Hello!
This year marks the 50 year anniversary of the publication of The Carpet People by Terry Pratchett. Pratchett wrote the book when he was 17 years old, but he later re-wrote the book when he was a well established author.
Due to this and because Pratchett is one of my all time favourite authors I have gone for a quote by Pratchett.
“A good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read.”
Terry Pratchett
Happy Reading
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. For more info please check out Jana’s blog.
I love this week’s prompt as it lets you choose your own thing, so I have chosen one of my favourites Terry Pratchett. Here are the ten books that make me love Terry Pratchett.
Reaper Man
‘Death has to happen. That’s what bein’ alive is all about. You’re alive, and then you’re dead. It can’t just stop happening.’
But it can. And it has. So what happens after death is now less of a philosophical question than a question of actual reality. On the Disc, as here, they need Death. If Death doesn’t come for you, then what are you supposed to do in the meantime? You can’t have the undead wandering about like lost souls. There’s no telling what might happen, particularly when they discover that life really is only for the living…
The Fifth Elephant
They say that diplomacy is a gentle art. That its finest practitioners are subtle, sophisticated individuals for whom nuance and subtext are meat and drink. And that mastering it is a lifetime’s work. But you do need a certain inclination in that direction. It’s not something you can just pick up on the job.
Which is a shame if you find yourself dropped unaccountably into a position of some significant diplomatic responsibility. If you don’t really do diplomacy or haven’t been to school with the right foreign bigwigs or aren’t even sure whether a nod is as good as a wink to anyone, sighted or otherwise, then things are likely to go wrong. It’s just a question of how badly…
Maskerade
THE SHOW MUST GO ON, AS MURDER, MUSIC AND MAYHEM RUN RIOT IN THE NIGHT…
The Opera House, Ankh-Morpork…a huge, rambling building, where innocent young sopranos are lured to their destiny by a strangely-familiar eveil mastermind in a hideously-deformed evening dress…
At least, he hopes so. But Granny Weatherwax, Discworld’s most famous witch, is in the audience. And she doesn’t hold with that sort of thing.
So there’s going to be trouble (but nevertheless a good evenin’s entertainment with murders you can really hum…)
Carpe Jugulum
In a fit of enlightenment democracy and ebullient goodwill, King Verence invites Uberwald’s undead, the Magpyrs, into Lancre to celebrate the birth of his daughter. But once ensconced within the castle, these wine-drinking, garlic-eating, sun-loving modern vampires have no intention of leaving. Ever.
Only an uneasy alliance between a nervous young priest and the argumentative local witches can save the country from being taken over by people with a cultivated bloodlust and bad taste in silk waistcoats. For them, there’s only one way to fight.
Go for the throat, or as the vampyres themselves say…Carpe Jugulum
Guards! Guards!
This is where the dragons went. They lie … not dead, not asleep, but … dormant. And although the space they occupy isn’t like normal space, nevertheless they are packed in tightly. They could put you in mind of a can of sardines, if you thought sardines were huge and scaly. And presumably, somewhere, there’s a key…
GUARDS! GUARDS! is the eighth Discworld novel – and after this, dragons will never be the same again!
The Hogfather
Susan had never hung up a stocking . She’d never put a tooth under her pillow in the serious expectation that a dentally inclined fairy would turn up. It wasn’t that her parents didn’t believe in such things. They didn’t need to believe in them. They know they existed. They just wished they didn’t.
There are those who believe and those who don’t. Through the ages, superstition has had its uses. Nowhere more so than in the Discworld where it’s helped to maintain the status quo. Anything that undermines superstition has to be viewed with some caution. There may be consequences, particularly on the last night of the year when the time is turning. When those consequences turn out to be the end of the world, you need to be prepared. You might even want more standing between you and oblivion than a mere slip of a girl – even if she has looked Death in the face on numerous occasions…
Only You Can Save Mankind
It’s just a game . . . isn’t it?
The alien spaceship is in his sights. His finger is on the Fire button. Johnny Maxwell is about to set the new high score on the computer game Only You Can Save Mankind.
Suddenly, a message appears:
We wish to talk. We surrender.
But the aliens aren’t supposed to surrender—they’re supposed to die!
Pyramids
It’s bad enough being new on the job, but Teppic hasn’t a clue as to what a pharaoh is supposed to do. After all, he’s been trained at Ankh-Morpork’s famed assassins’ school, across the sea from the Kingdom of the Sun. First, there’s the monumental task of building a suitable resting place for Dad — a pyramid to end all pyramids. Then there are the myriad administrative duties, such as dealing with mad priests, sacred crocodiles, and marching mummies. And to top it all off, the adolescent pharaoh discovers deceit, betrayal – not to mention a headstrong handmaiden – at the heart of his realm.
The Wee Free Men
Armed only with a frying pan and her common sense, Tiffany Aching, a young witch-to-be, is all that stands between the monsters of Fairyland and the warm, green Chalk country that is her home. Forced into Fairyland to seek her kidnapped brother, Tiffany allies herself with the Chalk’s local Nac Mac Feegle – aka the Wee Free Men – a clan of sheep-stealing, sword-wielding, six-inch-high blue men who are as fierce as they are funny. Together they battle through an eerie and ever-shifting landscape, fighting brutal flying fairies, dream-spinning dromes, and grimhounds – black dogs with eyes of fire and teeth of razors – before ultimately confronting the Queen of the Elves, absolute ruler of a world in which reality intertwines with nightmare. And in the final showdown, Tiffany must face her cruel power alone…
The Monstrous Regiment
Polly Perks joins the Discworld army to find her brother Paul. “Ozzer” cuts off her blonde braids, dons male garb, belches, scratches, and masters macho habits – aided by well-placed pair of socks. The legendary and seemingly ageless Sergeant Jackrum accepts her plus a vampire, troll, zombie, religious fanatic, and two close “friends”. The best man for the job may be a woman.
So that is my Top Ten Favourite Terry Pratchett books. I love all of his books so it has been very hard to choose just ten.
Drop me a link to your Top Ten Tuesday!
Hello!
Yesterday was Terry Pratchett’s birthday so I decided that a Terry Pratchett quote was required. Pratchett is one of my favourite authors, I have read all of his Discworld books and many others. I used to eagerly await the latest publication and have the book preordered to either be delivered or picked up. In 2013 I read all the current published Discworld novels in publication order and loved every minute, it also helped me get through a particularly brutal Jury Duty case. So here is the quote…
Terry Pratchett (1998)
Happy reading!
The Carpet People by Terry Pratchett
About the author
Sir Terence David John Pratchett OBE (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humorist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his Discworld series of 41 novels.
Blurb
In the beginning, there was nothing but endless flatness. Then came the Carpet…
That’s the old story everyone knows and loves (even if they don’t really believe it). But now the Carpet is home to many different tribes and peoples and there’s a new story in the making. The story of Fray, sweeping a trail of destruction across the Carpet. The story of power-hungry mouls – and of two Munrung brothers, who set out on an adventure to end all adventures when their village is flattened.
It’s a story that will come to a terrible end – if someone doesn’t do something about it. If everyone doesn’t do something about it…
Review
It was so good to read a Pratchett book again as it has been way too long. During the lockdown to read a book by one of my favourite authors was like a warm comfort blanket wrapped around me. The Carpet People was written by a 17 year old Pratchett but this edition is the one that he republished after going through and making a few changes.
I really enjoyed reading this book as it was full of the typical humour of Pratchett and although it was not as refined as his Discworld novels it was still a joy to read. I loved how this book made my imagination run wild, it reminded me of the Borrowers, a race of people that live in the carpet.
The fascinating world of the carpet is brilliant with all the different tribes, kingdoms and an empire. I loved how the individuality of the people came through. I also loved how the women decided to do battle and fight for women’s rights at the end.
I have seen some pretty bad reviews about this book and it really surprises me as I know this book has a few flaws with characters randomly disappearing but since this was one of Pratchett’s first books it is bound to have some flaws as Pratchett was starting to find his feet as an author. Obviously if you compare it to the Discworld books it is lacking slightly but it is still a highly enjoyable story to read which will give you a good giggle.
I highly recommend this book to all fantasy and comedy lovers, it is a quick read that will make you laugh. I give this book 4 out of 5 Dragons.
Purchase Links
A few days ago on the 12th March marked the anniversary of Sir Terry Pratchett’s death in 2015. I still remember the day, I had been teaching all day and my best friend knew I had probably not seen the news so she sent me a text to break the news. Although I knew he was ill and it was going to happen, it was still like a kick in the stomach and I am not ashamed to admit I shed a tear. Sir Terry Pratchett meant so much to me, his Discworld novels were my absolute favourites, that I always relied on to cheer me up and make me laugh. I could not believe there would be no more, that the world of Discworld was over.
I first discovered the Discworld series at the age of 12, when my cousin’s partner recommended them to me, I then persuaded my mom to join a Sci-fi and Fantasy book club to order me a few of the books and from then I got a couple each month on offer. In year 9 at school during quiet reading, my teacher attempted to confiscate my copy of The Colour of Magic because he thought it an inappropriate book for a girl of my age, happily my mom intervened and I was allowed to continue reading them.
In 2013 I decided to read all the Discworld novels in order of them being written and it was wonderful. During this time they helped me cope with a particularly harrowing two-week session on jury duty and it was comforting to know that in my handbag there was always a Terry Pratchett novel.
Anyway, that’s a brief description of my history with Discworld, now on to my confession. The very last Discworld novel The Shepherd’s Crown I have never read! I pre-ordered it, I even got the special edition that Waterstones did so I have two copies but I have never read either. The reason, I just could not bring myself to read it, because in my mind once I read it I would know for sure that there would never be another Discworld book and that Sir Terry Pratchett was gone for good.
Over the last few days I have been thinking of The Shepherd’s Crown and yesterday I collected both copies from my parents house and brought them home. Now they are sat in my living room looking at me and I think I have made a decision. Sir Terry Pratchett wrote this book for people to read and the fact that I have not read it yet is not what he would have wanted. So on Terry Pratchett’s birthday on the 28th April I plan on starting to read The Shepherd’s Crown and I must admit that thought scares me a little, as I do not want to be disappointed and I know I will not want the book to end. Even just writing this brings all those memories back from 2015 and the sadness.
That is my bookish confession and I hope I can go through with my plan. Apologies to Sir Terry Pratchett for not having read your last Discworld novel sooner.
Lady Book Dragon.
Lady Book Dragon 