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shadok posted:That's my point. If the question is "Is it because the Watch regulars can't just fill the role of street-level law enforcement in other stories" then the answer is no: Angua shows up all the time in other books as a copper just doing her daily job. Good point, although in The Truth and Making Money she's also necessary because of the respective plots involving dogs (Mr. Wuffles and Mr. Fusspot). For that matter, Colon and Nobby still turn up on the streets a fair amount before Colon goes to the Twaddle Room, and Carrot appears when things start to get out of hand. I'm in the middle of a big re-read, and had forgotten how often the Watch is referenced or intersects with the non-Watch Ankh-Morpork plots. I think Pratchett does a good job of balancing what we as readers know about the efficiency of the current Watch with what the citizens of A-M might conclude about getting the Watch involved in their problems. I think Haddock stood out to me because for a while there, Visit was the random constable who popped up in small roles like that, and I don't remember seeing him for a while.
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Oct 30, 2009 17:15
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Helena Handbasket posted:This is a weird little question, but maybe this thread has ideas about it. What's the story with Constable "Kipper" Haddock? He's the officer (moonlighting as a security guard) on the scene when Moist breaks into the vault in Making Money, he's around here and there in Thud!, and he's the one who intercepts Trev Likely in Unseen Academicals. It could just be a simple way to connect all the books together and make sure Constable are not just seen a faceless beings when dealing with non-Watch books.
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Oct 30, 2009 17:41
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BexGu posted:It could just be a simple way to connect all the books together and make sure Constable are not just seen a faceless beings when dealing with non-Watch books. I think it's just the same as how Boffo's is the only supplier of fake evil-looking items on the entire Disc. When Prachett gets a name he likes to keep referencing it.
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Oct 30, 2009 18:38
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Helena Handbasket posted:This is a weird little question, but maybe this thread has ideas about it. What's the story with Constable "Kipper" Haddock? He's the officer (moonlighting as a security guard) on the scene when Moist breaks into the vault in Making Money, he's around here and there in Thud!, and he's the one who intercepts Trev Likely in Unseen Academicals. He's probably just an Easter Egg for attentive readers like you.
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Oct 30, 2009 19:42
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Or, seeing as you've Read about him, a Read Herring
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Oct 30, 2009 22:00
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ibroxmassive posted:Or, seeing as you've Read about him, mind blown
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Oct 31, 2009 00:46
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Just noticed that Unseen Academicals is $9.99 on the kindle store now.
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Nov 1, 2009 00:39
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DontMockMySmock posted:(such as Twoflower's glasses being literally interpreted as four eyes There's a nice anecdote with that one. Kirby showed the painting to Terry and he praised it accordingly, and then pointed the eyes thing out to Kirby by asking "What did you call kids with glasses at your school?" To which Kirby replied "Four eye-oh, bollocks!"
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Nov 1, 2009 07:57
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Some number of pages back somebody complained about Pratchett reusing a lot of stuff from some of the books. For the most part, this doesn't really bother me. However, has anybody else noticed that some variation of "There was a small candle which didn't so much light up the darkness as outline the shadows" is in just about every discworld book? I'm loving every new book I read, but every time some place is so dark that the torches only serve to highlight the darkness, it tears me right out of the book. Maybe it's just me, but I've only read about a third of the books so far and I'm getting sick of that line. It's like Death's obligatory cameo only I don't look forward to each one. To be fair, Discworld is fantastic and that's about the only complaint I would think about having with the books.
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Nov 1, 2009 16:04
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Any Irish goons attending the 1st Irish Discworld convention this wednesday? https://www.idwcon.org Flying all the way from Greece for that thing! Fake edit: sorry if it's been discussed before, I didn't read the whole thread.
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Nov 1, 2009 16:50
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Alvie posted:Some number of pages back somebody complained about Pratchett reusing a lot of stuff from some of the books. For the most part, this doesn't really bother me. However, has anybody else noticed that some variation of "There was a small candle which didn't so much light up the darkness as outline the shadows" is in just about every discworld book? I'm loving every new book I read, but every time some place is so dark that the torches only serve to highlight the darkness, it tears me right out of the book. I don't think it's as prevalant as you think, and even then, it's probably only because he made dark an object like light, so not to talk about it would be weird.
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Nov 1, 2009 17:06
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ibroxmassive posted:I don't think it's as prevalant as you think, and even then, it's probably only because he made dark an object like light, so not to talk about it would be weird. You probably have a point there. I know it was in Thud!, Fifth Elephant (he likes to use it in dwarf mine settings), Equal Rites, Wyrd Sisters, and I think in either The Truth or Going Postal or both. I'm pretty sure it was in a few more of the books I read, but I can't say which ones. I'm probably more aware of its usage because I noticed it at first because I really liked it, and now that I'm reading the witches books he likes to use it a lot (at least twice in Equal Rites, maybe three times). Alvie fucked around with this message at 17:26 on Nov 1, 2009 |
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Nov 1, 2009 17:17
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Just finished Unseen, I had to wait till the end of the month so I banned myself from reading this thread. I think I'll need to read it again though, it seemed a bit odd in parts but then I've been a bit ill. I'm going to see the Stephen Briggs theatre adaptation at the end of the month though which might help. The real Mr Hix is a bit chuffed that his bit part charity auction character got an return in the new book to fairly major character status.
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Nov 4, 2009 10:23
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Well he is one of the best new characters... "university statute, I'm sorry"
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Nov 4, 2009 23:28
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UA is great. Much better than all the other Wizard books. And it's like a love letter to Ankh-Morpork. Cameos by SO MANY people. What's up with Ridcully's background? He's previously been described as coming from a fine old wizarding family with country estates. Then in UA there's an offhand mention of his dad being a butcher, not a wizard.
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Nov 8, 2009 01:22
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Exasperated Badger posted:UA is great. Much better than all the other Wizard books. And it's like a love letter to Ankh-Morpork. Cameos by SO MANY people. History monks. 
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Nov 8, 2009 01:41
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Exasperated Badger posted:What's up with Ridcully's background? He's previously been described as coming from a fine old wizarding family with country estates. Then in UA there's an offhand mention of his dad being a butcher, not a wizard. Not sure about his father, but his brother is High Priest of Blind Io in Ankh Morpork and he had some sort of relationship with Granny Weatherwax in his youth which suggests he was brought up in or around Lancre. He's a country lad at heart, loves the outdoors, mostly because there are so many things to hunt.
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Nov 8, 2009 02:08
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Exasperated Badger posted:UA is great. Much better than all the other Wizard books. And it's like a love letter to Ankh-Morpork. Cameos by SO MANY people. If his father was a wizard, and he was the eighth son (which I think is a requirement for being a wizard), wouldn't he be a sourcerer? I'm not 100% on how that all works but don't most if not all wizards come from non-wizard parents because of this?
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Nov 8, 2009 02:28
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Alvie posted:If his father was a wizard, and he was the eighth son (which I think is a requirement for being a wizard), wouldn't he be a sourcerer? Strictly yes ( in Discworld at least ) but the chances are very slim as wizards aren't supposed to marry and have kids. The father of the Sourcerer in Sourcery was kicked out of the Unseen University because he did just that.
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Nov 8, 2009 02:36
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Nigel Danvers posted:Strictly yes ( in Discworld at least ) but the chances are very slim as wizards aren't supposed to marry and have kids. The father of the Sourcerer in Sourcery was kicked out of the Unseen University because he did just that. Oh yeah. The sourcerer thing. *looks through Discworld Companion* "(Ridcully) became a seventh-level mage at the incredibly young age of twenty-seven. He then quit the University in order to look after his family's estates deep in the country." (334) I stand corrected. So his dad was like Piss Harry -- a tradesman made good.
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Nov 8, 2009 02:47
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Speaking of wizards, I just finished Reaper Man. There is a scene with the Wizards fighting off a horde of shopping carts, and at one point being completely surrounded. The mental image of that reminded me so much of the Lord of the Rings artwork of the Fellowship being surrounded by goblins in Moria. I have no idea if that was intentional (probably not), but artwork of the Wizards in the same pose would be amazing.
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Nov 8, 2009 11:38
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John Dough posted:...artwork of the Wizards in the same pose would be amazing. Contact forums user McKilligan--he's been designing tattoos for people in the Goon Tattoos Megathread but he now seems to have branched out into regular art commissions, like this:  Click here for the full 1200x951 image.
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Nov 8, 2009 22:18
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I just finished UA yesterday and while I liked the book I felt the plot was a little to scattershot. So the end ended up being a little underwhelming. It seems like he's building up to another Wizards book where he's going to complete revamp UU though considering how much time he spent on the fact that the school just doesn't really work as it currently is. The only chair who seems to do anything is Hix and then there's poor overworked Ponder.
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Nov 8, 2009 23:10
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muscles like this? posted:I just finished UA yesterday and while I liked the book I felt the plot was a little to scattershot. So the end ended up being a little underwhelming. The entire point of having the university is so that the wizards won't use magic. Or at least they won't do it recklessly. Or at least their reckless consequences will mostly be confined to themselves. (This has been stated in more than a couple of books.) By that standard, I think UU is doing fine. Also, I think UA is my favorite since Night Watch (and perhaps neck and neck with that illustrious tome), due solely to Mr. Nutt.
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Nov 10, 2009 00:41
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inklesspen posted:The entire point of having the university is so that the wizards won't use magic. Or at least they won't do it recklessly. Or at least their reckless consequences will mostly be confined to themselves. (This has been stated in more than a couple of books.) I think it's more along the lines of "I could open up a hell gate to another dimension, but I choose not to". Them not using magic is more akin to the witches, the wizards can and do use magic but only for their own convenience ( or survival depending on their rank ). Unless they are a student in the High Energy Magic Building, then they use magic just to see what it can do, but expect them to be named Mad John or something. I think the wizards use of magic is best shown in the way they pay tax in Ankh-Morpork. As citizens they should pay tax, and they would. But they have an understanding with the Patrician that they will pay tax under the informal agreement that they are never asked to actually pay tax.
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Nov 10, 2009 02:30
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inklesspen posted:The entire point of having the university is so that the wizards won't use magic. Or at least they won't do it recklessly. Or at least their reckless consequences will mostly be confined to themselves. (This has been stated in more than a couple of books.) Not in the whole magic sense but in the fact that it just isn't working as a school. He spent a lot of time on the fact that Ponder Stibbons is the only one (other than the Librarian and sometimes Ridcully) who has any clue what's actually going on at the school. It just seems like he's getting ready to do some housecleaning and removing some of the older characters (who don't actually even have names half the time and are just referred to as "Chair of such and such") and replacing them with characters like the exchange professor who's name escapes me at the moment.
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Nov 10, 2009 05:58
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muscles like this? posted:Not in the whole magic sense but in the fact that it just isn't working as a school. He spent a lot of time on the fact that Ponder Stibbons is the only one (other than the Librarian and sometimes Ridcully) who has any clue what's actually going on at the school. It just seems like he's getting ready to do some housecleaning and removing some of the older characters (who don't actually even have names half the time and are just referred to as "Chair of such and such") and replacing them with characters like the exchange professor who's name escapes me at the moment. The Chair of Indefinite Studies, the Lecturer in Recent Runes, the Senior Wrangler, the Dean, the Bursar, and the Librarian are all awesome and I would hate to see them go.
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Nov 10, 2009 06:19
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DontMockMySmock posted:The Chair of Indefinite Studies, the Lecturer in Recent Runes, the Senior Wrangler, the Dean, the Bursar, and the Librarian are all awesome and I would hate to see them go. Would you say it would make you go totally Bursar-poo?
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Nov 10, 2009 06:28
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Dead Alice posted:Would you say it would make you go totally Bursar-poo? way to gently caress up the joke  it might make me go totally bursar; absolutely completely librarian-poo
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Nov 10, 2009 07:41
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DontMockMySmock posted:The Chair of Indefinite Studies, the Lecturer in Recent Runes, the Senior Wrangler, the Dean, the Bursar, and the Librarian are all awesome and I would hate to see them go. I already missed the Dean in UU, and he was even in it.  After the scenes between Vimes and the Patrician, my favorite scenes are the ones wherein all of the wizards are having 3 conversations with each other (and sometimes with themselves) at the same time at cross-purposes to their task. When they're stuck on the island in Lost Continent... it slays me every time I read it.
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Nov 10, 2009 16:37
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Nigel Danvers posted:I think the wizards use of magic is best shown in the way they pay tax in Ankh-Morpork. As citizens they should pay tax, and they would. But they have an understanding with the Patrician that they will pay tax under the informal agreement that they are never asked to actually pay tax. The passage about this in Reaper Man is gold: quote:The relationship between the University and the Patrician, absolute ruler and nearly benevolent dictator of Ankh-Morpork, was a complex and subtle one.
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Nov 10, 2009 21:36
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Why do the wizards have to pay taxes though? I thought that the guilds and the royal families haven't paid any taxes in a very, very long time.
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Nov 11, 2009 00:54
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No, but they're supposed to. They just get away with it because the tax collection system is inadequate. There was a dwarf baker in Feet of Clay that also didn't pay taxes until Carrot found out by accident.
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Nov 11, 2009 02:24
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Atheris posted:No, but they're supposed to. They just get away with it because the tax collection system is inadequate. There was a dwarf baker in Feet of Clay that also didn't pay taxes until Carrot found out by accident. This. Also, isn't the upcoming third Moist book going to be called Raising Taxes?
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Nov 11, 2009 03:49
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drunk asian neighbor posted:This. Also, isn't the upcoming third Moist book going to be called Raising Taxes? Well, it was certainly implied as of the end of Making Money.
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Nov 11, 2009 09:20
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e: nevermind.
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Nov 12, 2009 21:42
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nm.
Latro fucked around with this message at 19:18 on May 13, 2011 |
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Nov 15, 2009 04:38
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Speaking of Moist, what's this about him becoming the next Patrician?
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Nov 15, 2009 22:37
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It's just that Vetinari seems to be grooming Moist for a very involved leadership role in A-M politics. A lot of people seem to think that means Havelock hopes Moist will be his successor.
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Nov 15, 2009 22:55
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Pratchett has said as much that Moist doesn't have the fangs for being a tyrant. He has said he does have the mind for being a hell of a politician, though.
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Nov 16, 2009 03:35
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