R.I.P. Sir Terry Pratchett

In 1983 I accidentally received The Color of Magic through the Science Fiction Book Club. Seldom have I been so lucky. Now over thirty years later I have almost every book Terry Pratchett has ever published and have had countless hours of laughter, wonder, and interesting insights. So sad that he has passed away; so glad it never came down to that assisted suicide he had been investigating through his final years. I hope nobody will be "carrying on" the franchise beyond what he has created himself: trying to reproduce genius almost never satisfies.

On Being A Wizard

"[Rincewind] objected to the fact that you had to be good at magic to be a wizard. He knew he was a wizard, deep in his head. Being good at magic didn't have anything to do with it. That was just an extra, it didn't actually define somebody."

***

" 'I don't think you understand. A wizard isn't what you do, it's what you are. If I wasn't a wizard, I wouldn't be anything.' "

--from Sourcery (1989), by Terry Pratchett.

Terry Pratchett: Favorite Quotes

"It is important that we know where we come from, because if you do not know where you come from, then you don't know where you are, and if you don't know where you are, you don't know where you're going. And if you don't know where you're going, you're probably going wrong."

--from the "Author's Note," in I Shall Wear Midnight, 2010, by Terry Pratchett.

Not Exactly Ten Books

This is a list (with short descriptions) of books that have come into my library since I finished my last "10 Books A Day" post. So here's what I've been reading and reviewing lately.

Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett. In which the wizards under Mustrum Ridcully must field a soccer team in order to secure a hefty financial bequest for their college, two star-crossed lovers from opposing soccer clubs alike in gracelessness and indignity try to get together, and goblins are getting the same Pratchett makeover that his trolls have benefited from. I'm still in the middle of reading this and enjoying it enormously.

King Arthur and His Knights (compiled) by Elizabeth Lodor Merchant. Apparently edited from Blanche Winder's great edition, with doses of verse from the likes of Tennyson thrown in for good measure. A good but odd sort of volume.

The Mammoth Book of the Supernatural by Colin Wilson. Another chunky overview of the field by Wilson, who knows how to get to the meat of a matter, present it , and give his idea of what the implications are without being a mystagogue.

Wizards by John Matthews. I cannot resist the subject, especially when presented in a lavishly illustrated edition with pictures ranging from medieval manuscripts to the latest movies. Though I wish they used less purple, orange, and bright green on the cover.

Wizards: A History by P. G. Maxwell-Stuart. A much more scholarly approach to the subject of the figure of the wizard, as distinguished from the witch. You can tell right away it's serious because it has a) footnotes and b) only illustrations in black and white.

The Mothman Prophecies by John A. Keel. This is the paperback tie-in for the movie, a reprint of the 1975 edition that I read in middle school so many years ago. Keel is great, and greatly suggestive, in that he never declares he has figured out what is going on. He never says that aliens are real, that aliens are false, that aliens are something else entirely from extraterrestrials. He basically says that there's some weird s**t going on, something is messing with us, and make of it what you will.

Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins: An Encyclopedia by Carol Rose. A companion volume (and published before) her Giants, Monsters and Dragons: An Encyclopedia. This book takes on the more ethereal denizens of the mythical realms. Scholarly but not boring, full of great old illustrations, and more complete than lesser compendiums (covering more world mythologies than simply European), this is a beautiful browser that any folklore lover should have.

Wonderful Alexander and the Catwings by Ursula K. LeGuin. Part of a juvenile series about winged cats.

Henry and the Paper Route by Beverly Cleary. I had this book in grade school. Has great illustrations by Louis Darling. The amazing Beverly Cleary is 93 years old now. I was never much into her books, but kind of nibbled around the edges.

The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Grahame, illustrations by Ernest H. Shepherd. Who of course illustrated The Wind in the Willows and the Winnie-the-Pooh books. This and the last two books were all from a grade school teacher's garage sale, and carry the nostalgic scent of the class room on them. This book is an elderly one, and has the particularly hardy covers and re-inforced spine necessary to last over much handling. I never had a copy with the Shepherd illustrations in it, so it fulfills several criteria for collection for me.

Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials by Wayne Douglas Barlowe, Ian Summers, and Beth Meacham. This book has been hovering around my awareness for thirty years or so. I've always kind of wanted a copy, but not enough to expend hugely on it. So when I saw this one at a garage sale for ten cents I snapped it up, and it now sits next to my Barlowe's Guide to Fantasy. It's main feature is of course Barlowe's solid illustrations of aliens of various kinds, presented in an almost textbook format, with scale showing how they compare to humans and other aliens.

10 Books A Day: #90

The Fifth Elephant...Terry Pratchett...Harper Torch

The Truth...Terry Pratchett...Harper Torch

Thief Of Time...Terry Pratchett...Harper Torch

Night Watch...Terry Pratchett...Harper Torch

Monstrous Regiment...Terry Pratchett...Harper Torch

The Discworld Companion...Terry Pratchett & Stephen Briggs...Gollancz

The New Discworld Companion...Terry Pratchett & Stephen Briggs...Gollancz

The Science Of Discworld...Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart, & Jack Cohen...Ebury Press

The Science Of Discworld II: The Globe...Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart, & Jack Cohen...Ebury Press

The Science Of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch...Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart, & Jack Cohen...Ebury Press

The Discworld Companion and the Science Of Discworld books are not generally available in the US; the Science books are only half by Pratchett at best; they alternate between a Discworld novella and two guys explaining about science in an easy and popular manner.

Book Count: 1137.

10 Books A Day: #89

All titles are by Terry Pratchett.

Small Gods...Harper

Lords And Ladies...Harper

Men At Arms...Harper

Soul Music...Harper

Maskerade...Harper

Feet of Clay...Harper

Hogfather...Harper

The Last Continent...Harper

Jingo...Harper

Carpe Jugulum...Harper Torch

Book Count: 1127.

10 Books A Day: #88

All titles are by Terry Pratchett.

Equal Rites...Signet

Mort...Signet

Sourcery...Signet

Wyrd Sisters...Roc

Pyramids...Roc

Guards! Guards!...Roc

Eric...Roc

Moving Pictures...Roc

Reaper Man...Roc

Witches Abroad...Roc

Book Count: 1117.

10 Books A Day: #48

Good Omens...Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett...Berkley

The Johnny Maxwell Trilogy...Terry Pratchett...SFBC

The Bromeliad Trilogy...Terry Pratchett...Harper Collins

The Colour Of Magic...Terry Pratchett...St. Martin's Press

The Light Fantastic...Terry Pratchett...Colin Smythe Gerrards Cross

Hogfather...Terry Pratchett...Harper Collins

Thud!...Terry Pratchett...Harper Collins

Going Postal...Terry Pratchett...Harper Collins

Making Money...Terry Pratchett...Harper Collins

The Amazing Maurice And His Educated Rodents...Terry Pratchett...Harper Collins

The Wee Free Men...Terry Pratchett...Harper Collins

A Hat Full Of Sky...Terry Pratchett...Harper Collins

Wintersmith...Terry Pratchett...Harper Tempest

Nation...Terry Pratchett...Harper Collins

Nanny Ogg's Cookbook...Terry Pratchett, et. al...Corgi Books

Where's My Cow?...Terry Pratchett...Harper Collins

The Wit And Wisdom Of Discworld...Terry Pratchett, Compiled by Stephen Briggs...Harper Collins

The Last Hero...Terry Pratchett...Harper Collins

The Art Of Discworld...Terry Pratchett & Paul Kidby

The Josh Kirby Discworld Portfolio...Josh Kirby...Paper Tiger

Secrets Of The Wee Free Men and Discworld...Carrie Pyykkonen & Linda Washington...St. Martin's Griffin


I first read Terry Pratchett completely by accident. It was the mid-80's, and I belonged to the Science Fiction Book Club. The Club will send you the two featured selections each month, if you do not send them a form cancelling them. Often through scatter-brainedness, laziness, or just plain being unable to get hold of a stamp I would miss the deadline, and get a couple of unasked for volumes. Well, I would try them out, and if I liked them, okay, and if not, I would sell them or pass them on to people who did want them. Terry Pratchett was one of my fortuitous finds, and getting The Colour Of Magic was one of the few times my disorganization actually worked in my favor. I've got many more Pratchett books in paperback, but since the hardback editions have become more available I always get them now, because I know I'll want them in more durable form and because I can't wait to read them.

Good Omens also qualifies as the first Neil Gaiman work (or at least co-production) I ever read. He does play well with others; you can see in yesterday's list how often he collaborates with other creators, whether novelists, screenplay authors, or graphic artists, although I think as far as writing goes this has seldom been so successful as in this book.

Although I think Paul Kidby is the best illustrator of Discworld, Josh Kirby is a sort of sentimental favorite; his ornate book covers were the first illustrations I ever saw of Discworld before Darrell K. Sweet took over. The Bromeliad Trilogy, Johnny Maxwell Trilogy, and Nation are all non-Discworld books, and I think go to prove that Pratchett would be an author to seek out even if he had never created the flat world on a turtle's back.

As for Secrets of the Wee Free Men...it's a load of old rubbish designed to piggyback off the popularity of the books; it is neither accurate, nor pertinent, nor as funny as it seems to think it is. Avoid it if you can. The best I can say about it is it is the sort of fascinating train wreck I take perverse horror in perusing, squealing with outrage or groaning in distress, thinking with pity that some poor inexperienced enthusiast might get hold of this and take it as gospel.

Book Count: 610.

Granny Weatherwax On Sin: Favorite Quotes

"...And that's what your holy men discuss, is it?" [asked Granny Weatherwax.]

"Not usually. There is a very interesting debate raging at the moment on the nature of sin. for example." [answered Mightily Oats.]

"And what do they think? Against it, are they?"

"It's not as simple as that. It's not a black and white issue. There are so many shades of gray."

"Nope."

"Pardon?"

"There's no grays, only white that's got grubby. I'm surprised you don't know that. And sin, young man, is when you treat people like things. Including yourself. That's what sin is."

"It's a lot more complicated than that--"

"No. It ain't. When people say things are a lot more complicated than that, they means they're getting worried that they won't like the truth. People as things, that's where it starts."

"Oh, I'm sure there are worse crimes--"

"But they starts with thinking about people as things..."

--from Carpe Jugulum, by Terry Pratchett.

Miss Tick: Favorite Quotations

"Well, I must go. I hope we shall meet again. I will give you some free advice, though."

"Will it cost me anything?"

"What? I just said it was free!" said Miss Tick.

"Yes, but my father said that free advice often turns out to be expensive," said Tiffany.

Miss Tick sniffed. "You could say this advice is priceless." she said. "Are you listening?"

"Yes," said Tiffany.

"Good. Now...if you trust in yourself..."

"Yes?"

"...and believe in your dreams..."

"Yes?"

"...and follow your star..." Miss Tick went on.

"Yes?"

"...you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy. Good-bye."

--from The Wee Free Men, by Terry Pratchett.