h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Now if they'd called it "What are your memories of Sir Terry Pratchett?", We'd have an identical thread, and it would be left in Askh2g2, h2g2's most popular and most highly subscribed forum, attracting the greatest response.

Because they didn't, some nameless individual has decided it sits best on a forum to which fewer people are subscribed to.

It's an insult, basically.

Now that you ask...

I first met Sir Terry when he was due to do a book signing in Southampton's damp rocks bookshop back in 2000. I joined the back of the long queue 2 hours before he was due to arrive, only for us to be told that he was stuck in traffic on the M3* and would be late. He turned up over 2 hours later, by which time I was actually pretty much at the front of the queue, and got to spend more time chatting with him than I probably would if he'd been on time.

<BB<

*Just goes to show that it doesn't matter who you are, you will be stuck on the M3.

I'm never sure what to wear in the Lounge. Suit or slippers?

What makes it worse is that the people making these decisions probably don't even know how to pronounce "ask".

Well I was going to start a thread about TP in Ask and frame it as a question but found someone had already started one without a question attached .

Shall we try again?

They could just move this one back, but I doubt they will. Someone's here's got it in for the Ask community.

It annoys me that I keep taking people for granted. Even though I knew Pterry would die, I didn't make an effort to really know *all* his works. I read most, sure, and liked most of them, loved many of the characters, but then got distracted by other books, other things to do. I wonder why?

If you try and take all of his works in to rapidly you tend to miss some of the subtle twists and turns.
Very sad for his departure but so glad he was here to lighten our lives
I just hope heaven is a like the best of discworld.

Just to make one detail clear : the thread was started in Ask, so all the people who are subscribed to Ask are automatically subscribed to the thread.

When a thread is moved somewhere else, that doesn't un-subscribe anyone.

I seem to remember (but I might be wrong there), that the Lounge was created, in part at least, for these condolences threads and other threads that don't really belong in Ask but are of interest to the community.

millennium hand an' shrimp!!

About thread being moved

It is about being there sometimes , where people congregate and yesterday we got moved along

It's a moving thread alright.


Oook

SQUEAK it is

s'cuse my spelling hope you went well

I've read all the Discworld novels: some many times, and most, but not all, of the others. There's so much richness there. Every time I stop crying I read another book review, obituary, or appreciation and start again.

TRiG.

it might be hard to maintain interest in all forty of the Discworld books going forward, now that the author has passed on, and newer authors are seeking the limelight.

Compare with L Frank Baum, who wrote 14 books about Oz. Today, the first book in the series is the only one that is well-known.

If some of the Discworld books stay popular longer than the others, which ones do you think will prevail?

Other examples:

Frank Herbert wrote six sequels for "Dune"

"Curious George" had more than two dozen sequels.

"Madeline" had at least five sequels

Several writers have tried to reimagine the world of "Gone with the Wind," but the original is the only version that hasn't fallen by the wayside.

Then there are the variants of Jane Austen books in which zombies or sea serpents invade the storylines. I doubt that these will outlast the Austen originals.

Good question. Would it be the ones that have successfully been adaptated – for instance, the well-known radio version of 'Equal Rites' that launched Pratchett's popularity in the UK, 'Wyrd Sisters' and 'Soul Music' have animated adaptations and Sky did 'Hogfather' 'The Colour of Magic/The Light Fantastic' and 'Going Postal'?
I suspect the early Rincewind ones will be remembered, but different people enjoy different ones more than others. Some people like Death and the Witches, others the Guards stories or the Wizards. I suspect that the ones that fall between the cracks might be forgotten first – like 'Pyramids' and 'Moving Pictures'. And 'Eric'.

<BB<

The witches are interesting as characters. I like Sam Vimes and his aristocratic wife a lot. The scenes where he reads to his son are priceless. The books in the middle of the sequence will probably stay popular.

I especially liked "Last hero," in which Rincewind and Leonardo da Quirm and Captain Carrot were sent on a mission. Three excellent characters from different parts of the series, together for a while. Vetinari plays a prominent part, as does Cohen the Barbarian. I'm really fond of the book, to be honest.

Rincewind will always be my favourite character. I want to be like him when I grow up.

In nearby Baldock, we have an Ankh Morporkian pub:-

http://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3356/3515767015_33e141f37e.jpg

PP.