Day Three:
Dragon’s Wisdom | Some dragons are known for being bloodthirsty and terrifying. Other
dragons are known for the wisdom they have to share. Share a book,
author, or booklr recommendation.
With a prompt like that, I have to talk about Terry Pratchett. If you’re looking for an author with great stores of wisdom, he’s your man.
There’s nothing about Sir Terry that hasn’t been said before. He was near and dear to my heart, as he was to a lot of people’s, and for good reason. On the surface, his stories were light fantasy, full of action and puns and mildly ridiculous characters, but underneath, they were all truth and vinegar. Social satire on a grand scale. Cautionary tales. Instructions on how to do right by people. There’s a Pratchett quote for every occasion, and a book for everyone.
I’m not just talking about the Discworld books either, though they’re his longest series and contain most of his best work. The lesser-known stories like Nation and Dodger and the Bromeliad and Johnny Maxwell trilogies are instructive too, if not always as well-written. (The trilogies predate the Disc and it shows.)
Really, the man was just good, and smart and incredibly well-read. His books make you think and often reconsider your outlook. He had a tendency to, as he’d put it, “go spare” about things like war and intolerance and nationalist thinking. He had a gift for presenting something as absolutely logical and then pointing out how it wasn’t, really. I’ve learned a lot from him, without really even knowing it.
I’m not going to even touch on his writing style, which I’ve also found profoundly influential and admirable, or start on specific book recs (unless I’m asked). I kind of want to recommend everything, which is silly, and anyway, like I said, there’s a book for everyone. But I do rec him, will always rec him, and need to figure out how he made his dialogue so good, for reasons.
Reading Update
Of Books and Bagpipes by Paige Shelton officially a DNF
London by Edward Rutherfurdtwo chapters done!
How the Marquis Got His Coat Back by Neil Gaiman done!
I’ve wanted to get into Discworld for a while but I have no idea where to start because there’s so much! I’ve looked at various guides/charts that recommend different books to start with (and most say to not start with the first book in the series), but what would you recommend as a big fan?
A few years ago I bought Raising Steam but it’s just been sitting on my shelf, would it be ok to start with that one?
@elfspectations I’ve read the entire series and my family is full of Pratchett fans. We’ve recommended his works many times over the years, and others can step in with their opinions, too. Raising Steam would probably be one of the worst places to begin – unless you just really adore trains – because it’s not only near the end of his writing career, it’s also last in it’s own storyline (and the last one published before his death).
When we’ve encouraged people to start Discworld, we usually suggest Mort (my daughter’s favorite and the first one she encountered, which introduces some of the more spectral denizens); Guards, Guards (my choice because it introduces a lot of important Ankh-Morpork characters), or A Hat Full of Sky, the first in the Tiffany Aching set (my husband’s favorite section, especially for younger readers). However, since you have Raising Steam, so one book in a set already acquired, you could begin with the first Moist von Lipwig story in his world, which was Going Postal, follow that with Making Money, and then Raising Steam.
If money isn’t an issue, starting earlier in the series is recommended, so you get a feel for his world. There are also a couple of books that work as standalones – Hogfather and Small Gods work as two of those. There was one book published after his death – The Shepherd’s Crown – which is actually the last book in several lines of his world. It may not even make a lot of sense unless you’ve read several of those lines. It was his farewell to his fans and his worlds.
Urocyon's Jaunts 2.0 