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Author Topic: The Shepherd's Crown: Swansong for Discworld.  (Read 8915 times)

Anchorman

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The Shepherd's Crown: Swansong for Discworld.
« on: August 27, 2015, 10:26:40 AM »
The last Discworld novel (and the 41st) went on sale last night....and it's a Tiffany Aching one...for those not au fait with the DW universe.
I'm in two minds: I can't wait to get my hands on it, but I'll read it with the bittersweet knowledge that it will be the last Discworld novel.
I might be a tad controversial here, but I'm willing to bet a million Ankh Morpork Dollars and Nanny Ogg's scumble that Terry Pratchett's wonderful creations will still be read and appreciated a century from now.
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"for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself."

Owlswing

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Re: The Shepherd's Crown: Swansong for Discworld.
« Reply #1 on: August 27, 2015, 11:40:58 AM »
Quote from: Anchorman on August 27, 2015, 10:26:40 AM
The last Discworld novel (and the 41st) went on sale last night....and it's a Tiffany Aching one...for those not au fait with the DW universe.
I'm in two minds: I can't wait to get my hands on it, but I'll read it with the bittersweet knowledge that it will be the last Discworld novel.
I might be a tad controversial here, but I'm willing to bet a million Ankh Morpork Dollars and Nanny Ogg's scumble that Terry Pratchett's wonderful creations will still be read and appreciated a century from now.

Only a century? A little longer, probably, I think.
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Anchorman

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Re: The Shepherd's Crown: Swansong for Discworld.
« Reply #2 on: August 27, 2015, 11:48:22 AM »
Quote from: CMG KCMG GCMG on August 27, 2015, 11:40:58 AM
Quote from: Anchorman on August 27, 2015, 10:26:40 AM
The last Discworld novel (and the 41st) went on sale last night....and it's a Tiffany Aching one...for those not au fait with the DW universe.
I'm in two minds: I can't wait to get my hands on it, but I'll read it with the bittersweet knowledge that it will be the last Discworld novel.
I might be a tad controversial here, but I'm willing to bet a million Ankh Morpork Dollars and Nanny Ogg's scumble that Terry Pratchett's wonderful creations will still be read and appreciated a century from now.

Only a century? A little longer, probably, I think.


-
OK. I was being conservative. Actually, with the social commentary intrinsic in each novel, I think Pratchett is on a par with Charles Dickens - though far more readable...and there's an orang utan who likes playing an organ - even a 'Bloody Stupid Johnson' organ.

What else could one want?



Melon <Melon> redo from start - - -
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"for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself."

Gonnagle

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Re: The Shepherd's Crown: Swansong for Discworld.
« Reply #3 on: August 27, 2015, 01:27:53 PM »
Dear Jim,

Just waiting for my copy to arrive, I imagine the Gonnagle playing Loch Lomond on the Moose Pipes for Sir Terry :'( :'(

Gonnagle.
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Anchorman

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Re: The Shepherd's Crown: Swansong for Discworld.
« Reply #4 on: August 27, 2015, 01:32:29 PM »
Gonna have to read the "Tiffany" strand from the start again - from "Wee Free men" onward, before I start on this.
It's hard, but someone has to do it.....


NAC MAC FEEGLE!
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"for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself."

Gonnagle

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Re: The Shepherd's Crown: Swansong for Discworld.
« Reply #5 on: August 27, 2015, 01:36:11 PM »
Dear Jim,

Funny but I always think of you when I think about the Nac Mac Feegle, their very first war cry was, NAE KING, NAE QUEEN WE WILLNAE BE FOOLED AGIN. ;D

Gonnagle.
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Anchorman

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Re: The Shepherd's Crown: Swansong for Discworld.
« Reply #6 on: August 27, 2015, 01:39:32 PM »
Quote from: Gonnagle on August 27, 2015, 01:36:11 PM
Dear Jim,

Funny but I always think of you when I think about the Nac Mac Feegle, their very first war cry was, NAE KING, NAE QUEEN WE WILLNAE BE FOOLED AGIN. ;D

Gonnagle.


-
To quote Granny Weatherwax (and who's going to argue with her?)

"Them little buggers speaks sense"

(Carpe Jugulum)
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"for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself."

Nearly Sane

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Re: The Shepherd's Crown: Swansong for Discworld.
« Reply #7 on: August 27, 2015, 02:37:09 PM »
I have tried more than once but I find Pratchett occasionally funny but mostly unreadable. He may well last but not for me.
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Owlswing

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Re: The Shepherd's Crown: Swansong for Discworld.
« Reply #8 on: August 27, 2015, 05:25:25 PM »
Quote from: Nearly Sane on August 27, 2015, 02:37:09 PM
I have tried more than once but I find Pratchett occasionally funny but mostly unreadable. He may well last but not for me.

The reason for your negative situation re Sir Terry is quite obvious from your posting name here!
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The Holy Bible, probably the most diabolical work of fiction ever to be visited upon mankind.

An it harm none, do what you will; an it harm some, do what you must!

Shaker

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Re: The Shepherd's Crown: Swansong for Discworld.
« Reply #9 on: August 27, 2015, 05:37:21 PM »
Me too, then. I never did get TP and Discworld; I bought in to all the hype and tried several of the books (some bought by myself; some lent or given by friends) but never found them especially clever or amusing. The interest or allure was and remains a mystery.

But that's just me personally, and I strongly suspect that Anchorman is right: TP will still be read and loved by many in a century from now.
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Pain, or damage, don't end the world. Or despair, or fucking beatings. The world ends when you're dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man, and give some back. - Al Swearengen, Deadwood.

Nearly Sane

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Re: The Shepherd's Crown: Swansong for Discworld.
« Reply #10 on: August 27, 2015, 05:41:07 PM »
Yep, with Shaker, his experience mirrors one, and I also think Jim is probably right and they will be read for a century, just not by me.
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Nearly Sane

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Re: The Shepherd's Crown: Swansong for Discworld.
« Reply #11 on: August 27, 2015, 05:41:46 PM »
Though in part that last bit is because I will dead
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Owlswing

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Re: The Shepherd's Crown: Swansong for Discworld.
« Reply #12 on: August 27, 2015, 05:46:43 PM »
I am not surprised at the pro/con split over STP's humour.

I do not think that I could name one comedian/humourist who had a 100% positive rating.

My daughter and her husband think Frankie Boyle is hilarious - I find one of the most uncouth, obscene and unpleasant so-called comedians extant.

Roy "Chubby" Brown is another.

You can please some of the people all of the time . . .  etc!
« Last Edit: August 27, 2015, 05:59:01 PM by CMG KCMG GCMG »
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SusanDoris

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Re: The Shepherd's Crown: Swansong for Discworld.
« Reply #13 on: August 27, 2015, 05:52:26 PM »
It will be ages before I'll be able to get my reader to read it, so I'll probably wait until the paperback comes out before buying a copy. We're about 40 pages from the end of 'Raising Steam' at the moment! Then there is a small pile of other books waiting.
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Shaker

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Re: The Shepherd's Crown: Swansong for Discworld.
« Reply #14 on: August 27, 2015, 05:59:05 PM »
Quote from: CMG KCMG GCMG on August 27, 2015, 05:46:43 PM
I am not surprised at the pro/con split over STP's humour.

I do not think thgat I could name one comedian/humourist who had a 100% positive rating.

My daughter and her husaband think Frankie Boyle is hilarious - I find one of the most uncouth, obscene and unpleasant so-called comedians extant.

Roy "Chubby" Brown is another.

You can please some of the people all of the time . . .  etc!
Exactly. A 100% approval rating for any humourist is an impossible standard, since humour is such a subjective and individual thing. I've laughed long and loud, on occasion, at F. Boyle and R. Brown both, and at countless more besides.

All I say is, the really important thing is laughter. Life is short on it - catch as catch can. There's a quote that you'll come across online (if you delve around as much as I do) generally attributed to Charles Bukowski, the American poet (1920-1994): "Find what you love and let it kill you." There's no known source/attribution to this quote, no specific passage in any of his works anywhere that marks it out as his even though it still keeps popping up and continues to be repeated with his name to it to this day. Where the attribution came/comes from nobody has any real idea. Here's a blatant rip-off of that quote that you can source, since I'm just about to write it: find what makes you laugh and let it make you laugh. Repeatedly and regardless.
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Pain, or damage, don't end the world. Or despair, or fucking beatings. The world ends when you're dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man, and give some back. - Al Swearengen, Deadwood.

Anchorman

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Re: The Shepherd's Crown: Swansong for Discworld.
« Reply #15 on: August 27, 2015, 06:27:57 PM »
Quote from: SusanDoris on August 27, 2015, 05:52:26 PM
It will be ages before I'll be able to get my reader to read it, so I'll probably wait until the paperback comes out before buying a copy. We're about 40 pages from the end of 'Raising Steam' at the moment! Then there is a small pile of other books waiting.

-
'Raising Steam' is superb, Susan Sto Hellit (sorry).
All the more so when one considers Terry's state when he wrote it!
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"for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself."

Gonnagle

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Re: The Shepherd's Crown: Swansong for Discworld.
« Reply #16 on: August 28, 2015, 11:45:39 AM »
Dear Captain Carrot,

Yes I suppose you need to be slightly weird to be a fan of Discworld, I remember when I first read the Colour of Magic I knew I had found something that clicked with me.

I am not a fan of Science Fiction or I suppose Science Fantasy ( what is the Genre for Discworld ) and what Pratchett was doing ( I think ) from the start was taking the mickey.

All the characters for me are a explosion of old stereotypes, trolls on discworld are made of stone and very thick but Pratchett gave them personalities, the King of Trolls ( "him Diamond", graffiti on the walls of Ankh Morpork ) made from pure diamond and very very intelligent.

I could talk for hours about Discworld, Sir Terry Pratchett the cheerful atheist, his books were loaded with religion, he laughed at all religions but in a very respectful, honest and very open minded way.

My favourite discworld book Carpe Jugulum, we were introduced to Pastor Oats a very timid and troubled Priest of Om, at the time of great trouble he found his religious book saved a life and brought light to his surrounding area, it also kept Death away, okay he did burn the book to keep him and Granny Weatherwax warm, but this was Pratchett at his best, he made you think about life and its absurdities.

Pastor Oats went on to be a great Bishop, his holy symbol, a two headed axe, a real two headed axe.

Gonnagle.
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Anchorman

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Re: The Shepherd's Crown: Swansong for Discworld.
« Reply #17 on: August 28, 2015, 12:59:39 PM »
Not so much Carrot - more of a Gaspode, Gonners (and I wonder who, on this forum, fits the bill of 'Big Fido"....best not go there....)
The brilliance of Pratchett is in his observational humour.
He can take a derelict like Foul ole Ron and give him a personality you can love, or take the Michael out of the ruling class such as the Salatchis, etc, while showing the absurdity of the whole shebang by making the confirmed Republican Vimes, Duke of Ankh.
He manages, while poking fun at the world in general, and wossname in particular, to bring allegory to a fine art in exposing the absurdities of our own world.


Sausage inna bun?
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"for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself."

SusanDoris

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Re: The Shepherd's Crown: Swansong for Discworld.
« Reply #18 on: August 28, 2015, 01:16:48 PM »
Yes! When people have said to me things like, 'I don't like sci-fi, ' I tell them that TP is a one-off, he's a genre all of his own. Jasper Fforde could, I suppose be an approximate likeness, but not really.
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Anchorman

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Re: The Shepherd's Crown: Swansong for Discworld.
« Reply #19 on: August 28, 2015, 01:19:32 PM »
Quote from: SusanDoris on August 28, 2015, 01:16:48 PM
Yes! When people have said to me things like, 'I don't like sci-fi, ' I tell them that TP is a one-off, he's a genre all of his own. Jasper Fforde could, I suppose be an approximate likeness, but not really.


-
Agreed, Susan.
Maybe a new category of Aleegorical fantasy should be invented for Terry's novels.
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"for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself."

Owlswing

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Re: The Shepherd's Crown: Swansong for Discworld.
« Reply #20 on: August 28, 2015, 01:41:59 PM »
According to a repoirt in yesterday's (Aug 27) London Evening Standard, STP's daughter, Rhianna is currntly working on the script for Wee Free Men!

I don't think that she will bugger it up as much as whoever made Going Postal, who buggered it up so much that STP refused to do another show with them.
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The Holy Bible, probably the most diabolical work of fiction ever to be visited upon mankind.

An it harm none, do what you will; an it harm some, do what you must!

Anchorman

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Re: The Shepherd's Crown: Swansong for Discworld.
« Reply #21 on: August 28, 2015, 01:57:11 PM »
Talking about 'Going Postal', 'Making Money' - again, with Moist von LipWig as centre, was a work of genious, exposing banking to the scrutiny of STP's superb wit.
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"for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself."

Gonnagle

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Re: The Shepherd's Crown: Swansong for Discworld.
« Reply #22 on: August 28, 2015, 02:48:57 PM »
Dear Susan,

A genre all on its own, I like it!

Dear CMG,

A script for Wee Free Men!! Now should I audition for Rob Anybody or the Gonnagle. 8)

Gonnagle.
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Nearly Sane

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Re: The Shepherd's Crown: Swansong for Discworld.
« Reply #23 on: August 28, 2015, 02:52:10 PM »
As a mere Pratchett dilettante, my opinion may be not worth that much, but I would have said the closest to him in style  was Robert Rankin.
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Anchorman

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Re: The Shepherd's Crown: Swansong for Discworld.
« Reply #24 on: August 28, 2015, 02:55:10 PM »
Well, there's always Alan Dean Foster's 'Spellsinger' series, NS.
That has certain parallels with Discworld, and it's entertaining as well, though without the allegory.
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"for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself."
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