strange and random happenstance

I admit it, I was extremely worried about this adaptation of Terry Pratchett's work. For years and years he'd been trying to get this adaptation going and then he died and I figured well, The Watch was never going to happen. I didn't view it as much of a loss as of all the Discworld properties that had been adapted I felt only Going Postal really worked and the only one I had ever really been excited about was when Sam Raimi was attached to Tiffany Aching because I SO want to see Bruce Campbell as a feegle! But then Good Omens was a hit and The Watch was back. I reluctantly admit to the fact that I saw the preview for The Watch a handful of times before I even realized it was a Terry Pratchett adaptation. I remember seeing the first picture and the Brutalist cyberpunk vibe they were going for and just dismissed it outright, hence why I probably didn't put two and two together when the trailer dropped. But I was willing to give it a try. I couldn't be like all those other Pratchett fans dismissing it outright! I have to have informed dislike. And it turned out I didn't dislike it... in fact I kind of loved it. I didn't think Richard Dormer would work as the beloved Sam Vimes, having only seen him in Fortitude, but he brought an interesting and very pugnacious vibe to Sam. I can actually see him on the covers of the books as illustrated by Paul Kidby. As for Carrot and Angua, they are literally almost exactly as I pictured them. But the stars of this show are Sybil and Cheery. Sybil was taken from the periphery of Sam's life and given a place front and center and she just kicks ass, there's no other way to say it. I also love how awkward she and Sam are around each other, there's true chemistry there. But far and away this season is about Cheery. I so loved Jo Eaton-Kent as Cheery I can no longer see the character any other way. There's also so much depth brought to the character about finding yourself and how much bravery that takes and yes, the beard does make an appearance people! I just literally can't with how much I loved Cheery as brought to life by Jo. You are doing yourself a disfavor if you don't tune in. So it's not perfect, neither are Practhett's books the way they jump around in their narrative style, which this show fully embraces! So come on, embrace The Watch!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: And the Emmy Goes To, Bruce Campbell, Cheery, Cyberpunk, Discworld, Feegle, Going Postal, Good Omens, Jo Eaton-Kent, Paul Kidby, Richard Dormer, Sam Raimi, Sam Vimes, Terry Pratchett, The Watch, Tiffany Aching

Snuff by Terry Pratchett
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: October 11th, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

Samuel Vimes has finally been made to go on vacation. Sybil insists, as does Lord Ventinari. They have this lovely estate they never go to and young Sam needs country air, and apparently lots of poo to look at. The country is good for poo... but then again, so are the streets of Ankh Morpork... it's just different. Of course, you can take the copper away from the watch house, but Sam will always be a copper. Always asking the uncomfortable question, pushing on people and never willing to let things be. His fellow noblemen, how Sam hates being in the same titled category as the likes of Rust, soon realize that Sam is going to be a problem. A problem that they will solve.

After the local blacksmith disappears after a confrontation with Sam and copious amounts of blood are found on his estate, Sam is "arrested" by the local copper Feeney. It only takes a few minutes to get Feeney over to his side and then the hunt is on for the body that used to contain all that blood. The body is that of a young Goblin girl. Goblins are a tricky subject. They are technically classified as vermin, not creatures capable of love and feeling like Dwarves, Trolls and the like. Sam doesn't care though. I body is a body and if the law has to catch up to him, then so be it. Soon Sam has a plethora of suspects, but they are all lower level henchmen. Sam wants to know all the secrets in this sleepy shire and wants to get all the skeletons out of the closets. He wants who is behind the Goblin problem, and if he has to turn to his darker half, if he has to take on Old Treachery, the dangerous river known for damn slams, then he will. Sam Vimes is a copper to the core!

I felt that this started out so strongly. Snuff was like Terry Pratchett doing a little cosy country mystery with balls and tea promised but with coppers, a la Hot Fuzz. The Pride and Prejudice spoof was one of the best written parodies in all Austen parodies, yes I'm looking at you vampires and zombies. Why didn't I ever think how funny the juxtaposition of a lumberjack would be against Mrs. Bennet? But did we get one ball, one gala? NO! Instead we got a treatise on Goblin rights. About how to categorize sentience from plain vermin. Sam Vimes would not approve of a bait and switch! Unless of course it was to catch a criminal, but he'd have a lot of inner monologues, and I am no criminal.

Snuff is well plotted, which is a rarity in Discworld, where there's usually lots of threads running every which way and then somehow tangling all together at the end, in some sort of knot, if I'm to stick with the thread analogy. Yet, it just didn't work. Maybe Sam Vimes needs his watchmen by his side to maintain the humor. Because Sam has successfully functioned outside Ankh Morpork before, yet not here. If the plot had stuck with the country house and the ingrained superiority of the landed gentry versus the peasants and not brought in the Goblin slaves, then this could have been the best book yet. Instead he retreads familiar ground and eventually ends up making this some sort of sea faring tale with a battle against Old Treachery. Sigh... what could have been... Hot Fuzz meets Jane Austen.

Another disappointment was that I've been reading the Discworld books in order so that I don't miss out on something. They can stand alone, but their cumulative history is so wonderful, knowing the first time Wee Mad Arthur appeared, or getting a joke that would only be gotten had you read the first Witches book. But here I skipped ahead because of my excitement hearing passages at the North American Discworld Convention, I shouldn't have done that... what really happened in Koom Valley!?! I think Thud! has to be required reading to get half of what's going on with Sam's internal monologues. So maybe after I finally get to Thud! (I'm still like nine books behind) and then get back up to Snuff (five books later), I might appreciate this book for what it is and not bemoan what it isn't.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Ankh Morpork, Discworld, Goblins, Hot Fuzz, Jane Austen, Koom Valley, Mrs. Bennet, NADWCon, Pride and Prejudice, Sam Vimes, Snuff, Terry Pratchett, Thud

Now my days in Discworld are coming to a close... at least in the sense of the convention. Never have I done so much at a convention and made sure I was there for everything I wanted to do... if there's a regret... maybe the auction, maybe not telling Terry how awesome he is. But I think everyone being their kind of indicates extreme levels of awesomeness. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I look back on it so fondly, not least of which getting to share it with my BFF Jess.

The final day started with a craft class and a book signing. The plan was for me to rush to the book signing and then Jess would hold my place in the class. Turns out Esther Friesner was earlier, seeing as I was going to get my "Nobody's..." books signed by her. So far I'd seen her at the opening ceremonies, she would come and rap at the closing ceremonies too as Foul Ole Ron... but I got my books signed, learned that Urban Fantasy/Sci-Fi anthology books pay really well and that her newest "Nobody's..." book takes place in Japan and will make all little girls cry. She's a funny one that Esther. But this meant that I was on time for Discworld Hearaldry! We where there to make our own personal Discworld Crest. What was interesting though was this craft class took a more, history vs. activity approach. We where told what certain things meant, like how a knight's helm meant there actually was a knight in the family, the wrong way diagonal meant you where a bastard, in the bedroom not the battlefield sense. I'm a person who is constantly thinking and doodling while people talk. When I'm at school, if a project is being talked about I start jotting down ideas in the margins. By the time the talk was over and the session coming to a close, I already had my crest done, while Jess said she had to think a lot more.

My crest, seen above, is probably bad Latin (I used google translate) for Read, Eat, Sleep, which are the most important things to me besides my art, which is represented by the Mac mouse in the center. The moon for sleep, the cupcake for eat and the book I think are pretty self explanatory. Now I just have to get these suckers on some business cards....

Lunch was a laid back affair followed by some bubble tea and a drive to the airport. Because of the timing I was actually able to go to the Rob Wilkins Kaffee Klatch. They had given up the pretense of having people signed up, though if they had checked I was on the list... after the 15 limit, but still there. Rob was shocked by the number of people who showed up. He was sure the packed little conference room couldn't possibly be his, but it was. It seems that Rob was able to woo everyone at the con and make them all just that little bit in love with Terry's assistant. He has the coolest job in the world after all! He talked a little about how he got where he is, via U2 oddly enough, also about how sad it will be once Terry's Alzheimer's really starts to take hold. The best bit though? When he read a little more from Snuff. This time it was basically the scene in Pride and Prejudice with Mrs. Bennet and all the girls talking about their prospects only with Sam Vimes thrown in asking them why they just don't all go out and get a job. Beyond awesome.

After the glories of Rob I ran to my Shambles making class. If you don't know what a Shamble is, it's a way to focus magical energy and ward off evil. It's made from stuff usually found in your pockets or near by and has to contain something alive, like an egg or a bug. They are used frequently in the books of Tiffany Aching and I have always wanted one. Bending twigs and tying string, using safety pins and the like was so much fun. Mine is technically not done... but then again, I made it in the time I had so Granny Weatherwax would say it's done I'm sure. Or, at least she'd stiffly and begrudgingly nod... a millimeter.

The closing ceremonies was a very loose affair, with Terry saying his goodbyes and saying that he hoped we'd be at the next North American Discworld Convention and that he hoped he would be as well.

Then, to make it into the record books, there was the largest public reading of Where's My Cow? the Pratchett children's book in which Sam Vimes reads a more Ankh-Morpork approved version of a bedtime story. Bugrit!

Following which Bernard Pearson, the cunning artificer himself told us to "piss off." A goodbye of true warmth in Ankh-Morpork.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Bernard Pearson, Bugrit, Discworld, Esther Friesner, Foul Ole Ron, Granny Weatherwax, Hearaldry, NADWCon, Pride and Prejudice, Rob Wilkins, Sam Vimes, Terry Pratchett, U2, Where's My Cow

The Fifth Elephant, Discworld Book 24 by Terry Pratchett
Published by: HarperTorch
Publication Date: November 4th, 1999
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
Challenge: Shifter Challenge 2011
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy
Samuel Vimes, Watchman extraordinaire, is about to be out of his depths and his comfort zone... again. Lord Vetinari has need of a diplomat up in Uberwald to witness the crowning of the new dwarf king. Samuel is, sadly from his point of view, a Duke, therefore a perfect candidate for this goodwill mission. But Lord Vetinari's schemes are usually far more complex and far more cunningly thought out. If Vimes is to go to Uberwald, there is more to it than Vetinari is saying. He needs Vimes there, not a diplomat. Which means... well, Sam isn't sure what it means, but it could very easily tie in with the unrest of the dwarves in Ankh-Morpork who are brawling left right and center, and the disappearance of a replica of the loaf of dwarven bread that was stolen from a museum recently. Yes, dwarves do take their bread that seriously, especially when this "Stone of Scone" is the seat upon which the new king will be crowed. Taking a full entourage incorporating the ethnic diversity of Ankh-Morpork, from Cherie, the dwarf, to Detritus, the troll, Vimes sets out hubwards, with his wife Sybil viewing it as a second honeymoon, or technically a first, which they never got due to Sam's devotion to his job.

The road is fraught with peril, but a few assassins is nothing to Vimes, he'd be more concerned with whats happening in Ankh-Morpork if he knew his second in command Carrot had quit to search for his girlfriend Angua. His girlfriend who happens to be a werewolf and whose family happen to be quite powerful in Uberwald and will be on hand when Vimes arrives. This leaves Colon in charge, who, in his sudden rise to power, becomes a little despot with no Watch to watch. Back in Uberwald, Vimes has landed in the center of a great political struggle, the dwarves have divided into factions, the old guard versus the new, while the werewolves and the vampires try to tip the scales one way or another in order to gain more control. But even wrongly accused of an assassination attempt and hunted through the woods by Angua's insane brother Wolfie, Sam will make sure justice is served, because that's what his family is known for. Even if you have to cut off the head of the king, justice will be done.

I trully think that Sam Vimes and the City Watch are my second favorite group of people in Discworld. I'm sorry Sam, you are never going to unseat the witches... but your nod to their last story, Carpe Jugulum, with the Igors did make me oh so joyful. Discworld is just insane and funny and has everything from dwarven opera to werewolves that have spent too much time in wolf form and are becoming more and more like dogs. There is just no equal to Terry Pratchett's writing that goes from total absurdity to deep human insights at the drop of a hat. Everything always comes together in the end in an unpredictable way that just makes so much sense and leaves you happy and knowing you've read a great book. I'm also happy that there's still so many more for me to read. I just don't want Discworld to ever end. I hope, if you haven't already, you'll one day join me in the most wonderful of worlds that strides across space on the back of four elephants that ride the great turtle... after all, the Fifth Elephant had a bit of an accident...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: 2011 Reading Challenge, Ankh Morpork, Captain Carrot, Carpe Jugulum, City Watch, Discworld, Lord Vetinari, Sam Vimes, Terry Pratchett, The Fifth Elephant, Uberwald, Vampires, Werewolves

In lieu of Oktoberfest, I have decided to have a fest of truly festive proportions that I would go to any day, ie, Pratchett (P)fest! Ok, so I usually devote the month of his new release to him anyway... but I got to make a (P)fest... doesn't that could for something? Plus October is Halloween, and there's just scads of zombies and vampires and werewolves in his books (of course most of them work for the Night Watch...) But back on track, this month Snuff is released. This will be the 39th Discworld book as well as a return to those wondrous of Night Watchmen and of course, Samuel Vimes! I'm sure you all have been anxiously awaiting this book, as well as all the tales I have to tell about this years North American Discworld Convention that a) I was bragging about in July and b) led to July not having many blog posts. I was saving them dear readers! Saving them and reliving them and dwelling on them... I got to meet Terry Pratchett!?! Still doesn't seem real. But if it wasn't real then how do I know that Snuff will be the best book yet? Because at the convention there was a plethora of readings from it! It's like someone took Sam Vimes and dumped him in a Jane Austen novel. It's such an awesome collision of all the things I love and I will therefore probably be boring you silly over the coming weeks. But you have a chance to win something at least!

Besides what's a (P)fest without (p)resents?


Prize: Snuff, the 39th Discworld book plus the Jane Austen book of your choice

The Rules:
1. Open to EVERYONE, just because you haven't been following me all along doesn't mean you don't matter, you just get more entries if you prove you love me by following.
2. Please make sure I have a way to contact you if your name is drawn, either your blogger profile or a link to your website/blog or you could even include your email address with your comment(s).
3. Contest ends Monday, October 31st at 11:59PM CST (Yes, that's Halloween y'all)
4. How to enter:

Answer me this: Which character would you like to be in Discworld? Note, that's it's not your favorite. Because Rincewind might be your favorite, but I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want to be him, what with all the dangerous situations that he's thrust into... but then again, maybe your what The Luggage as you sidekick...

5. And for those addicted to getting extra entries:

• +1 for answering the question above
• +2 for becoming a follower
• +10 if you are already a follower
• +10 for each time you advertise this contest - blog post, sidebar, twitter (please @MzLizard), etc. (but you only get credit for the first post, so tweet all you like, and I thank you for it, but you'll only get the +10 once). Also please leave a link!
• +25 if you comment on any of the posts this month, with something other than "I hope I win" or a variation thereof.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 1 comments  

Labels: Discworld, Giveaway, NADWCon, Pratchett (P)fest, Rincewind, Sam Vimes, Snuff, Terry Pratchett, The Night Watch

Jingo (Discworld Book #21) by Terry Pratchett
Published by: Harper Torch
Publication Date: 1997
Format: Paperback, 437 Pages
Challenge: Terry Pratchett, Typically British
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy
Sir Samuel doesn't like the pomp and circumstance of his new job title and role of husband. And he really doesn't like tights. So when an assassination attempt is bungled during a parade, obviously for Sam it's an improvement. Because the chase is what it's all about. Worry about the details later. But why would anyone want to murder the Klatchian Prince? Could it be because a very strategic island has magically appeared between the two countries and war seems imminent? With the Guild leaders and other Lords becoming power hungry and war mad, forming up militias, it's short work for them to oust Lord Vetinari and even Sir Samuel. But the key to Sam continuing to keep the peace is that handy little "sir." That sir that means he must form his own band of merry men, and who could be merrier than the city watchmen? I mean watchtrolls, golems, dwarves, zombies, werewolves, kings and Nobby (you can't really categorize Nobby). Following the leads to one 71-hour Ahmed, who then flees with Angua, means there is a ship to be requisitioned and a friend to be rescued... even if that means going all the way to Klatch. Of course the Patrician has other plans for Sergeant Colon and Nobby in a mysterious underwater vessel. But once in Klatch things get out of hand, with the watchmen being held by the D'Regs, a nomadic desert tribe known for their ruthlessness and hospitality, as well as Nobby trying to pass for a woman. But will war be avoided and can life return to normal? And can Sam ever look at his butler the same after knowing he bit off a mans ear in bloody warfare?

Terry Pratchett is the ultimate in social satire and the skewering of political situations. His handling of war is no less acute and poignant. The majority of Pratchett books seem to take me awhile to get into, but once fully ensconced, it's one of the best books I've read in ages, and this was no exception. The beginning with the whole second bowman and allusions to the Kennedy assassination was not quite working. But once Sir Samuel's path was set as the head of his own private army, it being a lords duty to protect his land and county, the book just took off. Part raucous pirate story part Lawrence of Arabia I did not want to set the book down. It's not that it just shows the flaws of war and a society hell bent on just creating hell. It shows the humanity of not just one side but both sides. The children who end up fighting people who they thought of as their friends. The lack of justice in war and the real justice that doesn't exist and maybe should... also the pointlessness of it all. For centuries jingoism dominated all countries foreign policy. A policy bent on domination and control. But despite the more "racial" jokes, they are not used derogatorily, but to show the inherent racism that still exists without any justification. The blind hatred and stupid bickering over something that is there one second and gone the next is never shown more clearly than by Pratchett who makes us laugh at our own stupidity and history, but makes us think, and then, if we're smart enough to listen... change.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Angua, Carrot, Discworld, Golem, Jingo, Kennedy Assassination, Klatch, Lord Vetinari, Nobby, Reading Challenge, Sam Vimes, Sergeant Colon, Terry Pratchett