My favorite Discworld book is, bar none, _Night Watch._ I also love _Small Gods_, which I've noticed has got a lot of puppy-kicks in discussion about _Unseen Academicals_.
With _Night Watch_, my love is primarily because the book is a character study of Sam Vimes. We see Vimes at his most strained and stressed- even more so than _Thud!_. We see Vimes, a man whose life has been built on a career where the job description is continually trying and failing to prevent disaster, put in the ultimate trying-and-failing-to-prevent-disaster situation. We see him tested almost to breaking point on multiple occasions, giving him multiple opportunities to show his true quality. It's a journey of the soul which, although it has its moments, is not a particularly funny book.
With _Small Gods_ , I love the book because of its spot-on demonstration of almost every form of human nature. It's a book about insights- insight into how people really work, how religions rise and fall, how belief succumbs to blind ritual. It's also a classic "buddy" story, except that one of the buddies happens to be a god, and the two characters involved are played off one another excellently.
What are my least favorite books of the series? Easy: bronze, _The Last Continent_; runner-up, _Soul Music_; winner, _Moving Pictures._ All three books suffer from the same problems: too many jumbled viewpoints with no clear running thread; weak plot; and, above all, too much emphasis on finding things to satire within the target topic, and not enough emphasis on either character or plot.
I re-read _Last Continent_ occasionally. _Soul Music_, rarely. I keep a copy of _Moving Pictures_ only for reference purposes. _Reaper Man_, which suffers from many of the same structural problems as _Soul Music_ and _Moving Pictures_, is saved by strong characters (especially "Bill Door") and two servicable plots.
Now, a question for those who have read _Unseen Academicals_ (it'll be a while before I lay hands on a copy, I'm afraid): given the above opinions, and my reasons for them, which end of the spectrum should I expect the book to approach?
On Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:40:42 -0500, Kris Overstreet
<redn...@wlpcomics.com> wrote: >Now, a question for those who have read _Unseen Academicals_ (it'll be >a while before I lay hands on a copy, I'm afraid): given the above >opinions, and my reasons for them, which end of the spectrum should I >expect the book to approach?
A fair way towards your preferred end. High concentration of character study and growth, decent plot threading, but a little muddled.
Cheers - Jaimie -- "What happens if a big asteroid hits Earth? Judging from realistic simulations involving a sledgehammer and a common laboratory frog, we can assume it will be pretty bad." - Dave Barry
> My favorite Discworld book is, bar none, _Night Watch._ I also love > _Small Gods_, which I've noticed has got a lot of puppy-kicks in > discussion about _Unseen Academicals_.
> With _Night Watch_, my love is primarily because the book is a > character study of Sam Vimes. We see Vimes at his most strained and > stressed- even more so than _Thud!_. We see Vimes, a man whose life > has been built on a career where the job description is continually > trying and failing to prevent disaster, put in the ultimate > trying-and-failing-to-prevent-disaster situation. We see him tested > almost to breaking point on multiple occasions, giving him multiple > opportunities to show his true quality. It's a journey of the soul > which, although it has its moments, is not a particularly funny book.
> With _Small Gods_ , I love the book because of its spot-on > demonstration of almost every form of human nature. It's a book about > insights- insight into how people really work, how religions rise and > fall, how belief succumbs to blind ritual. It's also a classic "buddy" > story, except that one of the buddies happens to be a god, and the two > characters involved are played off one another excellently.
> What are my least favorite books of the series? Easy: bronze, _The > Last Continent_; runner-up, _Soul Music_; winner, _Moving Pictures._ > All three books suffer from the same problems: too many jumbled > viewpoints with no clear running thread; weak plot; and, above all, > too much emphasis on finding things to satire within the target topic, > and not enough emphasis on either character or plot.
> I re-read _Last Continent_ occasionally. _Soul Music_, rarely. I keep > a copy of _Moving Pictures_ only for reference purposes. _Reaper Man_, > which suffers from many of the same structural problems as _Soul > Music_ and _Moving Pictures_, is saved by strong characters > (especially "Bill Door") and two servicable plots.
> Now, a question for those who have read _Unseen Academicals_ (it'll be > a while before I lay hands on a copy, I'm afraid): given the above > opinions, and my reasons for them, which end of the spectrum should I > expect the book to approach?
Your likes and dislikes are the exact opposite of mine and for, pretty much, the same reasons. The books you dislike and reasons that you dislike them are the very reason that I like them. That said, as the majority of the DW series fall into the type/s that you dislike, I wonder why you continued to read them? Why read a whole series of books that you do not like? I really am interested by the way.
>> What are my least favorite books of the series? Easy: bronze, _The >> Last Continent_; runner-up, _Soul Music_; winner, _Moving Pictures._ >> All three books suffer from the same problems: too many jumbled >> viewpoints with no clear running thread; weak plot; and, above all, >> too much emphasis on finding things to satire within the target topic, >> and not enough emphasis on either character or plot.
>> I re-read _Last Continent_ occasionally. _Soul Music_, rarely. I keep >> a copy of _Moving Pictures_ only for reference purposes. _Reaper Man_, >> which suffers from many of the same structural problems as _Soul >> Music_ and _Moving Pictures_, is saved by strong characters >> (especially "Bill Door") and two servicable plots.
[snip]
> Your likes and dislikes are the exact opposite of mine and for, pretty >much, the same reasons. The books you dislike and reasons that you dislike >them are the very reason that I like them. That said, as the majority of >the DW series fall into the type/s that you dislike,
I don't think that's the case - I'm more aligned with Kris than your prefs, and almost all the DW books contain lots or more of the stuff I like.
Cheers - Jaimie -- "It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong." - Voltaire,c18
On Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:31:33 GMT, "Patrician" <ghj...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Your likes and dislikes are the exact opposite of mine and for, pretty >much, the same reasons. The books you dislike and reasons that you dislike >them are the very reason that I like them. That said, as the majority of >the DW series fall into the type/s that you dislike, I wonder why you >continued to read them? Why read a whole series of books that you do not >like? I really am interested by the way.
Well, your starting premise is wrong, first off. To me the first few books are about mid-range (treating _Color of Magic_ as four unconnected short stories); then there's a bit of a decline for a while, and then a sharp uptick beginning about _Men at Arms_ (although I also like _Guards! Guards!_).
Aside from the three books I mentioned, there's only one or two I'm at all reluctant to re-read, and they're generally the older books, not the newer.
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