Tag: Discworld

The Wee Free Men

The Wee Free Men

by Terry Pratchett (Doubleday, 2003); audiobook read by Stephen Briggs (Isis, 2003)

Pratchett_Wee Free Men

Behind all the humour, Pratchett sneaks in the quite moving story of a nine-year-old girl coping with loss. Tiffany Aching is a protagonist to watch out for, while Granny Aching is one of the finest characters ever to appear only in memory.

 

 

The Last Continent

The Last Continent

by Terry Pratchett (Doubleday, 1998); audiobook read by Nigel Planer (Isis, 1999)

Pratchett_Last Continent

One of the weaker Discworld novels. Pratchett makes suitably merry with intelligent design and the origins of (stereotyped) Australianism, but the Unseen University wizards are rather tiresome when employed as main characters and Rincewind’s exploits are equally belaboured. Funny but unusually pointless.

 

 

Jingo

Jingo

by Terry Pratchett (Victor Gollancz, 1997); audiobook read by Nigel Planer (Isis, 2000)

Pratchett_Jingo

Plotwise, Jingo ties itself in knots and threads. The humour is less overt than elsewhere in the Discworld canon, but there remains a droll, page-turning appeal in Pratchett’s railing against—with every weapon at his disposal, primarily Sam Vimes—humanity’s absurd jingoism.

 

 

Small Gods

Small Gods

by Terry Pratchett (Victor Gollancz, 1992); audiobook read by Nigel Planer (Isis, 1997)

Pratchett_Small Gods

Pratchett’s one-off Discworld novels were often rather special, and such is the case with this exposé on organised religion. The (formerly) Great God Om finds himself unwillingly manifested as a tortoise with only one follower. Nigel Planer is exquisite in his narration.

 

 

A Blink of the Screen

A Blink of the Screen

by Terry Pratchett (Doubleday, 2012); audiobook read by Michael Fenton Stevens & Stephen Briggs (Isis, 2012)

Pratchett_Blink of the Screen

With the exception of ‘The Sea and Little Fishes’, this collection of short stories and miscellanea (some Discworld, some not) is sadly lacking, at least by Pratchett’s standards. The qualities that brought his novels alive simply don’t lend themselves to shorter fiction.

 

 

Wyrd Sisters

Wyrd Sisters

by Terry Pratchett (Victor Gollancz, 1988); audiobook read by Celia Imrie (Isis, 1996)

Pratchett_Wyrd Sisters

Terry Pratchett tells comic stories within stories within Shakespearian tragedy as the King of Lancre is murdered and Granny Weatherwax and her fellow witches take centre stage in the unfolding history of his succession. Celia Imrie does a wonderfully witchy job narrating.

 

 

Reaper Man

Reaper Man

by Terry Pratchett (Gollancz, 1991); audiobook read by Nigel Planer (Transworld, 1995)

Pratchett_Reaper Man

Having given Death a personality, Pratchett next postulated the consequences of him having to die. Since this was still quite early in the Discworld saga, the result is mostly comedic mayhem (although Death’s relationship with Miss Flitworth is both sweet and philosophical).

 

 

Unseen Academicals

Unseen Academicals

by Terry Pratchett (Doubleday, 2009); audiobook read by Stephen Briggs (ISIS, 2009)

Pratchett_Unseen Academicals

Pratchett brings together the wizards and staff of Unseen University and the traditionally violent Ankh-Morporkian game of foot-the-ball to explore notions of tradition and expectation. Glenda Sugarbean and Mr Nutt make for intriguing, rather serious, one-off characters, balancing out the madcap romp.

 

 

Making Money

Making Money

by Terry Pratchett (Doubleday, 2007); audiobook read by Stephen Briggs (HarperAudio, 2007)

Pratchett_Making Money

Pratchett, in the midst of a sequence of novels aimed as much at modernising the Discworld as making merry, pits former confidence man Moist von Lipwig against Ankh-Morpork’s banking sector. The telling is droll but by Pratchett’s standards the story is uninspiring.

 

 

Feet of Clay

Feet of Clay

by Terry Pratchett (Victor Gollancz, 1996); audiobook read by Nigel Planer (ISIS, 1999)

Pratchett_Feet of Clay

Feet of Clay continues the examination of racism (on the Discworld, species-ism) begun in Men at Arms, adding little except welcome reiteration. Although the golems make for interesting characters, Fred Colon and Nobby Nobbs—two of Pratchett’s less explicably favoured creations—don’t.