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Illinois Smith posted:I'd gladly trade the last 5 Vimes books for another original one as awesome as Small Gods. Anyone who would give up Night Watch for anything should be lynched. Or forced to watch The Colour of Magic on repeat for a week straight.
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Jan 18, 2011 00:06
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What's the deal with Pratchett and Nazis? Fifth Elephant had Werewolf Nazis. Men At Arms had dog Nazis. Night Watch had the Particulars who were pretty much the Discworld version of the Gestapo.
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Jan 18, 2011 22:11
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Fascists (or similar) in general make pretty good bad guys.
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Jan 18, 2011 22:17
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I think you're kind of reaching there. I'll give you Fifth Elephant though, Wolfgang and his crew could be said to be Nazi werewolves, particularly given the symbols they used. Big Fido with his rhetoric reminded me more of the communists railing against the bourgeoisie however, and the Particulars could be related to any secret police force including the Gestapo and Stazi.
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Jan 18, 2011 22:19
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What's the deal with Europe and Nazis? Italy had Mussolini and his Italian Nazis. The Spanish Civil War had Spanish Nazis. Russia had the KGB which was basically like the Gestapo.
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Jan 18, 2011 22:25
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European people are pushovers for that kind of authority.
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Jan 18, 2011 22:27
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The English have had their own versions of the Particulars at various times; see how they handled Irish revolution, for example.
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Jan 19, 2011 00:17
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Apologies if the was mentioned previously, but I just noticed that "I shall Wear Midnight" is now available at Audible.com. This is great for me and my infinite daily commute. I drive infinity miles. Both ways. Audiobooks keep me sane. Really looking forward to listening to this one...
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Jan 19, 2011 01:09
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PateraOctopus posted:The English have had their own versions of the Particulars at various times; see how they handled Irish revolution, for example. I pretty much saw the Black and Tans when I had to step back and think about the Particulars, but they are a completely crafted entity in their own right so I don't really let that bother me. I suppose you wouldn't really know who the Black and Tans were if you weren't from Northern Ireland, but just picture a big crowd of bastards with awful accents and superimpose them onto the Particulars, that's pretty much it. It's kind of weird to call every powerful group of villains who aren't explicitly assassins, con-men or magical beings nazis though.
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Jan 28, 2011 00:51
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Soul Music was definitely the hump in my Terry Pratchett readthrough, started reading them back in October after the last book came out until I got to Soul Music. Couldn't find it for ages and then when I found it just after Christmas couldn't muster up the enthusiasm to read it because I remember it being terrible and it really isn't that bad. Still it slowed me down, after I finished it I read Interesting Times, Maskerade and Feet of Clay in about a week and I'm going to start Hogfater later, I love rediscovering favourite parts you had completely forgotten about.
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Jan 28, 2011 01:58
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Speaking of Interesting Times, I found out that there's a Kosher Chinese restaurant in Los Angeles called "Genghis Cohen."
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Jan 28, 2011 03:07
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Sorry if this has been asked like a billion times already (no it's not a reading order question!) I want to read Discworld, and none of the branches of my local network of libraries has many of the books at all, and to me the cheapest method of getting all the ones I want seems to be on my Kindle ($8 a pop). How good are the Kindle editions? Did they gently caress up the formatting or is it all good? I'm thinking specifically of footnotes. Are they there on the same screen where they should be, or do I have to keep flipping forward pages (or god forbid, to the end of the book) to read them? Currently reading Equal Rites, which was the only "starter" book my library had; the rest of them were ones halfway through established sub-series. It's loving hilarious and I love it.
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Feb 4, 2011 07:31
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Hedrigall posted:How good are the Kindle editions? Did they gently caress up the formatting or is it all good? I'm thinking specifically of footnotes. Are they there on the same screen where they should be, or do I have to keep flipping forward pages (or god forbid, to the end of the book) to read them? I bought a Kindle the other day, and 'christened' it by buying my favourite Discworld books[1], plus I Shall Wear Midnight. From what I've seen having read three of them, the formatting is fine. In terms of footnotes, what they do is have the footnote number as a hyperlink. You navigate to, and click on, the link and it takes you to the footnote text. Thereafter, just hit the Back button to return to where you were. Seems an elegant enough solution. [1] Guards! Guards! Men at Arms Feet of Clay Jingo The Fifth Elephant Night Watch Thud! (I'm sure there is kind kind of pattern or theme here) ...and Small Gods
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Feb 4, 2011 10:02
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magimix posted:I bought a Kindle the other day, and 'christened' it by buying my favourite Discworld books[1], plus I Shall Wear Midnight. From what I've seen having read three of them, the formatting is fine. In terms of footnotes, what they do is have the footnote number as a hyperlink. You navigate to, and click on, the link and it takes you to the footnote text. Thereafter, just hit the Back button to return to where you were. Seems an elegant enough solution. Awesome, I will try it with Small Gods 
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Feb 4, 2011 10:13
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Hedrigall posted:Awesome, I will try it with Small Gods An excellent choice, Sir. For me, Small Gods was the first Discworld book that moved decisively beyond the fantasy-pastiche roots of the franchise. For sure, its a funny book, but its sharp wit is also used for an exploration, and deconstruction of, religious faith and practice.
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Feb 4, 2011 10:40
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Also, Hedrigall, don't worry about starting halfway through established sub-series. Most of the books can stand easily on their own. Heck, my first discworld book was Nanny Ogg's Cookbook when I was thirteen, and I still thought it was hilarious. I have a Kobo and the Pratchett books I've got have the footnotes as end notes. In other words, they're all separate at the end of the chapter. loving pain in the rear end.
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Feb 4, 2011 10:40
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magimix posted:I bought a Kindle the other day, and 'christened' it by buying my favourite Discworld books[1], plus I Shall Wear Midnight. From what I've seen having read three of them, the formatting is fine. In terms of footnotes, what they do is have the footnote number as a hyperlink. You navigate to, and click on, the link and it takes you to the footnote text. Thereafter, just hit the Back button to return to where you were. Seems an elegant enough solution. I can second this as well. Other than Monstrous Regiment, which for some reason didn't do the footnotes properly on my phone, all the kindle versions I've read have been great.
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Feb 6, 2011 16:19
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I haven't seen this posted:quote:Snuff
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Feb 7, 2011 15:04
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Yessssssssss.
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Feb 7, 2011 15:06
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drat, I thought people knew about this. Found out from the newsletter a few days ago. Can't wait. I know some people would rather not have another Vimes one, but not me. I just wonder who's going to be left in charge of the Watch this time around. Probably not Colon again. Poor man.
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Feb 7, 2011 15:24
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Carrot maybe? Seems like ages since we had any watch action in Anhk Morpork that wasn't all about the new recruit of the book. Would be good to have the Men at Arms/Feet of Clay members doing their thing in AM while Vimes is off on his own. Vimes is going to die isn't he? 
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Feb 7, 2011 15:42
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I want to be happy but if it's as bad as the last two books were I can't look forward to it 
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Feb 7, 2011 15:43
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I Shall Wear Midnight was awesome what are you talking about?
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Feb 7, 2011 16:17
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OMG where to get the signed copies from?!
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Feb 7, 2011 22:59
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AXE COP posted:I want to be happy but if it's as bad as the last two books were I can't look forward to it Go reread Academicals, "crab basket" is one of the more important things you can write a novel about. The story as actually about the two women, and the goblin, not about the rest. If you missed that, you won't get the novel at all. edit: and if you don't like the Tiffany Aching series you have no soul and should be ducked in a pond sooner rather than later. mllaneza fucked around with this message at 23:11 on Feb 7, 2011 |
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Feb 7, 2011 23:08
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ONE YEAR LATER posted:I Shall Wear Midnight was awesome what are you talking about? He's probably referring to Unseen Academicals and Making Money (neither of which were bad).
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Feb 7, 2011 23:10
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Well Manicured Man posted:He's probably referring to Unseen Academicals and Making Money (neither of which were bad). We're also mocking him for missing the Tiffany Aching series. Making Money was a fun read, up to Pratchett's standards and similar remarks apply.
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Feb 7, 2011 23:12
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I've read every Discworld book and a fair few other things of his like Strata. Unseen Academicals and ISWM felt like someone writing Pratchett fanfiction. e: Making Money was ace though.
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Feb 8, 2011 10:28
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AXE COP posted:I've read every Discworld book and a fair few other things of his like Strata. Unseen Academicals and ISWM felt like someone writing Pratchett fanfiction. I didn't care much for Unseen, but there's still a lot to get out of it. I'm still holding out that it will pick up for me upon later re-reads like Monstrous Regiment did. The only complaint I had about Midnight was I hated the too perfect guard character; Felt a little too pat. Everything else about it was pretty choice, though I admit to being a pretty big Aching fan.
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Feb 8, 2011 11:33
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thebardyspoon posted:Carrot maybe? Seems like ages since we had any watch action in Anhk Morpork that wasn't all about the new recruit of the book. Would be good to have the Men at Arms/Feet of Clay members doing their thing in AM while Vimes is off on his own. Vimes is going to die isn't he? This. It would be nice to see a bit more of the supporting cast. Fifth Elephant, Night Watch, and Thud, were all heavily centred around Vimes, with just a smattering of Nobby, Colon and Detritus, and some Angua/Carrot melodrama.
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Feb 8, 2011 14:42
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I just started Thief of Time (courtesy of my SASS santa) and just wanted to mention that Bad Schüschein is an amazing pun 
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Feb 8, 2011 17:12
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Hemp Knight posted:Angua/Carrot melodrama. If there is any more of this in Snuff, I will get serious deja-vu, and then scream. I'd like more Colon and Nobby like in Jingo, although obviously without Vetinari showing them all up, or that bit in Thud where they investigate the painting being stolen. Actually, hell, some Detritus and Cheery would be good, because the dwarves and trolls are some of my favourtie parts of the books and you can never play with that too much. Maybe some more of the Breccia will turn up?
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Feb 8, 2011 18:31
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Maybe I'm not remembering it but hasn't there not been any of the Carrot/Angua stuff since Feet of Clay?
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Feb 8, 2011 20:42
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thebardyspoon posted:Maybe I'm not remembering it but hasn't there not been any of the Carrot/Angua stuff since Feet of Clay? There was a fair bit of it in The Fifth Elephant too. All in all, Carrot never really had anywhere to go as a character after the first couple of books. Arguably, the same could be said for Angua, but in the most recent 'guards' books, it struck me that she was becoming closely aligned with Vimes - I just got the sense that in interpersonal terms, Angua is... closer to Vimes than Carrot is - more of a trusted confidant.
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Feb 8, 2011 20:58
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Oh yeah I have no idea how I forgot all that Gavin/Carrot/Angua stuff, Fifth Elephant is my second favourite Watch book. That's still a pretty long time though, not that we need more of it but if he decided to do some more for what might be the last Watch book I wouldn't hate it. They're all aligned because they're all the Watch but yeah Angua gets along with Vimes because she's a really cynical bastard just like him. Also I liked the girls night out stuff with the vampire recruit and Cheery in Thud.
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Feb 8, 2011 21:04
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thebardyspoon posted:Oh yeah I have no idea how I forgot all that Gavin/Carrot/Angua stuff, Fifth Elephant is my second favourite Watch book. That's still a pretty long time though, not that we need more of it but if he decided to do some more for what might be the last Watch book I wouldn't hate it. Her being sort of a replacement for Vimes, while Carrot keeps his current role as one of the chief advisers to the head of the Night Watch would fit with what Vetinari seems to be doing.
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Feb 9, 2011 18:46
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seaborgium posted:Her being sort of a replacement for Vimes, while Carrot keeps his current role as one of the chief advisers to the head of the Night Watch would fit with what Vetinari seems to be doing. Her picking up Vimes's nickname of "Vetinari's Terrier" would take on a whole new meaning 
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Feb 9, 2011 21:46
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AXE COP posted:I've read every Discworld book and a fair few other things of his like Strata. Unseen Academicals and ISWM felt like someone writing Pratchett fanfiction. I liked both books, but I definitely agree with this, especially parts of ISMW. The voice seemed off, what would have been deftly and wittily handled in previous books seemed to be displayed blatantly and clumsily... honestly I think it's a side effect of both books being narrated, which makes me  as the problems are just going to get worse.
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Feb 10, 2011 12:39
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I've been reading the books in order (and most of them for the first time) and I have gotta say that Guards!, Guards! was absolutely tremendous! It is bloody criminal that I have not read most of these wonderful books yet. I am seriously tempted to skip ahead to the next Vimes book but then I'd be missing out on a witches one and a death one and a rincewind one and and and...
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Feb 10, 2011 21:39
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King Crab posted:I've been reading the books in order (and most of them for the first time) and I have gotta say that Guards!, Guards! was absolutely tremendous! It is bloody criminal that I have not read most of these wonderful books yet. One of the best bits of Guards! Guards! is Vetinari just showing off and humiliating Lupine through the ruins of his palace before Vimes and Carrot step in. And go on, read Men At Arms anyways.
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Feb 10, 2011 22:42
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