Glowing Cat of the Nuclear Wastelands1d ago
I don't remember which book I tried, but I remember bouncing off Discworld when I tried it. Don't even remember what didn't vibe for me, just that I were 'huh, I don't get it' and moved on. But given everything I've learned about Pratchett since and all the quotes I see you all pass around, it has come to confuse me.

Is there a particular book you all recommend for me to start from if I try it again?

#AskFedi #Discworld #Pratchett
Show threadGlowing Cat of the Nuclear Wastelands
I have some recommendations to start from, but absolutely still appreciate further recommendations. I just picked up a book from the library that I need to get through before I grab another (personal limitation, just because I know I'm more likely to actually follow through on reading before they're due if I pace myself like this).

Am mildly irked that a couple of the ones recommended that sound like they might suit my tastes are ebook and audiobook only. >.< My particular flavor of neurospicy does not handle ebooks and audiobooks well. Fuck knows what the problem is with the ebooks, since I literally spend all day reading shit online, some of it long form even, but audiobooks are absolutely I can't find that delicate balance point of "enough to do" while listening to keep the ADHD from sabotaging me, but not too much to keep me from actually processing what I'm listening to. I hate my brain sometimes.
Apr 2 at 5:10amWeb
Show threadGlowing Cat of the Nuclear Wastelands1d ago
Honestly, this isn't the first time my library's done this to me. I also looked at reading the follow up series by Gregory Maguire that comes after Wicked and focuses on Elphie's granddaughter, and they had the first two books in dead tree form, and the third was ebook or audiobook only. >.<

I know I can request, but there's probably a reason why they did that, and I don't care enough. Though it's also possible that people just didn't return them and they haven't had the budget to replace either. My local library doesn't do late fees, and while that's overall a good thing, occasionally that leads to people just never returning a book at all and simply not coming back to the library so they don't have to pay for the lost book.
Show threadTotally Normal Adult Human4h ago
@deathkitten my local library uses their requests/transfers/holds lists to justify additional funding or select books to add to their collections. I would definitely recommend requesting any books that they don't currently have. Most staff I've worked with in the past would love to be able to get whatever books their patrons want.
Show threadGlowing Cat of the Nuclear Wastelands4h ago
@dracoling it would be easier to do with the pratchett books I'm looking at since they're not part of a series, where as the Maguire book I wouldn't want to start reading until I knew I could borrow all three books and I have zero idea what the turn around between request and acquisition is likely to be.

Also, eBooks are a fucking scam the way the publishers get away with the licensing fees to libraries, they eat up so much budget, and it makes me so mad because I get why some people prefer them.
Show threadTotally Normal Adult Human3h ago
@deathkitten The eBook borrowing thing is terrible for libraries and from what I've heard not great for authors either. I will say I didn't particularly enjoy the follow-up to Wicked, but I heartily recommend reading Pratchett! There's so many good stories on the Disc. Just don't start with the "first" books (Colour of Magic is rough), go for Mort, Going Postal, or Small Gods imo. The nice thing about Pratchett's series is that you CAN start them anywhere and it's a bit like catching a well written TV show. They'll give you enough context to get through, but long-time viewers get the bonus bits that may be hidden.
Show threadGlowing Cat of the Nuclear Wastelands1h ago
@dracoling Yeah. When I heard how much they charge for the eBook licenses for libraries, and how few times they can be "borrowed" before they gotta pay for a new one? 🤮 Makes me think the management of publishing houses belong in ​​

I've read all three of the books that followed Wicked directly, and I thought they were interesting, which is why I was interested in the books following Rain after the Wicked threads wrapped up. But I wasn't invested enough to want to buy them, which is why I wanted to borrow from the library.

And yeah, I'm pretty sure the reason I bounced off Pratchett last time is I didn't listen when I was warned to not start at the beginning. I'm so used to binging books and TV in order from start to finish, the idea of starting somewhere other than the first book just didn't make sense to me. But by now, I've seen enough people I trust the judgement of holding him as beloved for the things he wrote, so I figure I can get over that personal hangup.

Unfortunately Small Gods is one of the books the library doesn't have in dead tree form, only eBook. I may give in and buy it if one of the ones the library does have resonates better for me. I think Going Postal was one of the ones someone else recommended and the library did have the dead tree version. I don't think Mort's come up in the other recommendations I've gotten... what about it in particular makes you recommend it?
Show threadTotally Normal Adult Human1h ago
@deathkitten Mort is the first of the Death books, and I remember really enjoying the characters in that series. It was also (IIRC) the oldest of the books where I felt like he'd really figured out that he was writing his own world, instead of just poking fun at the common fantasy tropes of the 70s and earlier as in The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic.

The other recommendations have the Disc more as a solid place already, Mort still feels like it's BECOMING a place. Could be my own nostalgia, but I remember it fondly.
Show threadGlowing Cat of the Nuclear Wastelands1h ago
@dracoling Sounds like I may want to put that at least a couple books back in the queue for my personal exploration, but the library does have a dead tree copy, so it's in my to read shelf now, and I can find it later easily. Thank you.
Show threadTotally Normal Adult Human1h ago
@deathkitten To be quite fair I have read ALL of the Discworld books multiple times at this point and occasionally I'll just dive in for a random re-read session. Due to the ADHD and more I do not hold the most discrete memories for why I liked each one of them but more of a general warmth and fondness. (I have been told I'm a bad critical reader, but I still like reading, so I've got that going for me!)
Show threadGlowing Cat of the Nuclear Wastelands58m ago
@dracoling Yeah, I know that ADHD reading experience well. I've had a couple of books I've re-read recently and I genuinely had forgotten whole chunks of the plot but I absolutely held them in a place of importance because of how they made me feel reading.

Honestly, I think this is part of the reason why so many Neal Stephenson books are still in my favorites despite some of the background radiation levels of weird/creep that are in some of them. Those were normal at the time I first read them, so it's easier to just shove them aside and focus on the parts I really enjoyed?

At least everything I'm hearing about Pratchett tells me I shouldn't need to worry about that sort of shit in his books.
Show threadJames1d ago
@deathkitten that sounds exactly like me. I can read fic on AO3 all day, but give me an ebook and I'm noping out after a few (2) pages lol