The best Discworld book to use as an example for..

[Johannes]

Hi guys,

I need some help, and I figured this would be a good place to find it. I'm writing my thesis on TP and Discworld, and I'm focusing on how TP uses his secondary world in different ways and for different purposes thorughout the series.

So my question to you is, what single Discworld-book do you think is the best one to exemplify (what I think of as) the "middle period" (roughly between "Mort" and "Thief of Time". I know, I know, that's most of them..) where the fictional universe has more to do with the plot in the novels, or the construction of the universe (in a large sense, that is) has direct impact on the readers understanding of the novel. I'm thinking about the laws of narrativium, but also in a larger sense, the fantastical aspects of the world: Death as a character and such..

My time is limited, so I'm reaching out to you guys for good tips, I'm thinking about Hogfather myself, but I'm not sure..

 

[pip]

My personal choice would be Soul Music. Death is brilliant in it we learn so much about him in it while seeing the power of inevitability through the music and the link between music and the creation and destruction of the universe.

 

[raisindot]

Hmmm.

Not sure if I totally understand the question, but in terms of how Pterry's construction of the universe and the trust of narrative influence the plots, I would recommend either Witches Aboard or Hogfather.

A central theme of Witches Aboard is how the power of story (i.e., fairy tales) affects the DW characters (particularly Granny Weatherwax and Lily) who are assigned certain "roles" in these fairy tales (i.e., the "wicked witch" or the "good witch") and either work to fulfill the narrative requirements of these fairy tales or fight against them.

At the root of Hogfather is the power of belief: Its ability to turn deep-rooted atavistic fears (such as the fear that the sun won't rise or that death will be terrifying) into benevolent anthropomorphic personifications of these fears.

 

[Mixa]

I hope it isn’t too late to answer you, Johannes! XP I’ve first thought about “The thief of time” which precisely talks extensively about one of the most important resources of the universe: time. Its creation, consequences...

Moreover, you can have a look at “The last continent” in which appears the God of Evolution or at “Pyramids” which uses Pratchett's theme of the power of belief on the Discworld and goes further than “Small Gods”...

In fact it is really difficult to choose just one book because as you’ve said every Discworld novel contains a certain portion of what you are looking for but I’m sure you’ll have good stuff with all the novels we have told you.

Oh! And let us know how your thesis is going.

Hoping you’ll successfully go ahead with this project,

Mx