I have a confession to make. Although I’m a deep and abiding sci-fi and fantasy fan, have read the genre for decades, I haven’t (until now) read any of the Discworld series. I have read another book by Pratchett, Good Omens, but for the sad and obvious reasons I’m not going to be revisiting that particular work.
I know a lot of folks who have expressed intimidation at diving into a series that’s over forty books long. While I get that, that was never really my hesitation. It was well-known from even casual contact that it wasn’t like forty books you had to read in perfect order or it wouldn’t make sense. If anything, Discworld has been held up as one of the series most amenable to diving in at almost any point. While connected by the world, many of the books are eminently standalone.
No, the bigger reason for me was the humor. I just don’t come to books often looking to laugh. There are exceptions of course. I remember being suitably amused with Catch 22 (really ought to read that one again) and I have a deep and abiding love for Douglas Adams. The later honestly would make you think Pratchett would be right up my alley, but the time never quite felt right.
Until now. Between some more ponderous classic volumes, I needed a light refreshing breath. Plus, the exceptionally long hold it took to get Equal Rites from the library had finally swung in my favor, so I dove in.
I’m happy to report that I enjoyed it quite a bit. It was almost exactly what I was expecting from it – easy, tight, droll writing that zipped along. The world is bright and imaginative, there were at least a few outright chuckles for me (although I didn’t find it nearly as absurd and hilarious as Hitchhikers).
From a writing perspective it was an interesting study in the use of language. Where fantasy often trends towards using more formal language, using the older forms, Pratchett doesn’t bother at all. His prose is very modern, contains frequent side notes and hints which are strictly for the reader in our world and would make no sense to the characters. He only gets away with this because he is as droll and witty as he thinks he is – a tough trick to pull off. Although it doesn’t garner the respect and kudos that sharply written literature does, I honestly think landing comedy like this is equally difficult.
So I’m not about to sit down and churn through the next 39+ volumes in a hurry, but pretty sure more Discworld will show up in my reading list now that I’ve cracked the seal.