BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE - FEBRUARY 2017 - MARY STEWART & TERRY PRATCHETT

MARY STEWART

TERRY PRATCHETT

Mary Stewart books


Series
Merlin / Arthurian Saga
1. The Crystal Cave (1970)
2. The Hollow Hills (1973)
3. The Last Enchantment (1979)
4. The Wicked Day (1983)
Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy (omnibus) (1980)


Novels
Madam, Will You Talk? (1955)
Wildfire at Midnight (1956)
Thunder on the Right (1957)
Nine Coaches Waiting (1958)
My Brother Michael (1959)
The Ivy Tree (1961)
The MoonSpinners (1962)
This Rough Magic (1964)
Airs Above the Ground (1965)
The Gabriel Hounds (1967)
The Wind Off The Small Isles (1968)
The Little Broomstick (1972)
Ludo and the Star Horse (1975)
Touch Not the Cat (1976)
A Walk in Wolf Wood (1980)
Thornyhold (1988)
The Stormy Petrel (1991)
The Prince and the Pilgrim (1995)
Rose Cottage (1997)

TERRY PRATCHETT BOOKS

Series
Discworld
1. The Colour of Magic (1983)
2. The Light Fantastic (1986)
3. Equal Rites (1987)
4. Mort (1987)
5. Sourcery (1988)
6. Wyrd Sisters (1988)
7. Pyramids (1989)
8. Guards! Guards! (1989)
9. Eric (1990)
10. Moving Pictures (1990)
11. Reaper Man (1991)
12. Witches Abroad (1991)
13. Small Gods (1992)
14. Lords and Ladies (1992)
15. Men at Arms (1993)
16. Soul Music (1994)
17. Interesting Times (1995)
18. Maskerade (1995)
19. Feet of Clay (1996)
20. Hogfather (1996)
21. Jingo (1997)
22. The Last Continent (1998)
23. Carpe Jugulum (1998)
24. The Fifth Elephant (1999)
25. The Truth (2000)
26. Thief of Time (2001)
27. The Last Hero (2001)
28. The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents (2001)
29. Night Watch (2002)
30. The Wee Free Men (2003)
31. Monstrous Regiment (2003)
32. A Hat Full of Sky (2004)
33. Going Postal (2004)
34. Thud! (2005)
35. Wintersmith (2006)
36. Making Money (2007)
37. Unseen Academicals (2009)
38. I Shall Wear Midnight (2010)
39. Snuff (2011)
40. Raising Steam (2013)
41. The Shepherd's Crown (2015)
The Illustrated Wee Free Men (2008)


Bromeliad
1. Truckers (1989)
2. Diggers (1990)
3. Wings (1990)
The Bromeliad (omnibus) (1998)


Johnny Maxwell
1. Only You Can Save Mankind (1992)
2. Johnny and the Dead (1993)
3. Johnny and the Bomb (1996)
The Johnny Maxwell Trilogy (omnibus) (1996)


Discworld omnibus
Death Trilogy (1998)
The Colour of Magic / The Light Fantastic (1999)
The City Watch (1999)
Rincewind the Wizzard (1999)
Tales of Discworld (2000)
Gods Trilogy (2000)
The Rincewind Trilogy (2001)
Witches Abroad / Reaper Man (2002)
The Wee Free Men: The Beginning (2010)
Tiffany Aching 4-Book Collection (2014)
Tiffany Aching Complete Collection: 5 Books (2015)


Tiffany Aching
1. The Wee Free Men (2003)
2. A Hat Full of Sky (2004)
3. Wintersmith (2006)
4. I Shall Wear Midnight (2010)
5. The Shepherd's Crown (2015)
The Illustrated Wee Free Men (2008)
The Wee Free Men: The Beginning (omnibus) (2010)
Tiffany Aching 4-Book Collection (omnibus) (2014)
Tiffany Aching Complete Collection: 5 Books (omnibus) (2015)

WHAT I WILL READ:

The Crystal Cave



&

The Colour of Magic

It's here! It's here!

I'll probably start with either Strata or The Witch's Vacuum Cleaner for Pratchett and The Crystal Cave for Stewart.

For those new to Discworld: It is absolutely *not* necessary to start reading at the beginning of the series. Outside of the last few books and the Tiffany Aching stories, each book stands well enough on its own that readers will be able to get into it with very little trouble, so if the description of book twelve or thirty-three or whatever catches your eye, go ahead and read it.

I'll read this one by Mary Stewart because I found it in the library at work.

The Ivy Tree



I read most of her books, probably including this one, back when I was in high school. I read the few published in the 1980s and 1990s as they became available.

Ah, so glad I popped on today!

I just started Interesting Times yesterday, and will probably make it through to Hogfather in my Discworld revisitation.

I love Sir Terry Pratchett's speaking engagement shirt:


I've also heard that BBC is working to produce a special on the late author...

Happy to participate this month!
I've never read anything by Mary Stewart, so I'll be reading The Crystal Cave.

I'll be reading Mary Stewart's The Last Enchantment in the Merlin series, as well as Terry Pratchett's Thud!.

Both have been living on MT TBR for quite a while.

Is it ok if I pop in for just Terry Pratchett and not Mary Stewart?

I loved Mary Stewart. I read all the Arthurian novels already, and can not forget Touch Not the Cat. It has stayed with me for twenty years or more. I am thinking I might opt for one of her other novels.

I haven't read anything by Terry Pratchett but he is quite a popular author in my library.

My first Pratchett read of the month was The Witch's Vacuum Cleaner and Other Stories, a collection of some of his earliest works, written in his late teens and early twenties for a newspaper's children section. The stories aren't particularly sophisticated, but they're charming and silly and made me smile. I especially liked the stories of Llandanffwnfafegettupagogo, the wildest town in the wildest west of all wests: Wales.

>12 ChelleBearss: Yup, no problem. I almost never get both authors read.

My wife is/was a big Mary Stewart fan so I have many books to choose from. I've read several of her later novels and enjoyed them. I'm not sure which one I'll do, but I think I'll try Nine Coaches Waiting

Today's read was Pratchett's third novel, Strata. I feel as if I've been given a peak down the other leg of the Trousers of Time into a world where Sir Terry decided Discworld should be science fiction rather than fantasy. Strata is a hodgepodge of various science fiction tropes mixed together with a generous helping of irreverence. Set mainly on a disc world*, the story is basically about a planet builder traveling around this impossible planet trying to figure out how the hell it works. Truth be told, it's not a terribly good book**, but it has so much in it that obviously was recycled into the Discworld series that I can't help but feel a deep affection for it.

*But not the Discworld

**Although I've read far worse

I have read and loved Good Omens by Gaimon and Pratchett, and now I am reading Pratchett's: The Globe: The Science of Discworld. So far, wizards are having a paint ball fight. LOL

This weekend I finished Interesting Times, a first read for me, and the first Rincewind story I've actually enjoyed. The mysterious and reclusive Counterweight Continent has not sent a message to Vetinari asking for "The Great Wizzard," and Vetinari has not instructed Ridcully to send him over by teatime. The errant "z" stirring a memory, the wizards recall a terribly bad wizard who used to help the Librarian, and thus Rincewind is located and put to, er, "good" use. Meanwhile, the Silver Horde lead by Cohen the Barbarian has set upon their own epic quest, and together the stories weave an interesting satire of foreign politics, devotion, class, and power.

I'm reading Feet of Clay, about Golems in Discworld. What's not to love?

I've got My Brother Michael on deck. I read a lot of Stewart back in the day, but not this one. Since I have a brother named Michael this was an easy choice.

Book #21 Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett (265 pp.)

This reread was for the British Author Challenge for February but also counts for the reread challenge. I have long preferred the Death and Watch strands of Discworld to the Witches, with the Wizards being the least favorite, and so it has been a long, long time since I read this first book involving Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrit. I enjoyed getting reacquainted with it. Lots of broad and subtle humor interwoven--a good grounding in Shakespeare and in early American comics (Marx Brothers, Laurel & Hardy, Chaplin) . Lots of twists and turns, made more fun for me because I remembered the main one.

Paul, I would really NOT start Pratchett with The Colour of Magic, especially because you do not have a strong background in fantasy and science fiction and that book is all poking fun at basic tropes in that genre fiction. Start with this one or Good Omens, please!!

>21 ronincats: I've always liked that one! I often recommend Wyrd Sisters, Guards! Guards! and Small Gods as good places to start with the series.

I picked Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart since it appeared to be one of her highest rated novels. I've read some of her novels in the past, although it has been quite a while, but this one, Nine Coaches, isn't exactly ringing my bells. It seems overly obsessed with little details to set scenes and characters and that may be what some readers love. I want to shout "Too Much Information." I don't think I'll bail on this novel but I'm not really liking it much.

>23 RBeffa: I remember liking Thornyhold back when it came out. I also liked The Stormy Petrel when I read it in the 1970s. Of course, I was a teen at the time so I might not like it as much now. I enjoyed most of her books, but I loved Phyllis Whitney's more.

>24 thornton37814: Stormy Petrel was the last time I read a Mary Stewart - that was in late 2009. I liked it. Thornyhold is around the house somewhere, and unread by me.

>24 thornton37814: Stormy Petrel was the last time I read a Mary Stewart - that was in late 2009. I liked it. Thornyhold is around the house somewhere, and unread by me.

>24 thornton37814: Oh, my. Phyllis Whitney! These are some authors I read when quite young...brings back a lot of memories.

>21 ronincats: Paul I agree Good omens would be a better train station for the Pratchett ride ......

I just finished Pyramids by Terry Pratchett.
Well, that was just plain fun! I loved the satire, humor and bad puns. Pratchett's alternate reality is certainly a whole lot more entertaining than the one I've been reading about lately in the newspapers. There will definitely be more Discworld books in my future.

I read most of Mary Stewart's books a long time ago. Her Merlin series is the best. I don't think I ever read Rose Cottage, so that is up next.

I finished The Crystal Cave, but didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. But I feel it's a bit due to circumstances, I´ve been feeling under the weather, due to lack of sleep. So I decided to give it another chance when I'm feeling a bit better.
And i've read Sourcery a reread, but from a long time ago. This is one with Rincewind the wizard in it, not a favourite, but is also has the Librarian, who definitely is a character I love. Lots of fun, even with my shortened attention span.

I read Stewart's A Walk in Wolf Wood today. Younger readers will probably enjoy this one more, but it's still a decent read for an adult.

>23 RBeffa: I have plodded forward with Mary Stewart's Nine Coaches Waiting. I think I'll probably finish it up tomorrow if I work at it. The story got a bit more interesting, enough that I'll probably rate this an OK three stars, but this style of story and telling just doesn't pull me in. I'll read a bit and put it down. Just not my thing.

I've finished I Shall Wear Midnight.

LOVED Going Postal! I am going to have to find some more discworld books to read now as I think this is a series I would really like

>34 ChelleBearss: The movie is also really good.

>thanks, I'll try and find that one!

I've finished The Crystal Cave - it was OK but not great in my opinion. Here's what I wrote on my thread:

The Arthurian legend told from the point of view of Merlin, with this first book in the series taking the legend as far as the conception of ArthurRetellings of the Arthurian legend seem to fall into two main camps: ones that try to set the events into some historical concept of post-Roman but pre-Saxon Britain, and those that set the legend in some mythical (and magical) time-period that bears very little resemblance to any actual history. Mary Stewart's book follows the first course, and at first is quite successful. As king of a minor South Wales kingdom, for instance, Merlin's grandfather has his palace in the decaying remains of a once splendid Roman villa. But as the book progressed I felt I believed less and less in this Romano-British world that was being presented to me. I wanted it to seem more Celtic somehow - I was going to say Welsh, but I don't think the concept of Wales would really have existed then. Wales was just the bit left over when the Saxons had finished invading everywhere else. If we're going to have the quasi-historical approach then I think I wanted a little more realism, certainly more mud, and a lot of rain (it is largely set in Wales after all). But I did feel myself yearning for a rather more traditional Merlin who could actually do some magic on demand, rather than the more prosaic character that is presented here.

I'd agree with everyone else about not starting Terry Pratchett with The Colour of Money. I did that first time round and it put me off the discworld books for the next fifteen years. Next time around I started with Mort and that worked a lot better.

I finished up Feet of Clay and was quite satisfied with it. The usual crazy puns, literary references, and irreverence abound. Sam Vimes is the star character, which always helps.

I'm a bit more than half done with My Brother Michael, a suspense/romance sort of thing set in Greece. Although this genre would never be my first choice, this a a fast, entertaining read requiring precisely no deep thought. Not a bad recommendation for a book to read in those difficult emotional times when it's hard to get into anything.

The Ivy Tree was the first book that I read by Mary Stewart. The story involved an impostor taking the place of a long lost granddaughter in a bid to make sure that the inheritance of an estate went to a man who regarded it as his own. But wait, was that what was really going on?

Mary Stewart is a master of misdirection, planting doubts in the readers mind with gay abandon. She really knows how to draw you in and leave you guessing.

I finally got around to finishing The Crystal Cave. I thought it was a bit slow in places, but a good read overall.

There's an adaptation of Pratchett's Wyrd Sisters from BBC Radio 4 available for the next four weeks.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007jl80

All right, so it's June, and I finally finished Mary Stewart's My Brother Michael. I liked the beginning, but my mind wandered later in the book, and I was literally skimming by the end. Definitely some wonderful writing. And some great movie material.