Z. M. Wilmot

And so my latest conquest is… conquered. Terry Pratchett’s Eric was very short, fun to read (I loved the wossname parrot), but also seemed to contradict a lot of Pratchett’s own ideas about the universe – the Creator made an appearance, and I was bothered by the fact that he created the entire universe, which in Eric consisted of only the Discworld, while in The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic, the universe is shown to contain more worlds. It just bothered me that Pratchett changed the nature of the universe. The end of the universe was brilliant, though, as well as the start of the next one – it’s interesting that Death was the only survivor. And then he’ll be the oldest being in the next universe – maybe the new Azrael! And how interesting that will be…

On that note, if that universe ended, then what happened to the others? At the beginning of the universe, there were many creators and many universes (a theme I myself use in the Juxian Mythos – and also the idea of Death-like beings travelling from universe to universe, completing jobs) – so where did they go in the end? The way Pratchett implied the end was that there was only one universe – unless the end he referred to was the end of all universes, in which case things got a lot more serious.

So, in the end, it was fun, it had a happy ending, but not one of his best. It did have Rincewind, though. Next, I’ll be delving into C.A. Smith’s Hyperborea and Lovecraft’s ghostwritten works.

I just finished Terry Pratchett’s Soul Music and it is now one of my favorite books. Death was as amazing as always, and other than proving himself to be a fantastic guitar player and motorcyclist, his caring side really came out. The Death of Rats’ constant presence, as well as Quoth the Raven’s, made the book, as well as Susan Sto Helit’s first appearance – I must say I liked her better in this one than in Hogfather. Dibbler also made quite a large appearance, scamming as always, and this was the first time I’ve seen him really as a major character. I definitely recommend this book to anyone. Next is Eric!

My latest conquest! The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett. Unlike his other Discworld books, this one was a children’s novel, and so went by much faster and had a rather different writing style (with far fewer footnotes). However, it was still very much fun, and even had cameos from Nanny Ogg and “Mistress” Weatherwax. It makes me want to start reading Pratchett’s witch books (other than Equal Rites, which has already been conquered). Most of the book doesn’t even mention the Disc (the whole thing takes place on he Chalk – I spent a while failing to figure out where this was on the world), and had some actually very interesting philosophical ideas about dreams. I shall be reading the next one most definitely, if not just for the awesomeness of the Nac Mac Feegle! Next on my list of reads I think will be a short break from Pratchett; I’m thinking Cthulhu’s Reign.

My latest literary conquest was Terry Pratchett’s Guards! Guards! (I’m on Pratchett roll, here). I have to say (as with most of his books), that it was very well done. The Patrician – ruler of Ankh-Morpork – came across very favorably and (along with the Librarian) is now one of my favorite characters. This book (to me, at least) introduced me to the concept of L-Space (Libraries bend the laws of physics, you know), as well as provided me with many memorable quotes. The four characters of the Night’s Watch worked very well together; alcoholic-turned-hero(esque) Samuel Vimes, the cowardly, fat Sergeant Colon, the ugly, dimwitted Nobby, and the literal-minded man-raised-by-Dwarfs Carrot Ironfoundersson. I also now have an extreme love of Swamp Dragons. Next on my list: Pratchett’s The Wee Free Men. I’ve started it and have been pleasantly surprised so far!

I just finished Terry Pratchett’s Reaper Man. I loved it. I was slightly iffy about the living cities and the parasites at first, but loved the idea in the end. The book was not only highly amusing and made me laugh a lot, but also very engaging and made me think philsophically. Mostly about metaphors, which came to life frequently. The living swears amused me to no end, and Death did too, as he always does. The best part, however, was the Death of Rats – by far the best character on the Disk. Seeing him appear made my day. Definitely one of my favorite books so far. Next on the list: Guards! Guards!

As part of a deal I made with my brother, I read the book Genghis: Birth of an Empire by Conn Iggulden. The deal was that I would read a book of historical fiction (a genre I’ve never been fond of, despite my love of history), while he would read a book of science fiction of my choosing. I read Genghis, and he read (or is reading) Hyperion by Dan Simmons; one of my favorite books. I finished my book recently, and I will concede that it was very well written, with good characters, research, and plot. It was a very good book, in short, and I did enjoy reading it. However, I will not be picking up the next one, because historical fiction – and this book by extension – tends to lack an interesting world. The world historical fiction is set in is our own, and so to me the genre has always lacked something that I feel is important in fiction: world creation. This is not to say that writers don’t go far out of their way to make the world come alive, and I do applaud historical fiction writers, as a lot of work goes into it. It’s just that as a reader, I am aware that I am looking at reality in the past, and so it takes away from the sense of creativity I enjy seeing in the worlds one creates for their books. As a roleplayer, I see background and the universe and setting of a book to be hugely important – indeed, a creative setting is the most important thing to me in a book – and I cannot usually credit the author of historical fiction for designing the world. I look for settings in my books, and historical fiction offers primarily characters (which are important, but come second to me).

The other thing about historical fiction that I don’t like is that it doesn’t offer any hope. I read in order to escape reality. Historical fiction slams me right back in, and offers me no real escape; I am reading about what has happened in my own world. This is why I prefer fantasy and science fiction, and especially the latter; I am taken away from reality, and in most cases of science fiction, am shown that humanity will continue to live on for many more centuries. It allows me to escape. Horror does the same thing, and also allows me (usually) to blame humanity’s problems on some supernatural foe, again taking the focus off of reality.

As of last night, I finished Terry Pratchett’s Mort. I liked it, of course (it’s Pratchett, after all),  but it definitely wasn’t my favorites. It was a lot darker than most of the other ones, and while a lot of the background information in it was interesting (particularly with regards to Albert and the ponderings on Fate and the course of History), it wasn’t as light-hearted or entertaining as a lot of the other ones. Death was, as always, fabulous, but Mort just infuriated me. I ran into the same problem when I read Robin Hobb’s Farseer Trilogy: I loved a lot of the plot and other characters, but couldn’t stand the central character because he was just too much of an idiot. Hopefully Reaper Man will be more satisfying; I look forward to it!

P.S. Rincewind’s cameo made me happy.

I just finished reading Terry Pratchett’s Sourcery, and I was very pleased by it. It was full of interesting ideas, examined the background of the Disc even more, and completely turned everything on its head – as Pratchett is wont to do. It also had its heartbreaking moments, but mostly it just had me laughing almost constantly. Pratchett’s dry wit and deadpan delivery of both ridiculous and true statements just had me laughing more than any other book of his that I had ever read. Upon some reflection, I believe that his brilliance in writing results from his haphazard treatment of standard plot elements, and his ability to describe inanimate objects as people with distinctive personalities exceedingly well. I also now, after reading this book, have a greater appreciation of the Librarian.

The ending, of course, was sad, what with Rincewind not coming back, but I have every confidence that he will in future books. On that note, this book also saw the greatest growth in Rincewind’s character I’ve seen yet – he acted unselfishly for a few moments! It was spectacular! Nevertheless, Rincewind is now one of my favorite literary characters. I would recommend this book to any Pratchett fans.

Just finished reading Bujold’s latest Vorkosigan book, CryoBurn. It was, up until the very end, fantastic. The (science fiction) book would make little sense to one who had not read all of the other Vorkosigan books (inside-jokes and references to past events abound), but had a very interesting look at the idea of death.

The premise is that the ever-so-amazing Lord Imperial Auditor Miles Naismith Vorkosigan of Barrayar is sent by Emperor Gregor Vorbarra (of Barrayar) to investigate the dealing of a corporation seeking to spread off of its home planet of Kibou-daini to Komarr, the Barrayaran Empire’s second planet. The company specializes in freezing dead (and nearly dead) bodies to revive them at a later death – in a strange attempt to cheat death. The entire planet is based around these companies, which almost rule the place, and makes for some very interesting thoughts with regards to the rights of the “dead” and frozen, who could again come to life. How much say should they have in what goes on around them? Who has the responsibility for them?

Many more questions also assert themselves, but I highly recommend reading the book; it was well-written, well thought out, and even through in most of (but not all) of the major characters of previous ones! The Dendarii mostly were not mentioned (Taura was mentioned for half a page or so, and Quinn once – as well as Dubauer), and Simon Illyan and the ImpSec crowd also were passed over for the most part. I eagerly look forward to the possibility of another one, yet after the ending also am saddened. The book had a very surprising, unexpected, and yet entire fitting ending – it was well done, but be prepared for a depressing shock at the end of it.