flemmings: (Default)
flemmings ([personal profile] flemmings) wrote2008-05-23 07:49 pm
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Pratchetting

You know why I'm reading Pratchett? The real reason? It's because [livejournal.com profile] petronia once said "(The Fall of Kings) reads like the retroactive reification of something that didn't exist before Terry Pratchett parodied it."

I wouldn't know myself. I haven't even got to Privilege of the Sword yet, though it's sitting in the pile thanks to [livejournal.com profile] kickinpants. Also I think I identified the ur-source that Swordspoint was referencing while I was reading Swordspoint but I've forgotten what it was, not surprisingly, along with most of Swordspoint itself, which has somehow become subsumed into The Points series, *plus* The Armor (sic) of Light, which last is a neat trick.

This is probably because the Points books and their AU world are actually far more intriguing than the Riverside one (to say nothing of the likability of their respective characters.) Thus reminded, I've just ordered me a (sadly remaindered) copy of Point of Dreams, because I think it's another reference source for female dragons. Oh, and amazon reviewer? The Points books are not a sequel to Armor of Light, you historical ignoramus. One happens in an identifiable Elizabethan England that's barely AU. The other happens in a different universe from ours entirely.

But otherwise, Pratchett. Or the Watch, rather. Which I continue to read mainly for Vetinari, but equally for everyone else. It's like a good manga series by a mangaka you trust, one with a genial worldview who's not likely to pull tragedy on you without warning. This makes for a pleasant and diverting read, which frankly I need very badly just now.

Someone somewhere was comparing Edward, the Gary Stu hero of that vampire series whose name I refuse to remember, and Pratchett's Corporal Carrot. Edward is spesshul and his author keeps insisting on the fact. Carrot is special-- in certain ways-- except that the characters around him who realize what it is he's doing can't quite believe he's doing it and aren't entirely sure how they feel about it. (Also there's a perfectly dry-eyed reason why Carrot's like that, just as there's a perfectly good reason why Detritus is proof against vampires: it's the nature of the creature each one is. I won't name the creature Carrot is in case someone's reading this who hasn't read Pratchett; suffice to say, it's something that's only a creature when it's in Pratchett's universe.) And no one can be a Gary Stu who's described as 'treating punctuation like a game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey.' That's far more a characteristic of fan authors.

However, if the Swordspoint sequels do read like humourless Pratchett, then I am more resigned to reading the Swordspoint sequels.

[identity profile] petronia.livejournal.com 2008-05-24 01:28 am (UTC)(link)
The Fall of Kings reads like the Unseen University books, alas, not the Watch ones. ^^; (Only that one - Privilege is another beast altogether, and I suspect you might like the characters there much more.)

[identity profile] flemmings.livejournal.com 2008-05-24 01:40 am (UTC)(link)
But your commenter said that tFoK was Men at Arms done po-faced. Or words to that effect. No matter. Whatever got me into Pratchett, I'm grateful.

(I doubt I will. Even the short story it's based on, or whatever the genesis is, reeked of Spunky Heroine.)

[identity profile] paleaswater.livejournal.com 2008-05-25 09:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, this might just get me to read Prachett too. Where should I start?

[identity profile] flemmings.livejournal.com 2008-05-25 09:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Personally, though I remember very little of it (read it during a blizzard and a migraine last December) I'd start with Guards! Guards! where you first (I think) meet Sam and Vetinari and Carrot and the Librarian. Though I still wait for enlightenment on where the Unseen University books start, I seem to recall a lot of UU there as well. *Then* you can read Men at Arms.

[identity profile] mvrdrk.livejournal.com 2008-05-24 01:30 am (UTC)(link)
Yes, if I have a favorite set of characters, it's the watch and Vetinari. I've frequently wished to replace our current shrub with Vetinari. Only, I'm sure Vetinari would object. LOL!

[identity profile] mvrdrk.livejournal.com 2008-05-24 01:32 am (UTC)(link)
Oh yes, I have a spare watch picture book for babies. I'll send it to you, I'm sure you'll enjoy it, though I'm not sure the babies will.

[identity profile] flemmings.livejournal.com 2008-05-24 01:41 am (UTC)(link)
One must remember the real world doesn't operate quite like Discworld, and you can't arrest armies for disturbing the peace. Alas. Vetinari would probably turn into Idi Amin out here.

Is that a watch picture book? Or a Watch picture book? Did they *make* the latter?
Edited 2008-05-24 01:43 (UTC)

[identity profile] rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com 2008-05-24 02:25 am (UTC)(link)
They did indeed make Where's My Cow?, extra-special Vimes-version. It is great.

[identity profile] flemmings.livejournal.com 2008-05-24 01:08 pm (UTC)(link)
I look forward to it then. Now that we've lost our copy of Where's My Duck, the one that made adults double-take when the fingers of the small person holding it covered up the 'u'.

[identity profile] tammylee.livejournal.com 2008-05-24 01:46 am (UTC)(link)
I am very fond of reading interactions between Vetinari and Vimes. Actually, anything Vetinari is good! XDD Night Watch was a treat in that respect. Jingo was also quite good for Vetinari.

I also like the book with the Witches in them and the YA books with Tiffany Aching.

The Rincewind books I can leave.

Heh, I like how Vetinari is described as a black flamingo? Something like that. *incoherant babbling* I really ought to nap.

[identity profile] tekalynn.livejournal.com 2008-05-25 03:55 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, the Points books! I love them. One of the many things that made me sad about Lisa Barnes' untimely death was that there will never be more Points books.

Thank you for reminding me that I should order my own copies, since they are getting harder and harder to find. My library doesn't even have the first one any more.