have been cut to novella length and focused around Polly and Sgt Jackrum with much the same result and a better structure.
I would disagree about the Watch/Vimes issue. To me, the Watch stories are increasingly falling into a number of elephant traps; most importantly, the Star Trek one whereby Kirk supposedly runs a huge starship but doesn't have anyone on his establishment whose job it is to do the sort of thing he spends most of his time doing.
Plus, the character-driven plot lines are stalling. Fred Colon has aged visibly but Nobby is still the same old Nobby. Carrot and Angua are getting nowhere, or at least not heading in any apparent direction. One-note characters like Washpot and the various dwarfs and trolls - all expecting to be promoted to sergeant - are apparently the mainstay of the force.
I agree with you OMB, re: Monstrous Regiment except, it reminded me of the 1950s novellas that hinted at real history but kept the lid on what it was really about. I read it but can't enjoy it as much as I know I want to cos Vimes is in it and I rather like Vimes! 
and I don't think he has quite enough to do, so should really have been mentioned and not seen.
and I don't think he has quite enough to do, so should really have been mentioned and not seen.
@rockershovel
Sounds to me like you're agreeing with me rather than disagreeing with me. If the books were less Vime-centric then we'd get more insight into Carrot and Angua's relationship, we'd see other officers solving major crimes, we'd see Nobby ageing and we'd see more of the average copper on the beat. Instead we're focused on Vimes relationship, Vimes solving crimes, Vimes getting old and Vimes walking the streets when he doesn't have to any more.
In the previous books Carrot was doing so many of Vimes duties that Vimes was free to look at the big picture but nowadays Carrot doesn't seem to do very much of anything. This rather begs the question of why Angua was promoted when Vimes is going to do the duties his Captains are supposed to like dealing with new recruits, paperwork and other somesuch things.
Sounds to me like you're agreeing with me rather than disagreeing with me. If the books were less Vime-centric then we'd get more insight into Carrot and Angua's relationship, we'd see other officers solving major crimes, we'd see Nobby ageing and we'd see more of the average copper on the beat. Instead we're focused on Vimes relationship, Vimes solving crimes, Vimes getting old and Vimes walking the streets when he doesn't have to any more.
In the previous books Carrot was doing so many of Vimes duties that Vimes was free to look at the big picture but nowadays Carrot doesn't seem to do very much of anything. This rather begs the question of why Angua was promoted when Vimes is going to do the duties his Captains are supposed to like dealing with new recruits, paperwork and other somesuch things.
