June/Terry Pratchett Reading Poll

[Scheherazade]

Voting time for the Terry Pratchett book you would like to read in June!

The aim of the Book Club is to read and discuss new books together with other members.

Please try to avoid from voting for the books you have already read and/or do not intend to (re)read with us.

Thank you! :)

The Colour of Magic (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061020710/sr=8-1/qid=1146434125/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-5294964-4827265?%5Fencoding=UTF8)

Equal Rites (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061020699/sr=1-1/qid=1146434182/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-5294964-4827265?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books)

Mort (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061020680/sr=1-1/qid=1146434336/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-5294964-4827265?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books)

Pyramids (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061020656/sr=1-3/qid=1146434401/ref=pd_bbs_3/002-5294964-4827265?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books)

Guards! Guards! (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061020648/sr=1-1/qid=1146434470/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-5294964-4827265?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books)

Moving Pictures (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/006102063X/sr=1-1/qid=1146434505/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-5294964-4827265?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books)

Small Gods (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061092177/sr=1-1/qid=1146434597/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-5294964-4827265?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books)

Interesting Times (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061056901/sr=1-1/qid=1146434664/ref=sr_1_1/002-5294964-4827265?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books)

The Last Hero (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060507772/sr=1-1/qid=1146434693/ref=sr_1_1/002-5294964-4827265?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books)

Thief of Time (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061031321/sr=1-1/qid=1146434725/ref=sr_1_1/002-5294964-4827265?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books)



Book Club Procedures (http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?p=57103#post57103)

[Charles Darnay]

I have never heard of this author - I think this is the first book club authro that I have never heard of.... that really makes me want to participate.

Also, I've been meaning to dive back into the world of fantasy after renouncing it a few years back.

Question though, if the books on this poll are part of a series, wouldn't we have to start with #1 (the colour of magic) lest we be not confused?

[ShoutGrace]

Question though, if the books on this poll are part of a series, wouldn't we have to start with #1 (the colour of magic) lest we be not confused?

I definitely think so. It makes better sense for those who haven't read any of the series. Are there any Terry Pratchett veterans out there?

[Scheherazade]

Question though, if the books on this poll are part of a series, wouldn't we have to start with #1 (the colour of magic) lest we be not confused?I have read only one Pratchett book (Hogfather) but I have been assured by those who have read his books that one does not need to read the series from the beginning to be able to follow.

The Discworld Series consist of 37 books. I have tried to choose the ones in which new characters such as Death are introduced for the first time.

[Idril]

I've read all the Discworld books and it's really not necessary to read them in order since there isn't a real storyline that links all the books. They all take place in discworld and there are recurring characters but it's not necessary to read one before the other. Looking at the list, Pyramids, Small Gods, Interesting Times and Moving Pictures are completely stand alone books, the characters in these books are not major characters, you really don't need to have much knowledge of the discworld universe to follow along. The Color of Magic is the first one and remember when I said the books weren't really connected and you didn't have to read them in any order?...well...there is an exception to that, Color of Magic and the next one The Light Fantastic are two parts of the same story, if you're going to read the first one, you need to read the second to finish the story. The rest it kind of depends on what characters you like, Equal Rites introduces the witches and it's the only discworld book I didn't like, I've never been a huge fan of the witches but even among the "witches" library, this is a weak book. Mort features the character of DEATH and DEATH is awesome! Guards! Guards! introduces the City Watch, which is like the Police and it's very good. Interesting Times features characters you met in the first two books, Rincewind, a hapless wizard and a few others but to a certain extent, it's a surprise who else you run into so I'm not going to ruin that and The Last Hero also features a character from the first two books, Cohen the Barbarian.

From the Discworld books you have picked out there, my choice would be Mort. When I first started getting into the series, I read the first one and thought Pratchett was trying too hard to write like Douglas Adams, I felt it was so derivative of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy that it was hard to even enjoy it, I read the second book because you have to if you want to find out how the first book ends, the next book in the series is Equal Rites and I hated that book, I thought it was so dull and pointless but I kept on and the fourth book in the series is Mort and that was the book that really made me fall in love with Discworld. It seemed like Pratchett had found his own voice, I no longer felt the overwhelming presence of Adams when I read the book and as I said before, DEATH is awesome! :cool:

...but of course, I'm not supposed to vote, am I because I've already read them all... :(

[Taliesin]

Here's what we think of the books:

The Colour of Magic - Er. No. Just no. Pratchett is certainly not very good at this point. The Rincewind series are the worst of the series IOO

Equal Rites
Although we meet Granny Weatherwax, we really wouldn't count it the beginning of the Witches series. More of a prelude. We feel that it wasn't very good either.

Mort - Now we are getting somewhere. Mort is a good book and goes deeper into Death's character. We are not certain for what book exactly we'll be voting, but this certainly gets to the second round.

Pyramids - We liked it. Not the peak of Pratchett, but also not the worst one.
A strong medium.

Guards! Guards!
The Night Watch series is our personal favourite and Guards! Guards! is a fine starting book. Definitely a second-round book.

Moving Pictures - Well, it parodies Holliwood, but really it is mostly just a charade.

Small Gods - Someone said that every religious person should read this book. We agree. Second rounder.

Interesting Times
Rincewind series, as we mentioned before, aren't very good. Theey mostly consist of Rincewind running away from various things and making jokes on the subject. We don't support this one.

The Last Hero
We think it is the only Discworld book we haven't read so we can't say anything about it now. On the plus side, we haven't read them. On the minus side, it features Rincewind.

Thief of Time
Featuring Susan, Death's granddaughter and a schoolteacher, at her finest, this is also a good one. Second round.

So, we haven't made up our minds yet, but we suggest one of these:
*Mort
*Guards! Guards!
*Small Gods
*Thief of Time
(*Last Hero)
(*Pyramids)

[Single-Wing]

I've read the first few pages of Mort in a bookshop and I liked it very much. I would have bought it if I had had enough time for reading it at this moment. Also I prefer reading about DEATH then about witches or guards. So: Mort.

[WaxDoll]

Another author I have never heard of :sick: I really need to go to the library more... Doesn't make much of a difference, though, because I can't find any of those books (at least the ones listed above) at my library. Parents won't let me order books anymore, either :bawling:

By the way, who's "we", Taliesin :D

[Xamonas Chegwe]

I've read all of these and I broadly agree with Tal's points. To my mind, it's between Mort, Small Gods and Thief of Time. Definitely don't go for Colour of Magic - it is Pratchett before he really learnt how to be Pratchett.

And please don't pick Moving Pictures, as it's the only one I don't have on my bookshelf!

[Scheherazade]

I don't think I will mind reading any of these as they are all on the BBC's Big Read list and I ought to start from somewhere. *sighs*

[Nightshade]

I agree with Tal -- mind you I have read the last hero ( I think ) and Im pretty sure if its the one I think it is I really enjoyed it too.
Bu then Ive enjoyed every Pratchett book Ive ever read except The color of magic.
Sadly IM stuck do I choose one of my favouirtes that youve put up or vote for one I havent read yet??
:confused: :goof:

Tal, I have a q for you, have you read the science of discworld??
The library has it classified with the nonfiction physics books do you think thats right??


:D

[Nightshade]

You know pyramids is what I started with its easier to follow than some of the books and yet still has that pratchett spark. And since you dont really run into any of the charcters from the other serieses well except Death obviously and the Death of the Rats. Its alot of fun.

[Pensive]

EDIT: DID NOT LOOK AT THE POLL CLEARLY

Now I hope that Small Gods will win. :D

[Nightshade]

err pensy its a tie between mort and small gods

[Idril]

err pensy its a tie between mort and small gods

That's a tough choice. I think Mort is definately more indicative of the series than Small Gods but then again, Small Gods is a great book and is probably one that you might skip if you were to read the series on your own because it's stand alone book, it's not connected with any of the more popularly known groups such as the Witches or the Watch or what have you so maybe that is a good choice...I could be the tie-breaking vote because I haven't voted yet but I'm not sure I can deal with that kind of pressure. ;)

[Pensive]

Idril, why not vote for Small Gods because it is a stand alone book? We will have no need to read the whole series for this one...

I have got it at home as well....or is it the The God of small things...? *wondering*

[Idril]

Idril, why not vote for Small Gods because it is a stand alone book? We will have no need to read the whole series for this one...


That's a very good point...although you don't really need to have read anything for Mort either...I'm going to wait and see if someone else will break the tie because I have this problem, I am unable to make hard decisions. :p

[rachel]

well don't look to me, I happen to agree with both of you! :bawling:

Idril, I find both your name and your avy enchanting.

[Idril]

Idril, I find both your name and your avy enchanting.

Thank you. :D Idril comes from The Silmarillion, but you probably know that if you're a Tolkien fan, which I take from you sig that you are. ;) I've always felt a kinship with her because she has beautiful feet and always goes around barefoot, just like me. :lol: The av is her emblem, Tolkien created emblems for all the 'major' Elves and houses of both the Eldar and Edain. Here's (http://www.forodrim.org/gobennas/heraldry/heraldry.htm) a site that has them all, there are some very stunning emblems there, Luthien's are quite beautiful and I really like Fëanor's as well.

[rachel]

yes I studied deeply all the appendices and have father Tolkien's book of letters he wrote and was written to him.Have you read my favorite book in the world_The Unfinished Tales? My absolute favorite character after Tuor was Ancalame, I use her name a lot. I loved JRR's artwork a lot and I loved his son Christopher's beautifully created maps. Yes I love the enchantment of your name and avy and that is precisely how I see you in my mind. beautiful just like that.

[Idril]

Have you read my favorite book in the world_The Unfinished Tales?

Yes, I have read it and I really enjoyed it. Despite the fact that I identify myself with an Elvish princess, I really prefer the Men, they are so much more passionate and fallible and messy and real and I think that's why I prefer the Elves of the First Age to the Elves of the Third Age because they too, are much more passionate and fallible and messy than their later counterparts. I've always had a serious thing for the character of Isildur so I love the tale of Gladden Fields because it proves what I've always maintained, that Isildur was basically a good and valiant man, he just made some bad decisions along the way :p and I also love the story of Erendis and Aldarion, Erendis is a name I've used once in awhile, I just love her in all her bitterness.


Yes I love the enchantment of your name and avy and that is precisely how I see you in my mind. beautiful just like that.

Awww, that is very sweet and very generous. ;)

We should start our own thread about the world of Middle-earth before they start yelling at us about deviating from the thread topic. :lol:

[rachel]

oh Please do that. It seems in my great tiredness I have hijacked just every thread the last two days. How dreadful.
I wish we had time to read all the Pratchett and discuss the different feelings and whether Pratchett got better in our opinions or worse with each book.

[Pensive]

I loved that song about Tinuviel and Baren. (Sorry for being off-tipic but...)

The leaves were long, the grass was green
The hemlock-umbels tall and fair,
And in the glade a light was seen
Of stars in shadow shimmering
Tinuviel was dancing there
To music of pipe unseen,
And light of stars was in her hair
And in her raiment glimmering (I have forgotten the rest and raiment spellings might be wrong)

And oh again, it is a TIE!

[Idril]

I wish we had time to read all the Pratchett and discuss the different feelings and whether Pratchett got better in our opinions or worse with each book.

He can be really uneven, a mediocre book will follow an outstanding book and then back to outstanding. Although even his mediocre books have their moments. It's always interesting to me what other people think of the books and how different their impressions can be from mine or anyone else's. Small Gods is a good example, I enjoyed it, it's different, a different pace and voice and I thought it was a nice change but I have a friend who is a huge Pratchett fan and she just hated it, she thought it was boring and pointless so it just goes to show it's so hard to predict what other people will like.

And I'll start that thread, Rachel, when I get back from work, I'm running a tad bit late this morning...it would probably help if I didn't log on to the computer right before I'm supposed to leave. ;)

[Scheherazade]

Going once...

[Idril]

I think I'm going to have to vote for Mort. I just think it's a much better example of the Discworld books than Small Gods is and if part of our goal is to get people introduced into the series then Mort is the better choice and even though I did enjoy Small Gods, I enjoyed Mort even more, it's just a great book, a fun book...so the tie is broken.

[Weeping Willow]

If it's still ok ok to vote.. i go for Color of magic because even if you don't have to read Terry Pratchett books in any order.. Color of magic is still the first...
So.. go color of magic!

[Nightshade]

I decided to read small gods to decide which way to vote :D
Anyway page 2 has a point that I thought quite few of us might enjoy arguing over again
http://www.amazon.com/gp/sitbv3/reader/ref=sib_dp_pt/102-6756480-7696930?%5Fencoding=UTF8&asin=0061092177
( if you want to see what Im talking about go to he link press Excerpt button then go forward 1 page and look about half way down :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Taliesin]

Since we aren't certain whether we prefer Small Gods or Mort, we will vote for Small Gods and hope for a tie, so that a coin can be the decision-maker.

[Pensive]

That's it, Tal! :thumbs_up

[Nightshade]

Since we aren't certain whether we prefer Small Gods or Mort, we will vote for Small Gods and hope for a tie, so that a coin can be the decision-maker.
In that case I reserve my vote to keep us in tie if needs be because I am also stuck:D

[Scheherazade]

Going twice...

[Nightshade]

OOO the suspense :rolleyes: