The Wit and Wisdom of Discworld (Doubleday, 2007), compiled by Stephen Briggs, includes Briggs' favorite quotations from Terry Pratchett's Discworld books. Of course, it can't include them all. To accomplish that, as Briggs said, "I might as well have tied a set of the novels up with string and added a tag: 'The Complete Wit of Pratchett'."

He re-read every book in the Discworld series; since some gags and funny exchanges need too long a build-up, that eliminated a lot. In some cases he had to edit to convey the context. The quotes are included book by book--in order of publication. (Each book gets its own chapter; some are shorter than others.) And there is an index. I really enjoyed this book since it reminded me of my favorite lines and books. 'Course now I'm re-reading the books because it's true that he couldn't include all the clever and fun word play and scenes. He didn't include the bull run scene in Witches Abroad, for instance, which is one of my Favorite scene - a scene you can not read a book, Greebo. จากนั้นคุณต้องอ่านส่วนที่เหลือของดูสิ่งที่คุณขาดหายไป!

The Wit and Wisdom of Discworld (Doubleday, 2007), compiled by Stephen Briggs, includes Briggs' favorite quotations from Terry Pratchett's Discworld books. Of course, it can't include them all. To accomplish that, as Briggs said, "I might as well have tied a set of the novels up with string and added a tag: 'The Complete Wit of Pratchett'."

He re-read every book in the Discworld series; since some gags and funny exchanges need too long a build-up, that eliminated a lot. In some cases he had to edit to convey the context. The quotes are included book by book--in order of publication. (Each book gets its own chapter; some are shorter than others.) And there is an index. I really enjoyed this book since it reminded me of my favorite lines and books. 'Course now I'm re-reading the books because it's true that he couldn't include all the clever and fun word play and scenes. He didn't include the bull run scene in Witches Abroad, for instance, which is one of my Favorite scene - the scene Greebo can not read this book. I miss you if you need to read the rest

I guess everyone has those authors floating around in their peripheries, often recommended by friends and favorite authors, who you know you'll like but just never have gotten around to reading. Terry Pratchett has been one of those authors for me. Everything about my tastes has suggested that I'd like him, and sure enough, having read The Color of Magic, I expect I'll be reading more of Pratchett in the future.

I began with The Color of Magic because it's the first of the Discworld novels, even though I'd heard that it wasn't Pratchett's very best. I'll admit that it does feel, at moments, like a first novel. The plot is episodic, really several shorter stories with the same key characters. As the first in a series, the novel strays sometimes from the story itself to describe the Discworld universe. These moments seem tangential in the immediate reading experience, though I'm sure they're important for fleshing out a storyworld that can sustain the series.

Still, the novel has a certain undeniable magic. Pratchett has a talent for word-play, and the characters and situations are likable and absurdly funny. The running motifs, like the luggage and Death, are called upon deftly to create the best moments of the novel. And in the various creations in this novel alone--the circumfence, the imagined dragons, the eight spells, and Discworld itself--Pratchett exhibits a seemingly endless imagination. I've copies of the next Discworld novel and the Pratchett's latest State of the shelf-known and aims to explore the world.