When my son was born I decided I needed a light, long-running book series to keep me company during the uninvited sunrises. I chose Terry Pratchett's ~40-book Discworld series. Halfway through I realised how much I had forgotten since my first read, and decided to keep a log of which I enjoyed with a one-sentence verdict. If you're after unsolicited book opinions, enjoy!
Annalee Newitz: The Terraformers
1 star ★
I like seeing solarpunk-inspired CG art. This solarpunk book fell very short. Just because one of the main characters is a cyborg cow doesn't magically make it interesting. Hippy good. Megacorp bad. Natives good. Invaders bad. Community good. Capitalism bad.
Douglas Adams: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency: Dirk Gently 1
3 stars ★★★
Whimsical, but takes a while to take shape. Overstretches the detective trope of the ability to conveniently guess comphrensive solutions to the mystery.
Douglas Adams: The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul: Dirk Gently 2
5 stars ★★★★★
A murder mystery solved by generally wandering around randomly. Abrupt ending but otherwise a great read.
J. R. R. Tolkien: The Hobbit
3 stars ★★★
It's a necessary read as part of the LotR universe but my personal least favourite.
J. R. R. Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings
5 stars ★★★★★
It's a classic for a reason. Incredible world building. If you like to stare at maps and consult encyclopedias whilst reading, this is for you.
J. R. R. Tolkien: The Silmarillion
4 stars ★★★★
If you're into it, pure myth, legend, and lore that shapes the Lord of the Rings universe. When I saw diagrams of family trees in the appendices I assumed I'd skip over them. I was wrong.
Jules Verne: Journey to the Center of the Earth
2 stars ★★
The main character (with a couple of minor exceptions) seems to spend most of the book slowing everybody else down in their journey to the center of the Earth. I find this frustrating.
Neil Gaiman: American Gods
2 stars ★★
Like Oceans 12, there's a long con happening in the background, but nobody pays much attention to it with an anticlimatic fizzle at the end.
Nick Harkaway: The Gone-Away World
5 stars ★★★★★
Apocalyptic mad max ninja mime autobiography with a twist. Seemingly allergic to dialogue, the entire book consists of the author meandering around and getting distracted by the scenery. This is not a problem. This is fantastic.
Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter: The Long Earth
2 stars ★★
Promising concept about traversable parallel earths with an enigmatic megacorporation and supernatural protagonist, but it ends up just being a story without a plot. Douglas Adams describes a civilisation (planet Bartledan, in Mostly Harmless) where the universe is simply viewed as things that happen one after another and stop arbitrarily somewhere. This is a Bartledanian book.
Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter: The Long War
1 star ★
The sequel to The Long Earth. I thought it'd develop after a prolonged gestation but I was wrong.
Terry Pratchett: The Colour of Magic
5 stars ★★★★★
The fantasy equivalent of the Hitchhiker's Guide. Discover the Discworld, and strap in for another 40 or so books after this one.
Terry Pratchett: The Light Fantastic
5 stars ★★★★★
The second part of The Colour of Magic, with very much the same verdict.
Terry Pratchett: Equal Rites
4 stars ★★★★
A great segue into the wider universe of the Discworld and a rare glimpse into the younger days of the infamous witches who star in future books.
Terry Pratchett: Mort
5 stars ★★★★★
What happens when the anthropomorphism of death offers you a job?
Terry Pratchett: Wyrd Sisters
2 stars ★★
Probably thought it'd be fun to do a Discworld version of Macbeth. It was, but that's about it.
Terry Pratchett: Sourcery
4 stars ★★★★
By this fourth book in the series Pratchett establishes his ability to guide you through a series of story threads and weave them into an ending where the entire world is at risk. I don't quite know how he does it. Take any theme, and somehow it can cause the world to end.
Terry Pratchett: Pyramids
5 stars ★★★★★
A beautiful extension of the Discworld into the desert realms and assassin's guilds. It's a pity this desert society is never really revisited in any future Discworld novel.
Terry Pratchett: Guards! Guards!
4 stars ★★★★
The origin story of the city watch as they progress from humble beginnings into the glue that holds Ankh-Morpork together. This is the Discworld's first crime / mystery themed novel as they slay an imaginary dragon summoned by an underground society.
Terry Pratchett: Eric
3 stars ★★★
I couldn't remember what this book was about when I re-read it, and after reading it, I forgot again. It was fun, but clearly not memorable. At least not to me.
Terry Pratchett: Moving Pictures
3 stars ★★★
I'm lumping this one into Pratchett's extended joke themes. In this case it's as many puns he can think of whilst he grafts the movie industry onto the Discworld.
Terry Pratchett: Reaper Man
4 stars ★★★★
Death takes a break. Chaos ensues.
Terry Pratchett: Witches Abroad
4 stars ★★★★
Another extended joke book where Pratchett reinvents the fairy tale and does a fantastic job.
Terry Pratchett: Small Gods
4 stars ★★★★
Despite a zealotous following, a god reincarnates as a tortoise. He chooses a prophet who doesn't want to listen. Like Pyramids, it's another departure from the main themes of Ankh-Morpork and only reappear as footnotes in future novels.
Terry Pratchett: Lords and Ladies
3 stars ★★★
I'm somewhat suspicious of plots where the main character just needs more confidence to kill the antagonist but sometimes the journey makes the destination worth it.
Terry Pratchett: Men at Arms
4 stars ★★★★
Sooner or later, a fantasy world invents the gun.
Terry Pratchett: Soul Music
2 stars ★★
The Discworld needed to have an opinion on rock and roll music, but it's not a strong opinion.
Terry Pratchett: Interesting Times
4 stars ★★★★
The Discworld introduces the Asian continent equivalent and a plot of retired heroes to conquer it whilst the gods play dice.
Terry Pratchett: Maskerade
2 stars ★★
Probably thought it'd be fun to do a Discworld version of the Phantom of the Opera. It was, but that's about it.
Terry Pratchett: Feet of Clay
4 stars ★★★★
This is the first book I realised there was a subtheme in the Discworld to gradually introduce new species. New species are awesome.
Terry Pratchett: Hogfather
5 stars ★★★★★
My favourite Discworld novel. A Christmas classic. An assassin is hired to kill Santa Claus. He's very, very good at it.
Terry Pratchett: Jingo
3 stars ★★★
Atlantis (or equivalent thereof) resurfaces. Felt more like an episode where everything goes back to normal at the end of the show instead of progressing the Discworld universe.
Terry Pratchett: The Last Continent
2 stars ★★
We get it, the Discworld hasn't had a chance yet to parody the entire continent of Australia.
Terry Pratchett: Carpe Jugulum
3 stars ★★★
Vampires! Modern vampires! It seems as though Pratchett likes to show the good in every species ... except for vampires. They're (almost) always bad. On the plus side, we now get Igors.
Terry Pratchett: The Fifth Elephant
4 stars ★★★★
If it wasn't already obvious, this book makes it clear that the Discworld isn't static. It's an evolving fantasy world where time moves, inventions are made, technology progresses, people die, are promoted, and truces are made. The werewolf species seem to get a similarly shallow treatment as the vampires in Carpe Jugulum (naturally, you need to do vampires before werewolves) but there's enough plot to go around.
Terry Pratchett: The Truth
3 stars ★★★
The printing press makes an appearance in the Discworld. Like our own world, most aren't happy about this but it's there to stay.
Terry Pratchett: Thief of Time
5 stars ★★★★★
Thanks to the MCU, it's common knowledge that the passage of time is governed by a secretive sect of monks. But Terry Pratchett did it first.
Terry Pratchett: The Last Hero
4 stars ★★★★
The last (retired, old, arthritic) heros of the realm challenge the gods.
Terry Pratchett: The Amazing Maurice and his educated rodents
2 stars ★★
This is actually a really creepy book. I don't like creepy.
Terry Pratchett: Night Watch
3 stars ★★★
After unintenteded time travel, you and your nemesis fight to preserve / change the past. They made a movie about this one (and butchered it). I probably would've chosen a different one.
Terry Pratchett: The Wee Free Men
4 stars ★★★★
I guess he took leprehauns, made them speak scottish, then brought them together with a sensible, up and coming witch. I really like how the protagonist is portrayed: strong willed, sensible, and practical. Exactly who you'd expect to take up the Granny Weatherwax mantle.
Terry Pratchett: Monstrous Regiment
1 star ★
Stylistically very different than the usual and not for me. Spoiler: in the army, everybody is actually a girl. That's about it.
Terry Pratchett: A Hat Full of Sky
4 stars ★★★★
After this many books, you'd think he'd run out of bad guys and species but that's where you're wrong.
Terry Pratchett: Going Postal
5 stars ★★★★★
An incredible introduction into the character of Moist von Lipwig, a notorious criminal given a second chance.
Terry Pratchett: Thud!
5 stars ★★★★★
A supernatural political murder mystery exploring the enmity between dwarves, trolls, and the city watch.
Terry Pratchett: Wintersmith
4 stars ★★★★
When Pratchett anthropomorphises characters, he usually gives them fun personalities. This time, old man winter and the summer lady retain their mystery and that makes it beautiful.
Terry Pratchett: Making Money
4 stars ★★★★
Moist (as in, the character's name) decides to take over the banking system. At this point, you've probably forgotten that this was once a fantasy series, but you're still enjoying it!
Terry Pratchett: Unseen Academicals
2 stars ★★
Fun but mostly about a football match and falls short of what I thought was a great introduction of a yet another new species.
Terry Pratchett: I Shall Wear Midnight
3 stars ★★★
A bit of a let down ending and giving of vibes of running out of evil spirits to defeat, but like most of his books, it's about the journey.
Terry Pratchett: Snuff
3 stars ★★★
The policeman goes to the countryside and lo and behold crimes are there too. A new species is introduced which is always good but not fully fleshed out.
Terry Pratchett: Raising Steam
4 stars ★★★★
Elon Musk, uh, wait, I mean, Moist von Lipwig starts another technology company, this time about high speed rail.
Terry Pratchett: The Shepherd's Crown
4 stars ★★★★
Long foreseen, Tiffany takes over from Granny Weatherwax. It's the last book. You've read all the others. You can't skip this one.
Terry Pratchett: Dodger
2 stars ★★
Street urchin protects princess from baddies and rises through society. I guess I struggle with olde English setups.