Which novels work as stand alone novels?

[Alanz]

Oh yea well you live and learn,Thanks for that Dotsie , I quite agree with Tamar though about Old Ricewind's exploits he always seems to be running away from something doesn't he, he's not my favourite character, but he's ok i suppose. I can't wait to re read all of them all in order to see if i like them any better.

 

[=Tamar]

I quite agree with Tamar though about Old Rincewind's exploits he always seems to be running away from something doesn't he, he's not my favourite character, but he's ok i suppose. I can't wait to re read all of them all in order to see if i like them any better.

Definitely reread them!

I don't mind Rincewind; I minded the ending of the first book, which wasn't a cliffhanger at first, it was just The End, until Sir Terry wrote the second novel. It just didn't fit with the rest of the book. I still don't understand why it was so popular with that ending.

I believe I actually like Rincewind more than Sir Terry does, because I do see some development in his character. Rincewind does more than just run away. He will stand up for himself and others, and he eventually figures out how his life works and learns to deal with it emotionally. I realize that all that makes more sense if you are into the idea of figuring out your life pattern and working with it, which is more of a Granny Weatherwax attitude than it might seem at first. If you can gain enough distance to see what kind of story you seem to be acting out, you can get some control of it, or at least understand it. Rincewind went from a drop-out to having a professorship with about as much security as any UU professor can expect. Given where he started and his peculiar talents, that's not bad.

 

[Who's Wee Dug]

I still don't understand why it was so popular with that ending.

Because he wasn't sure if there would be more published.

 

[Dotsie]

That explains the ending, but not why it was popular. For me, it was the one liners & observations, had me ROFL as they say.

 

[Alanz]

I still don't understand why it was so popular with that ending.

Because he wasn't sure if there would be more published.

That's what i was going to say Dug,i thought that was probably the reason

 

[Dotsie]

The ending was popular because Terry didn't know more would be published? What am I missing here?

 

[=Tamar]

That explains the ending, but not why it was popular. For me, it was the one liners & observations, had me ROFL as they say.

Right. I liked the one liners, etc., but the end ruined the whole thing for me. You just don't create a sensible, intelligent viewpoint character for comedy, lead the reader into identifying with that character, and then kill them at the end for no reason. That's a betrayal of the reader. It appeared that he killed the character just to end the skit, like the worst of the Monty Python stuff. TLF wasn't planned then; at the time, Sir Terry had no reason to assume that there would ever be any more. That ending was probably his worst-ever writing decision.

 

[Who's Wee Dug]

That explains the ending, but not why it was popular. For me, it was the one liners & observations, had me ROFL as they say.

Right. I liked the one liners, etc., but the end ruined the whole thing for me. You just don't create a sensible, intelligent viewpoint character for comedy, lead the reader into identifying with that character, and then kill them at the end for no reason. That's a betrayal of the reader. It appeared that he killed the character just to end the skit, like the worst of the Monty Python stuff. TLF wasn't planned then; at the time, Sir Terry had no reason to assume that there would ever be any more. That ending was probably his worst-ever writing decision.

It also was a send up of the Fantasy genre of the time, so the ending was representative of that fact.

 

[raptornx01]

I though it was just set up. then again, in knew there were more books.

it's funny. i thought at the end that would be the start of them traveling to other worlds like the ones the water troll talked about.

 

[Alanz]

I've just read The Truth and i thought it was -ing brilliant.

 

[Sister Jennifer]

I've just read The Truth and i thought it was -ing brilliant.

Glad you enjoyed it. Mr Tulip is great eh? My favourite DW baddie.

 

[Malvern]

I've just read The Truth and i thought it was -ing brilliant.

I especially loved the description of the basement scene during the fire; where the melted lead printing press keys were dripping down like rain. It's both beautiful and horrifying (depending on where on is standing!).

 

[Tonyblack]

Welcome to the site, Malvern!

I once got chatting to an American woman on a plane after she noticed my Assassins' Guild badge on my bag. She was a journalist and I recommended The Truth to her. I don't know if she ever read it, but she certainly seemed interested.

 

[DreadfulKata]

Interesting... I was just re-reading Thud! and wondering if there was a conscious effort to make it more accessible to new readers. It just seems more explanatory of stuff than other DW books... there was one footnote in particular:

'Yes, The Goddess Anoia* Arisng From The Cutlery,' said Nobby. 'They've got it here. It was painted by a bloke with three i's in his name, which sounds pretty artistic to me.'

* Anoia is the Ankh-Morpork goddess of things that get stuck in drawers

What, no joke? Just literally the information? That seemed so uncharacteristic of Pratchett to me I even wondered if an editor had inserted it, with new readers in mind (my edition is one put out by Waterstone's at a special low price, presumably to encourage people to pick it up where they hadn't read any PTerry before).

And the tone generally in Thud! Feels more explanatoy than other Watch/DW books. Given that Thud! came out around the same time as more stand-alone and/or no-mythology-needed stuff like Going Postal and the The Tiffany Aching books I wondered if around this time PTerry was consciously trying to be more inviting to DW newcomers?

 

[Dotsie]

What, no joke? Just literally the information?

The information is the joke - it's a pun for starters, and let's face it, who couldn't envisage offering up a little prayer when the ladle gets stuck at the top of the drawer again? "For God's sake! Please just open! My dinner's burning!"

 

[Tonyblack]

That's the way I always looked at it. I thought it was a very funny idea when I first read it.

In A-M if you implore a god you are likely to create one.

 

[=Tamar]

I thought it was just set up. then again, i knew there were more books.

it's funny. i thought at the end that would be the start of them traveling to other worlds like the ones the water troll talked about.

I thought that might have been one of the options Sir Terry had in mind, since his previous novels were both science fiction, but instead he chose to continue with Discworld, for which I am thankful.

 

[DreadfulKata]

What, no joke? Just literally the information?

The information is the joke - it's a pun for starters, and let's face it, who couldn't envisage offering up a little prayer when the ladle gets stuck at the top of the drawer again? "For God's sake! Please just open! My dinner's burning!"

Oh hang on - is this the first mention we get of Anoia? I vaguely assumed she'd come up before Thud!. That;s what you get for rereading in random orders.

Well, that would explain matters.

 

[Tonyblack]

Hmmmm . . . I've got a feeling she was mentioned briefly in Going Postal as well, now you mention it. :think:

The point was (I think) that in Thud! they were talking about a particular painting that sounds a lot like the Discworld version of Venus Rising From the Sea.

 

[raisindot]

Oh hang on - is this the first mention we get of Anoia? I vaguely assumed she'd come up before Thud!. That;s what you get for rereading in random orders.

Well, that would explain matters.

Yes, Anoia was first mentioned in Going Postal, where she (or her priestess) played a key role in Moist's "religious trance." In Thud! the footnote is needed for those who hadn't yet read Going Postal. The Thud footnote is not one of his better footnotes, but repeated the entire Anoia footnote from GP would have been a little too much.