Books

[sachmo71]

I read a lot. In the interest of sharing the gift of reading, I'll offer opinions of the books that I have finished reading. Please feel free to discuss/comment/scoff at my views, because that's what it's all about.

[John Galt]

*scoff*









Sounds interesting - I'll be reading.

[sachmo71]

The most recent book that I read was the first book of The Guardians of the Flame collection, titled The Sleeping Dragon.

The Guardians of the Flame is a series of fantasy books written back in 1985. The premise of the story is that a group of college aged role players is transported to their gameworld by their dungeonmaster/professor. It doesn't sound like much of a premise, but the story takes some interesting turns.
**************************SPOILERS*******************************

I like the way Rosenberg fleshes out his characters. Take the DM/Professor for instance. It turns out that he has the power to transport people to this world, but is unable to transport himself. His solution is to transport the group there, give them a nice stock of equipment, and have them find a way to bring him over so that he can rule it. Simple plan, which of course immediately gets off track, but I found that I completely understood the professor's motives. In his mind, what he was doing wasn't evil, but more of an act of desperation. He had every intention of getting the group through the world alive, and in fact was concerned for them. He wasn't your typical evil bastard, just a bastard!
The story get's off to an interesting start, and Rosenberg is not afraid to show his characters weakness. The whole novel revolves around the characters learning about their new surroundings, and them trying to cope with their changed bodies, minds, and new powers. I especially liked Michael, who was crippled in our world, but a powerful warrior in the game. He becomes the defacto leader of the group, and has to come to terms with dealing with both the other "game characters" and his fellow players. There is a lot of interchanging of names in the story, where Rosenberg will identify the character by their game name, then by their human name, so it helps to get to know the characters early. Rosenberg spends a good amount of time with each of them.
The life in the gameworld turns out to be much harder than anticipated, though. Rosenberg isn't afraid of putting his subjects into harms way, nor having them make poor decisions. In fact, they usually end up doing the wrong thing, but that helps to illustrate the learning process that they have to go through.
As the story moves on, and they come closer to their goal, some of the characters have to decide if they even want to go back to their old lives, or live an interesting, albeit shorter, life in the gameworld. Most of the questions I found myself asking were covered here by Rosenberg. He really made each character a unique, thinking person, even if the world is a little flat.
The cons?
I would have liked a bit more background history for the gameworld. Most of the characters had been playing in campaigns in this world, and the knowledge gained may have allowed them to make some better decisions along the way. I mean, if I were transported to Greyhawk, I would know that's it's generally a good idea to avoid the north, and if you meet a hermit alone in the woods...RUN! A small gripe, really.
The end story could have used some work. Most of the story was spent illustrating the individuality of the members of the group, but they all decide to "band together" and make hard choices when a life is in the balance. I would have expected at least one of the them to make the wrong choice at this point, but he chose to go another direction with it. Maybe the characters learned a thing or two in the time they spent in the gameworld, but I would have been more impressed if he continued to take risks with the story. Eh, another small gripe.

Overall, I really enjoyed the story, maybe more than I thought I would. I look forward to reading the rest of the volume, which is books 2 and 3. I think there are three more after this one.

I guess I should create a rating scale, so in honor of our resident gamemaster, I give this book:

6/10 Cougars!

[sachmo71]

John,

Glad to have you along!

Next up:

Warday

[Fonzie]

I remember Guardians of the Flame! I loved 'em when I read 'em back in high school - I wonder if my opinion would change on rereading. I might have to revisit this series.

Oh, and *scoff*.

[SirFozzie]

There's about 10 books in the Flame series, and Baen's starting to put out Guardian of the Flame omnibuses (3-4 books in 1)

[sachmo71]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

There's about 10 books in the Flame series, and Baen's starting to put out Guardian of the Flame omnibuses (3-4 books in 1)

10 huh? I've got some reading ahead.

[Celeval]

The first group are great. IMHO, Rosenberg has slown down a lot... seems that much less happens in the recent books.

[sachmo71]

Originally Posted by Celeval

The first group are great. IMHO, Rosenberg has slown down a lot... seems that much less happens in the recent books.

Maybe he's Robert Jordan in disguise?

[sachmo71]

On my vacation, I was able to finish Warday by Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka. Yes, it's THAT Whitley Strieber. This book has been sitting on my bookshelf since I bought it in 1985. Back then, I was facinated by modern warfare, and I was into post apocolyptic fiction...drivel such as The Survivalist, The Wingman, and CADS. Real crap, but it was my thing. Anyway, when I saw this book, I bought it and started reading it right away. Unfortunately, this book didn't have enough heroes, or bloodshed, or whatever it was that I was looking for back then, so I put it down and never gave it a second thought. Then for some reason, about a week ago, I picked it back up and started to read it. I found it hard to put down, even without the gore!

********************SPOILER**********************************

The story is about an author (Strieber) and a reporter (Kunetka) who make a five year journey around the US after it is involved in a limited nuclear war with the Soviet Union. On October 28th, 1987, after the US deployed a satellite missile defense system known as Spiderweb, the Soviets launch a nuclear strike against the US, with the US responding in kind. No other countries are involved in the war. Among the targets are large parts of the midwest where all of the missile silos and bomber bases are located, Wasington DC, New York, and San Antonio. On top of that, there is some nuclear activity on the high seas as the American and Soviet navies blast each other into oblivion. As an added bonus, the Soviets detonate 10 large megaton weapons high in space over the US, where the electromagnetic pulse shorts virtually evey single piece of electronic equipment in the country. (Take that, Mr. Aflek!)

The story is told in a series of personal reflections, official documents, and interviews with various people. Some of the more interesting themes of the story are a largely unaffected California virtually becoming it's own country, heavily increased aid from the newest superpowers in the world: Great Britain and Japan, and the creation of a Latin American country in territory bordering Mexico, Texas, Claifornia and New Mexico.

Pros:- Since this book was written in 1985, much of the information is dated, but it is still an interesting scenario. The war portrayed by Strieber was more of a near miss of Armageddon than anything else. He never really explains why both sides didn't open up their full nuclear arsenal and blow each other to hell and back, but he does hint on at the system breaking down before this happens. Some of it is a streach, but I bought it.
The book is spooky. The radiation and firestorms are the least of the survivors worries. The economy was shattered when the EMP bombs were detonated. Diseases run rampant as medical supplies dwindle, food becomes scarce, and stress depleats the immune systems of many people. Everything sort of snowballs into a big, ugly mess, and thinking about it in personal terms only makes it more chilling. Even though I know we are further away from this sort of thing ever happening, with the climate of the world being what it is today, and knowing that there are people who would spread this sort of destruction on us if they had half of a chance brings things a little closer to home.

Cons- Strieber obviously has an agenda, and the book has a...errr, left leaning slant.
Strieber comes across rather preachy sometimes, which I suppose was one of the reasons that he wrote this book, but I thought he added some instances that went a little over the top. For example, when a food shortage is predicted in the Northeast, the children of this area are loaded onto a train and shipped South to Alabama, where there is a surplus of food. When the train passes into Georgia, it is turned back because of fears that the children might streach the food stocks to dangerously low levels. Now maybe I am naive, but I think most people would do what they could to help children survive.

I did enjoy the book, however. It is well constructed and informative. The information is not too "out there" as to be irrelevant.

Rating
6.5/10 mushroom clouds for this gloomy volume.

My next review should be the second Guardians of the Flame book. I can't remember the title just now, but it's off to a pretty good start!

[GoldenEagle]

I just finished reading Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.

I loved the book. That is all.

[Franklinnoble]

Man, I thought I was a one-of-a-kind dork for reading the Guardians of the Flame series when I was younger. Now, I realize I have dorky brethren. I need a hug.

*** SPOILER ALERT!!!!!***


Seriously, I've read all but the most recent two, (I think). Rosenberg lost steam when he killed off a major character in the series, and "Not Exactly The Three Musketeers" just didn't have the same feel to it... basically no "otherworld" major characters in the story anymore.

Keepers of the Hidden Ways (I think that's what the series was called) was pretty decent, but the premise was too similar to not seem like a total ripoff. Still, I enjoyed them... I think he did a few other books in a separate fantasy series, but the titles were too bizarre for me to recall at the moment.

Anyhow, at one time, he was my favorite author, and is probably still my favorite fantasy author, just because of the nostalgia I have when I think of those books. Like I said, I'm happily stunned to see that there are others here who have read them.

[BlueMage]

I just finished up the last book of the Tawny Man series by Robin Hobb. This is 3rd book of this series, but it's really the 6th book of another series, and you really ought to read the Mad Ships series in between to get everything going. They are excellent, and I couldn't put them down. I've been reading Tad Williams in the mean time but can't get into it very well yet.

[daedalus]

Originally Posted by sachmo71

The Guardians of the Flame is a series of fantasy books written back in 1985. The premise of the story is that a group of college aged role players is transported to their gameworld by their dungeonmaster/professor. It doesn't sound like much of a premise, but the story takes some interesting turns.

Whoa! I read this a LOOOOOOOOONG time ago and enjoyed it. Couldn't remember for the life of me the name of the book or the author so I could read the rest. This rocks! Thanks, sachmo!

Originally Posted by sachmo71

I especially liked Michael, who was crippled in our world, but a powerful warrior in the game. He becomes the defacto leader of the group, and has to come to terms with dealing with both the other "game characters" and his fellow players.

I couldn't stand him. Heh. I can kind of understood where he was coming from with his attitude. Maybe. But I still thought he was a little shit. He did seemed to have evolved into a more decent/less annoying person later on. I'd like to see how he progresses in later books.

Originally Posted by sachmo71

Overall, I really enjoyed the story, maybe more than I thought I would. I look forward to reading the rest of the volume, which is books 2 and 3.

Same here. Thanks for bringing up the name so I can now look it up! Yay!

[Wolfpack]

Heh. I read WarDay back in high school. Thought it an interesting read at the time. Having grown a bit, I now recognize a lot of the politicization that went into that novel, not to mention finding out Strieber is a near-nutjob (alien abductions and superstorms and such).

[Calis]

Originally Posted by GoldenEagle

I just finished reading Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.

I loved the book. That is all.

Ughh, horrid memories..has to be my most hated "classic" book of all time. How I loathed reading it.

Carry on..

[Lokugh]

Originally Posted by Franklinnoble

Man, I thought I was a one-of-a-kind dork for reading the Guardians of the Flame series when I was younger. Now, I realize I have dorky brethren. I need a hug.

*** SPOILER ALERT!!!!!***


Seriously, I've read all but the most recent two, (I think). Rosenberg lost steam when he killed off a major character in the series, and "Not Exactly The Three Musketeers" just didn't have the same feel to it... basically no "otherworld" major characters in the story anymore.

This would be when I quit reading the series. Between the death of...a certain character in (confirmed in Warrior Lives) and the fact that it took him two or three years to get to the next book, I just completely lost interest.

The first trilogy is quite good, though. And remember, it could be worse...they could have named her Andrea Doria (joke from the book). Ya know, I have always wondered if he named his characters what he did with that joke in mind or if it was just a happy coincidence

I will say this for Rosenberg. He is the only author I have read who actually took a serious look at what would happen in that scenario. It is one just about anyone who has ever played an RPG has thought of. Most authors who do this sort of story either go the humor route or the Narnia route (as in the transportees are fulfilling some great destiny or prophecy). In these books, the transportees are just folks who got screwed over and are trying to make their way the best they can in a world that really doesn't care much...well, until they make it care

Lokugh

[Franklinnoble]

Originally Posted by Lokugh

This would be when I quit reading the series. Between the death of...a certain character in (confirmed in Warrior Lives) and the fact that it took him two or three years to get to the next book, I just completely lost interest.

The first trilogy is quite good, though. And remember, it could be worse...they could have named her Andrea Doria (joke from the book). Ya know, I have always wondered if he named his characters what he did with that joke in mind or if it was just a happy coincidence

I will say this for Rosenberg. He is the only author I have read who actually took a serious look at what would happen in that scenario. It is one just about anyone who has ever played an RPG has thought of. Most authors who do this sort of story either go the humor route or the Narnia route (as in the transportees are fulfilling some great destiny or prophecy). In these books, the transportees are just folks who got screwed over and are trying to make their way the best they can in a world that really doesn't care much...well, until they make it care

Lokugh

I always thought it would be interesting for Rosenberg to re-juvinate the series with the professor sending another group over to the other world... it could be another bunch of hapless suckers, or perhaps this time a bunch of volunteers... the premise of having a group of characters with modern, real-world knowledge in a D&D world still has interesting scenario possiblities, in my opinion.

[Franklinnoble]

Dola... I just found Rosenberg's homepage...

http://www.ellegon.com/

Surreal is the only word I have for it...

[Franklinnoble]

double-dola... Here's a good fan page...

http://www.slovotskys-laws.com/

[Franklinnoble]

Triple-dola...

I don't know if I'd ever have guessed that this guy was a gun rights advocate. Somebody get Cam in here, quick!

[Franklinnoble]

Quadruple-dola...

Check out the guy's weblog... http://www.livejournal.com/users/joelrosenberg/

Seriously... Cam should have this guy on his show...

[CamEdwards]

Franklin,

What an odd coincedence. We've already had Joel on the show, but I had no idea he was an author!

Weird.

BTW, Sachmo, I read Warday back in the 1980's and thought it was awesome.

[Franklinnoble]

Originally Posted by CamEdwards

Franklin,

What an odd coincedence. We've already had Joel on the show, but I had no idea he was an author!

Weird.

BTW, Sachmo, I read Warday back in the 1980's and thought it was awesome.

That's bizarre... you had no idea he was an author, and we had no idea he was a gun nut... (***disclaimer... I can call him that, because I'm a gun nut... well, not a 'nut'... but a card-carrying lifetime member of the NRA... )

[sachmo71]

i stand shoulder to shoulder with my dorky brethern. I'm really getting into book two of Guardians of the Flame. I'll probably go on and finish the third book, and move onto the new series by Raymond Feist, or Micheal Curtis Ford, or any of the other hundred books I have in my queue.

Daedalus: I can't quite explain why I like Michael. Most of the characters have some flaw to them, and maybe that's why I like this series so much. But Michael's position is probably the easiest for me to understand. I think if I were in his position, I would try to forget the real world two. He's a very interesting character, who could easily have turned into Tannis Half-Elf, which would have ruined the whole thing for me.

Bluemage: Thanks for the recommendation!

Cam: Last night I realized that Whitley and Jim wrote another post-apocolyptic book, which I had on my shelf. For some reason, I thought it was a sequel to Warday, but it's not. It's called Nature's End, where air pollution is the killer. I doubt I'll be reading this one, as the left slant of the book is so severe that it causes all of the other books on the shelf to slide off and fall on the floor.

[Bubba Wheels]

For anybody who would like to know the real mind of the terrorists working against us today, read 'Tea With Terrorists." Clancy-like fictional novel, the central chapter is a real discussion that occurred in an Arab tea-house between terrorists and a journalist that then wrote this book (Pen name probably). *spoiler* There is NOTHING we can do that will appease these terrorists. They want all or nothing. All is a Muslim-dominated world headed by clerics where Sharia is administered, nothing is where all infidels are put to death and if a Muslim dies in the process, well he just goes on to Paradise with his virgins. Very sobering, insightfull. Good story, too.

[CamEdwards]

Hey Franklin, did you hear Joel call in to the show this afternoon? He's going to be our honorary Minnesota correspondent.

[Franklinnoble]

Originally Posted by CamEdwards

Hey Franklin, did you hear Joel call in to the show this afternoon? He's going to be our honorary Minnesota correspondent.

No, I missed it! Frickin' staff meetings... grumble, grumble...

Is there an archive of it online? Did you tell him to come visit his dorky brotherhood of fanboys here at FOFC?

[Franklinnoble]

Dola... I'm trying to tune in (with my IE browser), and in the left hand side of the page I have a little window that says "gathering data, please wait." It never goes away. I know I'm on a fat connection to the Internet, so I'm wondering if I have firewall issues?

[Alf]

Originally Posted by GoldenEagle

I just finished reading Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.

I loved the book. That is all.

This book was one of the "recommend by US guys" for a non-US guy.

Included was
- The Great Gasby (or however it should be written)
- Catcher in the Rye
- Last exit to Brooklyn <= I highly recommend this one, pretty hard to read for me at first, but once you're in and with Selby Jr recent death...

[daedalus]

Originally Posted by sachmo71

Daedalus: I can't quite explain why I like Michael. Most of the characters have some flaw to them, and maybe that's why I like this series so much. But Michael's position is probably the easiest for me to understand. I think if I were in his position, I would try to forget the real world two. He's a very interesting character, who could easily have turned into Tannis Half-Elf, which would have ruined the whole thing for me.

Oh, I don't have a problem at all with him considering giving up the "real world". Heck, as you said, in his position, I would as well. I just didn't like the "woe is me"/"the world against me" attitude he had at the beginning. I definitely liked the fact that he took charge once he was capable (post-transport).

[Lokugh]

Originally Posted by Franklinnoble

That's bizarre... you had no idea he was an author, and we had no idea he was a gun nut... (***disclaimer... I can call him that, because I'm a gun nut... well, not a 'nut'... but a card-carrying lifetime member of the NRA... )

::SPOILER::

You didn't realize he was a gun nut? What was the first thing his characters invented? In a land where people could throw fireballs and lightning bolts and magic missiles, not only him but the other organizations opposing his characters all started a gun war< g >. The Colt .45 was a nice touch I thought.

If he'd been a pacifist or anti-gun his characters would have had a lot more trouble with their guns, if they had even thought to make them (or he'd have made the old "gunpowder won't work in this world" cop out).

Lokugh

[Airhog]

I have to plug my favorite series of books in the whole world. The stuff written by terry pratchet is absolutely wonderful. Especially for anyone that enjoys fantasy books. Personally I enjoy any of the books that involve the City watch. I just got done reading "The Fifth Elephant" "Carpe Jugulum" and re-reading "Interesting Times"

They say his books are political satire directed at england. While I do find a bit of the stuff in his books relatable to english culture it really is a good read. The only way i can explain his writing style, is to just imagine earth as a fantasy land. And you are all set.

[sachmo71]

Airhog,

I read my first Pratchett book a month ago. Very funny stuff! I already have the next one in queue.

[Nyarlahotep]

The Colour of Magic is still my favorite Pratchett book. Guess I have a soft spot for the one that started it all.

[Lokugh]

Originally Posted by Nyarlahotep

The Colour of Magic is still my favorite Pratchett book. Guess I have a soft spot for the one that started it all.

Color of Magic is good. I think my favorite Pratchett, however, is the entire City Watch sub-series. I think Jingo is my favorite (because of the PDA), but Night Watch is the best of them, if you understand the distinction I am making.

My least favorite are the Witches novels (Equal Rites being the weakest, IMHO) but even those are pretty good.

Lokugh

[sachmo71]

Just finished The Sword and the Chain, the second book in the Guardians of the Flame series.

****************************************SPOILERS!!!!*********************

I'm still enjoying the storyline, but for some reason I didn't get into this book as much as I did the first one.

This book is basically the start of Karl's "mission" to take down the slave trade and liberate all of the slaves as he promised the Healing Hand he would do. It mainly focuses on Karl and Ahira, two characters whos interactions I enjoyed in the first book.

The Good: Lots of action again. The story never really slows down, and progresses nicely.
The characters stayed true to the story, for the most part. Ahira didn't become any more annoying, and I enjoyed getting to know Karl more. I missed some of the other characters, but I'll talk about that a bit more.

The Bad Well, to start with, the story was more predictible than I would have liked. There were a few twists, but not enough to impress me. I know, this is fantasy, and it's all been done before, right? I don't know about that. The first book seemed to break new ground for me, but this one sort of ran along like a movie. I guess I was expecting more.

I was also disappointed with the character interaction. As I mentioned before, I was looking forward to some sparks to fly between Ahira and Karl, but they sort of settled things early and cooperated for most of the journey. I think Rosenberg could have taken more of a chance with these two, instead of giving Karl all of the momentum. He's still emotional, and prone to act before he thinks, but I think Ahira would have resented Karl taking the spotlight more than he did, instead of taking a supporting role. Maybe they'll flesh this out a bit more in the third book.

Also, the foil was a bit weak. The son of the villian is out seeking revenge? Bah. I was really looking forward to an accidential enemy in this one...maybe a master trader who was only interested in getting Karl out of the way instead of having a personal vendetta. Rosenberg handled this well in the first book, and this seemed sort of lazy to me.

Then the supporting characters. We knew the kid was going to die. We knew one of the young lovers was going to die. They were pretty wooden to me, and I would have liked to get to know them a little more. Especially Aeia. She seems like an interesting character, and she's been though hell. I would think she would want to stay with her people, but she's so striken by something that happens to someone that she has known for a relatively short period of time, she turns her back on them and goes back with Karl. I just didn't really understand why.

This wasn't a bad book by any means. I just didn't enjoy it nearly as much as the first one. Maybe my expectations were too high?

I give this book:

4.5 out of 10 Cougars.

Hopefully book 3 will get me back into it. It's the next book I'm reading.


The Silver Crown

[sachmo71]

Ok, The Silver Crown is done. Book 3 in the Guardians of the Flame series.







*********************SPOILERS*************************************



The good:
Rosenberg is good at keeping his characters consistant. So often in fantasy we have a hero adopt a new persona almost instantly, leaving behind any shread of their past selves when they discover their true purpose. Rosenberg allows the characters to keep their faults through their lives, even if he is hard on their innocence.
The action in this book is fast and furious. Fans of battle scenes will not be disappointed!

The bad: I was really losing interest in this series rather early in this book. The characters were still wooden to me. The second and third books read like an action novel rather than serious fantasy. Maybe that's the author's intention, or maybe my expectations were too high after reading all of the praise heaped on him.
The plot was cumbersome to me. I didn't understand why things were happening the way they were. Nor will I ever understand the motivations of Karl. I just can't get into his character beyond the primitive rifle and the sword. Not enough upstairs, I suppose.
The ending was disappointing, also. Why would these people just allow this man to become their king? Because he saved them in a war? I guess, but it seemed weak to me. Why would Walter even think Karl would be any sort of decent king? Well, maybe Conan inspired him, but Ahira would have been a much better choice, I believe.

I really wanted to like this series, but after the first book, I found it to be a big letdown. Thankfully my friend whom I exchanged books with LOVED the George RR Martin works!

I'll give this book...

3 out of 10 Cougars.

Next book...


The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett!

[Thomkal]

I read the first couple at least of Rosenberg's books because I'm a sucker for "modern day people being transported to a fantasy world" books. Perhaps my favorite of such books is Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar Tapestry trilogy where five Canadians get transported to a very epic, Tolkien kind of feel world. The series is my Top 5 or 10 of all time favorite books, so I can't recommend them enough. The first book in the series is The Summer Tree

[sachmo71]

Thanks, Thomkal. I'll check it out.

[Lokugh]

Sachmo, if you like things a little lighter, but in the same vein, you might also look up the Spellsinger novels by Alan Dean Foster, if you've not already read them. About a failing musician who gets transported to a somewhat Narniaesque (well, in the sense of talking animals and humans mixed in) world. He finds that he can work magic by singing. Starts with "Spellsinger" and continues with "The Hour of the Gate".

[sachmo71]

Thanks, Lokugh. Sound interesting. I've seen them on the shelves, but I always have something else to buy...

[sachmo71]

And now for something completely different...

The Light Fantastic by Terry Pretchett!





******************************SPOILERS*********************************













Ok, not completely different, but a bit.
This is book 2 in the famous Discworld series. Very, very funny stuff but you must have a pretty dry sense of humor to appreciate it, I think. Thankfully, I do!

In this book, Rincewind the inept wizard and Twoflower the tourist are saved from certain death by the the most powerful spells in the world so that Rincewind can fulfill his purpose in the world and save it from certain doom.
I know this sounds like a cheesy fantasy novel, but it's damn funny stuff.
Anyway, Rincewind and Twoflower and the Luggage run into wizards, barbarians and trolls on the way, and even meet Death himself. Eventually they come to the final showdown, where the humor is at it's best.

The Good
Well, as I said before, it's damn funny. Here is one little section that made me laugh out loud:

To the upper cellars!" he cried, and bounded up the stone stairs. Slipper flapping and nightshirts billowing the other wizards followed him, falling over one another in their eagerness to be last.

Eagerness to be last. Genius!
Pratchett is like that, he sometimes comes out of nowhere and hits you with a joke where you are least expecting it, until you find yourself waiting to be entertained in every sentence. I happly found that I was.
Pratchett has also created a very imaginative world. Discworld is a world that is mounted on top of four huge elephants, which are in turn riding on the back of a huge, celestial turtle, and it get's stranger from there, but the strangeness is usually very imaginative and also often very funny.

The Bad

Too short. The book is 241 page. Books are expensive these days! Give me MORE!!!


Overall, this was an excellent book, and I'm really looking forward to reading the 20-odd books remaining.

I give this book 9 Cougars out of 10! Please, read this book. You won't be sorry!

Next....I have no idea! Let's call it a surprise!

[Lokugh]

Well, in Pratchett's defense, books weren't quite so expensive when he wrote it. And if you think that is short, wait until you read "Eric" (which is, I think, the next Rincewind novel). Short and in big type. I think it was originally meant as a juvie.

Er, one thing, book three is, I think, Equal Rites. Personally, I found this to be the weakest of the whole series (it is the first in the "Witches" sub-series). Don't get turned off. If you need to, just skip it. It is skipable. Still pretty good, but I know a lot of people don't particularly like the Witches novels to begin with, and this is definitely the weakest of the lot. Probably because it does not have the three witches in it, just Granny Weatherwax (with a cameo by Nanny Ogg).

I do envy you though...you still have so much goodness to look forward to< g >.

Lokugh

PS: Er, the reason the Equal Rites novel is skipable, btw, is that Eskarina, the main character, never once appears in the later novels...she just disappears completely from the Discworld saga...rather unusually for Pratchett. Granny and the "witch" community are better introduced later as well. The only thing from this novel that really reappears later that you might miss is Granny's landlady in Ankh Morpork, and that is only minor.

[sachmo71]

Lokugh,

Thanks for the input. I'll consider skipping Equal Rights, but that is something my ordered brain may not let me do. If I cannot skip it, at least I know now that the pace will pick back up with the next book.

I really enjoy his stuff. It was hard for me not to pick up the next one when I was out a lunch today.

[Lokugh]

Oh, Equal Rites is not a bad book. Some few people really like it. From the reviews I've seen though, most of those people were not nearly so enamored of Rincewind, so...

Nice thing about Pratchett, even his bad books are really good, and he has something for everyone.

[SirFozzie]

What Foz is reading Lately:

The Deathstalker Series by Simon Green

Space Opera on a grand scale.. Awesome Awesome bookks

[sachmo71]

Sounds good, Foz. What is a rough estimate of the tech level?

Also, I decided to go ahead and buy the next two Pratchett books. Life is too short to miss out on the good stuff, no?

[Godzilla Blitz]

I read Equal Rites a few months ago. I enjoyed it about as much as I enjoyed the first two. So far, I just haven't locked onto any of the Discworld books yet, but I've enjoyed them enough to always pick up the next one, and eventually get around to reading it.

Mort is sitting in my pile of books to read. I've had a couple of people tell me that this one is their favorite.

[Katon]

The first three Discworld books are far, far worse than the rest of the series. Pratchett was still learning back then, and those three in particular are much weaker than the stuff he's writing now. Mort is the first book where he's starting to get things straightened out.