Wossname – Main issue – November 2016
News and reviews about the works of Sir Terry Pratchett
wossname at pearwood.info
Mon Nov 28 15:48:00 AEDT 2016
Wossname
Newsletter of the Klatchian Foreign Legion
November 2016 (Volume 19, Issue 11, Post 1)
********************************************************************
WOSSNAME is a free publication offering news, reviews, and all the other
stuff-that-fits pertaining to the works of Sir Terry Pratchett.
Originally founded by the late, great Joe Schaumburger for members of
the worldwide Klatchian Foreign Legion and its affiliates, including the
North American Discworld Society and other continental groups, Wossname
is now for Discworld and Pratchett fans everywhere in Roundworld.
********************************************************************
Editor in Chief: Annie Mac
News Editor: Vera P
Newshounds: Mogg, Sir J of Croydon Below, the Shadow, Mss C, Alison not
Aliss
Staff Writers: Asti, Pitt the Elder, Evil Steven Dread, Mrs Wynn-Jones
Staff Technomancers: Jason Parlevliet, Archchancellor Neil, DJ Helpful
Book Reviews: Annie Mac, Drusilla D'Afanguin, Your Name Here
Puzzle Editor: Tiff (still out there somewhere)
Bard in Residence: Weird Alice Lancrevic
Emergency Staff: Steven D'Aprano, Jason Parlevliet
World Membership Director: Steven D'Aprano (in his copious spare time)
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
INDEX:
01) QUOTES OF THE MONTH
02) EDITOR'S LETTER
03) ODDS AND SODS
04) DISCWORLD GAMES NEWS
05) DISCWORLD PLAYS NEWS
06) DISCWORLD MEETING GROUPS NEWS
07) DISCWORLD CONVENTION NEWS
08) AROUND THE BLOGOSPHERE
09) DISCWORLD ARTS AND CRAFTS NEWS
10) IMAGES OF THE MONTH
11) CLOSE
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
01) QUOTES OF THE MONTH
"Alzheimer's is a cowardly disease. It creeps up on you from behind and
by the time you realise you've got it you're probably not realising much
else. It's a stinker... Not everyone can approach Alzheimer's with the
bravery that Terry Pratchett showed."
– Actor Alfred Molina, whose wife, actor Jill Gascoine, is in the final
stages of Alzheimer's disease
"Not a lot of people know this, but a lot of Terry Pratchett's novels
are based in a place called Ankh-Morpork, a play on words of Lancaster
and Morecambe."
– everyone has a theory, it seems; this one comes from Morecambe
bookseller Tony Vettese
"They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it's not one half
so bad as a lot of ignorance."
– Equal Rites, as recently re-quoted on Twitter by Rhianna Pratchett
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
02) LETTER FROM YOUR EDITOR
It was thirty-three years ago this month that The Colour of Magic first
crept, without much fanfare, onto a few booksellers' display shelves.
Eighty Million (or more) sales of books by Sir Terry Pratchett later,
that may seem hard to believe... but everything has to start somewhere.
In early days, it was a "done thing" to compare Pratchett's wordcraft
and humour to that of PG Wodehouse – a comparison that never rang
especially true for me – and also to the works of Douglas Adams –
mostly, I always imagined, because Adams wrote comedic science fiction
and the blurbmakers and reviewers weren't familiar with, say, Harry
Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat series (and his deathless parody, Star
Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers). And now here we are, more than three
decades on, and the Done Thing now is to compare this or that newbie
author's work to that of... yes, to Terry Pratchett... and I have mixed
feelings about this. On the one hand, it's a totally deserved mark of
respect and an important way of keeping The Author's name alive on the
Roundworld Overhead – always and forever a good thing! But on the other,
it strikes me as somewhat lazy and unimaginative: "Oh, it's
fantasy/science fiction and there are elements of humour/attempted
humour, so let's say it's reminiscent of Pratchett..."
Still – ripples. On the Overhead. Sending Home. And it would be nice to
think that every time The Author's name is mentioned, somewhere,
anywhere, the Death of Discworld saves another kitten...
There is a lot of Discworld merchandise featured in this month's issue.
Well, it is almost Hogswatch, after all. But there is also plenty of
news and play reviews and other things for reading rather than for buying.
Right, on with the show!
– Annie Mac, Editor
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
03) ODDS AND SODS
3.1 NEW PAUL KIDBY SCULPTURE: THE SIR TERRY PRATCHETT MEMORIAL BUST
From Mr Kidby's official site:
"Back in 2015 a campaign was launched for the creation of a Terry
Pratchett Memorial Statue and I was honoured to be put forward as the
sculptor of choice to create it. Following a meeting at the Guildhall,
Salisbury Council approved the proposal for the statue to be sited
within the city, (exact location as yet undecided).
A hiatus from this project followed whilst I produced the line art for
The Discworld Colouring Book but by August my deadlines were met and I
was ready to get my sculpting tools out.
"To create a large scale piece of public art is a great responsibility.
To do Terry justice I must finely balance his public persona and
private self by ensuring that I honour him not only as an extraordinary
writer whose books delighted readers around the world but also on a more
personal level to those who knew him as a friend, beloved husband and
father.
"My first step in this process has been to create a head and shoulders
bust, 40 cm high. This has enabled me to focus primarily on facial
features and expression to capture a bearing that I feel best represents
him as we all remember. Only when I was happy with his physical
appearance did I turn my attention to making his glasses (four or five
days of fiddling and swearing) and trademark hat. It was a great help to
have both of these precious objects, and his well worn leather jacket,
to use as direct reference, thank you to Rob Wilkins and Lyn Pratchett
for lending them to me.
"I am now in the final stages of creating this sculpture and will be
carefully driving it to the foundry for bronze casting very soon. The
bust will be available as a limited edition of twelve for dedicated
collectors but most importantly it will be a valuable model and working
maquette for the full sized statue and a vital first step in the
creative process of this very important commission."
To read the announcement – with iconographs! – go to:
http://www.paulkidby.com/sir-terry-pratchett-memorial-bust/
...and here it is, packed for casting, as shared on Mr Kidby's Twitter
account:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cx3A2pnXAAAvaln.jpg
3.2 THE SOUNDS OF DISCWORLD... NOT
By Gemma Toulson in the Nottingham Post:
"A Nottinghamshire man who made more than £50,000 on illegally
reproduced audiobooks has been convicted under copyright law.
Nottinghamshire Police said they began to make inquiries into the
activities of Manrico Toschi in 2012, when they were informed by the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security of pirated audiobooks for sale for
online. The police said the audiobooks in question had been copied from
material produced exclusively for disabled U.S. citizens. An
investigation by the East Midland Special Operations Unit (EMSOU) into
the 43-year-old's online activities revealed more than 10,000 audiobooks
in his digital library, dating between January 2008 and June 2014...
Initially Toschi traded under his own name, but following cease and
desist notices from the authorities in 2012, the police said he found a
new way to continue his 'criminal enterprise'. Using the pseudonym Lee
Sharpe, he opened a new bank account and advertised pirated audiobooks
across the globe under that name. One such title was a Terry Pratchett
audiobook, which featured a compilation of 47[sic] of the Discworld
novels, published by Penguin Random House... At Nottingham Crown Court
on Tuesday, November 8 he was sentenced to two years in prison. The
court also determined that Toschi had benefited from his criminality to
the sum of £56,000 and granted a Proceeds of Crime Act Confiscation
Order to reflect this. Toschi must repay this amount within three months..."
http://www.nottinghampost.com/man-jailed-for-making-illegal-audiobooks/story-29882441-detail/story.html
3.3 PRATCHETT BOOK SIGNING MEMORIES
By Stephen Sinfield in the Burton Mail (Burton-on-Trent, Staffs)
"Despite hundreds of people queueing in Coopers Square shopping centre,
in Burton, there was no screaming hysteria as Terry Pratchett addicts
limited themselves to a slight gasp as they met the author of the
best-selling Discworld series face-to-face, and stammered out their
thanks. The writer, once a journalist and press officer for the Atomic
Energy Authority, was in Burton to sign his latest book and anything
else – in print – his fans could lay their hands on. The crowd started
forming outside Ottakars book shop as soon as the shopping centre's
doors opened on the November morning, each fan arrived with carrier bags
packed full of their precious collection of books. Others bought
calendars, diaries, and copies of his last novel 'The Fifth Elephant'
for him to dedicate, with a swift black flourish of his felt tip pen.
"Unlike many top authors, Mr Pratchett liked to meet fans outside the
big cities. His whirlwind UK book signing tour had started on November 8
in Dorset and would take him to 20 towns across England and Scotland
before ending in Colchester. He arrived in Burton on November 17, 2000.
Accompanied by a classical guitarist, who was also selling his wares on
the side, and a man dressed as an animal to raise money for Children in
Need, Mr Pratchett entered the fantasy world of the book signing
sessionist. After an hour, the queues which were growing ever-longer,
were stopped..."
http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/terry-pratchett-pulled-in-the-crowds-at-burton-book-signing-in/story-29919595-detail/story.html
3.4 A TEN-BEST DISCWORLD CHARACTERS LIST
By Tim Martin in The Telegraph:
"In a distant and secondhand set of dimensions, in an astral plane that
was never meant to fly...” Terry Pratchett began his Discworld sequence
with The Colour of Magic in 1983; it's extraordinary that a series which
began as a mickey-taking parody of medieval-fantasy cliche blossomed,
over 40 books, into British fiction's most brilliant satire on
contemporary life. Everyone will have their own favourite characters
from the hundreds of humans, vampires, trolls and golems who stalk the
plains and cities of Pratchett's disturbingly familiar fantasy world.
They have ensured that the writer, whose books sold over 85 million
copies world-wide, will be remembered for many a generation of fantasy
readers. Here are 10 of the finest..."
The list includes Death (and the Death of Rats, and Susan), Granny
Weatherwax, Lord Vetinari, Nanny Ogg, Sam Vimes, the Librarian, Moist
von Lipwig, Tiffany Aching, Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler, and the Luggage,
with a paragraph's description of each. Good choices!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/terry-pratchetts-10-best-discworld-characters/
3.5 ALZHEIMER'S NEWS: TWO VIEWS, AND A SLOW RAY OF HOPE
"Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, has overtaken heart disease as
the leading cause of death in England and Wales, latest figures reveal.
Last year, more than 61,000 people died of dementia – 11.6% of all
recorded deaths. The Office for National Statistics says the change is
largely due to an ageing population. People are living for longer and
deaths from some other causes, including heart disease, have gone down.
Also, doctors have got better at diagnosing dementia and the condition
is now given more weight on death certificates... Hilary Evans of
Alzheimer's Research UK said: 'These figures once again call attention
to the uncomfortable reality that currently, no-one survives a diagnosis
of dementia. Dementia is not an inevitable part of ageing, it's caused
by diseases that can be fought through research, and we must bring all
our efforts to bear on what is now our greatest medical challenge'..."
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-37972141
"A week ago the story that dementia had become the leading cause of
death in England and Wales was making headlines. But now we hear that
the proportion of people suffering from dementia is actually falling –
how can both statements be true, asks Charlotte McDonald? Last week's
news was based on figures from the Office for National Statistics, and
the statisticians themselves pointed out why the numbers have
increased... 'With people living longer and surviving other illnesses,
the number of people developing dementia and Alzheimer disease is
increasing,' says the ONS. But there is a second reason, which has to do
with the way deaths are registered. This data set is collecting the
"underlying cause" of death, and that is defined as the 'the disease or
injury which initiated the train of morbid events leading directly to
death'. In the past there would have been a certain amount of stigma, or
a reluctance to put dementia on death certificates... It is possible for
dementia to be the sole cause of death without another cause like
pneumonia but very few people are likely to die of dementia on its own..."
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-38054877
...and hopeful news from science correspondent Hannah Devlin in The
Guardian:
"When Terry Pratchett was diagnosed with Alzheimer's he recalled his
wife's relief that he hadn't got a brain tumour. 'All I could think then
was, "I know three people who have got better after having a brain
tumour. I haven't heard of anyone who's got better from Alzheimer's,"'
the late author wrote in 2008. Nearly a decade on, not much has changed
for people facing a new diagnosis of Alzheimer's. Unlike patients with
heart disease, cancer or diabetes, there is no well-trodden medical
track to follow and no treatments that can slow the disease's
devastating progress. Between 2002 and 2012, 99.6% of drugs studies
aimed at preventing, curing or improving Alzheimer's symptoms were
either halted or discontinued. The consistent failure of trials, at vast
financial cost to drugs companies, caused many to shut down dementia
programmes as a result.
"The latest trial results from Merck, together with other drugs in the
final stage of development, provide hope that the years of deadlock may
be drawing to a close. The Merck trial may be preliminary, in the
clinical sense, but it represents an entire career's work for some of
the scientists involved. 'We're 16 years into the program,' said Matt
Kennedy, the neuroscience director at Merck who led the research. 'It's
a good example of how long it takes.' The first challenge scientists
faced was creating a compound that would get through the blood-brain
barrier, without also causing toxic side-effects or damaging healthy
structures in the brain. Simply optimising the structure of the compound
to do this took a decade, Kennedy said. The latest results appear to
show that the scientists got this bit right – the drug appeared to have
few side-effects and it substantially lowered levels of toxic amyloid
compounds. The real question, which the next phase of the trial should
answer, is whether the formation of plaques are a root cause of the
disease or simply a visible symptom... There is no guarantee that the
drug will ultimately make it to market, but in a field that has seen
such scant progress, the fact that a major clinical trial is underway is
welcome news. Professor John Hardy, a neuroscientist at University
College London and pioneer in the study of Alzheimer's disease, said:
'Conveying some excitement isn't the wrong thing to do in this case.'"
http://bit.ly/2fFg8qX
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
04) DISCWORLD GAMES NEWS: CLACKS CHRISTMAS OFFERS
This, from the lads at Backspindle Games:
We are delighted to make a couple of Christmas Offers! Below you can
order a combination of our Award Winning, HIT Wrestling game, Luchador!
Mexican Wrestling Dice with a copy of our brand new No. 1 Themeless game
in the Dice Tower Podcast, Codinca... or you can order our really
popular, (three games in one) Discworld board game, Clacks, based on the
Terry Pratchett novel, Going Postal, together with a copy of Codinca.
Please note, the last days for posting from our Post Office service are:
UK Customers – 20 December 2016
EU Customers – 16 December 2016 and
ROW Customers – 10 December 2016
http://www.backspindlegames.com/christmas-offers/
Special Clacks offer!
For a limited period, you can order a copy of the game and a beautifully
sculpted miniature by Microart Studios that can be used in the
cooperative race game or you can order Moist by himself. (Miniature
supplied unpainted)
http://www.backspindlegames.com/clacks
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
05) DISCWORLD PLAYS NEWS
5.1 PLAYS IN NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER 2016
* MORT IN HARROGATE
The Woodlands Drama Group will be staging their production of Mort in
November and December!
When: 30th November–3rd December 3 2016
Venue: The Studio At Harrogate Theatre, 6 Oxford Street, Harrogate HG1
1QF (email: boxoffice at harrogatetheatre.co.uk)
Time: 7.45pm evening shows; 2.30pm Saturday matinee
Tickets: all tickets £10, available from
http://www.woodlandsdramagroup.co.uk/tickets/ or http://bit.ly/2di6RSA
or by phoning the theatre's Box Office (01423 502116)
http://www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk/whats-on/Mort-Presented-by-Woodlands-Drama-Group
* WYRD SISTERS IN BRISBANE
The Brisbane Arts Theatre's production of Wyrd Sisters is still going!
When: 29th & 30th November and 4th–6th December 2017
Venue: Brisbane Arts Theatre, 210 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane, QLD 4000
Time: 8pm Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays; 6.30pm Sunday matinees (29th
November and 6th December)
Tickets: Adults $31, Concession $25, Group 10+ $25, Group 75+ $20, Gold
Members $15, Members $25, Student Rush $10 (10 mins before curtain); the
online purchasing age at http://www.artstheatre.com.au/show/wyrdsisters
appears to be broken, though... so if you can't get through to buy, try
ringing the theatre on (07) 3369 2344 (active during regular business
hours and also during performances).
http://www.artstheatre.com.au/show/wyrdsisters
* WYRD SISTERS IN SUSSEX
The Midhurst Players, an amateur company of 65 years' standing, will
stage their production of Wyrd Sisters in late November through early
December.
When: Wednesday 30th November – Saturday 3rd December 2016
Venue: South Downs Centre Memorial Hall, North Street, Midhurst, West
Sussex GU29 9DH
Time: 7.30pm all shows
Tickets: Adults £10 Under 18's £6, available online at
https://thelittleboxoffice.com/midhurstplayers/book/event/52158
"We now have a fully automated online ticketing service where you can
choose where you want to sit, pay and print off your own tickets. Just
follow the links on the website.
"For telephone bookings please call 01730 815894 between the hours of
10.00 am to 6.00 pm, on weekdays only. Please note that initially we can
only 'reserve' your tickets and there there will be a slight delay
before the seats are allocated as we have to notify the Administrator.
We are only able to reserve tickets for 48 hours so it is important to
ensure that your payment reaches us in good time. All tickets issued by
the Administrator will be printed off and will be ready to pick up on
the night of your performance. We no longer post tickets to your home
address.
"Do remember that the system runs in 'real' time so unless you book
online we cannot guarantee your seats until they have been allocated and
paid for."
http://www.midhurstplayers.co.uk/
5.2 PLAYS IN 2017
* TAMAHER IN CARDIFF (FEBRUARY 2017)
Monstrous Productions carry on from strength to strength! Next up is
their February 2017 production of The Amazing Maurice and his Educated
Rodents. Stay tuned for updates...
When: 22nd–25th February 2017
Venue: The Gate Theatre, Keppoch Street, Roath, Cardiff CF24 3JW
Time: 7.30pm (2.30pm matinee on the 25th)
Tickets: £7 (£5 concession), available from
http://monstrousproductions.fikket.com/
* CARPE JUGULUM IN NOTTINGHAM (MARCH 2017)
The Lace Market Youth Theatre present Carpe Jugulum, "a pastiche of
vampire literature playing with mythic archetypes and featuring a tongue
in cheek reversal of 'vampyre' subculture with young vampires who wear
bright clothes, drink wine and stay up till noon", in March 2017.
When: 22nd–25th March 2017
Venue: The Lace Market Theatre, Halifax Place, Nottingham NG1 1QN
Time: 7.30pm all evening shows; 2.30pm Saturday 25th matinee
Tickets: £11 (£10 concessions), available online at
http://bit.ly/2dIKhod or by phoning 0115 950 7201
https://lacemarkettheatre.co.uk/LaceMarketTheatre.dll/WhatsOn
* MORT IN OREGON (FEBRUARY 2017)
The Majestic Theatre in Corvallis, Oregon, USA will be staging their
production of Mort next February.
"DEATH is always right behind us. But if he were in front of us, and
this were the fantastical Discworld invented by the late Sir Terry
Pratchett, Death would also be a seven-foot skeleton with a black robe
and a scythe. And when Death is in front of young Mort, he also has an
offer of an apprenticeship. In this hilarious overview of life, love,
and death (not in that order), Mort finds himself living in Death’s
abode, but when he finally gets a chance to do the job, his mistakes
cause reality to be sliced in half, with a beautiful princess somewhere
between life and death and not very happy about it. Surrounded by
panicked wizards, arrogant royalty, goofy drunks, and short-order chefs,
Mort and Death must confront their own fears in order to restore order,
and figure out who lives, and who's fired!"
When: 10th, 11th, 12th, 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th February 2017
(performances on the 12th and 19th are matinees)
Venue: The Majestic Theatre, 115 SW 2nd Street, Corvallis, OR 97333
Time: TBA
Tickets: TBA
http://www.majestic.org/
* WYRD SISTERS IN BOLTON, LANCS (MARCH 2017)
Bolton Little Theatre, "a vibrant amateur theatre company run by
members" since 1931, will be staging their production of Wyrd Sisters
next March.
When: 6th–11th March 2017
Venue: Bolton Little Theatre, Hanover Street, Bolton BL1 4TG
Time: 7.30pm
Tickets: £10 (Monday night 3 for 2 special), available at
https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/boltonlittletheatre or
https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/event/EFILHL – group bookings of 10+ (£9)
should be booked through the Box Office. "You can book at Bolton Little
Theatre box office in person or by telephone on Monday night from 7.30
to 9pm and Friday mornings from 10.30 to 12 noon – no extra charge if
paying by cash or cheque and you can book during the run of the plays or
you can book online at boltonlittletheatre.ticketsource.co.uk ...credit
card charges will apply. Tickets can be e-tickets (no charge) mobile
phone ticket (50p) standard post (£1.50)."
http://www.boltonlittletheatre.co.uk/terry-pratchetts-wyrd-sisters/
5.3 REVIEWS
* REVIEW: WYRD SISTERS IN NEWPORT
By Julia Fitzgerald for the South Wales Argus:
"The Newport Playgoers put their twist on a Terry Pratchett classic by
setting out to save the kingdom of Lancre following the death of the
king and fighting the new evil monarch. The witches Granny Weatherwax
(Adele Cordner), Nanny Ogg (Andrea Pyke) and Magrat Garlick (Natty
Niering) take on the challenge and work well together on their mission,
bouncing off one another and using humour to connect with the audience.
The large cast performed well in stunning costumes against creative
scenery, standout performances came from The Fool (Stuart Moss) and Duke
and Lady Felmet (Luke Bowkett and Kate Summers) who brought the villainy
and sadistic behaviour to add spice to the show. The use of a giant film
screen, special effects and magic tricks throughout meant the production
was cleverly executed and enjoyed by all, really creating the illusion
of magical goings on..."
http://bit.ly/2gwI5Bo
* REVIEW: GUARDS! GUARDS! IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA
ARENAarts' sixth Discworld production, reviewed by Gordon The Optom for
the Independent Theatre Association:
"Great fun for the family. There are a couple of dozen scenes, varying
from a castle battlement, several rooms, street scene, zoo etc., each
represented with minimal – but very well presented – scenery and props
(Set construction by Jim Chantry, adorned by scenic artists Kiri Vinsen,
Sheila Wileman and Ashling Townsend, with the cast helping). It was
essential with so many scene changes that the stage team should be well
focused and quick. Stage manager Janet Vinsen with her assistants Callum
Vinsen and Sean Schliwa were magnificent. With an average of 5 – 8
seconds, the stage was transformed each time. Josh Shoebridge and Simon
Walters skilfully operated Simon James' lighting and sound design. It
was obvious that a great deal of thought and precision was put into the
complex plan and operation. Young Footnote (Callum Vinsen), the narrator
of the story, sets the scene, popping in now and again to clarify the
action. Director and multi-tasker, Simon James, has presented this play
in the style of a pantomime, aimed at 9 yrs. and up. It is quite dark in
places, and the script is rich with puns, double-entendres and subtle
jokes. The kids will miss at least half of the humour, but will love the
special effects, excellent costumes (Janet Vinsen and armourer Callum
Vinsen) and dragons. There was a large cast, who were impressive and
worked together with great chemistry. The delivery of the lines, humour
and build-up of tension were all presented most proficiently. The main
actors were superb, but even the ‘bit' players gave it their best. With
so many players on stage, there can easily be pandemonium, with actors
bumping into each other and fighting for exits – this team moved well,
truly professional. Josh Shoebridge and Kiri Vinsen created the
magnificent robotic performers, Errol and other dragons. They really
were ‘alive', practically stealing the scene from the living actors..."
http://www.ita.org.au/2016/11/guards-guards-reviewed-by-gordon-the-optom/
* REVIEW: TAMAHER IN LEEDS
Leeds Children's Theatre's production of Amazing Maurice, reviewed by
Christine Castle for NODA (National Operatic and Dramatic Association):
"The untimely death of Terry Pratchett, one of our best-loved writers,
has made us all realise what a tremendous loss his passing made in
literary circles and beyond. I admire LCT for choosing one of his
children's stories, now adapted for the stage, for their autumn
production, as this is a hefty play by any stretch of the imagination,
especially for younger members. I am pleased to say that the whole cast
in this production gave it one hundred per cent commitment. The
Directors, Jane Curtin and Alex Plygawko, had worked hard on their cast
to bring the story of Maurice, an amazing talking cat and his friendly,
educated (and also talkative!) rodents to life. Within the piece, one
message shone through – never ignore the less well-liked members of your
community (in this case, rats) as they are cleverer than you think! For
the adult audience members, there were many clever references to modern
political life making us nod sagely. The young people in this production
were all extremely talented – they acted well and their diction was, as
always, of the highest calibre. I was particularly impressed with the
costumes, especially the 'rat' headgear - the costume department, in the
tender care of Mavis Heaton, must have worked hard to make very
convincing costumes for all the company. The set was very interesting in
design (in the care of Dan Dainter) and gave the cast plenty of scope
for moving around. Set changes were performed very quickly – maybe a
little too much use of blackouts, which can disjoint the smoothness of
the play, but this is a personal comment. The main character of the
play, Maurice, was played with confidence and worldliness – his rat
buddies had the most wonderful character names – for example, Hamnpork,
Sardines, Donut Enter, to name but a few and each actor lived up to his
or her name with total conviction. Although this play is rather wordy
not one of the actors forgot their lines, which is a good thing, as I
was told LCT do not have a prompt..."
https://www.noda.org.uk/events/reports/the_amazing_maurice_and_his_educated_rodents
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
06) DISCWORLD MEETING GROUPS NEWS: UPDATES AND REMINDERS
The Broken Drummers, "London's Premier Unofficially Official Discworld
Group" (motto "Nil percussio est"), meets next on Monday 5th December
2016 at the Monkey Puzzle, 30 Southwick Street, London, W2 1JQ.
For more information, go to http://brokendrummers.org/ or email
BrokenDrummers at gmail.com or nicholls.helen at yahoo.co.uk
*
Canberra, Australia's Discworld fan group is Drumknott's Irregulars:
"The group is open to all, people from interstate and overseas are
welcome, and our events will not be heavily themed. Come along to dinner
for a chat and good company. We welcome people all all fandoms (and
none) and we would love to see you at one of our events, even if you're
just passing through. Please contact us via Facebook
(_https://www.facebook.com/groups/824987924250161/_) or Google Groups
(_https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/drumknotts-irregulars_) or
join us at our next event."
*
For Facebook users in Fourecks: The Victorian Discworld Klatch is "a
social group for fans of Discworld and Terry Pratchett... run by a
dedicated team who meet monthly and organise events monthly." "If you'd
like to join our events please ask to join the Klatch."
https://www.facebook.com/groups/VictorianDiscworldKlatch
*
"The Gathering of the Loonies (Wincanton chapter)" is a public Facebook
meeting group: "This group, by request of Jo in Bear will continue to be
used for future unofficial (not run by the Emporium) fan Gatherings in
Wincanton. Look here for information." [Editor's note: this is an active
group. If you use Facebook, it may be worth joining!]
https://www.facebook.com/groups/373578522834654/
*
The Pratchett Partisans are a fan group who meet monthly at either
Brisbane or Indooroopilly to "eat, drink and chat about all things
Pratchett. We hold events such as Discworld dinners, games afternoons,
Discworld photo scavenger hunts. We also attend opening night at
Brisbane Arts Theatre's Discworld plays." The Partisans currently have
about 200 members who meet at least twice a month, usually in Brisbane.
For more info about their next meetup, join up at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/pratchettpartisans/ or contact Ula
directly at uwilmott at yahoo.com.au
*
The City of Small Gods is a group for fans in Adelaide and South Australia.
"We have an established Terry Pratchett & Discworld fan group in
Adelaide called The City of Small Gods, which is open to anyone who
would like to come - you don't have to live in Adelaide or even South
Australia, or even be a Discworld fan, but that's mostly where our
events will be held, and we do like discussing Pratchett's works. Our
(semi-) regular meetings are generally held on the last Thursday of the
month at a pub or restaurant in Adelaide. We have dinner at 6.30pm
followed by games until 9pm. The games are usually shorter games like
Pairs, Sushi Go, or Tiny Epic Defenders, with the occasional Werewolf
session, as these are the best sort of games that work in a pub setting.
Every few months, we have a full day's worth of board games at La Scala
Cafe, 169 Unley Rd, Unley in the function room starting at 10am. In
addition, we will occasionally have other events to go and see plays by
Unseen Theatre Company, book discussions, craft, chain maille or
costuming workshops or other fun social activities."
The End of Year Hogswatch Dinner will be held at Caffe Buongiorno,
Mitcham on 15th December 2016. For more info, go to
www.cityofsmallgods.org.au
*
The Broken Vectis Drummers meet next on Thursday 1st December 2016
(probably) from 7.30pm at The Castle pub in Newport, Isle of Wight. For
more info and any queries, contact broken_vectis_drummers at yahoo.co.uk
*
The Wincanton Omnian Temperance Society (WOTS) next meets on Friday 2nd
December 2016 (probably) at Wincanton's famous Bear Inn from 7pm
onwards. "Visitors and drop-ins are always welcome!"
*
The Northern Institute of the Ankh-Morpork and District Society of
Flatalists, a Pratchett fangroup, has been meeting on a regular basis
since 2005 but is now looking to take in some new blood (presumably not
in the non-reformed Uberwald manner). The Flatalists normally meet at
The Narrowboat Pub in Victoria Street, Skipton, North Yorkshire, to
discuss "all things Pratchett" as well as having quizzes and raffles.
Details of future meetings are posted on the Events section of the
Discworld Stamps forum:
http://www.discworldstamps.co.uk/forum/
*
Sydney Drummers (formerly Drummers Downunder) meet next on Monday 5th
December 2016 at 6.30pm (probably) in Sydney at 3 Wise Monkeys, 555
George Street, Sydney,2000. For more information, contact Sue (aka
Granny Weatherwax): kenworthys at yahoo.co.uk
*
The Treacle Mining Corporation, formerly known as Perth Drummers, meets
next on Monday 5th December 2016 (probably) from 5.30pm at Carpe Cafe,
526 Murray Street, Perth, Western Australia. For details follow Perth
Drummers on Twitter @Perth_Drummers or join their Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Perth.Drummers/ – or message Alexandra
Ware directly at <alexandra.ware at gmail.com>
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
07) DISCWORLD CONVENTION NEWS
7.1 AUSDWCON NEWS: DISCWORLD GRAND TOUR UPDATE
A few reminders...
We are also celebrating 10 Years of Australian Discworld Conventions
with a special t-shirt – You don't have to be attending the convention
to get this special t-shirt – we can post it to you within Australia,
New Zealand, the UK or the USA.[2]
https://ausdwcon.org/shop/product/ten-years-t-shirt/ Shipping costs
listed at https://ausdwcon.org/shop/delivery-timescales/
Don't forget that you can buy your tickets for the Discworld Grand Tour
in our shop right now:
https://ausdwcon.org/shop/tickets/
Please keep in mind that early-bird prices finish February 4th 2017. But
wait – did you know there's a way to get the early-bird price without
paying for a full ticket now? Yes, that's right! If you buy a Supporting
membership ($40) before Feb 4th 2017, you will lock yourself in at the
early-bird price, and you can pay the remaining balance (in instalments
or all at once) any time up until July 21 2017!
Buy your supporting membership here:
https://ausdwcon.org/shop/product/supporting-membership/
And read here for information about all membership types:
https://ausdwcon.org/convention/membership/
https://ausdwcon.org/blog/on-your-holiday/
7.2 NADWCON NEWS
The fourth North American Discworld Convention (NADWCON) will take place
from 1st–4th September 2017 in New Orleans – and appropriately, the
theme will be The Genuan Experience!
"The 2017 NADWCon will be organized by RavenQuoth, Inc., a nonprofit
501(c)(3) organization that was responsible for NADWCon 2013, which
raised over $24,000 in charity funds that were split equally between the
Orangutan Foundation UK and Alzheimer's Research UK. The 2017 NADWCon
will be co-chaired by Emily S. Whitten and Richard Atha-Nicholls. Emily
S. Whitten was co-founder of The North American Discworld Convention,
Vice-Chair of NADWCon 2009, and Chair of NADWCon 2011. Richard
Atha-Nicholls was Chair of NADWCon 2013 and is President of RavenQuoth, Inc.
"NADWCon 2017 and RavenQuoth, Inc. will provide further announcements
and details about the 2017 convention in the upcoming months. Further
information will be available at http://nadwcon2017.org."
http://www.nadwcon2017.org/
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
08) DISCWORLD ARTS AND CRAFTS NEWS
8.1 DISCWORLD EMPORIUM NEWS
The Discworld Emporium has an announcement:
"IF YOU GO DOWN TO THE DISCWORLD EMPORIUM TODAY, YOU'RE SURE OF A BIG
SURPRISE!
"The Emporium team is proud to unveil our new website, full of the
glingleglingleglingle of bells, whistles and lots of lovely Discworld
goodies! We've been working hard to improve functionality, navigation
and user experience with our new home, which is fully optimised for all
your mobile clacks devices. With a new look, new features, and new
products we're sure you'll enjoy rummaging around for all your Discworld
merchandise needs & Hogswatch gifts. You'll be able to make wishlists,
purchase vouchers, set restock alerts on out of stock products and much,
much more!
"Being well-read and intellectually gifted clever clogs, we're sure
you'll understand that such a magical website does not get launched
without a few thaumic ramifications here and there. Due to our website
being built with all-new techno-thingies please bear the following in
mind...
* If you previously held an account at our old site, you'll need to
retrieve a new password when you log in, and reset it in your account.
* Our emails and order notifications may end up in your junk box, so
please check there for expected alerts,
...and remember to ADD US TO YOUR ADDRESS BOOK to ensure you don't miss
important correspondence from us
* Orders placed on our old site before 31st October will NOT be visible
on our new site. Please refer to your order confirmation emails which
contain the very same information.
"We hope you enjoy exploring the Emporium and feel right at home
wandering around its nooks and crannies (take a piece of string with
with you, and maybe some crampons. Our site is like a new born kitten;
beautiful, cuddly but finding its feet and occasionally pooping on the
carpet. While are endeavouring to soothe any teething troubles as
quickly as possible, if you encounter any glitches or metaphorical brick
walls during your visit please feel free to CONTACT US
(_http://www.discworldemporium.com/contact-us_) and we'll work it out
together."
...and another announcement:
"There's only seven days left to place your Hogswatch orders with us if
you live outside of Europe and the US! For all our customers who don't
live in the UK, Europe or the USA, we wanted to drop you a note to let
you know that you have just seven days to place your Hogswatch orders
before our cut-off date of the 2nd of December. After this date there's
no guarantee the items will reach you in time for Hogswatch!
"As an official branch of the Ankh-Morpork Post Office we pride
ourselves on offering swift and reliable delivery all over the
Roundworld, but even our postmen deserve a rest over the festive
holiday! For our final posting dates and holiday closure information
please read on! For delivery in time for the Hogfather to make his
rounds, please be sure to order by the recommended dates below":The
Midhurst Players, an amateur company of 65 years' standing, will stage
their production of Wyrd Sisters in late November through early December.
Thursday 1st December
Africa, Middle East
Tuesday 6th December
Cyprus, Asia, Eastern Europe (except Czech Republic, Poland and
Slovakia), Far East (including Japan), Caribbean, Central & South America
Thursday 8th December
Greece, Australia, New Zealand
Tuesday 13th December
Western Europe (Except Greece), Ireland, Czech Republic, Poland,
Slovakia, Canada, USA
Thursday 15th December
United Kingdom
"ORDERS WILL CEASE SHIPPING FROM THURSDAY 15TH. YOU ARE WELCOME TO PLACE
ORDERS OVER THE FESTIVE PERIOD, BUT PLEASE NOTE THAT THEY WILL NOT SHIP
UNTIL WE REOPEN ON FRIDAY 6TH JANUARY. THE EMPORIUM SHOP IN WINCANTON
WILL BE CLOSED FROM THURSDAY 22ND DEC – FRIDAY 6TH JANUARY. Please note
that communication will be limited at this time, as we'll likely be
pissed as farts. Refund or replacement requests made during our closure
will be processed on our return."
https://www.discworldemporium.com/content/11-hogswatch-delivery-holiday-closures
...and on to the best offer of the month...
*Rat onna stick plushy!
Treat yourself to an icon of Ankh-Morpork street cuisine – with ketchup
& no green wobbly bits!! Fresh from Gimlet's Hole Food Delicatessen,
this favourite among discerning dwarfs it is made from 100% free-range &
locally sourced ingredients (aka plush!) – an ideal addition to any
Hogswatch feast or stocking!
At the Discworld Emporium, we pride ourselves on producing things of
great beauty, craftsmanship and cunning. We also pride ourselves on
making great dead rats with sticks up their bums!
Ankh-Morpork is a melting pot of vibrant and divers dining experiences,
but for a true taste of Ankh-Morpork a visit to Gimlet's for a slice of
humble rodent is not to be missed! Finally that most famous of snacks,
the rat-onna-stick is available for Discworld fans to savour at home!
This gluten-free, low-fat treat is also surprisingly suitable for
vegetarians and features finely embroidered ketchup, fully posable tail
and lovingly executed griddle marks. Our plush Rat-onna-Stick is
possibly the BEST plush Rat-onna-Stick ever produced in any known
multiverse.
"If you buy only ONE food-based-dead-rat-with-a-stick-up-its-bum plush
item this year, make it this one." – creators and perpetrators of crimes
against cuddly toys, Messors Ian Mitchell and Bernard Pearson.
The Rat-onna-stick plushy measures 23cm nose to end of stick and is
priced at £ 13.50. For more information, and to order, go to:
https://www.discworldemporium.com/discworld-plushies/332-rat-onna-stick
...and stamps, of course...
* Introducing our limited edition Hogswatch stamps & souvenirs!
"For this year's designs, we asked Discworld artist David Wyatt to
create a special festive version of the cityscape he illustrated for the
Discworld Emporium's website homepage – and the result is a stunning
collection of stamps & ephemera to get us into the festive spirit! The
Hogswatch 50p stamps are available on a traditional First Day Cover, as
a limited edition minisheet featuring a triptych of stamps set inside
David's festive scene, and in a special edition 'Little Brown Envelope'
– a lucky dip assortment of Discworld stamps!"
https://www.discworldemporium.com/39-new-stamps
"This year we're rolling our super-limited Hogswatch and Seasonal LBEs
into one festive bonanza of an edition! The Happy Hogswatch LBE will be
available for the Hogswatch season until December 25th, and is packed
full of the sports of a super-limited edition but features MORE prizes,
AND the free stamp of a standard seasonal LBE! Each LBE contains one of
three Hogswatch 50p stamps, exclusive to this issue, along with a free
Hogfather Penny stamp as a gift from us! The Hogfather Penny is also
available to collect as a whole sheet of stamps for collection or
application to your Hogswatch correspondence! Lucky LBEs contain prize
tickets for sport First Day Covers (featuring sport variants of the
Hogswatch 50p), and exclusive sets of 3 whole stamp Sheets. Plus TWO of
the most coveted stamps of them all – the Temple of Small Gods Blue
Triangle Sports – are waiting to be found in this festive bonanza along
with Clacks-o-grams, dead letter labels and sports!"
https://www.discworldemporium.com/little-brown-envelopes/336-hogswatch-lbe
https://www.discworldemporium.com/new-stamps/335-hogfather-penny
http://www.discworldemporium.com/
8.2 DISCWORLD.COM NEWS
"A Top Ten of our Most Popular Products of 2016"
1. The Terry Pratchett Memorial Pin
Without doubt, our most popular product of 2016. Produced to celebrate
the life of Sir Terry, this pin features a sprig of lilac – a symbol of
Discworld remembrance immortalised in Night Watch.
http://discworld.com/products/collectables/terry-s-memorial-pin/
2. Dried Frog Pills
If you didn't need them before, surely after all this talk of Hogswatch,
you most definitely will! Our range of Discworld confectionary has grown
this year; you can now achieve sanity with UU Dried Frog Pills, whimsy
and giggles with Brother Auguste's Happy Pills and er, a swift
inhumation with Lord Downey's Esteemed Humbugs.
Disclaimer: Whilst these products are real, we can't be 100% sure as to
their side-effects.
http://discworld.com/products/gimlets-kitchen/dried-frog-pills/
3. The Discworld Colouring Book
Our best-selling book of the year, the Discworld Colouring Book, not
only brings the adult colouring book phenomenon to Discworld, but is
unique in the fact that Discworld artist - Paul Kidby himself -
re-worked every single piece of artwork into stunning line-drawing
versions of the originals. Also available in a glorious Artist's Edition.
http://discworld.com/products/colouring-books
4. Signed Prints
A perennial favourite with fans the world over, our range of prints were
all hand-signed by Sir Terry. Each one is numbered and signed but be
quick as numbers are declining rapidly. Non Timetis Messor and The Map
of Lancre are down to the last few. Grab something special before it's
too late.
http://discworld.com/products/colour-prints
5. Terry's Memorial Tote Bag
Another fan-favourite from Terry's Memorial, this practical tote bag is
a great way to remember Terry and carry all your Discworld goodies at
the same time.
http://discworld.com/products/tote-bags
6. The Witch's Vacuum Cleaner
Available in both a standard edition and beautiful slipcase, this is the
second volume of Sir Terry's short stories. Bringing together fourteen
of Terry's earliest stories, these entertaining tales show the seeds of
ideas which Terry went on to develop in his later writing, making this a
fascinating addition to your collection.
http://discworld.com/products/books/the-witchs-vacuum-cleaner/
http://discworld.com/products/books/witchs-vacuum-cleaner-collectors-edition-slipcase/
7. In Ancient Times... Tea Towel
This Christmas, even as you fight to keep the cat away from the turkey,
you can be reminded of a snippet of Terry's feline-inspired wisdom.
These high-quality UK-made tea towels are the purrrfect thing to help
with all that extra washing up.
http://discworld.com/products/gimlets-kitchen/cats-tea-towel
8. The Discworld Convention Coin
Originally produced as a memento to the lucky people who managed to
secure tickets to this year's Discworld Convention, the remaining number
are available for sale, but do be quick as we're down to the last few!
This striking coin features Terry's silhouette on one side and a
beautifully embossed version of Paul Kidby's classic Under an Eldritch
Sky artwork on the reverse.
http://discworld.com/products/limited-time-only/discworld-convention-2016-collectable-coin
9. Terry Pratchett postcards
Commissioned for the Terry Pratchett Memorial in April, these beautiful
postcards were subsequently made available to all our customers. They
all feature images of Terry including artwork by Josh Kirby and Paul Kidby.
http://discworld.com/products/postcards
10. Dark Side of the Turtle T-shirt
Released for this year's Band With Rocks In-spired UK Discworld
Convention, this design was so well received, it's earned a place in our
T-shirt hall of fame! Rock on!
http://discworld.com/products/bags-clothing/dark-side-turtle-t-shirt/
...and your Editor's pick of the lot – beautiful Discworld notebooks!
All notebooks are hardbacks, all are A5 size with lined pages, and all
are priced at £15 each. A number to choose from:
Assassins' Guild Notebook, "embossed with the coat of arms of the
Assassins' Guild. The notebook comes complete with a set of Assassins'
Guild stickers:"
http://discworld.com/products/notebooks/assassins-guild-notebook/
Unseen University Notebook, "embossed with the coat of arms of Unseen
University. The notebook comes complete with a set of suitably simian UU
stickers":
http://discworld.com/products/notebooks/unseen-university-notebook/
Seamstresses Guild Notebook, "embossed with the coat of arms of the
Seamstresses' Guild. The notebook comes complete with a set of
Seamstresses' Guild stickers":
http://discworld.com/products/notebooks/seamstresses-guild-notebook/
Death Notebook, "embossed with the seal of Death, and bearing his motto
– 'Non Timetis Messor'. The notebook comes complete with a set of Death
stickers":
http://discworld.com/products/convention-launches/death-notebook/
Granny Weatherwax Notebook, "embossed with the hat of Granny Weatherwax,
and bearing the legend of her famous sign – 'I Ate'nt Dead'. The
notebook comes complete with a set of Witches stickers":
http://discworld.com/products/convention-launches/granny-weatherwax-notebook/
The City Watch Notebook, "embossed with the seal of the Ankh-Morpork
City Watch, and bearing their motto – 'Fabricati Diem Pvnc'. The
notebook comes complete with a set of City Watch stickers":
http://discworld.com/products/convention-launches/the-watch-notebook/
...and the 2017 Discworld Calendar:
"The Discworld calendar dates are extensive, exhaustively researched,
and include all major real-time calendrical data for Great Britain,
Eire, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA – as well, of course,
as notable Discworld dates. This year's calendar features a nostalgic
look at the late Josh Kirby's iconic covers, featuring a selection from
the earliest Discworld novels."
The 2017 Discworld Calendar is priced at £15. For more information, and
to order, go to:
http://discworld.com/products/calendar/discworld-calendar-2017/
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
09) AROUND THE BLOGOSPHERE
Blogger reuoq is back with a review of The Long Cosmos:
"This picks the characters up as old men – the character Joshua Valiente
is now in his sixties or seventies, and goes off for a final trip
through the Long Earth, that strange multiverse introduced in the
previous books in the series. He's very similar to the authors' ages
now, and they wrote this very successfully, I thought. He gets trapped
somewhere when he gets injured, and is taken care of by a troll, one of
the other species of hominids that can step from world to world. So
where The Long Utopia, the fourth book, was about Valiente's family
history, and the history of the Long Earth by extension, this book
explores the other species of the Long Earth, including the trolls, and
what they call “elves”, introduced in the first book and almost
forgotten since then. The trolls are depicted as a gorilla on the front
cover, which I don't think is accurate – it should be more like Homo
erectus, or like neanderthals, from the descriptions in the book. They
can also communicate with the human characters using a kind of
translator microphone thing, briefly mentioned a few books ago, although
somehow humans and trolls can't truly learn each other's language – this
is hand-waved away a few times by saying the grammar doesn't match
properly. I liked this look into trolls – they were always elusive
before, and even disappeared completely during one of the stories.
"Not to deliberately spoil anything, but the book ends with a very
grandiose cosmic tying together of loose threads, with a philosophical
justification for the Long Earth that I didn't buy completely. It's at
this point that I start to tease out Baxter's style from Pratchett's,
which I found difficult to do in the first book, but having now read two
of Baxter's books – Proxima and its sequel Ultima, which I've yet to
review – these both have similar themes, exploring the nature of the
multiverse with slightly far-fetched explanations. Despite this, I was
overall satisfied with the book's conclusion..."
https://reuoq.com/2016/10/25/book-109-the-long-cosmos-2016/
The Literary Gamer, who believes that being well-read and having vast
gaming-fu need not be contradictory, offers thoughts on Mort:
"This book marks the first time that Death has been the center of
attention throughout the entire book. In Discworld, Death is not a
malicious evil, but rather a guy just doing his job. However, he also
has a lot of pride in his job and does his best at it. These aspects
make him a lot more relatable than other versions of the force of
nature. I've always had a slight interest in the world building and
mechanics of fantasy settings, so I was happy to see just how Death goes
about his job. He's not present for every single person's death, just
when the event is important (i.e. natural disasters, massacres, etc.) or
with people who think they're important. Such individuals are usually
aristocrats, monarchs, other politicians, and wizards and witches. I
like to think he personally collects aristocrats and monarchs just to
prevent them from throwing temper tantrums... This book has one of those
premises that could either be extremely entertaining or just fall flat
on its face. Since it was put in the hands of Terry Pratchett, we
fortunately have the former... Mort's behavior also subverted my
expectations. Typically a normal human turned into the embodiment of
death has one of two reactions. The first is that they go mad with power
striking down anyone that makes them even slightly angry. The second is
that they resist the job with everything they have genuinely believing
that the world would be better if no one ever died. Mort however does
neither. He doesn't' revel in the killing like a psychopath. Death
himself said that if Mort did that, then the boy would be fired and
Death would find someone else. At the same time, Mort takes the time to
be compassionate towards the souls that he collects. There was a tender
scene where Mort sits down with an old woman while they wait for her
hourglass to run out. It's a touching scene that really made me like
Mort both as a character and as a potential Death..."
https://literarygamerblog.wordpress.com/2016/10/31/mort/
Blogger crosejack has mixed feelings – mostly good – about Raising Steam:
"I was thrilled to find Moist von Lipwig was a prominent character in
Raising Steam. But reading this book makes me very sad because it's not
up to the standard of Pratchett's usual writing style. It was published
in 2013, so I'm assuming Pratchett wrote it while he was suffering from
Alzheimer's, and maybe he didn't have the time to do one more editorial
pass-through. It reads like a draft. The story structure is not as tight
as his earlier books- especially Going Postal. In his earlier books,
there's foreshadowing and a fleshing out of the villains, and that's
lacking in this book. On the other hand, I think this story reveals more
about the relationship between Moist and Adora Belle because of the
incomplete structure. I get the sense that we are able to peek into
their private conversations and if Pratchett had done another editing
round, he would have determined those moments too intimate for us
voyeurs. The flirtation between Moist and Adora Belle is what made Going
Postal seem like a very new story in a very established world. I can't
think of another moment where Pratchett actually allows the reader into
the head of a character at that point in the relationship..."
https://crosejack.wordpress.com/2016/11/10/the-writers-process/
Blogger Jeroen muses on Night Watch:
"I could never really pin down Vimes as a character (but neither could
Ankh-Morpork's Assassination Guild), but in this story he shows what a
good down-to-earth guy he is. He's a watchman with street smarts, but
he's never on the streets anymore and this worries him. But then a
magical accident happens and he is flung back in time to the days of his
first job as a watchman, and he's forced to tackle the streets if he
wants to save the future that he just came from. But he wasn't that fond
of that future before he accidentally left it, so this is where (or
when) he has to make a choice.
"I'm not too fond of time travel shenanigans. In the Discworld universe,
however, that means we meet Lu-Tze the History Monk, one of Pratchett's
finest creations. And that's not all. Vimes's trip back in time shows us
a lot of Ankh-Morporkian history and especially about the watch and the
early days of Vimes, Colon and human-like thing known as Nobbs. Another
reason why you can't just dive into this book without being familiar
with the watchmen... A general trend in Discworld is that in the later
books the number of quick jokes and puns in the text goes down, while
Pratchett's skill in storytelling goes up. Night Watch is a typical
latter-day entry in that the story is a bit more serious, complex and
heartfelt and not so much about a concentrated bombardment of jokes. And
Pratchett transformed through the years into a first-class storyteller.
He always had an amazing command of the English language, but now that
he couples it to a deeper exploration of character and a well-plotted
storyline, we've got a really cracking good book..."
https://jeroenthoughts.wordpress.com/2016/11/14/terry-pratchett-night-watch-2002/
Blogger JM Williams this time offers a three-part examination of Thud!,
concentrating on certain memorable scenes:
"I'm sure that I mentioned many times before how much of a Terry
Pratchett fan I am. The man was a master of world-building, in
particular, deep and resonate characters. Though he includes humor in is
work, much more in earlier works, he does not rely solely on humor and
eccentricity to keep readers hooked like Douglas Adams (not that there
is anything wrong with that, I love Adams, too). The characters are what
keep readers like myself coming back for more, and Pratchett's best
characters are those in the City Watch series of books. His watchmen
(and women) feel real, with honest reactions to the strangeness of the
world... Pratchett's books are more than just humor and adventure, there
is a subtle philosophy to it as well. This is best embodied in the lead
character of the Watch novels, Sam Vimes. The character represents
authority in a world shifting from authoritarianism to a sort of
republicanism; Vimes often finds himself on the side of the latter..."
"One scene that stood out to me as representative of Pratchett's humor
and brilliant characters was the scene in Thud! where the main female
cast goes bar hopping. Strangely, I often find myself drawn to
Pratchett's female characters. Being a male writer, I am often concerned
with the portrayal of my female characters, where they ring true and
honest. Writing from perspectives you have no experience with seems to
be a gamble. It is one that Pratchett often wins... This whole scene is
about characters, and here we start to see how varied they can be. We
get a impression of the main girls – Angua and Cheery – the reputation
of Nobby (the ladies of the Watch assume him to be a lecherous hound,
but we are given a different perspective here), and we start to unravel
the new character Tawnee. All delivered with humor and great care..."
"In all, it's turning out to be a great book. Pratchett is pushing
gender a bit more than usual in this work, especially with the girls at
the bar. He clearly making a statement about the fluidity of identity
and the weakness of generalizations and stereotypes, here and throughout
the book. I think people these days might benefit by giving the decade
old book a go..."
https://jmwwriting.wordpress.com/2016/11/23/pratchetts-thud-part-1-a-medley-of-characters/
https://jmwwriting.wordpress.com/2016/11/23/pratchetts-thud-part-2-the-ladies-night-out-scene/
https://jmwwriting.wordpress.com/2016/11/24/pratchetts-thud-part-3-the-aftermath/
...whereas the almost always irritating blogger Vacuous Wastrel first
wibbles on for some 2,000 words(!) in pursuit of overly
faux-intellectual overthinking, before finally getting to the meat of
"hang on, this book rocks!":
"Oh, how good it was to be back with Vimes and Angua, and Carrot and
Colon and Nobby and Detritus, and Vetinari and Ridcully (Ridcully!
Pratchett never gave us enough Ridcully…) and all the others! Sure, the
ending doesn't really work, but for most of the novel we get plenty of
tension and excitement, and plenty of mystery and intriguing puzzlement.
The exploration of dwarven culture may be a little suspect, but it's
meaty, much meatier than anything we were given in recent volumes. And
dear lord, it's just funny. Thud! is packed with a continual supply of
beautiful lines, puns, wit, slapstick, deadpans, irony, absurd
situations… it's almost constantly smile-inducing and at times it's
laugh-out-loud. This novel is so much better than I remember it being,
because it is just so much *fun*. All you have to do is: don't think
that this is an attempt to continue the story. Think: the story is over.
This is an epilogue to the story, just a little snippet of Our Heroes
going about their daily lives and jobs. Is it sort of pointless, sort of
repetitive? Yes! It makes a terrible Next Chapter. But that's not what
it is. This isn't a pivotal episode – this is one of those
interchangeable but enjoyable episodes of a longrunning series, one of
the ones that isn't too memorable but where you spend the time with a
smile on your face because you're watching characters you love do the
things you love them to do (or, in the case of Angua, the things it's
just funny to watch her have to go through). You don't want the whole
series to be like this, but as a one-off episode taking time off from
the larger arc, it's great..."
https://vacuouswastrel.wordpress.com/2016/11/11/thud-by-terry-pratchett/
...and gives the same treatment to Going Postal:
"The familiarity, the lack of novelty, the superficiality, the indulgent
flabbiness… the problems are all here. They may not have suddenly sprung
up here, but they're here very clearly to be seen. And yet… I enjoyed
this book. This book was fun. The characters may not have been great,
but they were likeable, engaging. The villain, Reacher Gilt, is actually
one of Pratchett's best villains (that's not saying much), though sadly
underused. I'm not exactly happy with such an uncomplicated parody of
Atlas Shrugged (not that I want to protect Rand – on the contrary – it's
just that it feels a little lazy), but that does result in a spark of
authorial passion that helps provide a little energy and some good
barbs. It's not hilarious, but there are some solid, good jokes. The
plot isn't much, but it mostly works. There are a couple of really great
set-piece scenes. It's more accessible than some of his books, both in
style and in content, and it does feel as though it's partly written for
newcomers and a broad audience, but at the same time there are callbacks
for the long-time fans, and little gems of wit and erudition and
cleverness buried near the surface here and there. And Pratchett in 2004
was just such a good writer. I know, I've said this in several of the
reviews, but by now he was really polished. He's able to transition on a
dime from witticism to slapstick comedy, to passages of, honestly,
poetry (see the quote at the head of this review), and he always seems
in control of his tone, his rhythm, his melody. Sure, he may go in
directions – broad in humour perhaps, or sentimental in prose poetry –
that some readers may not like, but he does so intentionally..."
https://vacuouswastrel.wordpress.com/2016/11/01/going-postal-by-terry-pratchett/
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
10) IMAGES OF THE MONTH
Paul Kidby working on his exquisitely beautiful bust of Sir Pterry (see
item 3.1): https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CxN4aL9XgAAvXZr.jpg
A small but perfectly formed iconograph of Pamela Munt as Granny
Weatherwax and Tony Cockington as Count de Magpyr in Unseen Theatre's
recent production of Carpe Jugulum:
http://bit.ly/2ftEO1T
Rat-onna-stick! (see item 8.1):
https://www.discworldemporium.com/844-large_default/rat-onna-stick.jpg
Some familiar-looking designs for the forthcoming Josh Kirby smartphone
covers: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CxuWMA1UkAA0lgm.jpg
Rincewind, Twoflower and the Luggage at the recent Supanova fan
convention in Sydney, as posted by the Nullas Anxietas gang on Twitter:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CxlwQ5jVIAALz2E.jpg
Josh Kirby's unused cover for the Death Trilogy:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CySZW1aW8AAmwcv.jpg
The cast of Brisbane Arts Theatre's current production of Guards!
Guards!: http://bit.ly/2gx9mA4
...and their beautifully rendered Errol: http://bit.ly/2fCRKls
Death in the Land of Fog – and Mort and Lezek, in Paeroa Little
Theatre's recent production: http://bit.ly/2gm4yyd
...and two of Melbourne Zoo's gorgeous orangutans, as photographed by
Jack Wintle (and who needs an excuse, ever, for iconographs of
orangutans?): https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CyJL03lWQAAoLmd.jpg:large
...and finally, a famous first meeting,b 25 years ago:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CxTP8V2XUAAU8Ao.jpg
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
11) CLOSE
If you're the sort of person who 1) has a touchscreen mobile and 2)
likes unusual phone covers, then you might wish to hie yourself to the
Josh Kirby Art site, where you can buy Kirby's Discworld art turned into
covers for iPhone, Samsung, HTC, LG, Google and Sony phones. Go to
http://www.joshkirbyart.com/ and click on the Store button – at which
point you'll be taken to a page that offers UK/Europe or USA options,
presumably because the Kirby estate's web designer doesn't think
anywhere else exists on Roundworld. Click on one of them and you will
eventually find the page that offers the phone covers... a clear case of
patience rewarded?
And that's the lot for November. There may or may not be a December
issue (and if not, all will be back to normal in January), so I'll take
this opportunity to wish all of you a very happy Hogswatch!
– Annie Mac
The mirror version of this issue can be viewed at
http://wossname.dreamwidth.org/43716.html
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
The End. If you have any questions or requests, write: wossname-owner
(at) pearwood (dot) info
More information about the Wossname
mailing list