The oldest – and possibly least useful – piece of writing advice is to write what you know about. Most authors of Speculative Fiction (that’s Science Fiction and Fantasy under one roof) have chosen to ignore that and taken on a whole shelf of arcane and niche knowledge in order to cultivate their readership. By … Continue reading The Great Discworld Retrospective No. 22: The Last Continent
Tag: Literature
The Great Discworld Retrospective No. 21: Jingo
The start of Jingo features the introduction of the magical island of Leshp which makes a reappearance after being submerged for what appears to be most of recorded history and then, fairly predictably, becomes a pawn in the territorial disputes of the countries around the Circle Sea, chiefly the city of Ankh-Morpork and the country … Continue reading The Great Discworld Retrospective No. 21: Jingo
The Great Discworld Retrospective No. 19: Feet Of Clay
This 19th Discworld novel begins with some golems building a king for themselves and Commander Vimes creating a coat of arms for himself, as befits a man who has recently married into the aristocracy. It gets progressively less normal after that. Feet Of clay is the 19th Discworld novel and the third Watch novel. As … Continue reading The Great Discworld Retrospective No. 19: Feet Of Clay
A Series Ian Likes: Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
Earthsea is an archipelago made up of dozens of islands. The inhabitants enjoy a mostly quiet, but sometimes hard, life They also enjoy a healthy respect for the wizards who live among them. One of those wizards is Sparrowhawk, who rose from humble beginnings on the island of Gont, before travelling to Roke and learning … Continue reading A Series Ian Likes: Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Great Discworld Retrospective No. 17: Interesting Times
When we last saw Rincewind, he was walking nonchalantly, calmly and fast out of the Disc’s version of Hell, accompanied by Eric, the titular demonologist of that adventure. Since then he has been living on a tropical island leading a dull and uneventful life where his only concern is where his next meal is going … Continue reading The Great Discworld Retrospective No. 17: Interesting Times
The Great Discworld Retrospective No. 16: Soul Music
After exploring some of the big issues of life in the last few books, Soul Music marked a bit of a return to the Pratchett of old, with loads of puns, slapstick and a menace from beyond-the-universe-we-know. It’s the story of Imp y Celyn, bard. Having had an argument with his father on the nature … Continue reading The Great Discworld Retrospective No. 16: Soul Music
The Great Discworld Retrospective No. 14: Lords And Ladies
After the colossal success of Small Gods, you might think that Terry Pratchett might have wanted to try out some other new ideas. However, given the way that publishing works, any ramifications from a successful novel weren’t likely to be felt for a couple of books down the track, what we got next was a … Continue reading The Great Discworld Retrospective No. 14: Lords And Ladies
The Great Discworld Retrospective No. 13: Small Gods
There’s a phenomenon known as “capturing lightning in a bottle” that describes the sensation of being in a particular place at precisely the right time to take advantage of a situation that nobody really knew existed before. In 1992, there was a bit of a renaissance for speculative fiction that we hadn’t seen since the … Continue reading The Great Discworld Retrospective No. 13: Small Gods
The Great Discworld Retrospective No. 12: Witches Abroad
When we last left the Witches, all the way back in Wyrd Sisters, things seemed to have settled down a little bit in the mountainous kingdom of Lancre. There was a new king who seemed prepared to give witches the respect they deserved, the coven of Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick appeared to … Continue reading The Great Discworld Retrospective No. 12: Witches Abroad
The Great Discworld Retrospective No. 11: Reaper Man
As I said in the last entry in this series, it was more than a year before I was able to read a new Discworld novel after buying the hardback of Moving Pictures. Reaper Man, the eleventh book in the series, was what I was waiting for. But in paperback this time. At first glance, … Continue reading The Great Discworld Retrospective No. 11: Reaper Man
Stuff Ian Likes 