Okay, okay, that’s only half a cry for help. I am a librarian1, after all; If I can’t find my own reads, how can I help others? Beyond making for a snappy title, though, it really is a call for suggestions. I’ve been working through the 41 Discworld books for… over a year now? I’ve taken breaks and read other things in between. Still, eventually, I dive back in and binge five or six in a row, mainly reading in publication order. As of writing this I haven’t quite finished but I’ve only got a few books left. Snuff, locking up Vimes’ story, Raising Steam, Most Von Lipwig’s final con, and The Shepherd’s Crown putting the main Discworld novels out to pasture. I wish there had been one more Death/Susan book after Thief of Time, but, I said goodbye to them as main characters months ago. As I’ve been reading digitally, I’m also missing out on Eric and The Last Hero, the two illustrated novels that I can’t find in library databases, so there’s still some Rincewind and Cohen the Barbarian stories I could seek out. If all these character names mean nothing to you, read on. If they do, and you miss them, please tell me in the comments what you’ve been reading to fill that hole.
I’ve written about Pratchett before2 and will again, as he’s a fantastically funny author who uses that humour to provide insight into our own world. His creation, the Discworld, a flat planet carried through space on the back of four elephants standing on the back of a gigantic turtle, is going to be hard to leave behind. It’s populated with wizards, witches, a benevolent(?)3 tyrant, vampires, werewolves, dwarfs, trolls, police, humans, gods, Death, an orangutan, and so many more. It’s a fantasy kitchen sink by design, as the earlier novels started out by poking fun at and deconstructing the fantasy genre. As the series progressed, Pratchett turned his wit to the real world, poking fun at and deconstructing human society. His books are so beloved, and his fans fervent5 enough to immortalize his name in the fabric of the internet, inspired by Going Postal. I would add the plugin to this humble blog, but I’m not sure my fellow authors would get it. We all have distinct reading tastes, after all.
Speaking of those reading tastes, I’ve been researching to find what I should read next. One name that comes up often from other Discworld fans is Jasper Fforde, an author I’ve been meaning to get around to reading for a while now. Why the comparisons? Well, for one, he’s supposedly wickedly funny. For two, like Pratchett’s witches sequence in particular, he likes to play with stories, examining what gets told and what gets left out. Another bonus for me? His Thursday Next novels play with established literature and characters, a theme I adore in my fantasy. I have a problem, though, we don’t have the first book, The Eyre Affair, at VPL so I think it’s time I suggest a title.
I’m also seeing recommendations to check out K.J. Parker, the pen name of author Tom Holt. Reading the description for Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City gives me some Moist Von Lipwig vibes, and I’m always a fan of a loveable con artist. It isn’t easy to replace a series with a single book, though, so The Two of Swords trilogy has also caught my interest. The description doesn’t sound terribly droll but I can still enjoy a good high-fantasy with only a dash of comedy. Novelist does list witty and snarky as appeal factors, though. I shall have to see if Parker can live up to Sir PTerry in that regard.
Of course, I could spend more time reading Neil Gaiman as well. I’ve already praised Good Omens in this blog, and I read and enjoyed American Gods… too long ago. That book resulted in my first accidental all-nighter6, yet I haven’t explored too much more of Gaiman’s catalogue. I devoured The Ocean at the End of the Lane when I led a book club for it and were it a longer book it definitely would have been the cause of another all-nighter. Magical realism and way more than a touch of darkness grabbed hold and wouldn’t let go in that one. As for his other writing, I enjoy graphic novels, so I could try The Sandman or Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Secret House of the Night of Dread Desire. There’s also Stardust, the movie is a good time, so maybe it’s time for me to check out the source material.
I’m sure there’s a ton more authors out there I could be reading or recommending here, but a blog post can only be so long before it becomes an essay, so I’ll stop here. If you have any recommendations for what to read before I start going through Pratchett Withdrawal Syndrome, leave a comment and let me know! There will likely be a follow-up post to this one sometime in the future, and I’d love to be able to credit some of our readers when I get to it.
1 By education. Please rally for more library funding dear readers!
2 And this post makes it 4/7 mentioning him, for those who enjoy stats.
3 His city works and the people think he’s worse than he is, but there are executions, a city-sanctioned thieves guild4, and even the fans can’t decide if he’s an anti-hero or anti-villain. He’s also so good at what he does that there’s a trope named for him.
4 Because if there’s going to be crime anyway it should be organized
5 And geeky
6 If you haven’t had this happen you haven’t found the right book yet. Or you have a healthier sleep schedule than I do.