Last week Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett died, one of the best known writers-and dear ones of science fiction and fantasy, somehow we are going to pay tribute, so we have divided his great sagas of Discworld between two and we have started to read a lot(?) in a little time.
As a description of Discworld we are going to put the same as Pratchett makes in the Color of Magic:
"In a distant and second-hand set of dimensions, in an astral plane that was never meant to fly, the curling star-mists waver and part...
See...
Great A'Tuin the turtle comes, swimming slowly through the interstellar gulf, hydrogen frost on his
ponderous limbs, his huge and ancient shell pocked with meteor craters. Through sea-sized eyes that are crusted with rheum and asteroid dust He stares fixedly at the Destination.
In a brain bigger than a city, with geological slowness, He thinks only of the Weight.
Most of the weight is of course accounted for by Berilia, Tubul, Great T'Phon and Jerakeen, the four
giant elephants upon whose broad and startanned shoulders the disc of the World rests, garlanded by the long waterfall at its vast circumference and domed by the baby-blue vault of Heaven."
Finally, before we start to review some of the main sagas of Discworld, we are going to do the division of who wrote what. Aki will write about the sagas of the Wizards, Death and Ancient Civilizations and Viajero is responsible for the Guards, Witches and Moist von Lipwig.
Also before beginning we are going to say that the quotes are not taken directly from the English version of the books but are translations of the Spanish version made by us, so sorry if they are mistaken.
The Wizards
When thinking about Discworld first thing you usually think of is wizards. Wizards studying at Unseen University in Ankh-Morpork, so that it will host the most books.
The protagonist of this saga is Rincewind-the first character created by Terry Discworld Pratchett-, a magician who was expelled from the university after having memorized a single spell whose effect remains unknown. Needless to say that Rincewind is a coward with a tendency to get into trouble.
This series consists of:
'The Colour of Magic
-The Light Fantastic
-Sourcery
- (Faust) Eric
-Interesting Times
-The Last Continent
-The Last hero
Death
This saga is starring different people related to death and begins when he goes to look for a -Mort- apprentice, thinking "leave the business". Little by little we'll see that Death has a somewhat a scattered mind: he drinks, plays and stops continuously collecting souls, plus we meet characters that are impossible not to like Albert, Susan or crow. This is my favorite saga.
The books that compose it are:
-Mort
-Reaper Man
-Soul Music
-Hogfather
-Thief of Time
"EVEN SO I'M GOING TO DIE. UNABLE TO APPEAL
And what will happen to me? - almost cried Albert.
Terror shone in his words as metallic sparkles on the edge of a razor.
THERW WILL BE A NEW DEATH "
Ancient Civilizations
This series consists of books that really do not follow each other and focus primarily on how religion and philosophy in the disc are alive. Are:
-Pyramids, In which the story is told how Teppic -the son of a pharaoh who has been sent to Ankh-Morpork to be formed in the guild of assassins must return home after the death of his father in order to take his place.
This book begins quite loose up to the point where I have started it 5 or 6 times without success, but once the part of training in the guild of assassins is ended it improves. And Teppic does not want to be a pharaoh nor know the culture of his people, creating many funny situations.
"His name is written on the cartridge underneath - God replied in a rather dry tone.
'In the what?
-In The small oval beneath the cool, Highness - God said.
Teppic approached the fresh and examined the dense mass of hieroglyphics.
-Skinny eagle, eye, man with a stick, bird sitting on the floor, scribble - he read.
God frowned.
I think we should seriously consider studying modern languages."
-In Small Gods, the God Om manifests in the world looking for a prophet to spread his word. The problem? Om take the form of a turtle and as prophet -and the only one who can hear his voice- elects Brutha, a novice at Om's Temple that nobody believes in. Will Om strength the faith of believers or will end up in a soup of turtle?
"One day a tortoise will learn how to fly."
The Witches
I think the saga of the witches is quite endearing, it has characters who gets your very fast affection as Granny Weatherwax.
Pratchett proposes witches not as the typical evil beings presented to us in many fairy tales and other novels, here they are characterized by seeing life in a very practical way, to do this they use the "headology"
Equal Rites could be considered the first novel in the series but it's practically an independent novel where we first meet Granny Weatherwax.
"Eskarina says that if magic gives people what they want, do not using magic will give you what you need."
Wyrd Sisters is truly the first novel in the saga purely about witches, we are here presented Tata Ogg and Magrat Garlick, who accompany Granny Weatherwax. It has references to Macbeth and Hamlet.
"To understand all religion is essential to know that gods are amused to see the girls jumping rope with barbed wire, playing things that are not chess with the fates of mortals and the thrones of Kings. It is important remember they always cheat, from beginning to end."
Witches Abroad puts us in the role of the same characters of the previous book, and in this case there are many references to fairy tales.
"We are fairy godmothers of the other, we are giving the people what they know they need, not what you think they should want."
The third is Lords and Ladies, where together with the same protagonists we find again Shakespearean references, in this case Dream of a Summer Night.
"That's an elf? But if it's only... A tall, thin man with a foxy face. More or less. I thought they were beautiful."
Masquerade is a novel that makes a parody of Phantom of the Opera.
"It's a cruel world for the elderly - Tata said, matriarch of a giant extended family and undisputed tyrant of the mountains"
Carpe Jugulum is the final novel of the series, in which unfortunately the touch that has both liked the rest is lost.
"This is Morbidia - Vlad said -. Although lately she has been calling herself Tracy, to be cool."
Moist Von Lipwig
The saga of Moist Von Lipwig is sassy, burlesque and quite critical. Here Pratchett makes us think while we disengages the jaw to laugh with the adventures experienced by the protagonist, Moist Von Lipwig swindler, thief and scam artist.
This series consists of:
Going Postal. Here Moist, under the kind invitation of Vetinari, is made responsible of reviving the post office of Ankh-Morpork. Pratchett makes a great critic to post offices.
"I had worked hard to get that mon... well, banks and merchants had worked ha... well, somewhere in the chain someone had worked hard for that money, and now a third of it had just been... well, stolen, no other way to describe it."
The second book is Making Money, here our Moist takes over the money house and the largest bank in Ankh-Morpork. As is obvious here Pratchett makes a critic of banks.
"Are you going to make us all rich, sir Lipwig?
Damn, thought Moist. What are they all doing here? 'Well, I'll do everything possible to get my hands on your money! he promised. That started more cheers. A Moist was not surprised. Tell someone you think of steal him and all that happens is that you forge a reputation of being frank."
Raising Steam is the third book. The steam comes to Ankh-Morpork and well... we all know this city so imagine the chaos that begins with this. Moist in this novel will have to take over the trains go on rails -never best said- or he will have a loving conversation with Vetinari.
"It was like ... like wizardry, but without the wizards and all the mess."
The Guards
In this series we are starring the Night Watch of Ankh-Morpork, Vetinari had the brilliant idea of legalizing theft, murder and prostitution so the guard began to lose its reason for existence. The guard came to have 4 guards and their funtions were reduced to walking the streets, marking the passing hours shouting "Twelve o'clock and caaallllmmm!" And if that was not calm to find another street that were. The motto of the guard is "Fabricati diem, PVNC" comes to be translated as "Make my day, asshole."
The guards at the beginning of the first novel are Captain Samuel Vimes, Sergeant Colon, Corporal Nobby Nobbs and Carrot Ironfoundersson.
This saga is my favorite, mainly because while you read you grop your jaw on laughing irretrievably.
The novels that form the series are:
-Guards! Guards?
-Men at Arms
-Feet of Clay
-Jingo!
-The Fifth Elephant
-Nightwatch
-Thud!
-Snuff
"'Ah,' said Carrot. I think you're referring to Corporal Noobs ...
Is it human? It has a face that looks like one of those kill-time games that you have to go joining the dots!"
"Vetinari tapped his fingers on the table.
'What Would you do if I ask a direct question?'
'I would say a direct lie, sir.' "
Well that's it, hopefully this post would like you and also will come forward to start, or continue reading Terry Pratchett.
