Tag: Terry Pratchett

Could I Have Some More, Please?

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations2 Comments

I was hunting for a bookish topic for this week, and as I often do, I went looking through the archives of Top Ten Tuesday from the Broke and the Bookish.  Which led me to one of their past topics: authors I want another book from!

1) L. M. Montgomery, because, obviously–I’ve run out!  But I’d settle for someone publishing the 200 unpublished short stories sitting out of reach in an archive (they’re real, and they’re unpublished!)

2) Edgar Rice Burroughs, not because I’ve run out of his or because I would expect anything new or innovative in one more novel, but–because he never finished John Carter and the Skeleton Men of Jupiter.  I don’t want a new novel from him, I want that new novel. And similarly…

3) William Shakespeare. Love’s Labors Won, anyone?  A play, not a novel, but close enough.

4) Harper Lee, but only in a perfect world where her second novel was not that terrible book I prefer to pretend doesn’t exist.

5) Terry Pratchett, because…Terry Pratchett!  And even though the last Discworld book was satisfying, even though there are others by him I still haven’t read, it still makes me sad that there will be no more new ones.

6) Diana Wynne Jones, because she was the first author who died while I was actively following her work.  And I am sad there will be no more new ones from her.

7) Susan Kay, because she only wrote two and one of them was Phantom and my favorite book ever, so what else might she write?

8) Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, who wrote three wonderful classic Star Trek books, then went off and wrote a bunch with William Shatner that I didn’t like as well.  I’d love to see another one that’s just them.

9) Tamora Pierce, because her last book came out in 2013, and we’ve been waiting ever since for her next Tortall book, which has an ever-receding publishing date (some time 2017, currently).

10) Robin McKinley, because her last book came out in 2013, and we’re still waiting for her promised sequel to Pegasus.  From what I can gather from reading her blog, she’d quite like to have a new book out too.

What author would you like to see another book from?  Do you have hope it will happen, or is it just a wish?

Book Review: The Shepherd’s Crown (Discworld #41)

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Reviews, Young AdultLeave a comment

The world grew less funny last March with the death of Terry Pratchett, creator of Discworld, my go-to author during blue times, and the reigning king of my “funniest book read this year” category every year.  Honestly, it makes me want to reach for a Pratchett book–which I did near the end of 2015, when I realized that Pratchett’s final Discworld book had somehow come out without my noticing!  That was The Shepherd’s Crown, fifth book in the Tiffany Aching subseries.

This was an unusually fraught read, because the previous book, Raising Steam, just…wasn’t very good.  And it made me really, really sad.  So I am doubly pleased by how much I liked The Shepherd’s Crown!

As to the story here (there’s no way to soften this so I have to just say it) it begins with the death of Granny Weatherwax, who is not the leader of the witches (witches don’t have a leader–Granny wouldn’t allow it).  Tiffany, somewhat to her own dismay, finds herself as Granny’s successor.  She struggles with what it means to walk, not in Granny’s footsteps but in her own.  The Nac Mac Feegle also careen through at times; Tiffany has to make a decision about Geoffrey, a boy who wants to be a witch; and the witches have to deal with an incursion by the fairies (far more scary than you might think). Continue reading “Book Review: The Shepherd’s Crown (Discworld #41)” →

Favorite Moments with Terry Pratchett

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations2 Comments

As sad as I was to hear about Leonard Nimoy, it was even more devastating a couple weeks later to hear that Terry Pratchett had died.  Pratchett’s Discworld series is my go-to resource on bad days and sad times, the funniest book I ever read came from his pen, and I consistently pick one of his books for funniest read of the year every year.  When I heard of his death, inside of fifteen minutes I was on my mobile phone to–what else?–request a Discworld book from my library.

So in honor of Sir Terry, I’m re-posting my collection of favorite Discworld moments…not quotes exactly, because several are all about the dialogue or the back-and-forth.  Hereare some moments that always make me think or make me laugh or do both!

First, a philosophical one, about the power of knowledge:

They thought the Library was a dangerous place because of all the magical books, which was true enough, but what made it really one of the most dangerous places there could ever be was the simple fact that it was a library.

– Guards! Guards!

And another time, Death waxes philosophical.  It should be noted that Death always speaks IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS:

WHO KNOWS WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEART OF MEN?
The Death of Rats looked up from the feast of potato.
SQUEAK, he said.
Death waved a hand dismissively. WELL, YES, OBVIOUSLY ME, he said. I JUST WONDERED IF THERE WAS ANYONE ELSE.

– The Truth

And because Death is so brilliant, another one, after someone suggested that he should be “more of a people person”:

KNOCK KNOCK.
He looked up.
“Who’s there?”
DEATH.
“Death who?”
There was a chill in the air. Beano waited…
I WONDER… CAN WE START AGAIN? I DON’T SEEM TO HAVE THE HANG OF THIS…

– Men at Arms

Maskerade is probably a favorite moment in its entirety, and I could quote most of it…but here’s just one moment.  A dead body turns up, along with a note from the Opera Ghost:

Hahahahaha!  Ahahahahaha!
Yrs, The Opera Ghost
P.S. Ahahahahaha!

“I don’t understand!  Is this man mad?”

Salzella put an arm around his shoulders and led him away from the crowd.  “Well, now,” he said as kindly as he could.  “A man who wears evening dress all the time, lurks in the shadows and occasionally kills people.  Then he sends little notes, writing maniacal laughter.  Five exclamation marks again, I notice.  We have to ask ourselves: is this the career of a sane man?”

“But why is he doing it?” Bucket wailed.

“That is only a relevant question if he is sane,” said Salzella calmly.  “He may be doing it because the little yellow pixies tell him to.”

– Maskerade

The image of the Phantom of the Opera, chatting with the little yellow pixies, never fails to crack me up.  It’s the same for this very odd bit below, about a crazed artist:

“He was convinced that if he went to sleep at night, he would turn into a chicken.  He’d leave little notes for himself saying, ‘You are not a chicken,’ although sometimes he thought he was lying…  Scholars have puzzled over the notes ever since, seeking some insight into the poor man’s tortured mind.  They are not in any order, you see.  Some are very…odd.”

“Odder than ‘You are not a chicken’?”

– Thud!

I think I need to re-read all of these books now.  🙂  Other Discworld readers, what are your favorite quotes or moments?

Book Review: Hogfather

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Reviews3 Comments

Here on this planet, Christmas will soon be upon us, and you can hardly miss seeing the image of jolly old Santa Claus. But on Discworld (a flat disc on the back of four elephants, on the back of a turtle), the end of the year is celebrated with Hogswatch, and children put out meat pies and turnips for the jolly Hogfather, who delivers presents in his sled pulled by four enormous boars. So I decided that Christmas time was the perfect time for a reread of Hogfather by Terry Pratchett.

Hogfather centers on Susan, who is trying very hard to be normal, even though she happens to be Death’s granddaughter (by adoption). She even got a job as a governess, and is determinedly proper and refined, although she does have a poker ready to hand to bash bogeyman and other monsters of childhood. But then on Hogswatch Eve, the Hogfather comes down the chimney…and despite the false beard, Susan promptly recognizes Death, who has inexplicably taken on the job. Has the old skeleton finally lost it, or is something more going on? Meanwhile, the Guild of Assassins has received a very mysterious contract, and assigned it out to Teatime (pronounced Teh-ah-tim-eh, though no one gets it right), a problematic student who makes assassins nervous. Continue reading “Book Review: Hogfather” →

Weighing Down the Shelves…

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations14 Comments

Before I get to the actual focus of this post, just a note about novel news!  Last week I told you The Storyteller and Her Sisters was available for pre-order on Kindle.  If Kindle’s not your thing, you can now pre-order other ebook formats through Smashwords!  All ebooks will be delivered, and the paperback will go on sale, on October 10th.

Now on to other business…

I’m really dreadful at keeping up with Top Ten Tuesday (even though it’s such a cool meme!) but every so often I see that they’ve done a neat topic I’d like to write on…so even though it’s Friday, and even though this was the topic for several weeks ago, today I’m going to write about the Top Ten Authors I Own the Most Books By.

1) Edgar Rice Burroughs: 56
It helps that he was extremely prolific.  There’s probably still a good 15 books I don’t own.  Though perhaps I should point out, of my 56, 54 of them work with the same two plots: the hero is castaway or the heroine is kidnapped, or both.

2) L. M. Montgomery: 47
You expected this one, right?  That breaks down into 21 novels, 12 collections of short stories (200 total stories), 6 volumes of her journals (7, but one is an abridged version of 2 others), 3 books of letters, 2 books of poetry, 2 collections of early writings, and 1 autobiography.  And…that’s going to stay as-is because there’s nothing else to buy, until someone digs out another archive and publishes something new.  (Though I also have two biographies and two collections of critical essays…) Continue reading “Weighing Down the Shelves…” →