Bookses...

[jsbowden]

So, you may have guessed what I read over the weekend. I enjoyed it. But then, Vimes is my favorite. Not that I would object to another Witches or Death installment.

I started Anansi Boys, and have Son of a Witch in the queueueueueueue.

It's a .gov holiday today, so we're not terribly busy, and traffic was non-existant. Always fun, that.

Comments

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

It's a .gov holiday today,

That might explain why it's so quiet here today. It's a stat holiday in Canada, but I work almost exclusively with Americans, so I'm in at work.

What's the official American excuse for taking (Canadian) Thanksgiving off?

[jsbowden.livejournal.com]

You haven't read Foxtrot yes this morning then?

It's been Columbus day here for decades, but most places outside the Federal govt. and associated contractors, and banks of course, who will close for any excuse, don't observe it.

[dilickjm.livejournal.com]

At this point, I'm loath to see *any* change in Pratchett, simply because he's written (IMHO) 3 of his strongest books -- sequentially. I'll keep my money on him until he goes cold. If that means 6 more Guard-centric books, so be it.

Anansi Boys, to me, was fun, light, and ultimately, forgettable. It was enjoyable, so I don't regret buying it, but I was hoping that Gaiman would flex his novelist muscles a bit more.

[jsbowden.livejournal.com]

Almost sequentially. I still rate Monstrous Regiment as a middling Discworld book. Nightwatch, Going Postal, and Thud! are definately in the top five, with Nightwatch still being the best of breed to date, IMHO.

[dilickjm.livejournal.com]

Hrm, I thought he published MR before NW. Just shows how forgettable I thought it was. Not *bad* per se, just lightweight. Better than most of the Rincewind ones, but below almost all the others.

I agree that Night Watch is his strongest work to date. I can't recommend it as a starting point of Pratchett, since it works on so many more levels when you know the rest of the Guards books, but he really was brilliant in that one.

I don't remember which LJ I talked about this before, but I think the major flaw in Going Postal was that it followed Night Watch. It's a really, really, really good book, but suffers in the comparison.

Thud! is, IMHO, his 2nd strongest work ever, ranking right behind Night Watch. Damn, can't lj-cut in comments, so I won't say *why* I think that, other than it involves _Where is my cow?_ and Vimes' uncompromising integrity. That entire scene could have gone so many ways, yet PTerry managed to make it humorous without making Vimes a caricature. That whole scene literally took my breath away.

[rgovrebo.livejournal.com]

Heh. I've just read it too. My only objection is that he's got a bit preachy lately - last time it was corporations, this time it was fundamentalists. Minor objection only, though - Pratchett is back on form. Yes, Vimes is my favourite too.

_Anansi Boys_ is in the to-be-read pile, but has to wait till I've finished Peter F. Hamilton's _Judas Unchained_ - second half of the Commonwealth saga, in which a wormhole network connects the worlds. Taking the train to a different planet is space travel of a sort I haven't seen before. I'm just fearing that it'll have another of his deus ex machina endings...

[jsbowden.livejournal.com]

Actually, I wouldn't call going postal preaching about corps, but preaching about corporate raiders.

[stormfeather.livejournal.com]

Anansi Boys... that's what I forgot to get. Though I guess part of me is hoping that the longer I go before picking it up, the more the totally spoiler-ific reviews at amazon.com will go out of my brain.

So what's Son of a Witch?

[jsbowden.livejournal.com]

The follow on to Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which is a damned fine book. I've also read Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister which is Macguire retelling Cinderella from another angle. It's much different than Wicked..., and not quite as strong a book, but still a good read, and I suspect that those with a different preference in style or content would rate them the other way around. The writing is solid and the story well done in both, I just prefer Wicked over Confessions.