Terry Pratchett

[Menlas]

I tried to read it (one of my friends is very fond of his books), but I just didn't find it funny. Maybe I should retry though, it was a couple of years ago...

[St Leo]

Cthulhu is pronounced "koolhoo", "k't'hoolhoo", or whichever way you feel like pronouncing it.

[Proteus_MST]

I have all Discworld-Novels from Terry Pratchett.
So either I have masochistic Tendencies,
or I think those Books are indeed really good.

As for Cthulhu:

Doesn´t he lie dreaming in his House in R'lyeh,
waiting till even Death is dead?

[Snotty]

If you like pratchett you should check out a book he did with the fantastic neil gaimen (sp?) called 'Good omens'. Its a perfect blend of pratchetts humour and neils dark(er) imagination. If youve ever had the luck to read the sandman series of graphic novels you will know what I mean.

[Firelad]

Good Omens is FANTASTIC.

[Zevico]

I second Firelad's comment. It is an absolutely great book.
Other good ones:
"The Fifth Elephant"
"Guards! Guards!"
-the one with the island that rises from the sea and causes a war between Klatch and Ankh-Morpork (what's it called again?)
-Any others with the watch
"The last Hero"
-Any others with Rincewind in them.
-Any others with the Librarian in them.

[Proteus_MST]

Originally posted by Zevico
-the one with the island that rises from the sea and causes a war between Klatch and Ankh-Morpork (what's it called again?)

I think it´s Jingo.

As for Stories I exspecialy like:
Everything with Lord Vetinari and Leonardo da Quirm

[Buck Birdseed]

Originally posted by Richard Bruns
I think the most impressive thing about his books is that he is much more scientifically literate than most science fiction writers. I think he is a physicist, and I know that he once was a supervisor at a nuclear power plant.

He's just generally very well read. He is also more philosophically, sociologically and politically literate than most science fiction writers...

[DanielXY]

I liked "Only you can save mankind" one of his few non Disc-World books. Small Gods still is Tops.
And I especially like the Death char. For Example the scene where he really gets mad at Rincewind cose he refuses to die (He is hanging over the Border-Waterfall on some small bush, and refuse to ackknowlegde he is as good as dead "What should be the cause of my death? Im not dead!" )

[Alinestra Covelia]

Pratchett was funny to begin with, but for me, his later work became really quite offensive even though it was trying to parody racism and stereotyping.

Of course, he's a literary comedian, so I know that isn't always important. But anybody who lived in the UK through Ali G's career will know what I mean - the man became a victim of his own irony, and what was originally entertaining eventually became unbearable.

By the time I read "The Lost Continent" (?) and "Interesting Times", I'd decided I was finished with Pratchett. I still love his earlier works, including "Good Omens", but his forays into cross cultural literature were all horrendous failures for me. In making fun of cultural stereotypes, he fails to distance himself from the ridiculing, and ends up joining in.

For somebody like me who comes from the culture he's lambasting, this is deeply unfunny and in fact rather offensive.

[General Ludd]

Originally posted by Alinestra Covelia
For somebody like me who comes from the culture he's lambasting, this is deeply unfunny and in fact rather offensive.

You mean, for everyone from a western culture?

[muxec]

The best of his books is "Small Gods"...

[Alinestra Covelia]

Or perhaps the 'hilarious' antics of four elderly western mercenaries who massacre an entire asian-esque nation, Osweld?

I have no issue with works that are self-parodical. Once you start attacking other cultures with poorly researched stereotypes, however, the gloves are off. I take issue with that and thus I don't read his books anymore.

Take your literary interest wherever you please, of course.

[DarkCloud]

Imran, depends on which ones you read

I consider many of them large departures form the ordinary
(and frankly I hated the first 3 "color of magic", etc. ick. I knew there was humor, but I don't quite know enouch about british politics to find it funny... I grasped some jokes, but didn't laugh.)

Small Gods is one of the best.
but Sorceror was good as well.
and his newest: Night Watch and another one I can't quite remember are the best 2 he wrote. The time monks happen to be the most interesting characters

[Imran Siddiqui]

DC: Heh.

I LOVED the first two. 'Color of Magic' and 'Light Fantastic' were great. 'Small Gods' was the "eh" title. It seemed all tired and same old, same old.