(no subject)
Jun. 24th, 2013 08:58 pmWeek of June 17
Books:
* I Shall Wear Midnight, Terry Pratchett (A conversation with![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
skygiant made me realize that I was a bit behind on the newest Discworld books, so I decided to catch up. I love the Tiffany Aching books. The assertion in the lists of Pratchett's works that they are for "younger readers" is hilarious, because the only thing young about them is their protagonist. They deal with the same issues that come up in the Discworld series proper, with the same complexity and refusal to paint the world as black and white. That's one of the appeals of Pratchett; he never writes down to his audience, and he knows damn well that younger people can handle more than adults tend to think they can.)
* Snuff, Terry Pratchett (The most recent Discworld book, and a Watch book to boot. The Watch books are my favorite. The gist of my conversation withskygiant was that I felt like the series had begun a slow but perceptible decline since Night Watch, and that maybe it was getting on time for it to call it a day. Wellllll maybe I spoke too soon. Snuff is a great book. It doesn't cover any new territory - we've done the "oh look this species with its unexpectedly complex society is being oppressed and it is a parallel to racism" story half a dozen times already - but it is a reminder of Pratchett's eye for detail and worldbuilding, as well as his ability to create new characters and make you interested in them within half a page of their introduction. There are things in it that I'm still not excited about [is it really necessary to have Vetinari - VETINARI - provide comic relief?], but I still enjoyed it more than I've enjoyed a new Discworld book in a long, long time.)
* Stories from the anthology My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me (Not bothering to list the stories. It's an anthology of modern takes on fairy tales, the quality of which varies wildly - some of the stories are good and engaging, and some of them are exactly the flowery, artsy crap you'd expect. Meh.)
Television:
Hannibal 1x13, "Savoreaux" (( spoiler ))
Books:
* I Shall Wear Midnight, Terry Pratchett (A conversation with
skygiant made me realize that I was a bit behind on the newest Discworld books, so I decided to catch up. I love the Tiffany Aching books. The assertion in the lists of Pratchett's works that they are for "younger readers" is hilarious, because the only thing young about them is their protagonist. They deal with the same issues that come up in the Discworld series proper, with the same complexity and refusal to paint the world as black and white. That's one of the appeals of Pratchett; he never writes down to his audience, and he knows damn well that younger people can handle more than adults tend to think they can.)* Snuff, Terry Pratchett (The most recent Discworld book, and a Watch book to boot. The Watch books are my favorite. The gist of my conversation with
skygiant was that I felt like the series had begun a slow but perceptible decline since Night Watch, and that maybe it was getting on time for it to call it a day. Wellllll maybe I spoke too soon. Snuff is a great book. It doesn't cover any new territory - we've done the "oh look this species with its unexpectedly complex society is being oppressed and it is a parallel to racism" story half a dozen times already - but it is a reminder of Pratchett's eye for detail and worldbuilding, as well as his ability to create new characters and make you interested in them within half a page of their introduction. There are things in it that I'm still not excited about [is it really necessary to have Vetinari - VETINARI - provide comic relief?], but I still enjoyed it more than I've enjoyed a new Discworld book in a long, long time.)* Stories from the anthology My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me (Not bothering to list the stories. It's an anthology of modern takes on fairy tales, the quality of which varies wildly - some of the stories are good and engaging, and some of them are exactly the flowery, artsy crap you'd expect. Meh.)
Television:
Hannibal 1x13, "Savoreaux" (( spoiler ))