I have just enjoyed my very first Terry Pratchett book, The Colour of Magic. What fun! I love the Luggage and Hrun the Barbarian. "Like finding apples under an apple tree, you find treasure under altars." Priceless!
Only mild spoilers here, and since I'm the last person in the civilized world to read this book, it probably doesn't matter.
One of the most interesting things about it was how it was riddled with "mistakes." For example, at first Twoflower cannot speak the language, and Rincewind communicates for him. Then, somehow he sells an insurance policy to the innkeeper without any translator. Henceforth, he speaks with no translation.
But somehow it doesn't matter. I also love Death. And I particularly love the encounter with Scrofula. "No one dies of Scrofula!"
I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.
People rarely have luke-warm responses to Pratchett's Disc World. I don't generally like his Rincewind novels, but I love the ones featuring his witches as main characters. Small Gods is quite enjoyable. My favorite Disc World novels involve the Nightwatch characters.
There's a very nice listing of the Disc World novels at
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Discworld#Published_work
It lists which main characters are featured in each novel, as well as (some people might think this is a spoiler) saying what topic or motifs a novel follows. For example, if the novel draws from a Shakespeare play, addresses religion, plays on fantasy cliches, etc.
Posted by: Lisa | June 15, 2004 at 12:56 PM
OMG! I can't believe how many novels there are! I think it's a hoot that Death has a couple to himself. One of my favorite bits about The Colour of Magic is that Death declares that he will GET Rincewind, but then eventually loses interest and gives up. Oh, it's funny because it's true! Some other parts that cracked me up were when the camera turned out to really be a box with a demon inside and then, as if we hadn't been warned, the watch was a box with a demon inside as well. There's almost nothing funnier than being "caught" by the same joke twice.
I have a deliciously amusing summer planned.
Posted by: Catherine | June 15, 2004 at 03:39 PM
I wholeheartedly agree re: Pratchett. Just a small coirrcteon: Rincewind isn't in Hogfather, he's in The Color of Magic, the most recent video Pratchett to air on US television. David Jason was in both, but he played Albert in Hogfather. The report is, work is beginning on the next Pratchett tv-movie, Going Postal.
Posted by: Andree | July 30, 2012 at 01:20 AM
My first Discworld novel was Pyramids, which is as good a jumping-off point as any, I souppse. I've been re-reading them all lately in a vain effort to keep ahead of my daughter, who has recently started reading Pratchett. I would probably recommend Men At Arms as a first Discworld novel, to get the flavor of this alternate universe, but I like the non-Discworld books just as well, and Good Omens (with Neil Gaiman) is excellent. The Johnny Maxwell Trilogy would probably be right up your alley, Amp. *Sigh* I'm sorry to hear about the Alzheimer's, though. It's a tough tough thing to have at any age. My cousin has a similar type of early-onset Alzheimer's (diagnosed at 64), and 8 years later is still doing reasonably well thanks to modern pharmacology, though we think he's hit the limit of what drugs can do for him. Good luck, Mr. Pratchett.
Posted by: Dhini | July 31, 2012 at 10:04 PM