I’ve been a pretty avid reader since childhood. I remember it being a big deal for me to have a special permission in Grade 2 of elementary school to be allowed to take out books from the Grade 6 shelf at the library. This isn’t just to brag (but it’s also to brag) but also to say that I’ve been reading at a pretty good level for a long ass time.
Even though I might not have gotten many of the jokes or clever word play, I would say that the Discworld books were probably in my reading range since about Grade 4. That was 22 years ago. 22 years of being a geek; reading sci-fi and fantasy novels, playing role playing games, being in a science fiction and fantasy club in college. All that time being aware of Discworld but always somewhat intimidated by the massive series and having no idea where to start.
I’ve ready quite a few of Neil Gaiman’s novels and short stories, so I became aware of Terry Pratchett pretty early (sometime in high-school probably) through Good Omens, which remains one of my favorite novels ever.
I always sort of knew that I would eventually read them though. I purposely stayed away from the series in every way, avoiding spoilers for most of my adult life. I even avoided playing the original PC/Playstation game to avoid ruining any possible jokes.
When Sir Pratchett passed away this year, I felt somehow like I had let him down by not reading any of his Discworld books. 40 novels (with a 41st slated for posthumous release) that I had always intended to read and just somehow never found the time for. ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
