Gaiman and Pratchett Recommendations?
By
Adeon Hawkwood,
Posted on: 2011-05-12 08:22 in Comic and Hero-Villain Culture
Quote:
Well at least we cook and not just let some agro-corp precook it then warm it up in a microwave. :P|
Originally Posted by Dark One
Well...you are what you eat...
And can you deny that English cuisine consists of boiling stuff till all the flavor runs out?  |
I think the only thing I boil when cooking is pasta and potatos... steam that veg, STEAM IT!
I've not read much Pratchett.
I've not read anything by Gaiman I didn't like. Neverwhere is probably my favorite, though it's not his strongest work. And Sandman, in totality, is simply an amazing thing that you do yourself a favor to read.
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If you're looking for *lighter* fare, stay away from Gaiman's adult books. American Gods is a terrific novel but very weighty. The sequel, Anansi Boys, is a bit lighter. But you'll want to stick to Gaiman's YA novels like The Graveyard Book and Coraline.|
Originally Posted by Grey Pilgrim
I am a pretty heavy reader, but I am in need of some lighter fare to go along with my readings of Dostoevsky, Beowulf, etc. I have wanted to dig into Neil Gaiman's and Terry Pratchett's works more, but I haven't been quite sure where to start. Luckily, I have a forum of fellow geeks to help me.
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Good Omens is lighthearted and highly recommended.
Most of Pratchett's is light, but some is lighter than others. The Discworld books are really several series intertwined together, and most people like one of the threads more than the others. There are the Rincewind novels, the City Guards novels, the Witches novels, and probably other arcs that I've forgotten. I recommend the Rincewind arc as the lightest fare; start from the beginning with 'The Colour of Magic'. The City Guards are a bit darker. The Witches arc is darker still, although some of the books that feature Tiffany are meant for YA and are more joyful.
Pratchett also has some non-Discworld books, mostly YA. 'Only You Can Save Mankind' is science fiction and a bit of a mindscrew, but fun.
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I found "Small Gods" to be brilliant. It's more of a one-off story, but it tinkers around a lot on theology and the powers of belief. On top of that, the "tortoise god" cursing people was constantly hilarious to me.|
Originally Posted by Techbot Alpha
I's start with Wyrd Sisters and Guards! Guards! They are some of the betters ones of 'Early' Pratchett, i.e. the ones with the not quite settled writing style
From Dark Ones list, I'd say Reaper Man onwards (with the exception of Small Gods...never got that one myself) are the best. In fact, yeah, from Reaper Man on I can't find a single 'bad' one (bad being a non starter here...'Less Good'? )And Pyramids is good, if a little bit of a one off. But still fun. |
To the OP: I would recommend starting the DiscWorld reads with "Guards! Guards!" though. It's the first of the town guards books, and Sam Vimes is a terrific character to follow. You can definitely go back and hit the previous books and not lose anything, but if "Guards! Guards!" doesn't hook you on DiscWorld, nothing will.
And, as others have mentioned, if you have not read "Good Omens" as of yet, why haven't you?
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I'd actually recommend away from Colour of Magic. That was the first Pratchett book I read and it turned me off of him for ten+ years. Only when I went back I read Guards Guards and then many of the others did I realize what a genius the guy is.
Even holding as high an opinion of Pratchett as I do I still don't enjoy Colour of Magic very much.
The Tiffany Aching books are amazing, and should be considered appropriate for adults as much as for YA. The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents is a book of wonderful depth and I'd recommend it to anyone.
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I think it's one of the weaker books in the series, but I still find it pretty good... at the very least, you need to read it before Interesting Times makes sense.|
Originally Posted by Dromio
I'd actually recommend away from Colour of Magic. That was the first Pratchett book I read and it turned me off of him for ten+ years. Only when I went back I read Guards Guards and then many of the others did I realize what a genius the guy is.
Even holding as high an opinion of Pratchett as I do I still don't enjoy Colour of Magic very much. |
As people have already said, Discworld is basically a pile of slightly related series that take place in the same setting. What I might recommend is picking up one of the standalone novels in it and reading that to see if it clicks with you... Small Gods would be my personal recommendation there, since it was the first thing I read by Pratchett and it got me hooked instantly. If not, picking up with the Watch books is good too.
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Unless you, or someone you know, is growing that food then there is little difference between buying a bag of spaghetti + a jar of sauce and buying a noodle bowl to warm up in the microwave.|
Originally Posted by Cass_
Well at least we cook and not just let some agro-corp precook it then warm it up in a microwave. :P
I think the only thing I boil when cooking is pasta and potatos... steam that veg, STEAM IT! |
Of course, the limit of British agriculture is growing fog and soccer hooligans...
They are... jar of sauce? what the smeg? FROM SCRATCH DAMN YOUR EYES!
ahem.
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Oh dear...you have those two completely reversed.
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Originally Posted by Yomo_Kimyata
Gaiman is wonderful, but I've never read much Pratchett. My initial impression was that he was a poor man's Piers Anthony, what with the hyuk-yuk-yuk comedy and the punning in a fantasy setting. What should I read to disabuse me of this notion?
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Unless you (or someone you know) are growing the tomatoes (and the herbs/spices and mining the salt, and depending upon whether or not you put meat it in, raising the animals), as well as growing and grinding the wheat and then literally making the noodles yourself, you are still supporting the agricorps.|
Originally Posted by Cass_
They are... jar of sauce? what the smeg? FROM SCRATCH DAMN YOUR EYES!
ahem. |
Mixing together canned tomato sauce/paste, hothouse tomatoes, jars of bought herbs, along with feed-lot meat and a bag of dried noodles? Sorry, still not from scratch. Considering all the companies involved are most likely just subsidiaries of one of those large agri-corps, you're still buying their products. Just in a different form.
Naturally, there are different levels of what one considers "from scratch". I make my own beef jerky, but I don't really consider it "from scratch". I can customize it to what I want, but I'm not deluding myself into thinking that it's from scratch when I have bought steak, onion/garlic powder, salt, pepper, and various sauces. I may be mixing various things together and making something unique, but a lot more people did a lot more work than I did in its creation. My hashbrowns are a lot closer to "from scratch", as I grow my own potatoes (Yukon Golds are awesome BTW), my own onions (from onion sets, not seeds), and then shred and freeze 'em.
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I dunno, I'll see where I start with Pratchett. If I like an author well enough, I can read through their admittedly weaker stuff, since their weaker stuff is still pretty decent. The Beautiful and the Damnedisn't a patch on The Great Gatsby, but it was still interesting to read, for instance. I may just start with The Colour of Magic and go from there.
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Originally Posted by Defenestrator
I found "Small Gods" to be brilliant. It's more of a one-off story, but it tinkers around a lot on theology and the powers of belief. On top of that, the "tortoise god" cursing people was constantly hilarious to me.
To the OP: I would recommend starting the DiscWorld reads with "Guards! Guards!" though. It's the first of the town guards books, and Sam Vimes is a terrific character to follow. You can definitely go back and hit the previous books and not lose anything, but if "Guards! Guards!" doesn't hook you on DiscWorld, nothing will. And, as others have mentioned, if you have not read "Good Omens" as of yet, why haven't you? |
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If you read The Colour of Magic first, you should plan on reading The Light Fantastic immediately afterward as the former (quite literally) ends in a cliffhanger leading into the latter. This is usually why I recommend starting with Guards! Guards! (other than it's a better book than those other two).
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Originally Posted by Grey Pilgrim
I dunno, I'll see where I start with Pratchett. If I like an author well enough, I can read through their admittedly weaker stuff, since their weaker stuff is still pretty decent. The Beautiful and the Damnedisn't a patch on The Great Gatsby, but it was still interesting to read, for instance. I may just start with The Colour of Magic and go from there.
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Arc# 92382 -- "The S.P.I.D.E.R. and the Tyrant" -- Ninjas! Robots! Praetorians! It's totally epic! Play it now!
Arc # 316340 -- "Husk" -- Azuria loses something, a young woman harbors a dark secret, and the fate of the world is in your hands.
I also recommend starting with the guards over the wizards. I love just about everything that I have read from him, and I dont think he has any really "bad" books. His weakest novels are imo:
The last continent
Unseen academicals
The colour of magic/light fantastic
I shall wear midnight
Personally, Im not a huge fan of Reaper man, though lots of people like it.
As for Gaiman, I recommend Anasi boys over American Gods. I found the story to be tighter and better written.
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Neverwhere by Gaiman was great.
I highly recommend, along with others, the Guards books from Discworld.
No one pays attention to me, cause I listen to the voices in my head.
I really like most of Gaiman's work, but I wouldn't really call him a prolific novel writer. Now if you include graphic novels and some of his other works, then I would agree, but I got the impression we were mostly looking for more "normal" novels.
I also have to say that I wouldn't consider all of his work light reading. Stardust, Good Omens and Coraline and such yes. American Gods and Anansi Boys are not what I would consider a light read. Neverwhere is kinda in the middle IMO. Most of his stuff is good reading, definitely, but not always what I would consider a light read.
Terry Pratchett is more of a light read from what I have heard, though to be honest I never quite manged to read any of his books. Keep thinking I should, but don't quite get there.
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I really enjoyed Small Gods. Reaper Man, not so much. I felt the former really worked well as a stand alone novel, but (in my opinion) the latter relied too much on other characters and themes that Pratchett has been developing for years and years, and that is one of the reasons I had been avoiding reading him|
Originally Posted by Arcanaville
The three I mentioned above as my favorites: Reaper Man, Small Gods, Feet of Clay. All three have humor, but all three are about very deep ideas.
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I think I prefer Iain Banks's "Culture" novels, which also share a great sense of humor (albeit in a science fiction setting rather than fantasy). Each one works off an established premise, but each one seems to stand on its own.
Thank you for the recommendations!
Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a *real* useful invention. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolog...t-sarcasm.html
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I'm guessing you are referring to my comparison of Anthony to Pratchett. The jury is still out on that until/unless I read more Pratchett, but Anthony's greatest weakness was making a universe and creating a few good stories and then beating that horse to death. Although I admit I haven't read Piers Anthony in a long time, he created a few really great universes (Xanth, Bio of a Space Tyrant, Apprentice, etc.) I did re-read the Battle Circle series recently and thought that he starts to lose steam after the second novel. Then again, I can't blame anyone (Anthony or Pratchett) for writing novels that they know that die-hard fans are certain to read/buy!|
Originally Posted by Sugar_Rush
Oh dear...you have those two completely reversed.
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Thanks again!
Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a *real* useful invention. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolog...t-sarcasm.html
Unseen Academicals is terrible
As I've read more of Pratchett's works, I find he is very situational. I love the City Watch sub-series within Discworld. It is well written and more or less realistic, given the setting. I do not care much for the Rincewind series, or the Death series, but that is probably personal tastes.
Thanks again for the suggestions!
Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a *real* useful invention. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolog...t-sarcasm.html
Favourite character - Death. And the other deaths (mouse-death and the like) that show up from time to time.
Aside from those mentioned, I actually rather liked Hogfather.
[QUOTE=Memphis_Bill;3678002]Favourite character - Death. And the other deaths (mouse-death and the like) that show up from time to time.QUOTE]
The Grim Squeaker was funny.
No one pays attention to me, cause I listen to the voices in my head.
I think Gaiman is on a roll right now. His stories are so cinematic in their feel. American Gods was great (I see Forrest Whittaker as Shadow), and I don't think people give him enough credit for Anansi Boys, which he just penned a screenplay for. Good Omens is terrific as others have said.
If you like these two writers, but want to be crying with laughter, check out anything by Christopher Moore.
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Anansi Boys was fantastic. Loved the whole feel of the book. I know Gaiman co-wrote Good Omens, but I've never considered him a "comedy" author. Anansi Boys proved me wrong on this.|
Originally Posted by Chazzmatazz
I think Gaiman is on a roll right now. His stories are so cinematic in their feel. American Gods was great (I see Forrest Whittaker as Shadow), and I don't think people give him enough credit for Anansi Boys, which he just penned a screenplay for. Good Omens is terrific as others have said.
If you like these two writers, but want to be crying with laughter, check out anything by Christopher Moore. |
And I just read my first Christopher Moore book, "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Jesus' Childhood Pal." Absolutely hilarious, poignant and well-written. I'm looking forward reading more of his work.
Arc# 92382 -- "The S.P.I.D.E.R. and the Tyrant" -- Ninjas! Robots! Praetorians! It's totally epic! Play it now!
Arc # 316340 -- "Husk" -- Azuria loses something, a young woman harbors a dark secret, and the fate of the world is in your hands.
Small Gods and Hogfather are my favorites among Pratchett's Disc World books. Soul Music was the only one I did not much enjoy.
I would advise some understanding when reading the early books of the series though, you should not expect them to be as rave worthy as the more modern books you see people on these boards enthusing about. The Disc World books represent a learning curve and a great maturation in Pratchett's writing.
My favorites of Gaiman's work would probably be the Sandman collection Season of Mist for his comics,though the whole series is pretty good. I really liked What ever happened to The dark knight detective? also. Neverwhere was my favorite book.
Gaiman: Sandman
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