Post AzkRvXq8ZKEYQYAJyS by futurebird@sauropods.win
(DIR) More posts by futurebird@sauropods.win
(DIR) Post #AzkRvXq8ZKEYQYAJyS by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-10-30T22:10:30Z
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Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett is so clearly what inspired Harry Potter and so much fundamentally a better book I’m frankly blown away. I’m also shocked at the sudden jump in quality from the first two books. Which are very fun but someone hit the man with the good story telling stick between books 2 and three and can I please be next?
(DIR) Post #AzkS3fvYNs2BpIZlOC by ohmu@social.seattle.wa.us
2025-10-30T22:11:57Z
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@futurebird Have you read the Earthsea books?
(DIR) Post #AzkSCUk7Kwu7kEQr0S by pdcawley@mendeddrum.org
2025-10-30T22:13:13Z
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@futurebird One of the many things I love about Terry was that he would agree with you about that :)
(DIR) Post #AzkSDQVEaRSgsrumrQ by Research_FTW@sciences.social
2025-10-30T22:13:43Z
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@futurebird I think he was still working full time when he published the 1st two, but then made enough to write full time.
(DIR) Post #AzkSEISbyPRwEN6SGm by darkling@mstdn.social
2025-10-30T22:13:53Z
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@futurebird Just wait until you get to book 4. That's a whole step up again.
(DIR) Post #AzkSN6PI9pDZSBkVto by Uair@autistics.life
2025-10-30T22:15:27Z
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@futurebird I just want to second both of these points. I never saw the connection between Potter and "Equal Rights" but it's hard to unsee now. As for the jump in quality, I think he decided to thread his stories on a continuous plot, and it turns out he was pretty good at it. His first two Discworld books were more like Monty Python or "Hitchhiker's Guide"--disconnected skits rather than a coherent story.I also think that Terry's personal analogue in Discworld is Eskarina. That's why she was in one book and then disappeared except for a couple of cameos thirty years later. "Equal Rites" is his book of personal philosophy and, once expressed, he never revisited it so completely.
(DIR) Post #AzkSVXoCA8taksQHpI by isotope239@mastodon.online
2025-10-30T22:16:58Z
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@futurebird I always figured that Sir Terry started out to write some standard fantasy books then his inner Daniel Defoe kicked in! Just wait 'til you bump into Sam Vimes!
(DIR) Post #AzkSen8CYwMisrBr3w by rwv37@mastodon.social
2025-10-30T22:18:39Z
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@futurebird Oh jeeze, I just read this like a couple weeks ago, and I too was shocked by the sudden jump in quality!I enjoyed the first couple books, but the silliness level, while fun, got out of control at points. ER had some silliness, and it was still fun, but it seemed much less forced. And both Granny and Esk seemed like... real people? To a degree that I didn't get from any character from either of the earlier books.
(DIR) Post #AzkTnT4Uc76fEJ9lei by Extra_Special_Carbon@mastodon.world
2025-10-30T22:31:25Z
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@futurebird There are really 4 plot lines in the series. Rincewind, Witches, Nights Watch, and Death. There could be more.I like The Nights Watch the best, but The Witches are a close second. I think Equal Rights is a Witch one, but it’s been a while. It might be a one off. Yes, it was very good.
(DIR) Post #AzkULaTRb8lG2A63gO by LPerry2@mastodon.social
2025-10-30T22:37:35Z
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@futurebird Rowling owes a whole to Diana Wynne Jones too.
(DIR) Post #AzkWOw63rRipsBssTY by Zahlenzauberin@dresden.network
2025-10-30T23:00:36Z
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@futurebird And they will get even better.The most obvious difference between Pratchett and JKR is, Pratchett always fundamentally liked his characters. Even the "evil" ones.
(DIR) Post #AzkceSUwH9S0QsIztg by NoTwit@mas.to
2025-10-31T00:10:39Z
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@futurebird I heard such good things about Discworld and tried the first book, but it was too, um ... zany and random? for me, so I gave up. You're telling me he gets better as he goes?
(DIR) Post #Azkd0snn9sReNrogGO by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-10-31T00:14:44Z
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@NoTwit The second book is like the first. The third is on another level.
(DIR) Post #AzkdOBSTxczcuDxZAG by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-10-31T00:18:57Z
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@NoTwit I think you could skip the second. Although, I couldn't I like to read books in order kind of like a snowplow.
(DIR) Post #AzkdSijYBabxGX6fHU by NoTwit@mas.to
2025-10-31T00:19:45Z
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@futurebird I might just start with 3 and try it again!
(DIR) Post #Azkf9WdX8cnQ9aGc3E by cptbutton@dice.camp
2025-10-31T00:38:40Z
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@futurebird I like this reading order guide chart.https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Discworld_Reading_Order_Guide_3.0_%28cropped%29.jpg