Subject: RE: BS: help: Terry Pratchett books
From:
keberoxu
Date: 15 Sep 16 - 04:29 PM
More thoughts on Which Books To Read When.
The last of the Tiffany Aching books, The Shepherd's Crown, is great reading regardless. Having said that, I read that book and then more recently I read a few Discworld books for the first time. And I must say, The Shepherd's Crown, which on occasion cruises across the whole surface of the Discworld away from the Chalk or Lancre, is more enjoyable if one is reading / has read:
Lords and Ladies
Thief of Time
Raising Steam
just to name three Discworld books which are very different indeed from each other.
Right now I am reading Raising Steam, and wishing that I had read it before I read The Shepherd's Crown. Particularly for the references to iron and railroads.
Most of all, though, Raising Steam is valuable for presenting engineering and steam locomotives as a metaphor for the importance of accepting challenges that require one to fail many times before arriving at success.
Oh, and a word about "The Long Earth" series. That final book has just been published, called "The Long Cosmos." This series of books is a collaboration, I've already forgotten the name of the other author, who has survived Terry Pratchett.
On another thread, a Terry Pratchett devotee lamented that "The Long Earth" had little discernible Terry Pratchett in it. I understand the lament. However, I have pinpointed something that seems to be Terry Pratchett's contribution.
The character of Douglas Black, if you look closely, has a lot of Terry Pratchett's satire in him. There is more than a touch of Havelock Vetinari in Black's status and powers. Black's remarks and personality, with a sharp sense of humor, also brings Discworld to mind.
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sj
