The first young adult novel in the Discworld series, THE AMAZING MAURICE AND HIS EDUCATED RODENTS is a spin on the classic Pied Piper theme with a lot of talking rats, their sidekick (also talking) cat Maurice, and a young boy called Keith. Part money making scheme, part survival strategy,...Read more
Starting out with a challenge to myself to listen to the entire Discworld series as audio books has been quite a ride. I had expected to be hugely entertained, to laugh a lot, and feel a bit sad in places. I hadn't quite expected to be as thought-provoked as I turned out to be, with the...Read more
Number 9 in the Discworld series, ERIC is the story of the Discworld's only demonology hacker. Of course the Discworld has a demonology hacker, and of course he wants to be master of the universe, and of course he's hopeless at getting his own way.
And the Luggage makes it's...Read more
Listening to the audio book of NIGHT WATCH by Terry Pratchett, I couldn't help but wonder if Sir Samuel Vimes had done something to annoy his creator. He's happily married, awaiting the very imminent birth of his first child with his formidable wife Lady Sybil, when a short chase of an...Read more
"To the consternation of the patrician, Lord Vetinari, a new invention has arrived in Ankh-Morpork - a great clanging monster of a machine that harnesses the power of all the elements: earth, air, fire and water. This being Ankh-Morpork, it's soon drawing astonished crowds, some of whom...Read more
The quest to work my way through the audio versions of the entire Discworld catalogue is up to book number 30 with The Wee Free Men, the first of the Tiffany Aching series, a young adult(ish) witchy set of books that are simply and utterly wonderful. Fun and entertaining, it was also a...Read more
Far away and long ago, when dragons still existed and the only arcade game was ping-pong in black and white, a wizard cautiously entered a smoky tavern in the evil, ancient, foggy city of Morpork...
A truly unmissable, beautifully illustrated collection of unearthed stories from the pen of Sir Terry Pratchett: award-winning and bestselling author, and creator of the phenomenally successful Discworld series.Read more
Number 3 in the sub-series of Discworld based around the City Watch, Sir Samuel Vimes has a lot on his hands when somebody tries to poison the Patrician and seems to be murdering harmless old men.
Summed up beautifully by the tagline at the end of the blurb :
...Read more
Discworld number 31 and again I'm reminded just how wide ranging the references are in Terry Pratchett's series. In this case the novel takes its name from the 16th century tract The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women by Protestant John Knox, arguing...Read more
Far away and long ago, when dragons still existed and the only arcade game was ping-pong in black and white, a wizard cautiously entered a smoky tavern in the evil, ancient, foggy city of Morpork...
A truly unmissable, beautifully illustrated...Read more
Less of a review - more of a note to self. If Terry Pratchett published the doodles from the notepad on his telephone table I'd probably read that, so MAKING MONEY was no trial at all, even though it's probably not one of the better of the Discworld novels.
Maybe that's because...Read more
In very fortunate timing just before I started listening to this, we'd finished watching the television movie made of the book staring Ian Richardson as the voice of Death (and narrator), David Jason as Albert, Marc Warren as Teatime, and Michelle Dockery as Susan. Really enjoyed this...Read more
From the Blurb: Tiffany Aching, the boldest heroine ever to swing a frying pan against the forces of evil, is beginning her apprenticeship in magic. She expects to work hard, learn spells, and become a witch. She doesn't expect to find herself doing chores, caring for the careless, and...Read more
The origins of the Battle of Koom Valley between the Trolls and the Dwarves is obscure and the subject of much debate, but every year, the anniversary celebrations of the battle spark off tensions between the two communities. This year, this celebration, tensions are rising in Ank-Morpork...Read more
"Suddenly, condemned arch-swindler Moist von Lipwig found himself with a noose around his neck and dropping through a trapdoor into...a government job?"
GOING POSTAL is the 33rd Discworld Novel, and the first to feature Moist von Lipwig, conman, swindler, thief, very nearly...Read more
In the beginning, there was nothing but endless flatness. Then came the Carpet...
That's the old story everyone knows and loves (even if they don't really believe it). But now the Carpet is home to many different tribes and peoples, and there's a new story in the making. The...Read more
Somewhere on the frontier between thought and reality exists the Discworld, a parallel time and place which might sound and smell very much like our own, but which looks completely different…
Collected together for the first time are seven full-cast BBC Radio dramatisations of...Read more
Less of a fully fledged review, more of a musing on the latest Discworld Novel from Terry Pratchett UNSEEN ACADEMICALS.
The quote on the back sort of says it all "The thing about football - the IMPORTANT thing about football - is that it is not just about football". Now I will...Read more
Probably my favourite of the Witches books in the Discworld series, WYRD SISTERS is Shakespearean, comedic and a really clever combination of witches being witches, royalty being royalty and subjects being subjects.Read more
The 4th in the City Watch subset of the Discword series, JINGO, is about the daftness of war, with some timely observations about racism on the side. Whilst it's mainly a City Watch novel, so Sir Samuel Vimes, Carrot, and the whole team are front and centre, there's also a more hands on...Read more
As the blurb puts it, "It isn't easy, being a teenage pharaoh. You're not allowed to carry money, uninhibited young women peel your grapes for you, everyone thinks you're responsible for making the sun rise and the corn grow, you keep dreaming about seven thin cows and seven fat cows (one...Read more
With hindsight, this 11th Discworld novel would have been a pretty good listen in this time of lockdown:
"After all, chaos always ensues whenever important public services are withdrawn, and Discworld is no exception."
Although to be fair, nothing here is...Read more
Book 22 in the Discworld series, this is book 6 in the Rincewind subseries, Rincewind being a wizard, if you believe his hat, and an adventurer by accident, definitely not choice.
In THE LAST CONTINENT Pratchett is taking a good hard look at evolution and I just absolutely love...Read more
The 8th book in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett, GUARDS! GUARDS! introduces readers to the main characters of The Night Watch - Sam Vimes, Fred Colon, Nobby Nobbs, Carrot Ironfoundersson (diversity quotas don't hit until a bit later in the series, so there are a lot more to come)....Read more
As much as I'm loving revisiting the entire Discworld series, I'm particularly loving the chance to revisit Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax, and in WITCHES ABROAD, Magrat Garlick is still the third witch. All of whom have hit their travelling brooms in a bid to prevent a servant girl from...Read more
Whilst THE FIFTH ELEPHANT is most definitely a novel about diplomacy and the trials and tribulations of preferring to be a policeman, in this outing Sir Samuel Vimes is off to Uberwald with Sybil to attend the coronation of the new Dwarfish Low King. He's there as an ambassador. He ends up...Read more
Anybody paying attention might have noticed I've been revisiting a lot of favourite series in audible format recently. Lots of time in the car = lots of listening time and local radio is now so dire it's been the perfect kick in the pants to go back and re-listen to many favourite series. A...Read more
The fourth of the Witches sub-set of Discworld, Magrat Garlick is getting married to the King of Lancre. Provided Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg can stop the return of those nasty, conniving elves from the magical realm of Fairie.
There are laugh out loud moments in this one...Read more
Book 15 of the Discworld series and my self-appointed challenge of listening to the entire series for start to end is proceeding apace. Granted part of that is because Covid-19 lockdown has meant I'm spending a lot more time driving around doing errands, hence my listening time has doubled...Read more
There's something very apt about a Discword (number 22 in the series) Witches (number 6 in the sub-series) book that has the title CARPE JUGULUM. Not that I'm suggesting that Magrat or Agnes would get involved in that sort of grab, but I wouldn't be too sure about Nanny Ogg.
...Read more