fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2906 ]

[ SECRET POST #2906 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2906 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 021 secrets from Secret Submission Post #415.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

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Discworld

I'm a huge Tolkien fan and I like a lot of the tropes people are tired of (the European Medieval settings, the D&D-like character traits, etc.) I don't mind deconstruction but I don't like stories that basically shit on what's gone before to be edgy or hip or desperate to be new. I like ones that seemed to enjoy the "original" stuff but want to try out their own take. I don't mind other settings to the common fantasy but it's not a particular selling point for me. I've read some interesting things about certain features of Discworld so I'm wondering if this would be good.

It's very difficult to predict if someone will like Discworld, in my experience.

I'd say try it. If you do though, you should be aware that their are several different 'flavors' I guess. There are books about the witches, books about Death, books about the Nightwatch, books about Rincewind and then the rest. If you try Discworld, I'd try one of each. Witches, Death and Nightwatch books seem to be the general favorites.

Coming from a Tolkien background, what book would you recommend starting with? Is there one book I should read to understand the world before trying others or are they pretty separate?

Eeeehh. Like the anon below me said, Discworld isn't really parodying fantasy. It started off that way (the first two are parodies of D&D), but quickly became it's own established fantasy universe. It's not really Tolkeinesque, tbh.

In general though I'd recommend the following: Wyrd Sisters, Soul Music, and Guards Guards.

To me, Discworld is interesting less as a deconstruction of fantasy tropes, and more as a generally very good, light, breezy series with tons of jokes that happens to be set in a fantasy world and sometimes makes jokes based on that.

So given that, I would probably recommend it very strongly. It's definitely not something that wants to shit all over fantasy as a genre, if that's what you're worried about

Do you enjoy proficient, comedic writing that occasionally espouses science and philosophy?

If so, then yes.

What I'm trying to say is it's not serious fantasy. It is the antithesis of serious fantasy. It's not going to go all dark and gritty for shock value or try to convince you that the author has IMPORTANT THINGS to say. If that's what you're looking for in your fantasy novels, then Discworld probably isn't for you.

It's very good though.

This is super hella late, but if you're interested in Discworld solely because you think it'll be like funny Lord of the Rings, you may end up disappointed. Despite having both swords and sorcery, Discworld is very much not a swords-and-sorcery series; the Witches are largely Shakespeare and various folklore parodies, the Watchmen start out almost literally as Dirty Harry with dragons (although now that I think about it, that's the one that does have the most LotR-like subplot, what with the Heir to the Throne of Ankh-Morpork having probably returned), and a lot of the rest of it is either very specific parodies or general philosophy.

I think if you commented with what exactly interested you about Discworld, we'd be able to help you out a bit more. As it is, try out Wyrd Sisters or Soul Music and see if you like the style.

Well . . . I'm not exactly sure. I don't know much about Discworld really. I don't really expect it to by anything. I have come across some interesting quotes (like is there one about Elves being wonderful and making wonders and being terrific and making terror or something?) and I think I saw something about Dwarves in that universe too that interested me (and maybe something about Death?) -- just stuff that gets talked about for whatever reason when people are talking about Tolkien.

I don't need it to be Tolkien in any way. I just don't want to read something that would mitigate my love of Tolkien in some way. You know, how some people will write mean-spirited parodies where you get the feeling they're mocking your love of the original series. I do like folklore and fairy-tales and Shakespeare; I don't need something that's copying Tolkien or anything. I'm not looking for the same plot or anything. I just like the kind of stuff you can find in Tolkien to show where I'm coming from (does that make sense?).

The one with the elves (and the quote about the meaning of the words 'wonderful' and 'terrific') is Lords and Ladies, which is part of the Witches series. The dwarves mostly show up in the Watch series.

None of the parodies that Pratchett does are ever really mean spirited, I think, more of a "nudge, wink, remember this? well what happens if it turn it up to eleven?" He also uses a lot of parody to make philosophical or mildly political points. The dwarves are actually probably the best example of this--most traditional depictions of dwarves don't ever mention lady dwarves, so over the course of the Watch series, you see them start to have a sexual revolution, where dwarf women are starting to fight for the right to wear high-heeled steel toed boots, wear makeup, and braid ribbons into their beards (and while the examples are funny, he never makes fun of the concept of wanting to be recognized as female itself). The world itself is less of a Tolkein-ian high fantasy than a fantasy world that started out in the Victorian era and is rapidly about to undergo the Industrial Revolution (in one of the most recent books, it's heavily implied that the dwarves are building the Underground, and golems are being used as a mechanical work force from quite early on), but if you're looking for a series with trolls and dwarves and dragons, I suppose you could do a lot worse as long as you keep in mind it's going to be very different. I personally love the hell out of the series, but I know how much this gets talked up on the internet and I don't want you to be disappointed by your own expectations.

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[ SECRET POST #2906 ]

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