It’s kind of a mixed blessing that Wyrd Sisters was up next in the Discworld re-read. On one hand, it’s the first of the Discworld books that I felt like I would wholeheartedly recommend as a starting place for someone new, so it was welcome reading. On the other, I read it in the hospital while recovering from the birth of our second child by C-section (who is currently asleep across my left arm and lap as I type on my netbook perched on my knees), which means I was not in any state to note anything useful about it other than “hey, that was good.”
(I had thought that I also read a Witches book, Lords and Ladies, when in the hospital after our first child, but on checking the relevant entry, I only brought it with, and did not re-read until we were home.)
In a sign that I am still not fully adjusted, I’d completely forgotten that I re-read Pyramids, the next book in the series, also relatively recently, until I checked the index looking for the link above. Beyond what I said there, what I noticed this time is the extent to which Pyramids is a precursor to Small Gods, what with the gods walking around and the parody of classical Greece—I think some of the philosopher jokes may even reappear. Which is interesting from a series-development perspective, but unfortunately Pyramids does not do well by the comparison.
Interesting that you would describe this one as the first you would recommend in series order to a “newbie,” since I recently resolved to give Pratchett another try…but being a residual completist, I actually started with the Color of Magic..
And like I said, that’s where I started too, but for someone not a completist . . .
What did you think?
If I ever get past the truly amazing bottleneck that has developed in my well-intentioned-but-thus-far-poorly-executed noveau book log-thingy, I will tell you at greater length…but, “better than expected” is probably the best encapsulation that I can give. My taste/tolerance for parodic shenanigans is pretty low, and Rincewind and whassisname (the tourist guy) were pretty doofy, but Pratchett has a fairly deft touch and there were some genuinely fun parts, so.