RIP Terry Pratchett!

Fantasy author Terry Pratchett dies at age 66.

I was so sad to hear this news. Terry Pratchett was my favorite author after Douglas Adams, and now he’s passed on as well. It’s rare for me to get emotional upon hearing about the death of a celebrity, but hearing the news definitely brought tears to my eyes, and I will most assuredly mourn his death.
This man’s books have brought me so much joy over the years, and I will always be grateful for that. I hope he is at peace now and making people laugh with his wit in the great beyond.

Review of Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett

In Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett, the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork receives a letter from the Agatean Empire demanding that a great wizard be sent to them. He relays this message to the Arch-Chancellor of Unseen University. After conferring with the wizard staff of Unseen University, they come to the conclusion that none of them want to undertake the journey, so they decide that they should send the inept wizard Rincewind. They summon Rincewind through magical means, and then subsequently transport him to the Agatean Empire. Once there, Rincewind finds himself being forced to participate in a revolution quite against his will that it turns out was inadvertently started by an old friend of his. Rincewind wants no part in the revolution and seeks only to escape, but Fate has other plans for him.

This was a really fun and hilarious book. I really love the characters Rincewind and Twoflower, and I was delighted that the Luggage made a reappearance in this book. I highly recommend it to fans of Terry Pratchett and the Discworld series, or anyone that enjoys British humor. While it's probably not necessary to read all of the Discworld books that come before Interesting Times prior to reading it, I would recommend at least reading The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic first, and perhaps Sourcery and Eric as well.

Review of Soul Music by Terry Pratchett

Soul Music by Terry Pratchett is the story of a young musician named Imp who journeys from his small mountain town to the big city of Ankh-Morpork hoping to make it big. He meets up with a couple other musicians and they form a band but they have little success. When Imp's harp is accidentally destroyed, his band mates purchase a strange looking guitar for him from a mysterious music shop. Imp seems to have no trouble learning to play this new instrument and it seems to cast a spell upon him, his band mates, and everyone who hears his music and he becomes an instant celebrity. Unfortunately there are those that are not a fan of this new music and will go to great lengths to put a stop to it.

This book was pretty funny, and as always I loved Pratchett's use of humorous imagery and phrasing as well as the hilarious footnotes. I also loved all of the music related puns throughout the book. I'd definitely recommend this book to fans of Terry Pratchett and the Discworld series.

Review of The Unadulterated Cat by Terry Pratchett

The Unadulterated Cat by Terry Pratchett is an amusing commentary on the behavior of cats and how the author feels that some cats are more real than others and gives a comprehensive guide on how to tell a real cat from an unreal one along with some hypothetical musings. This was a fun quick read and I especially enjoyed all of the references to Schrodinger's cat. I also thought it was hilarious that some of the "real" cats that the author seemed to be describing seemed very much like the cat Greebo from his Discworld series. This is a must read for cat lovers and you might even enjoy it even if you're not a cat person like me, but are still exposed to cats enough to be familiar with their behavior.

Review of The Dark Side of the Sun by Terry Pratchett

The Dark Side of the Sun by Terry Pratchett is the story of a young man named Dom who has been appointed to a powerful position on his planet, but unfortunately there have been multiple attempts on his life. It has been foretold that it is his fate to discover the world of the race of beings that seeded life in the universe and there are those that would prefer that this information not get out. This book follows Dom's adventures as he sets out on his quest to find answers and fulfill his destiny.

I have to say that I honestly didn't enjoy this book very much. It was completely different in style to everything else I've ever read by Terry Pratchett and if it weren't for the use of some terminology that was also used in his Discworld series, I wouldn't have even known I was reading one of his books. The humor that I've come to know and love in his writing just wasn't present in this book. There were some things that seemed like they were meant to be funny, but really just weren't. I did try to be open-minded about reading something more serious by Pratchett, but the lack of humor in the book wasn't the only thing wrong with it. I just found the book very hard to follow and I found myself feeling lost and confused at least a third of the time when reading it if not more. I think it would have helped if the author had spent more time explaining the various alien races in more detail as well as the technology used. I also felt the ending to the book was weird and really not that satisfying. It's a shame because the premise of this story was interesting and I did like how ancient alien theory was worked into the story, but it could have been done so much better than it was. At least it was a fairly short read so I didn't waste too much of my time on it. I really wouldn't recommend this book unless you're a hardcore Pratchett fan who absolutely has to read everything he's ever written.

Review of Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett

Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett is the second Discworld novel featuring the Night Watch of Ankh-Morpork. There is a string of mysterious murders and the victims were killed by a strange new weapon. It's up to the Night Watch to investigate these murders and figure out how they were killed and by whom, all while the captain of the Night Watch is getting married and retiring and new recruits are being trained. This was quite a humorous murder mystery novel and I think I liked it somewhat better than the first Night Watch book, Guards! Guards!. This book takes place after Guards! Guards! and while it's not strictly necessary to read that book first, it does provide background on the characters.

Review of Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett

In Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett the witches of Lancre return from their travels to find that a lot has been going on in their absence. Magrat finds that her boyfriend, the king, has been arranging their wedding before even proposing to her. There's also a new group of young witches who are experimenting with magic without really knowing what they are doing. With Magrat busy with her wedding plans and trying to learn how to be a queen, Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg must put a stop to this new young coven and undo the damage they've done.

This book is a hilarious parody that is a mix of The Taming of the Shrew and A Midsummer Night's Dream. It made me laugh a lot and I'd highly recommend it. Lords and Ladies takes place after Witches Abroad and while I would recommend reading that book first to understand some of the references, it's not entirely necessary. It might also help to be at least somewhat familiar with the Shakespearian plays mentioned and have some basic knowledge of quantum theories, but again it's not entirely necessary to enjoy this book.

"In the beginning there was nothing, which exploded."

~Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies

Review of Small Gods by Terry Pratchett

Small Gods by Terry Pratchett is the story of a dimwitted novice priest of the god Om, named Brutha, with an eidetic memory who becomes a prophet rather against his will. Unfortunately when Brutha meets his god, Om happens to be trapped in the form of a tortoise and is almost powerless. It's up to Brutha to help Om figure out why this happened and to help restore his god to his former glory. In the process Brutha learns the truth about his religion and that much of what he had been taught was false.

This is a very funny religious satire. It made me grin a lot and at times even laugh aloud. I'd definitely recommend this book to Discworld fans as well as anyone who enjoys British humor, provided you aren't sensitive about the subject matter.

"Time is a drug. Too much of it kills you."

~Terry Pratchett, Small Gods

Review of Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett

In Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett an old fairy godmother dies and passes on her wand to the young witch Magrat. She travels, with the other two witches in her coven, to a far off city to complete the work her predecessor started. The trio encounter lots of strange events on the journey and things get even stranger once they reach the city. Someone's been making stories out of people's lives and they must be stopped before it's too late. This story is basically a retelling of Cinderella done Discworld style with a bunch of other fairy tales thrown in for good measure. There's lots of laughs on this adventure, and as always the footnotes are very amusing. I'd definitely recommend this book to fans of Discworld, British humor, and fairy tales.

"A mirror can contain the reflection of the whole universe, a whole skyful of stars in a piece of silvered glass no thicker than a breath."

~Terry Pratchett, Witches Abroad

Review of Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett

In Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett the Death of Discworld finds himself out of a job when the powers that be fire him for developing a personality. Death is now mortal and must live out the rest of his numbered days among humans until the new Death arrives to take him away. With the Disc temporarily without a Death things can't die properly and a huge amount of excess life force accumulates causing some very strange things to happen. This is a very hilarious book. I enjoyed it immensely and highly recommend it.

"Just because something is a metaphor doesn't mean it can't be real."

 ~Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man

"People have believed for hundreds of years that newts in a well mean that the water’s fresh and drinkable, and in all that time never asked themselves whether the newts got out to go to the lavatory."

 ~Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man

Review of Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett

Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett is a humorous tale about what happens when alchemists learn to make film and subsequently movies or "moving pictures". Then suddenly lots of people feel compelled to travel to the small town of Holy Wood and become a part of the moving pictures business. I'm sure it goes without saying what Holy Wood is a satire of. A sort of strange magic is involved with the moving pictures though that not only compels people to get into the business, but that also seems to make the actors go into trances while making the films and be able to do things that they have no experience with. However this magical force is not benevolent and it feeds off the moving pictures growing stronger and more powerful with disastrous results. I would not count this book among my favorite Discworld novels, but it's definitely good for a laugh in places and I'd recommend it to fans of the series.

Review of Eric by Terry Pratchett

Eric by Terry Pratchett is about a young boy who attempts to summon a demon to grant him wishes, but instead of a demon, Rincewind, an inept wizard shows up inside the magic circle. Much to Rincewind's surprise he finds that even though he is not a demon, because he was summoned as one, he has the power to grant wishes. Hilarity then ensues because as the old saying goes, be careful what you wish for. This book was a short but fun read and I'd definitely recommend it to fans of the Discworld series or just if you enjoy British humor.

Review of Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett

Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett is about secret order that decides to summon a dragon with magic to terrorize the city of Ankh-Morpork in order to stage their own hero to defeat it and become the next ruler of the city. However their plans go terribly wrong and it's up to the night watch to defeat the dragon and apprehend those responsible for summoning it. I found the book to be rather amusing even if it's not one of my favorites in the Discworld series. I particularly enjoyed the humorous portrayal of secret societies and the larger than life character of Lady Ramkin, noblewoman and dragon expert.

Review of Pyramids by Terry Pratchett

Pyramids by Terry Pratchett is a hilarious satire about ancient Egyptian mythology with some Greek satire thrown in as well. Young Teppic, the heir to the Djelibeybi desert kingdom, is sent off to be educated as an assassin because it is one of the professions that provide the most all round education. Shortly after he graduates his father dies and he goes home to take his place as the new king. Wanting to be a dutiful son he decides to build a pyramid for his father that is twice as big as any previously built. The pyramids tend to generate weird quantum energy and the sheer size of the new pyramid being constructed starts to do some strange things to time and space. This book made me laugh a lot and as always I really enjoyed the humorous footnotes.

Review of Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett

Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett is about a group of three witches who interfere in the affairs of the kingdom and use magic to try to help restore the rightful heir to the throne after the king is murdered and the killer takes his place. It is a very hilarious parody that is a mix of Macbeth and Hamlet with some other Shakespearean themes thrown in. As always I love Terry Pratchett's use of comedic imagery and footnotes. I definitely recommend this book to Discworld fans and anyone who enjoys witty British humor.