|
UnquietDream posted:Anyone know how long you usually have to wait to get the book from the Paul Kidby website? I ordered it on the 6th and I'm starting to get a little impatient but I don't want to buy another copy considering the cost of the first. Mine came on the 22nd, apparently they send them out in the order they got the orders and they are a pretty small operation. They sent an email telling me it had been dispatched and it arrived the next day.
|
#
?
Oct 31, 2011 22:09
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 29, 2024 03:48 |
|
|
thebardyspoon posted:Mine came on the 22nd, apparently they send them out in the order they got the orders and they are a pretty small operation. They sent an email telling me it had been dispatched and it arrived the next day. Do you mind if I ask when you ordered it?
|
|
#
?
Oct 31, 2011 22:19
|
|
|
UnquietDream posted:Do you mind if I ask when you ordered it? Probably should have said that really, mid September.
|
|
#
?
Oct 31, 2011 22:20
|
|
|
Nilbop posted:If you want to believe all people everywhere that are voting against legalizing voluntary euthanasia are doing so in order to enact a Machiavellian plot to gain utter mastery over others then there's nothing I can say to dissuade you from that aim, because you're just going to say "No but this is what they really believe." This isn't about whether it's right or wrong to allow to legalize euthanasia (it is), this is you asking me to believe that you know what people think in order to change my views on them. Sorry, you are wrong and contradicting yourself. All of the "variety" of reasons come back to the exact same thing: They don't want to allow someone to do what they wish with their life. Your comment about it being a "Machiavellian plot" is ridiculous hyperbole. It's nothing complex or deep like that, it's simply people trying to force their views on others. You even said this in your post: "they are uncomfortable with the idea of having their finger on the button of allowing another person to die." They DON'T have their finger on it. The individual does. What kind of person gets THAT uncomfortable with someone else's actions--someone else's actions which have no effect on them? Whether or not person X wants to die has ZERO affect on stranger Y. In other words, they DO want to have their finger on the button--to keep anyone else, including the victim, from pushing it. That's control. Mister Roboto fucked around with this message at 02:12 on Nov 2, 2011 |
|
#
?
Nov 2, 2011 02:09
|
|
|
Space Butler posted:Was it just me, or was Fred Colon completely different in Snuff to earlier books? I haven't read many watch books in a while, but he seemed off. I came in here to post this same thing. I'm listening to the audiobook and just this morning got to the point with Cheery and the cigar, and I was wondering why Colon's suddenly gone from "lazy and affable" to "loudmouthed racist prick". The inconsistency in Willikins' dialogue is very noticeable in the audio as well, as Steven Briggs uses the Jeeves voice for his character which makes the occasional "ain't" and "them's as" sound even more off. I'm enjoying the plot so far, but this characterization stuff is really sloppy and I can't think that he's doing it on purpose.
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2011 18:13
|
|
|
Hooper Struvé posted:I was wondering why Colon's suddenly gone from "lazy and affable" to "loudmouthed racist prick". Just imagine Colon as Archie Bunker, and those two things reconcile. Also, I think this might be my new favorite Vimes book. I liked it even more than Night Watch.
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2011 04:00
|
|
|
I finished the book a few days ago and found it enjoyable enough, but there were a few things that bothered me. Vimes has actual superpowers now, he anticipates everything the villains do, solves everyone's problems and even seems to get the better of the Patrician at the end. The only mistake he makes in the whole book is shaking hands with the gardener. It's all a bit...fanfictiony. Also a few of the plot threads like the Summoning Dark re-emerging and whatever the deal was with Stinky just get dropped with no real resolution. Maybe another book of Vimes struggling with his dark side wouldn't have been interesting but he could at least suffer some effects from using his ridiculous superpowers.
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2011 14:53
|
|
|
The summoning dark thing is kind of the "make a deal with a dark power, oh poo poo it's possessing me" cliche done in the opposite order. So it started out possessing him, he beat it but it left him changed and now he's got a part of it inside forever. Some of the conflict in the book was him using it in ways a policeman maybe shouldn't and doubting himself, like as a lie detector device since he doesn't know it's infallible. I enjoyed it well enough but I agree with people saying Vimes seemed too on top of things, the superpowers thing would have been fine if the antagonists were threatening enough to make Vimes seem like he needed them but we basically had a Carcer light and no showdown or confrontation with any of the actual bad guys most of whom don't actually appear at all. His last few books have lacked good villains really, that always makes a book more memorable. UA had a football hooligan who Nutt basically beat both times with ease and the Cunning Man didn't leave a massive impression even though I liked ISWM. thebardyspoon fucked around with this message at 15:12 on Nov 4, 2011 |
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2011 15:04
|
|
|
About the whole Vimes/Willikins stuff: I'd agree some things seem off but not necessarily either their relationship or, well, Vimes getting his Vimes on. In the previous book, Vimes finds out that Willikins was not always the Gentlemen's Gentleman but was a vicious, ruthless street rat just like him. This sort of knowledge has always fundamentally changed the relationship Vimes has with whoever. Six years or so later, Vimes and Willikins hang out and be themselves by themselves and, around others, revert to the Duke/Butler dynamic. Willikins has become a sergeant in Vimes' private life and that seemed plausible to me. I would like to know, though, did Willikins ever have a Sybil of his own? As to Vimes seeming too on top of things, well, yes and no. I do think the problem stems from lacking good villains and thus never become a credible threat. On the other hand, where do you go from the Summoning Dark? The "No" part stems from police all over are called Sammies these days and a bunch started off under Vimes. The guy has had years to come to terms with the fact that he is a very famous, powerful man whose word carries weight with everyone. Possibly my favourite bit of Snuff was Feeney getting his proto-Vimes on at a mob and swearing in the goblin as a blatant gently caress YOU to what they wanted while Vimes looks on.
|
|
#
?
Nov 4, 2011 21:25
|
|
|
This was the first adult Discworld book where Death doesn't appear even once. I wonder why that is? To the best of my knowledge The Wee Free Men was the only book to this point that didn't include him, and since that was a children's book that only nominally dealt with the Discworld it sort of made sense there.
|
|
#
?
Nov 5, 2011 11:40
|
|
|
Colon was a loudmouthed racist prick in Jingo, too.
|
|
#
?
Nov 5, 2011 12:16
|
|
Pope Guilty posted:Colon was a loudmouthed racist prick in Jingo, too. I'm pretty sure he learnt something at the end of Jingo though, I've not read Snuff yet so I don't know how bad he has reverted mind you.
|
|
|
#
?
Nov 5, 2011 17:32
|
|
|
hemp posted:How old is Vimes as of Snuff? I make it to be around 56/57, assuming he was around 17 when he first joined the Watch. He'd have been mid-thirties when we first see him in Guards! Guards! and he's definitely grown much older since then. I tried working that out myself and this is what I got: In NW Vimes goes back in time and meets his younger self, who is about 17 at the time. He had gone back in time 30 years, which would makes Vimes 47 as of the end of Nightwatch. That's the 6th book in the City Watch subseries. It's been established that there's been about 2 years between G!G! and FoC. Contextual evidence suggests that it's a further 1.5 years between Nightwatch and T! Thud! followed NW, so based on the pacing between books subtract 1 to 1.5 year between the two, so by the end of T! Vimes is roughly in his late 40s to early 50s. I'd just go with 50. At the end of T! Young Same was about one and a half, and at the beginning of Snuff he just turned six, so we're looking at a 4.5 year span between T! and Snuff, placing Vimes at around 54, and making the span from G!G! to curent Discworld time about 9 years. With this (dubious) figure, we can start sorting ages for the Watchmen. Fred Colon He had left to join the dragoons during the events of NW, so is at least a few years older than Vimes. In FoC he was close to retirement, so at that time he was maybe almost 60. In current DW time that would place him at nearing 70. Nobby NW established that he's about a decade younger than Vimes. IIRC he was about 9 years old during NW. Current DW age: mid-40s. Carrot He was about 16 in G!G! Current DW age: About 25. Angua Has it been established whether to not werewolves age at the same rate as humans, or are they long-loved like vampires? She has already been in at least one relationship before meeting Carrot, and it didn't sound like a teenage romance. I always got the impression that Angua was still young relative to Vimes (as he referred to her a as young lady), but slightly older than Carrot. She seemed in her early 20s during the events of MaA, so current DW age should be late 20s, possibly early 30s. Cheery Dwarf equivalent of mid 30s? Cheery was part of the Artificers Guild until an experiment went wrong. Her transition to Watchman sounds very much like the career change many late 20 somethings make when it becomes obvious they won't like or aren't suited to their current career choices long-term. I seem to recall a Discworld quote that dwarves don't consider humans friends until after 100 years, so they live quite long. Has it ever been established what the dwarf years :: human years ratio was? I can see Cheery being a shade past 100. Reg Shoe About 60 human years. Reg was a fairly young idealist during the events of NW. He actually seemed an almost-parody of the liberal college student stereotype. Let's put him at 20 there. Plus 30 years since that event and another 9 since G!G!....although it's all a moot issue for Reg since he's a zombie. Detritus and Blue John -- No data. What are the troll aging rates? Washpot -- No data, Anyone have something to add? Haddock -- No data. Sally -- In T! she stated that she was in her 60s (vampire equivalent of 16 years old), so now she'd be in her 70s, and would have the appearance of someone in their late teens or early 20s.
|
|
#
?
Nov 5, 2011 18:38
|
|
|
Nowhere Girl posted:I tried working that out myself and this is what I got: I agree with those numbers. To my mind, the only wrinkle is that in G!G! there is a reference to Vimes having been in the guards for ten years. When I read G!G!, I mentally REGEX that to 20 years because it fits better.
|
|
#
?
Nov 5, 2011 18:49
|
|
|
I think part of the odd thing about Snuff is that there doesn't seem to be an overarching purpose or theme the way the last few Vimes books have had. It always seemed to me that Guards Guards, Men at Arms and Feet of Clay were all about Vimes moving up in the world, the Watch turning into a decent organization, and Annk-Morpork accepting non-humans as it modernizes. Night Watch and Thud! sort of felt like they were all about Vimes reckoning with himself and his dark side and sort of taking his place in history. Snuff, I'm not so sure about. Maybe it shows Vimes finally getting comfortable with being rich and influential? Or it could be leading up to him actually retiring happily (rather than being forced out like he's always feared)?
|
|
#
?
Nov 5, 2011 22:35
|
|
|
qa6 posted:I think part of the odd thing about Snuff is that there doesn't seem to be an overarching purpose or theme the way the last few Vimes books have had. I think it's something like that. At the start of the book, Vimes' preconceptions of nobility are challenged when Sybil actually points out valid reasons for what would seem to be arrogant behaviour (the key point here being the serving girls not being allowed to speak to guests in case of rowdyness). Midway through, Vimes is completely without authority as a cop, but is able to leverage his way through as a nobleman (which I believe was touched upon in The Fifth Elephant but ultimately discarded), and at the end Vetinari makes it clear that while it was Vimes' idea, it was Sybil and her connections that actually made it possible. But admittedly, it's more of a step towards than a complete arc of development.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2011 02:38
|
|
|
Jeabus Mahogany posted:But admittedly, it's more of a step towards than a complete arc of development. I'm looking at Snuff as Vimes coming to terms with the power and authority he has won over the years. HE's come a long way from the simple cop who was archly uncomfortable with his title new position. The last few years were filled in with exposition and Pratchett just plain telling us, but it becomes clear that Vimes may not enjoy the social circles he moves in, most of the other husbands don't either. And he's doing the job. I'll mark Snuff as the book of Vimes' maturity. If there's time, one more book would fit in him taking an active role to work some positive change on Ankh-Morpork. Not just cleaning up and professionalizing the Watch, something major.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2011 04:41
|
|
|
magimix posted:I agree with those numbers. To my mind, the only wrinkle is that in G!G! there is a reference to Vimes having been in the guards for ten years. When I read G!G!, I mentally REGEX that to 20 years because it fits better. Based on Vimes' own musings in G!G!, I get the impression that he started out in the Watch and someone along the way moved on to the palace guards, but his disdain for bad leadership and his inability to keep his mouth closed prevented him from making real career advances there, and eventually Vetinari booted him to what remained of the night watch.
|
|
#
?
Nov 6, 2011 07:17
|
|
|
SeanBeansShako posted:I'm pretty sure he learnt something at the end of Jingo though, I've not read Snuff yet so I don't know how bad he has reverted mind you. He can't have learned that much, because he manages to drive out pretty much every single dwarf and troll from the Watch in the brief time he's in temporary charge of it in The Fifth Elephant.
|
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2011 05:15
|
|
|
Didn't he drive out everyone? I don't remember the details, but IIRC he was the last watchman, and the rest of the watch had formed a guild. I do remember "Vimes would go spare".
|
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2011 06:47
|
|
|
Blind Melon posted:Didn't he drive out everyone? Yeah. My take wasn't that it was a species-thing. It was just Fred Colon being the worst possible choice to run the Watch. Except for Nobby.
|
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2011 10:34
|
|
|
I think that was more dude too crazed under preassure with paranoia than multi-species paranoia. Being triggered by sugar cubes.
|
|
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2011 15:59
|
|
|
qa6 posted:I think part of the odd thing about Snuff is that there doesn't seem to be an overarching purpose or theme the way the last few Vimes books have had. It also ended too early - there were about 40 pages more after the point where the book actually ended for me and then a lot of fluff going on. Its probably because he is dictating the books now rather than writing and eyeball editing them himself however the Snuff book did seem a lot more drawn out than his other ones.
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2011 02:34
|
|
|
My problem with the book - I assumed that the focus was going to be about dealing the way the goblin religion has internalized the dominant attitude towards goblins as inferior, which was firmly establishing as the thing keeping them down more than specific actions by (largely unseen) slave-owning aristocrats. It's a style associated with the Witch book than the Watch books, but the whole "only you can claim your place in the universe" would have been an interesting arc and a good counterbalance to "noble aristocrat rescues the poor passive savages". Nothing. The whole idea is completely ignored. Weird and frustrating.
|
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2011 09:32
|
|
|
The real question, is when will the next Watch book be?
|
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2011 22:26
|
|
|
Flipswitch posted:The real question, is when will the next Watch book be? He just twittered he's about to start playing Skyrim. We aren't getting one.
|
|
#
?
Nov 10, 2011 22:45
|
|
|
Think he'd do another Death book, especially with his recent euthanasia notoriety? A Moist "Death & Taxes" sort of thing would seem a proper continuation. The Tiffany Aching stuff pretty much has taken over for the Witches, and he's pretty much done with Rincewind as a primary character. Of course, I'd just like to see more anything while we still have access to him.
|
|
#
?
Nov 11, 2011 03:33
|
|
|
Uh. What happened to Scouting For Trolls?
|
|
|
#
?
Nov 11, 2011 07:48
|
|
|
I was disappointed with this book. Well, more saddened. It was the first time, since the bad news, that I felt that the end might be near. Speaking of endings, the final page didn't leave me satisfied at all. I am always so excited to get to that final paragraph because it is so often hit out of the park...this time, not so much. I agree with the comments about toilet humor and Vimes being a superhero and the general way that characters seemed a little bit different. Vetinari didn't seem as strong as usual. Willikins was just bizarre. I am not saying I did not enjoy the book. It's a Pterry book, so yay! Better than nothing. I'd rank it in the bottom five of all his books, though. That includes carpet people and the non-discworld novels.
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2011 00:38
|
|
Megazver posted:He just twittered he's about to start playing Skyrim. On the one hand, I am upset that my favorite author is dying, and also upset he won't be writing more books for me. On the other hand, he is playing Skyrim. Rock on, Mr. Pratchett, rock on!
|
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2011 16:26
|
|
|
I sincerly hope he makes a bad Wizard on purpose with that game.
|
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2011 16:28
|
|
|
SeanBeansShako posted:I sincerly hope he makes a bad Wizard on purpose with that game. I believe you mean Wizzard.
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2011 17:49
|
|
Pope Guilty posted:I believe you mean Wizzard. Pretty much, though in general any of the Unseen University Wizards are easy to copy too. Just sit around a lot and eat!
|
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2011 19:03
|
|
|
And shout Yo! while shooting fireballs from your staff...
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2011 22:02
|
|
Canuckistan posted:And shout Yo! while shooting fireballs from your staff... Bonus points for creating a companion called Bursar who speaks nonsense and casts paralyse on himself in the middle of a fight. Suddenly, I have the urge to learn modding in the future when I pick up Skyrim on the cheap.
|
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2011 00:24
|
|
|
E
Country_Blumpkin fucked around with this message at 22:30 on Dec 3, 2012 |
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2011 07:58
|
|
|
SeanBeansShako posted:Bonus points for creating a companion called Bursar who speaks nonsense and casts paralyse on himself in the middle of a fight. drat you all! Now i have an urge to scrap my existing char and start the game anew with wizzard type! 
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2011 09:55
|
|
Ashendar posted:drat you all! Now i have an urge to scrap my existing char and start the game anew with wizzard type! Rincewind or Ridcully Wizard gimmicks for these games are the best. And the Fallout 3/New Vegas games have an eye patch so it is only a matter of time before Cohen is complete.
|
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2011 13:11
|
|
|
Seeing as Ridcully is quite fond of yelling at stuff, he seems like the perfect fit for Skyrim
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2011 16:33
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 29, 2024 03:48 |
|
|
Ridcully needs a crossbow. Preferably in his hat. Can wizzards use crossbows in skyrim? I'm not even going to ask about the hat thing...
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2011 17:34
|
|