What are you Reading Now?

[Ireth]

After Mort, I'm hoping to read a few things by Gaiman and then cap off Pratchett with Good Omens. I'll probably read Making Money, too, though, because I enjoyed Postal. I want to start doing articles like "What I learned about writing from reading Pratchett" and other authors. The idea is helping to get me to read more.

Come to think of it, I believe you were the one who recommended Going Postal. Is there a Pratchett book you'd add to the list?

The Shepherd's Crown, full stop. It's his final book, and it's amazing. Though it might make more sense if you read a few of the earlier books first, specifically Lords and Ladies and The Wee Free Men (and, actually, the other Tiffany Aching books as well). There are lots of references to those books you might not fully understand otherwise.

I will warn you, though, have Kleenex ready. There will be tears.

Aside from that... Reaper Man has always been a fave of mine (another Death one, unsurprisingly). Hogfather is good too; I read it for Death rather than the wizards. Also Soul Music (though that one involves the wizards a fair bit too, so YMMV), and The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, and Thud!, and Snuff (though the latter two might not make sense if you skip ahead, since Vimes goes through plenty of character development in the books prior)...

Basically, the whole thing is awesome. Let's just leave it at that. XD

 

[Devor]

Basically, the whole thing is awesome. Let's just leave it at that. XD

Thanks, but I'll skip the later books in the series for now. I'm still early in Guards! Guards! but if it grows on me I might follow the series. For the sake of the review article though I want to write it from the perspective of someone picking up Pratchett and just getting started.

Since you mention the witches, how is Equal Rites? I was between it and Guards! Guards!, but I thought I'd be more likely to read more in a series about the City Watch than about the witches. I'm reading Pratchett faster than I was expecting, though, so I might or might not grab one more if it's worth it.

 

[Ireth]

Thanks, but I'll skip the later books in the series for now. I'm still early in Guards! Guards! but if it grows on me I might follow the series. For the sake of the review article though I want to write it from the perspective of someone picking up Pratchett and just getting started.

Since you mention the witches, how is Equal Rites? I was between it and Guards! Guards!, but I thought I'd be more likely to read more in a series about the City Watch than about the witches. I'm reading Pratchett faster than I was expecting, though, so I might or might not grab one more if it's worth it.

Wish I could tell you, but that's a book I haven't read in years. XD I'm pretty sure it's still here somewhere, but probably in a box somewhere that I'll need to sort through and dig out.

Also, if you're interested, there's a blogger who's going through the Discworld books as well: | You are not prepared. The "Discworld" link in the banner at the top has links to archives of the books he's read and reviewed already. There's some swearing, but his commentary can be really funny. He's done a bunch of other books too.

 

[Mythopoet]

Equal Rites is ok. I get the feeling it was written before he's really gotten a good feel for how he wanted to portray the witches and wizards. It's pretty different from later books.

Personally, I prefer the Witches of Lancre by far to the Wizards of Unseen University. (My husband is the opposite. He loves the wizards and doesn't like the Witches.) Lords and Ladies is, in my opinion, the best of the Witches books. Fortunately, the wizards almost never star in books they appear in. Though they are often a b or c storyline.

Is Guards! Guards! the only City Watch book you've read? If so, and you like it, I would strongly recommend Men at Arms, Feet of Clay, The Fifth Elephant, Night Watch, and Thud! They are all really good. Also The Truth and Thief of Time are really good.

Mort is pretty good too, as the first book about DEATH. No wizards. Sets the stage for the books with Susan Sto Helit (including Hogfather and Thief of Time.)

I've read every Discworld book (except Raising Steam and The Shepherd's Crown) at least twice. And I think most of them are truly amazing. Good Omens is pretty good too, though doesn't appeal to me as much as Discworld.

 

[Devor]

Personally, I prefer the Witches of Lancre by far to the Wizards of Unseen University. (My husband is the opposite. He loves the wizards and doesn't like the Witches.) Lords and Ladies is, in my opinion, the best of the Witches books.

Can you just pick up Lords and Ladies having never read another Discworld book? Those are the books I'm looking for.

I'm still very early in Guards! Guards! so I can't say how much I like it or not yet. Truthfully, while I enjoy the writing, leaving aside the wizards, I'm still not that compelled by the books. The themes in Going Postal were fairly weak. The book didn't have anything deeper to say on that level.

But I'm also reading chunks of them out loud to my baby daughter, and I find them very readable out loud. If I like Guards! Guards! enough I might keep up with the series just for that reason alone.

((edit))

Going by this image, there's only a dotted line between Equal Rites and Wyrd Sisters. Would Wyrd Sisters be a better one to start with?

 

[Svrtnsse]

It's clear there is a timeline of sorts to the discworld novels, but I don't feel that it's one you're required to follow. You may be able to get a little bit more enjoyment out of them if you do, but it really isn't necessary.

 

[ZabetTheRabbit]

I've just finished Going Postal and have started Guards! Guards!

Going Postal grew on me a lot by the end. But Pratchett's portrayal of wizards is a big turn off for me, and Guards! Guards! is using them a lot more than Postal did. I'll still get through it this week or next, though.

How is Mort? That's next on my list to read by Pratchett, but if it's full of wizards I'll try one of his others.

I don't know to much about Mort, haven't read it yet. If you want a Discworld novel that's light on wizards, I'd recommend Monstrous Regiment. That or Small Gods.

 

[Mythopoet]

It's clear there is a timeline of sorts to the discworld novels, but I don't feel that it's one you're required to follow. You may be able to get a little bit more enjoyment out of them if you do, but it really isn't necessary.

Pretty much. Every single novel is a contained story. When I was first getting into Discworld many years ago people told me that I didn't need to worry about order. You could read the novels however you wished. Being the very order driven person I am, I proceeded to read them in publication order anyway. For myself, I'm glad I did, because I think it gave me a lot of insight into the journey Terry Pratchett took to write the books. But having read almost every single book, I have to say that I do think those people were essentially right. You really could read them in any order. It's a marvelous feat and one I highly respect Sir Terry for. I'd like to try writing a series of stand alones that works half that well.

 

[Incanus]

Been reading a few shorts and novellas recently.

Finished 'The King's Justice'. Two brand new novellas by Stephen R. Donaldson. Very excellent--I liked the title story a little better than the other one.

I was thrilled to see not one, but two Clark Ashton Smith books in print and on the shelves of Barnes and Noble. I snatched them up forthwith and have been reading only those stories of his I haven't before read. I'm glad that the series 'Collected Fantasies' (5 volumes) are finally being published in paparback form. These books are more for the 'completist', such as myself--so I don't recommend them as an introduction to CAS. I maintain that he is one of the all-time greatest writers of fantasy--ever.

Also picked up some more Lord Dunsany. Another overlooked gem these days--one of the most wildly imaginative writers I've ever encountered. For me, reading Dunsany is like injecting a syringe of pure, glowing inspiration directly into my brain.

I keep trying to find newer stuff to read, but when I find this kind of material I just can't help myself. Well, at least one of these was 'new'.

 

[Devor]

Also, if you're interested, there's a blogger who's going through the Discworld books as well: | You are not prepared. The "Discworld" link in the banner at the top has links to archives of the books he's read and reviewed already. There's some swearing, but his commentary can be really funny. He's done a bunch of other books too.

I like some of his style and commentary.

Based on poking around that site, I'm going to go ahead and add Wyrd Sisters to my Pratchett reading. I do want to stick to the opening books for his different character lines, though, because even if each book ends up standing alone they also contain spoilers for the earlier ones. Going Postal, for instance, spoiled that the Night's Watch has both a golem and a werewolf, neither of which has happened yet in Guards! Guards!. That by itself might not be important, but once you get into spoiling the character development within a series, it could start to be.

 

[kennyc]

Finished reading Anthony Doerr's The Shell Collector collection (though I'd read a few of them before) and now reading his Memory Wall which has started strong with the title story in a SF tinged setting.

 

[Devouring Wolf]

Currently about halfway through Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence. I'm not really sure what to make of this book.

On the one hand, I breezed through half of it in a day, so its doing something right. On the other hand, sometimes in the middle of something I'll remember Jorg is only fourteen and just burst out laughing. Also I don't buy his obsession with Katherine. It's not that I don't like Katherine, I actually do, but knowing Jorg I don't see him falling in love with a girl just because she's pretty and nice.

 

[Heliotrope]

Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters. (Part of my research for myself). I like it. It's not literature (not meant to be) but it is funny, has a defined cast of characters, and the tension and action stays pretty high and consistent throughout.

If I were 10 or 11 I would probably love the series.

 

[Mythopoet]

I've been reading "The Eyes of the Overworld", one of the Dying Earth books by Jack Vance. It's got some really interesting worldbuilding. But man, Cugel is such a douchebag. Literally that is the best adjective to describe him.

 

[kennyc]

I've been reading "The Eyes of the Overworld", one of the Dying Earth books by Jack Vance. It's got some really interesting worldbuilding. But man, Cugel is such a douchebag. Literally that is the best adjective to describe him.

One of my favorite books from ages ago....hope enjoy it!

 

[Incanus]

One of my favs, still! Cugel is undoubtedly a grade-A jerk. Of course, he 'gets' as much as he 'gives'. But ah, such spicy writing! Nothing else quite like it.

 

[Mythopoet]

One of my favs, still! Cugel is undoubtedly a grade-A jerk. Of course, he 'gets' as much as he 'gives'. But ah, such spicy writing! Nothing else quite like it.

Indeed. I think these books may be one of the few instances where the writing is at least as entertaining as the story. I'm not usually a fan of prose style, but Vance's is incredible. It gives so much flavor to the story and half the world building detail comes from his word choice rather than what he's describing. It's really brilliant. Cugel is still a jerk character though.

 

[Devouring Wolf]

I started City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett today. Its written in third-person present tenths, which I am not a fan of, but I'm actually really liking it. After about a page or two, my brain will just automatically correct it to past tense and then I can enjoy the story.

 

[Incanus]

Been reading 'The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes'. Great, fun stuff. Like the others I've read so far, it is surprisingly fast-paced and very easy to read. Classic and classy.

 

[Brian Scott Allen]

Tried Sword of Shannara, didn't catch. So now I am trying the Blade Itself.