Discworld Monthly - Issue 176 - December 2011

1. Editorial

Welcome to issue 176. November been a month for updating web sites, the Discworld Emporium now has a new look at http://www.discworldemporium.com, I've made a few mostly cosmetic changes to the Discworld Monthly site and the second stage of the updates to the official UK Terry Pratchett site http://www.terrypratchett.co.uk have completed with a much needed upgrade to its message board software.

The next stage will be the consolidation of the UK and US Terry Pratchett websites. The message boards at http://www.terrypratchettbooks.com will eventually be taken off line. Most members of the US board have already migrated over to the UK and have been made welcome by the wonderful community there.

Be sure to visit http://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/community to see what it's all about.

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In my review of A Night with Terry Pratchett last month I talked about Terry's visit to Hobbiton. In the review I forgot to mention that Terry and Rob travelled from Australia to New Zealand where Matamata and Hobbiton are located.

My thanks to Juliana Venning for the following:

Re 'Hobbiton and Matamata [which is in N Island (Motu) of Aotearoa] Just a correction - Matamata is a town the name of which is Te Reo Maori for headland jutting into a swamp. It became settled as a district of Waikato, in the 1880s. Peter Jackson set 'the Shire' there as it has rolling hills and hedgerows. As a proud NZer just want the name correct and the region and it is in NZ Aotearoa, not Australia! Kia kaha - stay strong!

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Don't forget, if you visit a play or a talk and would like to let the world know about it, please feel free to email your review to info@discworldmonthly.co.uk and we will consider it for publication.

Also if you have written an article that you think we might want to include in the newsletter please feel free to email me at the address below. We will of course give credit for anything we use.

--
Jason Anthony (Editor) info@discworldmonthly.co.uk
William Barnett (Deputy Editor)
Richard Massey (RPG Wrangler )

2. News

Pern creator Anne McCaffrey recently passed away aged 85 in her home in Ireland. I am sure that many Discworld fans also loved the dragons of Pern. The Wyrmberg in The Colour Of Magic is a parody of the Pern dragons. RIP Anne McCaffrey.

http://discworldmonthly.co.uk?redir=PERN176

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A proof copy of Snuff is currently up for auction to raise money for the Orangutan Foundation UK - the auction runs until Monday 5th December.

http://discworldmonthly.co.uk?redir=ORANGUTAN176

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Graeme Sheridan and Rhys Parton have started a Terry Pratchett audible podcast. So far they have released two issues. You can subscribe to their RSS feed or visit the previous podcasts at:

http://thepratchettpodcast.wordpress.com/

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Snowgum Films have released a new teaser trailer for Troll Bridge on YouTube. The trailer features some amazing fly by scenes shot in New Zealand. The New Zealand shoot was only possible due to the generous donations made by fans to Snowgum's kickstarter campaign.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUEfkc64x3w

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Martin Wallace of Treefrog games (the man who designed the Ankh Morpork game) has created a fun, quick to play card game called Old Men Of The Forest. The game for three or four players costs just 10 GBP + 2 GBP p&p with all profits from the game going to The Orangutan Foundation UK. I purchased a copy at Hogswatch and look forward to playing it.

For details of the game visit:

http://www.treefroggames.com/old-men-of-the-forest

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A Third Sector Blog Post tells how the author of the post once met Terry before he wrote the Discworld. Apparently Terry moaned a lot on the 40-mile Lyke Wake Walk across the North York Moors. It also talks about how Terry works with his PC and his attitude to his Alzheimers.

http://discworldmonthly.co.uk?redir=THIRD176

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The Age have a video interview that was taken on Terry's recent tour of Australia. The article is called Holy Narrativia!

http://discworldmonthly.co.uk?redir=THEAGE176

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Monstrous Regiment gets a mention on The Guardian's website in its feature 10 of the Best: Women Dressed as Men.

http://discworldmonthly.co.uk?redir=REGIMENT176

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The Bear in Wincanton was recently announced top pub in the Famous Grouse list of best pubs in the UK.

http://discworldmonthly.co.uk?redir=BEAR176

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The Guardian also mentions Terry and The Wee Free Men in their article about Richard Dadd's painting The Fairy King

http://discworldmonthly.co.uk?redir=FAIRY176

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An article in The Bookseller suggests mainstream publishers can "no longer afford to ignore" science-fiction and fantasy projects, with genre tropes now perceived as an "advantage" in general fiction, as a flurry of six-figure deals and chart successes point to a rising demand for the genre. It goes on to mention Snuff selling 31,094 copies in its first week. [I think the actual number was nearer 54,000 - Ed].

http://discworldmonthly.co.uk?redir=BOOKSELLER176

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Nation as dramatized by the BBC for Radio 4 Extra has been uploaded to YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2OgOBhHvZU

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The Radio Times recently interviewed Terry for their Britain in a Day series. In the article Terry describes a typical Saturday. Sounds a lot more relaxed than most of my Saturdays.

http://discworldmonthly.co.uk?redir=SATURDAY176

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We recently received the following memo from Unseen University:

MEMORANDUM >From the office of Mustrum Ridcully, Archancellor, Unseen University

Dear People of the Discworld; and Students,

We would like to invite you, one and all, to attend the Unseen University Convivium 2012, to be held at University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Roundworld, on July 6-8 2012.

This will be a celebration of all things Wizardly and Discworldly, for afficionados of the oeuvre of Professor Sir Terry Pratchett. The weekend shall include lectures, seminars, games, performances of an artistic nature, and much more.

Of course, there will be a chance to experience one of UU's famous big dinners at Gaudy Night, and for those able to stay an extra day, on July 9th there will be a Winery and Gourmet Tour. After all, there's nothing wizards like more than dining and whining.

Young Stibbons told me to include the following nonsense:

You can find out more information and purchase tickets by - Looking on the website: http://ausdwcon.org - Liking us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/UnseenUni - Following us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/UnseenUni - Sending enquiries via email to: UnseenUni2012@gmail.com

Yours academically,

Mustrum Ridcully, Archancellor, Unseen University

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The documentary Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die recently won best documentary at the Scottish Baftas.

http://discworldmonthly.co.uk?redir=BAFTA176

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Terry was recently a guest on Simon Mayo's Drivetime radio program. You can listen to the interview at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01720fs

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Terry's books are mentioned twice in another Guardian article called Conn Iggulden's Top 10 Books About Tiny People.

Topping the list is Truckers, Diggers and Wings and in 9th place is The Carpet People.

http://discworldmonthly.co.uk?redir=TINY176

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Mark Hall of Cosgrove Hall fame, the people that created the animated Wyrd Sisters, Truckers and Soul Music, sadly died recently of cancer, aged 74.

http://discworldmonthly.co.uk?redir=HALL176

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The National Portrait Gallery has created a project called Imagined Lives where some of Britain's best known authors provide an imagined history to portraits whose identities have been lost. Terry is one of the authors to provide biographies for the unknown portraits.

http://discworldmonthly.co.uk?redir=IMAGINE176

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DARPA has made a new announcement on its "One Shot" programme, which ensures that a million-to-one shot will (as on Discworld) hit the target nine (well, six) times out of 10.

http://discworldmonthly.co.uk?redir=SNIPE176

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Terry has been involved in trying to prevent a day centre called Netherwood that supports those with Alzheimers from closing down.

Terry urged Camden Council to "withdraw the proposal to close Netherwood Day Centre".

http://discworldmonthly.co.uk?redir=NETHERWOOD176

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Discworld Dates...

This section will contain events that you need to keep in your diary. Entries will remain until they go out of date. New entries will include the word [New] next to them. If this section gets too large we will start pruning entries.

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[UK] Going Postal will be on at the Guildhall Arts Centre from 30th November 2011 to 3rd December 2011, performed nightly at 7.30pm. Tickets are available from the Guildhall. For more information, visit ~~http://www.gdsgoingpostal.co.uk~~

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[CA] Walterdale Playhouse will be performing Wyrd Sisters in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada from 30th November to 10th December 2011.

Tickets cost: 12.00 CAD to 16.00 CAD (depending on event date, time, and ticket type)

~~http://walterdaleplayhouse.com/?page_id=727~~

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[UK and AU, Updated] The Broken Drummers and The Drummers Downunder are groups of fans that meet up monthly in the UK and Australia.

Unless otherwise stated the Drummers meet on the first Monday of each month. In December this will be Monday 5th.

The Drummers Downunder (Perth) will be meeting from 6pm at The Vic Hotel, 226 Hay St, Subiaco, Australia. You can contact the organiser Daniel Hatton on daniel_j_hatton@yahoo.com.au

The Drummers Downunder (Sydney) meet at Maloneys Hotel on the corner of Pitt and Goulburn Streets (across the road from World Square), Sydney, Australia from 6.30pm. For more information contact Sue (AKA Granny Weatherwax) on kenworthys@yahoo.co.uk

The Broken Drummers meet at The Monkey Puzzle, Paddington, London, W2 1JQ, England at 7pm. This month will be the Drummers Christmas dinner. There will be a special meal that needs to be ordered in advance - email brokendrummers@yahoo.co.uk for more information. The meal is optional and anyone can come along without ordering the meal.

The Drummers are always happy to welcome new visitors.

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[UK, New] Ottershaw Players, in Surrey, will be performing Wyrd Sisters at the Rhoda MacGaw Theatre in Woking from the 7th - 10th December.

Performances start at 7.45 with a matinee on the 10th at 2.30.

Tickets cost: 12 GBP (10 GBP concessions) and can be booked via our box office 01932 241341 or boxoffice@ottershawplayers.co.uk. Our director has some very exciting ideas for the staging of the play and we hope to entertain everyone from the diehard fans to the Discworld novices - no pressure then!

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[AU] For fans in Adelaide, The City of Small Gods Terry Pratchett Fan Club meets on the last Thursday of the month from 6.30pm at the Ed Castle, 233 Currie St. Details, discussions and organisation of extra events (such as play outings) are held on our email mailing list, so please sign up at https://groups.google.com/group/adelaide-discworld-fans

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[UK, New] Lichfield Players will be performing Lords and Ladies at the Lichfield Garrick Theatre between 1st - 4th February 2012.

http://www.lichfieldplayers.org/

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[UK, New] Monstrous Regiment will be performed in Cardiff from 22nd - 25th February 2012.

Performances start 7:30pm (2:30pm for the matinee on the 25th).

Tickets cost 7GBP (5GBP for concessions)

More details at: http://eskarina54.tumblr.com

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[AU, New] The Unseen University Convivium 2012 takes place from July 6 - 8 2012.

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[UK, Updated] The Eighnnnnnn International Discworld Convention will take place from the 24th to 27th August 2012 at the Hilton Metropole in Birmingham.

For more information visit: http://www.dwcon.org

Tickets are almost completely sold out with over 900 already allocated. I've had my ticket numbers allocated so I'll see you in Birmingham.

The second edition of News of the Disc can be found at: http://www.dwcon.org/media/uploads/files/News_of_the_Disc_2.pdf

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[DE] German Discworld Convention 2013

After successfully surviving the Assassins of Ankh-Morpork in 2011 we are taking the German Discworld Convention 2013 to their home continent Klatch! Make room in your schedule from October 3rd to 6th in 2013 for the fourth German Discworld Convention.

http://www.Discworld-Convention.de

3. Readers' Letters

If you have any letters or comments, please email them to info@discworldmonthly.co.uk

We assume any correspondence is eligible for use in the newsletter unless otherwise stated, including the sender's email address. We may also edit your letters while eating breakfast in the Dolphin. [As long as we're not eating dolphin for breakfast... - WB]

It is vitally important that you don't pass off other people's work as your own. If you use information from other resources please let us know so we can give proper credit.

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* From: "Dave Hough" davefromdiscwo@aol.com

Hi, can anyone help me? I have a hardback copy of I Shall Wear Midnight, but I have torn the dustcover and really need a new one as it's ruining my display bookshelf. Is there anyone out there who has a spare cover, or can anyone please tell me where I can get one? Thanks.

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* From: "Tim Boobyer" tim@3hams.net

On the subject of computing with water, the MONIAC water computer was used to model economies. Further information can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MONIAC_Computer and a number of them are on display around the world, including at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand museum here in Wellington.

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* From: "Pat Harris" pat2rupe@gmail.com

I have been an avid Terry Pratchett fan since mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm about 1989/1990. I have collected all the Discworld series, including the Tiffany Aching books (in paperback). Nation I bought in hardback, and found it not only deeply moving but also inspiring. I think I walked around for about a week after reading it in a state of altered consciousness. It is very very very seldom that something like that happens.

Over time I've noticed all the books that have been produced to help a fan delve further into the meaning of TP's vision. I would like to know where I should start (bearing in mind that they should be in pb and maybe slightly aged, and the current rate of exchange between the South African rand and English Pound GBP1=ZAR12.7).

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* From: Michael Gerstenberger michael_gerstenberger@yahoo.co.uk

Just thought I'd say I enjoy getting Discworld Monthly and really like reading the wee articles.

I finished 'Snuff' recently and loved it; really loved it a lot to the point that I was sad I'd finished it so quickly. I must admit I was slightly disappointed the Death didn't appear in it as he was the only character that had appeared in every single Discworld book. Did anyone else notice this or do you know if there was a reason he was left out?

Still loved the book though ;)

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* From: "Stan Flatters" js.flatters@talktalk.net

I had a job to put 'Snuff' down, as you would expect it's pretty damn good! But no capital letters; is this the first Discworld novel without Death?

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* From: "Peter Bungert" pbungert@web.de

I'm a huge fan of TP and the Discworld. After DWM175, I immediately checked amazon.com about Snuff. There is an interesting interview by Neil Gaiman with Terry: http://discworldmonthly.co.uk?USISBN=0062011847

But I was surprised to read that Terry addresses Neil as "Mister Gaiman". I thought that they wrote a book together. Shouldn't they use their first names for their conversations? Maybe this is my different German understanding for the usage of names. Could you help me with that?

WB replies: Terry's joking - he's emphasising the over-formality of his expression 'on a point of order', the sort of phrase you might expect to hear in a court of law or a parliament.

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* From: "milad fe" milad_1043@yahoo.com

Ok, see, I've been refraining myself from sending this email for a lo-o-o-o-ong time! A really really long time. I don't even remember how long, probably at least 3 or 4 years, maybe more. But not anymore! and that's because I am a FAN. I care about anything Discworld, so here we are: First let me say I am an architect, actually I am still a student too, so that's probably why I care a lot about this; guys! seriously! you have been publishing the Discworld Monthly for so many years, and you still have not even thought about doing it a little justice in terms of "graphics" and "formatting"?!! come on! this is Discworld we are talking about! Terry did and is doing his best relaying a very vivid and unique graphically realised world to us readers, and you guys don't even care about making this even look like a magazine! what I am getting at is this: you need a graphic language, correct formatting, not this "Notepad-like" look that only discourages people from ever even considering seriously reading this monthly! It really is not a difficult thing. you just need a template; good colors and framing, maybe a more "fantastical" font, and separate, specific graphic layout for each section of the monthly. And then, all you need to do is copy and paste the text in the template! Maybe even add a picture or two here and there from time to time. Now, is that so difficult?! please, please do this and you'll see how much more positive response and feedback you will get, how much more Discworld Monthly will be read and talked about. I care, and apparently not even nearly as much as you guys do! so I'm sure you'll do something about this, right?

DWM replies: What do you think? Should we produce a more pretty version of Discworld Monthly or should we stick with text only? Any budding artists out there want to provide us with free Discworld inspired images to use? Fancy coming up with some design ideas for a nice looking template? Let us know.

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* From: whowray <email address withheld by request>

Thanks for all the work on the news letter. It continues to entertain and inform.

RE: The Casting of the "Night Watch" TV series. It won't work unless the cast is perfect. To that end I would suggest that there is currently only one actor with enough range and personality to play Sam Vimes, and that is Philip Glenister. Anyone who has seen the series 'Life On Mars' or 'Ashes to Ashes' or the more recent 'Hidden' knows the range and quality of this actor, who is the British equivalent of Clint Eastwood (who would be a perfect Vimes, but is alas too old and too expensive now), only with a British slant that makes him the perfect choice. Whatever else the production company does, it's Glenister or nothing as far as I'm concerned.

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* From: "Kate" kate@piginapipe.com

Unshelved, my favourite library-based online comic, have just summarised Going Postal in one page. Check it out:

http://www.unshelved.com/2011-11-18

4. DiscTrivia

This month I'll take three random quotes from the Discworld series and ask you to name which book they came from.

Q1.

You could hear the snow falling. It made a strange little noise, like a faint, cold sizzle.

Q2.

The Quirm College for Young Ladies had been very advanced in that respect, and its teachers took the view that a girl who couldn't swim two lengths of the pool with her clothes on wasn't making an effort.

Q3.

"Don't talk to me about progress. Progress just means bad things happen faster."

The answers as usual can be found at the end of this issue.

5. Review: Hogswatch 2011

Reviewed by Jason Anthony

After a very pleasant and uneventful drive I arrived in Wincanton mid-afternoon on Friday 25th November for the 10th anniversary of Hogswatch events in Wincanton. After parking up, I visited the Cunning Artificer's shop to find out what was planned for the weekend. After picking up my Saturday meal ticket and an itinerary of events which included a disclaimer along the lines of "This is what we think will happen and where it will happen, but it might not - or it might, but later, or even earlier, or differently" I headed over to the Dolphin Inn (where I would be staying for the weekend) for a pint.

The Dolphin had two barrels of cider on the bar which contained a drink named Nanny Ogg's Cider and claimed the drink was made from mostly apples. I decided to try a pint and sat down to chat with friends. About half way through the pint I started to notice that I could feel the effects of the alcohol (I'm not a big drinker but thought this was strange until I later found out that Nanny Ogg's Cider was just over 8% in strength). After a very nice curry I went back to the Dolphin Inn and spent a very pleasant evening with friends both new and old.

Saturday started with a hearty Dolphin breakfast, eventually - I think the new owners of the pub were not quite ready to be invaded by a hoard of hungry Discworld fans! So having breakfasted and freshened up I headed into the skittle alley where I met up with Leonard Boyd & David Brashaw of Backspindle games (http://www.guardsguards.com), the designers of the Guards! Guards! board game. Having sorted out a few rule queries a game was started. The game turned out to be an epic, with three of the four players quite quickly getting four of their spells back to the Unseen University. Then the dragons came. And the shape of the game changed dramatically. Three of the players needed to get into one quadrant of the game but that quadrant was blocked by a dragon. After a failed attempt to kill the dragon, I spent time recruiting a small army and took on the dragon myself and was able to slay it, but before I could take advantage of the situation another dragon was summoned into the same quadrant. Luckily I noticed that one of the other players was about to finish his last spell run and while I was unable to stop them I could try to get all four dragons into play and thus prevent any player from winning. So I quickly set about trying this strategy but as quickly as I could invoke dragons other players were killing them. Eventually the player on their last run managed to kill their third dragon and make it safely home ending the game.

After playing Guards! Guards! I decided to see what else was going on, so I looked in at the traders' room where there were plenty of shiny things for sale. Keeping my hands firmly in my pockets I headed down to the Bear where I met Martin Wallace of Treefrog Games (http://www.treefroggames.com) the designer of the Ankh-Morpork game who told me about the Old Men of the Forest game which Martin wrote to make money for the Orangutan Foundation UK. I purchased a copy of the game and plan to write a review about it for next month's issue. I spent some time looking at the lovely Deluxe version of the Ankh-Morpork game. In the standard and collector's editions the playing pieces are made of wood but the pieces in the deluxe edition are cast and look and feel great.

I noticed that there were a lot of new people at the event and it meant that it was very difficult to get in to see what Bernard and Ian from the shop were presenting to the crowd. Several new projects were mentioned including a new version of the Ankh-Morpork map. Every road that has been mentioned in any of the Discworld books has been placed on the new map and certain bits changed from the previous edition to take later books into consideration. We were shown an early version of the map that looked amazing. I can't wait to see a version with all the street names on it.

While we were being shown the map and other projects Terry and a small group of fans that won tickets in a raffle took a bus over to Burnham-on-Sea to turn on the Christmas lights there. (http://discworldmonthly.co.uk?redir=BURNHAM176)

Soon it was time for the sausage supper so I headed back to the Bear and had a quick drink before heading into the dining area. We found a table with some spare seats where we met up with five first time visitors to Wincanton - including poor Jonathon (he came to Wincanton with four friends - who won tickets to the Burnham-on-Sea trip and left him alone). We had great fun meeting our new table guests while waiting for dinner to arrive. After the meal we dismantled the tables (don't ask) so the evening's activities could take place. First Davina was made a Discworld Dame. The Bear was recently voted number one pub by fans in the Famous Grouse competition and the award was unveiled. Then Terry was made an honorary Morris man. After that, Davina and co entertained the crowd with Discworld versions of some of the Beatles songs. I didn't stay too long and went to the bar where I met up with Martin Wallace who gave me the original artwork for The Chair of Indefinite Studies card from the Ankh-Morpork game. The character painting was based on my image. I'm really proud to own my own bit of original Discworld art. I eventually headed back up to the Dolphin where some serious drinking was taking place.

Sunday morning started quite slowly with another great Dolphin breakfast. I packed my stuff in the car and headed down to the shop to pick up the auction items. Two huge boxes of donated items were carried down to the Bear where we set up after Tom Foolery's flea circus.

The auction went really well and Discworld fans once again proved they were a bunch of generous loonies who helped us raise nearly 3,000 GBP for the local charity RICE that looks after elderly people with dementia. Pat Harkin once again purchased the holy onion and Terry was so impressed that he ordered Bernard to create a special Order of the Onion. I can't wait to see what Bernard comes up with. After the auction was over and everyone had paid for and collected their goods the money was taken to the shop.

Sadly I had to leave at this point because my wife who was at home looking after our children was ill so I missed the radio play and the cutting of the cakes and the birthday address from Bernard "The Cunning Artificer" Pearson.

I had an uneventful journey home and spent the afternoon watching Christmas films with my children.

I had a great time at the event and it always amazes me how quickly it's all over. I'm looking forward to my next visit sometime in the Spring next year.

Some photos of the event can be found at:

Note: You may need a facebook account to view the albums.

6. Review: An Evening with Terry Pratchett

Reviewed by Karen Newton kit.kaz@talktalk.net

I attended the Theatre Royal Drury Lane for An Evening With Terry Pratchett, tickets purchased by my daughter for us both, along with my son who introduced us both to Discworld. Feeling very honoured to have been able to do so.

We could see from the outset that Terry and Rob were obviously twins in a previous incarnation, all praise to Om.

Terry was defiantly "on form" and his natural wit and humour flowed and was well stimulated in a comfortable and natural way by Rob.

They were so in tune with each other, bouncing naturally along and I now think, from hearing Rob reading from Snuff, that the spirit of Vimes is with him, at least in the marital role that Vimes has adapted to quite well, all things considered.

We collected our books on the night and agreed with relish to the usual rules - no spoiling!!!! - as the three of us each began to read our own copies.

I was able to read mine in 3 days and reluctant to put it down for the required irritations of life like sleeping, eating and going to work. I still dived in, "eating" my way through with the hunger that is now a trademark of obtaining a new Terry Pratchett book (picture if you will a starving person with a burger and small fries).

I felt elated at once again getting hit on the right spot and full of the satisfaction that this produces as I reached the end.

This of course followed by a huge sulk and irritation lasting for at least a day and a half at the disappointment of having finished the damn thing and it being over!!!

Luckily I can now start it again and catch all the little bits & witticisms and make the links I missed in the first reading. Terry always gets me with some on a second and sometimes third reading.

Thank you Terry, I feel I have known Vimes as he has matured - or been domesticated? - but not tamed by someone who cares enough to give him a long enough rope to hang someone who deserves it. I do have a special soft spot for the witches mark you, so don't you go telling them otherwise (never know when you might need a witch).

Amazing man Terry, and if you get to read this please carry on and I really and sincerely hope you enjoy writing these as much as I do reading them, wishing you a long and happy working friendship with Rob, I hope you both get to take a good holiday (of the non-Snuff kind, might mean going away from the countryside in your case)?

7. Review: Wonderful, Wonderful Wincanton.

Written by Leonard Boyd & David Brashaw - Backspindle Games. http://www.guardsguards.com

Grasping a hastily printed out route map and the world's first directionally challenged sat-nav the two Hogswatch newbies from Guards! Guards! stepped off the plane at Bristol, picked up fresh horses from the Europcar rental stables, and set out into the unknown ...

Despite the best efforts of our 'never-to-be-trusted' sat-nav guiding us merrily along a road which had probably last seen traffic when several centuria from a passing cohort took a wrong turn on the long march north to the wall, we eventually arrived in Wincanton, ready for Hogswatch and determined to find out what all the fuss was about.

We checked into our B&B and set off into town to find the lay of the land. After a quick visit to the 'Bear' and the Dolphin we sat down for some fine food in the 'Nog. The Bear, the Dolphin, the Nog? This report is sounding more like a trip to the zoo than a night out at a Discworld event. (I'm not certain what sort of animal a Nog is but I'm sure if it exists Ridcully's probably shot one).

With our thirsts quenched and stomachs filled we headed out to a small room at the back of the Nog Inn to be thrilled and chilled by the freakishly fearsome tale of the 'Monster Chef' brilliantly told by the wonderful Harry! (We're already looking forward to hearing the next instalment - "The Monster Doctor")

After a quick visit to some crazy Karaoke at the Bear where we witnessed, amongst other wonders, a coven of beautiful witches entrancing the crowd with a bewitching rendition of 'Sisters are doing it for themselves' we retired to the bar. Here we enjoyed a brief pint with Martin Wallace, before settling down for some inspired conversation and ale fuelled discussions with a few of the many Hogswatch pilgrims.

Saturday morning came very early. Mostly because Friday night left very late. But we were up in time for breakfast and although not exactly bright eyed and bushy tailed; we could at least be described as partially coherent and mostly vertical. On our way to the games room we had the pleasure of meeting Ian and Reb at Discworld Emporium before heading over to the Dolphin to get ourselves set up, ready and waiting for whatever the Discworld and Hogswatch could throw at us.

And so began two days of great fun and games. We had many visitors to our demo tables. From witches and wizards to vampires and voodoo lords, we played Guards! Guards! non-stop each day. The Discworld was saved many times. Many alliances were formed across the playing board only to be broken on the very next turn by a sneakily placed saboteur and then hastily, if perhaps a little more warily, reformed again when the next dragon was summoned in Ankh-Morpork.

We had lots of great games of Guards! Guards! (Including the one where we all got well and truly thrashed by an 11 year old! - well done Sam!) But one stands out above all.

The very first game we played on Saturday morning (which saw Jason taking to the gaming table against three worthy opponents). It all began innocently enough, but rapidly became an epic encounter with all the excitement, drama, pitfalls and perils of a Greek Odyssey. It will pass into legend and as generations gather round the fires on long winter nights, tales will be told and songs will be sung of derring-do and dastardly deeds and the valiant hero who faced down 4 dragons to return the Great Spells and save the day.

We managed to break away from the games room and catch some of the open mic night in the Bear and we were honoured to have been present to witness the creation of a Discworld Dame. (Something the ladies can all aspire to, however we doubt there are many women out there who have the necessary equipment to become a Dame like Davina). We had a chance on Saturday to meet once again with the wonderful Bernard and Isobel and were delighted to talk once more with Colin Smythe and to meet Rob (Terry's assistant) for the first time.

To top it all off on Sunday we got to meet with a certain gentleman in a particular hat. What an honour it was to finally come face to face and chat with the man whose writing we have enjoyed for so long and who originally inspired our game exactly 20 years ago.

All in all we had a fantastic time and if someone was to ask what Wincanton at Hogswatch was like we would tell them, "It is a magical and welcoming place, inhabited to a man by some of the warmest, most approachable and friendly people a visitor to the Discworld could ever hope to meet."

Big thanks to all who took the time to sit in on a game and to everyone involved in organising the event for all their hard work in making Hogswatch 2011 a weekend to remember.

We are looking forward to meeting some familiar faces and hopefully a few new ones on our next visit to wonderful Wincanton.

8. The End

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* DiscTrivia Results *

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You could hear the snow falling. It made a strange little noise, like a faint, cold sizzle.

A1.

Wintersmith

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Thief Of Time.

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"Don't talk to me about progress. Progress just means bad things happen faster."

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Witches Abroad

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Discworld Monthly - Issue 176 - December 2011

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