Tag: Humor

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The Bookish Owl – Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett

Feet of Clay Terry Pratchett

Here’s Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett.

I’m actually already done with this, because I started it just before going on a trip to Budapest, and as I had already dropped off Artemis at his new owl-sitters (who have now been cured of any desire to get an owl of their own), I did not actually have an owl available for a photo.

So while Artemis was busy traumatizing my friends’ cats, I was rereading another of my favorite Discworld books. I think this might be my second-favorite City Watch book. Not sure what I love most: Vimes setting traps for assassins for sport, Vetinari being absolutely delirious from arsenic poisoning, or Nobby being frantically convinced that his boss will cut his head off if he, Nobby, is made king (“Mr Vimes’d go spare!”).

Feet of Clay
by Terry Pratchett

For members of the City Watch, life consists of troubling times, linked together by periods of torpid inactivity. Now is one such troubling time. People are being murdered, but there’s no trace of anything alive having been at the crime scene. Is there ever a circumstance in which you can blame the weapon not the murderer? Such philosophical questions are not the usual domain of the city’s police, but they’re going to have to start learning fast…

Feet of Clay Terry Pratchett

 

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The Bookish Owl – Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett

Men at Arms Terry Pratchett

Today’s owl photo features Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett!

And yes, I’m still alive (hurray!), but both my reading and my blog maintenance is suffering from being extremely busy. When I haven’t been working on making my writing deadline later this week, I have been fending off drunk guys at renaissance fairs and blowing stuff up in Dungeons & Dragons.

I wish I could say real life has been keeping me busy, but as you can tell, I have been going all-in with the make-believe.

Back to the book:
This is yet another Discworld reread. Men at Arms is the second book in the City Watch storyline, and while it’s not as great as ‘Guards! Guards!’, it’s still pretty damn great. I love the mismatched duo of Cuddy and Detritus, and Vimes, Colon, Nobby and Carrot are their usual wonderfully dysfunctional selves.

Angua is great as well, but the poor girl is really a bit too sane for her new friends.

Men at Arms
by Terry Pratchett

The City Watch needs MEN! But what it’s got includes Corporal Carrot (technically a dwarf), Lance-constable Cuddy (really a dwarf), Lance-constable Detritus (a troll), Lance-constable Angua (a woman… most of the time) and Corporal Nobbs (disqualified from the human race for shoving).

And they need all the help they can get, because someone in Ankh-Morpork has been getting dangerous ideas – about crowns and legendary swords, and destiny. And the problem with destiny is, of course, that she is not always careful where she points her finger. One minute you might be minding your own business on a normal if not spectacular career path, the next you might be in the frame for the big job, like saving the world…

Men at Arms Terry Pratchett

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The Bookish Owl – Mort by Terry Pratchett

Mort Terry Pratchett Collector's Edition

You know the deal, books and owls and all that. This time it’s Mort by Terry Pratchett.

This is another Discworld favorite that I’ve been looking forward to rereading. Death takes on a human apprentice. Said apprentice immediately messes everything up. Craziness ensues.

Only an author such as Pratchett can make Death into such a precious character and I absolutely adore him in ‘Mort’. He’s so cute when he’s trying to be a good master to his new apprentice, despite not understanding humans at all.

Poor Mort won’t know what hit him.

Mort
by Terry Pratchett

Death comes to us all. When he came to Mort, he offered him a job. Henceforth, Death is no longer going to be the end, merely the means to an end. It’s an offer Mort can’t refuse. As Death’s apprentice he’ll have free board, use of the company horse – and being dead isn’t compulsory. It’s a dream job – until he discovers that it can be a killer on his love life…

Mort Terry Pratchett Collector's Edition

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The Bookish Owl – Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett

Guards! Guards! Terry Pratchett Collector's Edition

Next up is Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett.

If you have been following this blog, you will probably have noticed that I’m reading all the Discworld books in order. However, I’m also reading them in the lovely hardback Collector’s Edition, and the last few books will not be released in this edition until November.

Obviously, this does not mean I will take a break from Discworld. It just means that I get a chance to reread my favorites and that’s something I’ve been dying to do!

So yes, ‘Guards! Guards!’ is a reread for me, but I’m still ridiculously excited about it. It’s the first book in the City Watch series, and it’s got:

  • Dragons
  • Vimes when he was still only reluctantly doing his job
  • Carrot arriving in Ankh-Morpork and horrifying watchmen and criminals alike by insisting on upholding the law
  • Dragons
  • Sybil pursuing a highly confused Vimes
  • Errol the Swamp Dragon
  • Dragons
  • Vetinari getting locked up in his own dungeon and creating a spy network of rats
  • Carrot still thinking he’s a dwarf
  • …Dragons

The plot might not be as deep and multi-layered as the later books, but no one can convince me this isn’t the greatest Discworld book of all times.

Guards! Guards!
by Terry Pratchett

Here there be dragons . . . and the denizens of Ankh-Morpork wish one huge firebreather would return from whence it came. Long believed extinct, a superb specimen of draco nobilis (“noble dragon” for those who don’t understand italics) has appeared in Discworld’s greatest city. Not only does this unwelcome visitor have a nasty habit of charbroiling everything in its path, in rather short order it is crowned King (it is a noble dragon, after all . . .).

Meanwhile, back at Unseen University, an ancient and long-forgotten volume–The Summoning of Dragons–is missing from the Library’s shelves. To the rescue come Captain Vimes, Constable Carrot, and the rest of the Night Watch who, along with other brave citizens, risk everything, including a good roasting, to dethrone the flying monarch and restore order to Ankh-Morpork (before it’s burned to a crisp). A rare tale, well done as only Terry Pratchett can.

Guards! Guards! Terry Pratchett Collector's Edition

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The Bookish Owl – Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones

Castle in the Air Diana Wynne Jones

I’m starting on Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones today.

This is a companion novel to Howl’s Moving Castle, so let’s hope it shares its charm and quirkiness.

I feel like I should say something more, but this week is kicking my ass and my brain is pretty much fried…

Have an owl photo instead.

Castle in the Air
by Diana Wynne Jones

Far to the south of the land of Ingary, in the Sultanates of Rashpuht, there lived in the city of Zanzib a young and not very prosperous carpet dealer named Abdullah who loved to spend his time daydreaming. He was content with his life and his daydreams until, one day, a stranger sold him a magic carpet.

That very night, the carpet flew him to an enchanted garden. There, he met and fell in love with the beauteous princess Flower-in-the-Night, only to have her snatched away, right under his very nose, by a wicked djinn. With only his magic carpet and his wits to help him, Abdullah sets off to rescue his princess….

Castle in the Air Diana Wynne Jones