Wintersmith (Terry Pratchett)

I plunged into Terry Pratchett's latest with great hope, and found that it lived up to my expectations. Wintersmith is his third book starring Tiffany Aching, trainee witch, a most delightful character of whom I am very fond. In Wintersmith, the spirit of Winter gets a crush on Tiffany, with fairly disastrous results, and Tiffany cannot quite decide if she is pleased or scared by his attention. Pratchett writes the teenage Tiffany with her characteristic humour and common sense, along with rollicking story and appearances from Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, which is awfully fun. I think these books are technically YA, but I don't really think of them like that - to me, they're just Discworld books, and some of my favourites.

Going Postal (Terry Pratchett)

I've never listened to any of Pratchett's books on audio before, and wasn't sure how his brand of satire (complete with many footnotes) would work when read aloud. Thankfully, it works really well - even the footnotes make their way into the text nicely - and Pratchett's familiar characters really came alive for me in this. I've never felt a particular attachment to Going Postal (yes, it's a book I've read twice before, but I think Pratchett is worth at least several re-reads), but it really worked for me this time. Moist regularly made me giggle out loud, and I loved his very weird romance with the chain-smoking advocate for golems, Adora Belle Dearheart. The next Discworld novel that Pratchett is working on, Making Money, is also going to star Moist - can't wait.

Monstrous Regiment (Terry Pratchett)

The first time I read Monstrous Regiment (yes, this is a re-read), I was a little disappointed with it. I gulped it down with my usual new-Pratchett haste, which does occasionally end in disappointment as I simply don't spend enough time with the book. Which doesn't really matter, as I always end up re-reading (and re-reading) them at some point.

Anyway, I was hoping for another City Guard book, and didn't really get into Monstrous Regiment the first time around. The second time around I enjoyed it much more, although I still find that I love the earlier Discworld books more so than the later ones. Monstrous Regiment might be a good place to start if you've never read a Discworld book before (although if I was Queen of All the World I'd order people to begin their Pratchett appreciation on novels earlier in the series) - and if you've read Discworld novels before, you know exactly what you're in for.

The Wee Free Men & A Hat Full of Sky (Terry Pratchett)

These two books are stories set in the Discworld aimed at younger readers, but really only so in the sense that the heroine is 11 years old. They star Tiffany Aching, a very determined young girl, and the Nac Mac Feegle, small blue drunk fairies, who live to swear and fight anything in their path (and each other if they get bored). In The Wee Free Men, Tiffany, with the aid of the Nac Mac Feegle, fights the Queen of the Fairies to retrieve her baby brother. In A Hat Full of Sky, she is apprenticed to a witch, and faces a more terrifying internal battle with a drifting spirit called a hiver.

"Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colours. And the people there see you differently too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving."
(A Hat Full of Sky, p349)

These are just as enjoyable to read as an adult, I think. Pratchett's skill and love of language shines through in all his work, no matter who its written for. Tiffany is a wonderful character - exactly the sort of person I wanted to be when I was younger (and in some ways, how I still want to be). I think these two novels, along with the later Discworld books, are some of Pratchett's best work.

Night Watch & Going Postal (Terry Pratchett)

I do love Terry Pratchett an awful lot. He's one of my favourite authors, the way he gives me comforting reasurances about the state of humanity (even if there are really horrible serial killers, there are always going to be wonderful characters like Sam Vimes who can stop them.)

And out of the great mass of characters that inhabit the Discworld, Sam Vimes is one my dearest favourites. His sarcasm, gruffness and struggle with himself - how can you not love the man? He is the star of Night Watch , so I was bound to enjoy it. And it's one of Pratchett's best books, I think. We see Vimes as a young man, and experience the events that change him. And we see Vimes as a grown man, and watch him struggle to live up to his younger self's ideals. It's beautiful - and it's set in amongst the usual craziness and footnotes of the Discworld. Fantastic.

Going Postal was a different experience, because while it's still set in familiar Ankh Morpork, with its accompanying cast of supporting characters, it also introduces many new ones. I read it quite soon after it was released, and thought it was OK. On the second reading, I enjoyed it much more. I think Discworld novels, for me, always need a second read - I'm too excited about them when they're first written, and reality always feels like a bit of a let down. Then I read them again, some time later, and appreciate them much more. Going Postal is a fantastic book. (Pratchett is definitely an author who improves with age and practice, as I enjoy his mid to later books much more than his earlier ones.) A spin on the postal service, as apparent by the title, it introduces soon-to-be-ex conman Moist Lipwig, the post office staff, and gives us more golems (Hooray For Golems). Vastly enjoyable. I'm in a Pratchett phase at the moment, while waiting for Thud to arrive at the library.

Terry Pratchett

I was delighted to realise that Terry Pratchett has a new Discworld novel, Thud!, being released soon (and I've already put it on hold at the library in anticipation). And it features Samuel Vimes, one of my favourite characters, so I'm terribly excited.

I've been reading the Discworld novels (and other ventures of Pratchett's, including his brilliant novel Good Omens which he co-wrote with Neil Gaiman) for about ten years, and I continue to find them just as funny. They're fantasy novels with bite, dry satires of the modern world, and they often make me curl up in my chair, wheezing with laughter.

They're difficult books to gush about with other people, I find. I don't know too many fans - my friends often sadly lack a taste for fantasy or sci-fi, and even though Discworld is more satire than fantasy, it tends to put people off if they don't enjoy the odd wizard traipsing through their stories. And when you do find someone who enjoys them, they're not the sort of books you can dissect, or discuss how you absolutely fell in love with this character. Conversations tend to be along the lines of, "It's fantastic, isn't it, so dry and witty?" "Yeah." "And I love how that particular footnote was put there." "Yeah." And you trail off into silent satisfaction of your mutual good taste.

Irregardless of their gushing factor, the Discworld series (may they never end) are fantastic books. I haven't been as enamoured of the latest two volumes, but I think the return of Samuel Vimes and (presumably) the Watch bodes well. Now I just have to wait impatiently for Thud! to be released and make its way to my local library.