Terry Pratchett (was: Re: Author recommendation)

[Audra1976 at aol.com]

>From: "ER" <ression at hotmail.com>
>
>Could anybody recommend a good "starter" book by Terry Pratchett?
>

The Discworld books are good "for a bit of light reading" as Hermione would 
say.  "The Colour of Magic" is the first book of the series (which is comprised 
of around 30 books--I haven't read all of them), and a good intro.  It is an 
amusing spoof on classic fantasy literature, such as "Lord of the Rings," with 
modern-day allusions. The goofy humor is similar to Douglas Adam's 
"Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," but more over-the-top.  I always tell people, if you 
crack up at "Monty Python's Flying Circus," you will probably get a kick out 
of Terry Pratchett's books.  Just be prepared for a lot of puns and groaners.

"Guards, Guards!" as someone else recommended, is very funny.  It's one of 
the Discworld books, but I've lent it to a few friends who never read any of the 
other books, and they got it just fine.  The main character is this really 
tall dwarf called "Carrot," who finds out that he is actually so tall because 
he's not a dwarf.  He's a human.  The book follows his adventures as he becomes 
a Night Watchman.  Among other things, he learns that in this city he can't 
arrest thieves because they belong to a guild.  They rob you and then leave you 
a receipt.

"Good Omens" is a stand alone book that is a collaboration between Terry 
Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, and I love it.  The end of the world is suposed to be 
at hand, and the  Antichrist is born to help bring this all about, but he gets 
switched at birth, and they start indocrinating the wrong boy.  When they 
realize the mistake and find the real Antichrist, he's just been raised as a 
normal kid, and he decides he doesn't want to do it.  I love this book so much 
because the pure whackiness of Pratchett's humor (which can get to be a little 
much for me) is tempered by Gaimon's sort of morbid sense of humor, and it all 
averages out to the perfect blend.

-Audra-
Who is not a teacher, but a child psychologist, and so fits the"working with 
children" cliche of adult HP fans 


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