Discworld Monthly - Issue 281 - October 2020
↑≡1. Editorial
Welcome to issue 281. This, I suspect, is probably going to be slightly controversial. Whilst Discworld Monthly remains agnostic in its view of The Watch Series, this is how I, Jason, feel about what I have recently seen.
On Friday 9th October a panel was held at the virtual New York Comic Con (NYCC) about the upcoming The Watch TV series created by BBC America.
During the panel a few clips from the show were presented along with the series trailer. The team behind the show explained how none of the books lended themselves from being adapted into an eight part series so they made up their own stories using Terry's characters and locations. This in itself is not really a problem as the Watch was never meant to be a direct adaptation of any one book. But, it was always meant to be part of the Discworld.
I really tried to go into this with an open mind. I have seen several photos from sets etc that show a very different view of the Discworld location and characters than those that I have in my head but held off expressing a public opinion until I had seen some actual footage, this is after all the medium we are talking about.
I have to say now that I am even less impressed having seen the clips. When was Vimes ever an eyeliner wearing gooner (please watch all the clips... he couldn't stick his chin out in a more popeye way if he tried) . I don't really know Richard Dormer as an actor and I don't know what direction he was given but I just cannot reconcile the bumbling character on the screen with the character in the books.
The scene where they sober Vimes up is I assume meant to be funny and I appreciate I am seeing this out of context but I just can't help thinking that the poor actors were giving so much misinformation about what they were meant to be doing. Since when was Discworld slapstick?
Oh, and what happened with Death. I am pretty sure Terry never described him physically as a Jawa in really dark clothes. And the voice really doesn't work either - where are the ledden tones? This version appears to have as much body in the voice as there is in the costume.
Before I watched the trailer I genuinely thought the series would be good if they hadn't claimed it was based on anything by Terry. Take the Discworld name away and the premise sounds good. But having seen what we have seen I still couldn't take it seriously in any way.
I will still watch the series, if I can, to see if we have just been unlucky and shown all the goofy bits and the real meat of the story is still to be seen.
For those with access to BBC America The Watch will be shown 3rd January 2021. For the rest of us we'll just have to wait and see when and how we can watch this. As of writing this editorial we cannot find a single television company / streaming service outside of BBC America with The Watch in their schedules.
Jason
The trailer, clips and panel are all available on YouTube. Simply head over to YouTube and search for #thewatch and let us know what you think by sending us a readers' letter.
I have watched The Watch trailers several times over the last couple of days. I have watched them at full speed, I have watched them frame by frame. I've even screenshotted bits so I could zoom in and look at things in the background. There are things that should be in our Discworld but seem to be from a (in their own words) "Secondhand Set of Dimensions". (That said, they got the Imp in the Iconograph looking almost exactly like I imagined him)
I really feel that the whole thing could have been so much more.
As I said to a friend today, it feels like someone's grandmother read the Discworld books, loved the books so much that she explained them to her 16 year old grandson, who ten years later, became a script writer and wrote a series idea based on that old memory until someone else pointed out his idea was based on Terry Pratchett's Discworld.
On that note, I'm just going to say - It will debut on BBC America on the 3rd January 2021
I've spent 3 days looking for where else The Watch will be broadcast through all the means at my disposal and can only find it being broadcast legally on BBC America.
If you happen to find it on your TV schedules anywhere else in the world, do let us know as we are trying to let the world know where they can watch it if they wish to.
* *
October is also Disc-tober month. We've been running this art challenge all month through our social media pages (namely Facebook and Instagram) and have absolutely loved all of the artwork that's been produced. It's not too late to get involved, just head over to discworldmonthly.co.uk to find out more.
* *
A couple of last things from me:
For those who were going to be headed to the Netherlands at the end of this month, the sad news that Cabbagecon 6 has been cancelled until 2022 came just a couple of weeks ago.
Coupled with the UK Discworld Convention being postponed until 2022, it means the fandom has missed out on seeing each other a lot in the last seven months.
Llamedos Holiday Camp was the only Discworld event of 2020
Whilst I'm personally glad we were able to run Llamedos, it seems it happened years ago.
It has been just seven months since we first said "Schmae Campers" and created a whole load of good memories for what has been a horribly difficult year for most.
Online events have been reasonably plentiful, but they will never replace the atmosphere of a hotel full of Discworld fans. Let's hope that 2021 brings us all some hope that events can start again in 2022 without too many issues.
Rachel
The website for the 2021 Irish Discworld Convention has just gone live. The Convention will take place at the Cork International Hotel over the weekend of the 8th-11th October 2021.
Tickets haven't gone on sale yet but take a look at: 2021.idwcon.org for more information.
If you have something you'd like to chat with other fans about, why not send us a readers' letter, to info@discworldmonthly.co.uk
--
Jason Rincewind Anthony-Rowlands (Editor and Wizzard) info@discworldmonthly.co.uk
Rachel Anthony-Rowlands (Not a Goth Jawa) rachel@discworldmonthly.co.uk
Richard Massey (Still here?)
If you want to make a small, purely optional, financial donation to the upkeep of the newsletter please use our Paypal account info@discworldmonthly.co.uk
We'd like to thank all those that have already helped, you really do make a difference.
↑≡1.1 Important Information
We have several places where you can get up to the minute news and information about all things Discworld from Discworld Monthly.
Facebook: Discworld Monthly Facebook Page
Twitter: @dwmoook
Instagram: Discworld Monthly on Instagram
And our website, discworldmonthly.co.uk which contains loads of information about the books, stage productions around the world, interesting articles, back issues and our merchandise shop.
↑≡1.2 Submissions
Want to make your opinions about the Discworld known to the world?
Have you been to see a play or a Discworld related event and want to write a review about it?
Then get writing! We are always on the lookout for exclusive articles and reviews to share with our readers so don't hesitate, email us today with the subject Article/Review at rachel@discworldmonthly.co.uk
If you are putting on a stage production or know of a stage production near you, please email us and let us know about that too.
We happily advertise all stage productions for free and we can help in other ways too. Email rachel@discworldmonthly.co.uk with the Subject line "Stage Production".
The deadline for submissions to issue 282 of Discworld Monthly is the 8th November 2020.
↑≡1.3 Merchandise
Discworld Monthly has an amazing (if we say so ourselves) range of mugs , badges , fridge magnets , keyrings , and window stickers for sale worldwide.
If you love the idea of The Watch series, we have our very own Vimes and Errol range available for your delight.
If you want something a bit more personal, you can always show your love for your favourite Discworld newsletter with a personalised Discworld Monthly mug.
↑≡2. News
2.1 Senate House Library Online Events
Senate House Library houses a huge archive of Terry Pratchett's works.
As part of the Being More Human Festival they are holding 2 online events.
Magical Mind: The World of Terry Pratchett - Join Neil Gaiman, Rob Wilkins & Rhianna Pratchett online as they explore the fantastical Discworld universe
Tue, 17 November 2020, 18:00 – 19:00 GMT
Terry Pratchett's novels created a new world where fantasy, science-fiction, humour and satire coexisted, firing the imagination of millions of readers all over the world.
Join this live conversation event online with Neil Gaiman, Rob Wilkins & Rhianna Pratchett as they explore the fantastical Discworld universe of characters and plots where magical and mechanical technology go hand in hand.
Neil Gaiman is an international bestselling writer and co-author with Pratchett of Good Omens. Rob Wilkins is the producer of Good Omens and Pratchett's long-term friend, assistant and manager of his estate. Rhianna Pratchett is the daughter of Terry Pratchett and is a BAFTA nominated Scriptwriter & Story Designer and previous winner of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain 'Best Videogame Script' award.
Stories of Imagination: Exploring Terry Pratchett's Archive - Explore letters, books & objects from the Pratchett archive, tagging items to create a new digital resource to study Terry Pratchett's world
Thu, 19 November 2020, 18:00 – 19:00 GMT
In this workshop they invite you to experiment with digital technology to add knowledge and stories to the fascinating and unique Terry Pratchett Archive, held at Senate House Library.
Explore rare letters, books, illustrations, objects and other items from the digitised Pratchett collection while you tag and describe them, adding information using the simple and fun multi-media and knowledge sharing platform, Scalar.
No previous knowledge of Terry Pratchett and his work or Scalar are required for this workshop.
The workshop will be led by digital humanities experts Christopher Ohge (Institute of English Studies) and James Cummings (Newcastle University) and Senate House Library Head of Special Collections, Maria Castrillo.
For further information please see Being Human Festival
Unfortunately within an hour of tickets being made available, they had sold out for both events.
We know they have the ability to record them both and hopefully they will do so and get them on Youtube for all to see.
↑≡2.2 Discworld Monthly October Online Quiz
For the first time ever, we got Zoom Bombed during our September quiz, as a direct result of this, we have had to go the whole pre-register route to prevent a recurrence.
I know we keep saying we are going to bung our previous quizzes out on Youtube, and that will happen in the next week or so.
We will be re-recording the quizzes so that only the questions and answers get broadcast. It means we won't be showing any of the chatter or participants, but it also means we won't be showing any of our personal screw ups on pronunciation or general failures in our ability to speak.
To register for our October Quiz, we have gone with Eventbrite, since setting it up we know we've already had 30 people register for our October Quiz.
Important Info
The date of the October Quiz is Thursday, 22 October 2020 from 8pm UK time
As per usual we will be hosting it on Zoom, but you must have an account with them to take part. It's free and takes just a few moments to register at zoom.us
To register for a Quiz ticket you will need to either register via either our Facebook event and click "Get/Find Tickets" or via Eventbrite
You will get sent the Zoom link via Eventbrite just before the start time of 8pm. We won't start the quiz until about 8.15pm to allow everyone time to log in etc.
[Sidenote, Zoom is an added expense for us here at Discworld Monthly, one we can't really afford every month. If you fancy helping out with the cost side of things, bung a few pennies in our paypal with the wording "Zoom help" and we can use it to put on another online event in the future. - Rachel]
↑≡2.3 Discworld & Beyond Exhibition in Christchurch UK
Discworld & Beyond is a touring exhibition featuring the cover art and illustrations of Paul Kidby, and is currently residing at the Red House Museum and Gardens in Christchurch, Dorset.
Tickets are free but you must pre-book a time slot ticket to gain entry due to Covid measures.
The exhibition runs from now until Sat 5th December 2020.
The Exhibition is open from 10am until 4pm every Wed, Thursday, Fri and Sat.
To book your ticket hcct.digitickets.co.uk
↑≡2.4 The Watch NYCC Panel and Trailers
The New York Comic Con panel with the cast and crew of The Watch is available to watch online for those who missed it. All 3 clips and the trailer are shown in the panel so there is no need to watch both. Enjoy .. or not..
NYCC Panel
Clip 1 - Is this Death?
Clip 2 - Raise your Hand
Clip 3- Meet the City Watch
Teaser Trailer
↑≡2.5 Ineffable Convention 2 - Online Event
The Good Omens TV series fandom is quite strong and last year they held their very first convention with approximately 100 people in attendance.
This year they are holding their convention online over 3 days with a range of special guests from Friday 16th October until Sun 18th October 2020.
Guest lineup includes:
- Neil Gaiman
- Douglas Mackinnon
- David Arold
- Rob Wilkins
- Paul Adeyefa
- Claire Anderson
- Peter Anderson Studio
- Mary - The Bentley and owner Jeremy Marshall-Roberts
- Marc Burrows.
Tickets cost 25GBP and are available from their website
More information available : theineffablecon.org.uk
↑≡2.6 Good Omens Merchandise - Funko Pops
It appears Neil Gaiman has a genie somewhere as it appears they are on the release list for 2021
There will be an Aziraphale with book and a Crowley with an apple available as individual Funko Pop TV figures with limited edition versions (also known as chase editions) for those who want to chase them down.
There will also be a twin pack of Aziraphale and Crowley with wings.
More info when we get it but until then, we will just have to imagine what they are like.
↑≡2.7 The Illustrated Guards! Guards!
The Illustrated Guards! Guards! will be released onto the universe on 12th November 2020.
With 2 editions from Orion/Gollancz to choose from, a standard edition and a slipcase edition.
Standard Edition cover
Special Edition cover
The Dunmanifestin special editions will get published in 2021
The standard 30GBP edition features ten glorious full-colour illustrations and further pencil drawings by Paul Kidby and costs 30GBP. ISBN :9781473230705
The slipcase edition is signed by Paul Kidby and features ten glorious full-colour illustrations and further pencil drawings. This edition is slipcased, has sprayed edges and includes a marker ribbon and costs 75GBP. ISBN: 9781473230712
You can pre-order from our affiliate links below.
View our affiliate links to order Illustrated Guards! Guards! - Standard Edition View our affiliate links to order Illustrated Guards! Guards! - Slipcase Edition↑≡2.8 Ankh-Morpork Archives Volume 2
The Ankh-Morpork Archives Vol 2 - due for release on 29th October 2020
Ankh-Morpork is a bottomless pit of secrets. It's time to unearth a few more . . .
In the second volume of this confidential guide, brave travellers are made privy to the inner workings of more illustrious Ankh-Morpork societies.
Collecting the information from the 1999 City Watch diary, the 2001 Fool's Guild diary, the 2003 Reformed Vampyrs diary and Lu-Tze Yearbook of enlightenment 2008, this archive has Completely revamped and redesigned the information in this full-colour book.
ISBN-13: 9781473229648
Price 25GBP
View our affiliate links to order The Ankh-Morpork Vol 2↑≡2.9 Book Releases
Publishing dates have been screwed around by COVID-19, but if you have already pre-ordered, your order should still stand.
We now have a few new affiliates in our programme so you have more choice as to where to buy things from. We gained Book Depository, Blackwells and Forbidden Planet in the last couple of months.
In September
The Time-Travelling Caveman and other stories
Available now
Standard hardback will be 15.99GBP
View our affiliate links to order The Time-Travelling Caveman and other stories - Standard EditionSlipcased deluxe edition will be 25GBP
View our affiliate links to order The Time-Travelling Caveman and other stories - Slipcase EditionAudiobook edition 6.99GBP.
View our affiliate links to order The Time-Travelling Caveman and other stories - AudiobookeBook 8.99GBP
View our affiliate links to order The Time-Travelling Caveman and other stories - eBook---
In October
Rhianna Pratchett - Crystal of Storms - Was released on 1st October 2020
R.R.P is 6.99GBP
View our affiliate links to order Crystal of Storms---
In November
Illustrated Guards! Guards!
There are two versions of this glorious illustrated edition due out in November 2020
With each of the editions containing 10 full page colour illustrations and series of pencil drawings, these editions of Guards! Guards! follow the format of the illustrated Good Omens that were released last year.
View our affiliate links to order Illustrated Guards! Guards! - Standard Edition View our affiliate links to order Illustrated Guards! Guards! - Slipcase EditionThe Dunmanifestin editions are being delayed until 2021
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RE-SCHEDULED for publication in April 2021
A new collection of short stories by various authors will be published by Puffin books.
The Puffin Book of Funny Stories has stories and extracts from best-loved classic authors Joan Aiken, Terry Pratchett, Dick King-Smith, Rebecca Elliott, Humza Arshad, Henry White, Julian Clary, Sam Copeland and other contemporary writers.
ISBN-13: 978-0241434734
Price 7.99GBP in the UK in paperback, 3.99GBP on kindle
View our affiliate links to order Puffin Book of Funny Stories↑≡3. DiscTrivia
This month's questions all relate to The Color of Magic.
| Q1. | What is the name of the magical sword that Rincewind uses? |
| Q2. | When did Twoflower first discover his love of dragons? |
| Q3. | What substance are hydrophobes trained on from birth? |
| Q4. | What is the name of the place where krakens went fearfully, and in pairs? |
| Q5. | What colour is Marchesa's hair? |
The answers as usual can be found at the end of this issue.
↑≡4. Review: The Time-travelling Caveman - Slipcase Edition
By Jason Anthony-Rowlands
Last month I reviewed the standard edition of The Time-travelling Caveman. This month the slipcase edition that I ordered turned up so I thought I'd review the differences between the two versions.
The slipcase itself looks beautiful in its simple black design with silver writing and image on one side. The book cover itself is bright yellow with black writing on the spine and that's it. No writing on the front or back. The book contains one more story than the standard version named "The Bed Scratcher" which has the brilliant concept of a group of people who live outside of time and paint rust on cars, make leaves turn brown and fall off trees etc and make everything age. It's a fun little story but probably not worth purchasing this book over the standard edition.
The slipcase edition is limited to a run of 3450 and each is hand numbered, ours is 1354.
I actually prefer the cover (not the dust jacket) of the standard edition over the slipcase edition. I was also disappointed with the quality of the slipcase when compared to the previous three books in the series. Each of those has a nicer feel and what appears to be better build quality. The spine of the other books is slightly rounded and they give a nice feel in the hand when reading the book but The time-travelling caveman's spine is completely flat. It's a small thing admittedly but it just doesn't quite fit in with the quality of the previous releases.
The slipcase edition also comes with a full colour print from Doggins Has an Awfully Big Adventure that is slightly bigger than postcard size. This print makes up for the lack of colour within the book - it would have been nice if the book featured coloured illustrations like Father Christmas' Fake Beard.
ISBN: 978-0-857-53603-7
↑≡5. Review: Feet of Clay (live) - Brisbane Art Theatre
Review by Thomas Grieve
My wife and I attended the first night of Feet of Clay performed at the Brisbane Arts Theatre in Queensland, Australia.
It was directed by Shaun King (5 Terry Pratchett productions) and starred Daniel Grey as Commander Sam Vimes (6 Discworld shows (3 as Sam Vimes)) , Callum Pulsford as Captain Carrot (8 Discworld shows) and Sasha Barclay as Constable Angua (5 Discworld shows) .
Supporting the big 3 were Amanda Lay as Cheri Littlebottom, John Grey as Lord Vetinari and Nobbs, Stu Fisher as Colon, Daniel Baker as Detritus and King Golem, Julian Hobson as Dragon, Simon Lyell as Dorfl, Samantha McLaughlin as Carry, Caitlin Smith as Drumknott, Isobel Smith as Doughnut Jimmy, Steve Durber as Visit, Lucerne Eggleton as Dr Downey, Paul Fear as Sock, Tallulah Grey as Rosie Palm and Alastair Wallace as Whiteface.
This was my wife and my third Discworld performance by Brisbane Art Theatre and all have been wonderful, however, Feet of Clay has been the best so far. There was only one backdrop used with two desks placed on the flanks to center the performance as it moved from scene to scene. Daniel Grey was superb, his portrayal of Vimes reflected who I think Vimes is from the books. His job interview scene with Cheery Littlebottom was exactly how I imagined it from the novel. Captain Carrot had a beard but I will forgive him that because he was very good, his chemistry with Angua was entertaining and she made sure you knew she was the one holding the cards.
All of the supporting cast were good, you could tell that they really enjoyed performing Feet of Clay. Due to COVID, the theatre was thinly filled with patrons but we showed our appreciation at the conclusion of the show.
Overall Feet of Clay is a must see and we are looking forward to next year's Discworld production.
↑≡6. Competition Result: The Time-travelling Caveman
Last month we had a copy of The Time-travelling Caveman to give away. We asked you to answer the following question.
| Q1. | What is the name of the second anthology in this series? |
The answer we were looking for was The Witch's Vacuum Cleaner.
The vast majority of people managed to get the correct answer. Although without mentioning any names one person sent their (incorrect) answer to the wrong email address. Like all exams please ensure you read the question fully before attempting to answer!
The randomly selected winner is Neill Gudgin from Essex.
We'll get your prize in the post on Monday.
↑≡7. Competition: Troll Bridge Blu-ray
We have a wonderful prize this month, Snowgum Film's Troll Bridge on Blu-ray (European edition) plus the amazing Troll Bridge poster by Marc Simonetti.
To be in with a chance of winning you need to tell us the names of each of Mica's three brothers in law along with your postal address.
**Errata** Jason forgot to put the email address you need to send your answers to.
In order to win the copy of Troll Bridge and a Poster, you need to send your answer along with your postal address to competitions@discworldmonthly.co.uk by 8th November 2020.
Your address will only be used for sending out your prize should you be the lucky winner. Once prizes are sent out all address details will be destroyed. Entries received after the closing date or sent to any other address will be ignored. No more than one entry per person will be accepted - multiple entries will result in a ban from the competition. Failure to answer the questions or provide your postal address will prevent you from being entered into the competition. Answers to the questions must not be posted to any websites before the competition ends. The judges' decision is final. The competition is open only to readers in the UK and Europe (due to BluRay region) .
The winner will be announced in the next issue.
↑≡8. Birthdays
Everyone has a birthday. If you know someone who would like a mention or if you would like your birthday included in the listings, send us an email the month before your birthday and we will add it to the list! Email rachel@discworldmonthly.co.uk Subject: Birthday
Happy October Birthday greetings to: Our editor Jason (and his daughter Isobel) , Malcom Minchin, Jes Hynes, Completeli Batty, Pauline Pixie, Estelle Botham, Nathalie Eeckhout, Dan Young, Amy Atha-Nicholls, John Hicks, Revelle Gerson, our eldest son Jack Anthony James, Barbara Felton, Pete Haddock (AMCW) , Len Brook, Douglas Carr, Libby Irvine, Lottie Holland, Nathalie De Schampheleer, Simon Rowlinson, Peter Morwood, Sara Long, Anne Birgitte Nielsen, Emma Willis, Justin Dorey, Pete Belson, Rob Lupine, Becky Ottery, David Moger (not 60 years young anymore) , Helen Woodall.
↑≡9. 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 edit your letters using crochet hook number four!
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.
We make an editorial decision on what letters to include. Sometimes the opinions expressed in a letter are not the same as our own but we reserve the right to publish them nevertheless. You might not like the content of the letters we publish and we encourage you to write in your own constructive letters explaining your points of view. We will not shy away from you including letters that question our views and expect our readers to be able to accept that not everyone has the same point of view on all subjects.
Please bear in mind that the Discworld Universe does NOT include The Watch TV series and thus if we read deeply between the lines, it looks like we will only get the one season of it anyway whether you love it or hate it - Rachel
* From: "Ian Sharp" ian.sharp@gmail.com
"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."
Perhaps you could forward your guide for writers to Simon Allen. Passing off STP's work as his own is despicable. For this reason alone I won't be watching.
* From: "John Molyneux" Jay@molyneux1.force9.co.uk
I was moved by the leader in this month's issue because it saddened me to think that someone could corrupt a creation so insensitively. To take the City Watch and turn it into something unrecognisable seems incomprehensible.
I have only read about the 'watch series' online and obviously have never seen it but I agree with you that something seems wrong here. I think that I would agree with you that it seems that the 'creators' of this series have traded on Terry's name and following to promote yet another seedy defective-detective clone.
As an author myself I know and understand the characters I create. They are, in some ways, alive in my own mind. When I read and re-read Terry's stories his characters aren't disturbed, dark vigilantes with their own, twisted, motivations. They are ordinary people who react in ordinary humorous ways to their part in beautifully written but ultimately straightforward tales. There are goodies, there are baddies but there are seldom, if ever, any truly evil demons or truly good paragons. The lunacy is gentle and amusing, not violent and psychotic. Hence I cannot
reconcile some of the 'blurb' that has been used to describe the characters in the 'watch' with the 'gang' that I've grown to know and love. Really... a feminist Sybil, a female Carcer, a grunge Angua, a female patrician (what's wrong with Lady Margolotta if you want a female
authority figure who is both powerful and astute) and an anti-charismatic Carrot . Not to mention the apparent absence of Nobby and Colon.
I started reading Terry's books a long time ago; I read a copy of 'The Dark Side of the Sun' in 1978 (still have it on the bookshelf) and kept up with his career ever since. With my own books my first attempts weren't polished and it took me some time to 'find my feet'. I think I can empathise that Terry must have had the same problem with his early works (as anyone who reads "Colour of Magic" has to admit) . However I persevered and bought more and more of his books and the discworld became a familiar home for my imagination. It was one that I sought out with every new book he published: Terry is the only author for whom I actively pre-ordered every one of his later books in hardback. I once met Terry at a book signing in Widnes and he came across as I'd imagined; a genial soul with a sparkle in his imagination that was reflected in his eyes. I was saddened by his decline and passing; he will be missed but I still have all the wonderful books that he wrote to console me.
* From: "Polly Ballantine" polly.ballantine@gmail.com
From what is reported Terry's work is going to be eviscerated! It sounds like The Watch is going to be a travesty of his wit, wisdom and meaning of his satire and critique of power. It's like his legacy to the world is being debased. Deeply saddened.
* From: "name provided but withheld upon request"
What [I think - Ed] all PTerry fans want from 'The Watch' is an accurate and well made series that is actually an adaption of Terry's works.
The novels are all the reference they need to make a decent job of 'the watch', not some social malarkey that has nothing to do with the actual characters in the books. If the BBC wants to make a socially positive series, steampunk or otherwise, that is all well and good, I'd probably watch it, but that has absolutely nothing to do with the proper adaptation of a master author's works into another media.
So many "Hollywood" productions take a fan favorite book and then make whatever they want and disrespect the original intent and integrity of the original work. I am personally tired of waiting for productions that do not live up to the original work, and further actually make it look as if all the producers and scriptwriters did, was read the books' cover synopsis and then write their own bullshit and market it as a faithful adaptation. Nope. Life is too short to watch that kind of crap. 'Nuf said.
↑≡10. Stage Productions
Of course, most if not all of the productions that would normally appear here have been cancelled or postponed due to COVID-19. We really hope that once the current situation has resolved itself the productions will be rescheduled and we can get our regular dose of Pratchett performances.
Whilst we would love to get to every event and play to write reviews and articles about them, we just don't have enough time, petrol and a wide enough spread of friends to borrow the couch for the night. But you, our wonderful readers do have the time, petrol and often don't need the couches as the event or play is on your doorstep!
We don't have English degrees here and you don't need one either to write something for Discworld Monthly!
PS. If you know of a play or event that we don't know about (shock horror) , email us. We like the surprise!
All submissions should be emailed to rachel@discworldmonthly.co.uk or info@discworldmonthly.co.uk
Don't forget to visit Pratchett Stage Productions for our most up-to-date list of stage productions.
↑≡11. Discworld Conventions and other Events
The UK Discworld Convention has been postponed until 2022.
CabbageCon 2020 has been Cancelled and the next one will happen in 2022. .
Online events are happening - see our index for details.
↑≡12. Recurring Fan Meetings
By their very nature the listing of recurring fan meetings remains static. So we've moved the full listings to our website at Recurring Fan Meetings
The newsletter will only include any listings that are new or have changed within the last 30 days.
↑≡13. The End
This month's issue is brought to you by crochet, pumpkins and online events!
The deadline for submissions to issue 282 of Discworld Monthly is the 8th November 2020.
↑≡13.1 Supporting Discworld Monthly
Discworld Monthly was created as a totally free newsletter and will continue to remain so for as long as it continues. However, the costs of maintaining the website, postage, travel etc. add up. If you feel you would like to make a small contribution towards these costs please consider doing so via: PayPal
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↑≡13.2 eBook Editions
Since issue 166 we have produced a version of Discworld Monthly that is formatted better for the Amazon Kindle eBook reader and since issue 186 we also produce an ePub version for other eBook readers such as the Kobo, Nook and Sony readers.
You can download either version from Discworld Monthly eBooks
Please do let us know if you use them!
↑≡13.3 Contact Information
We prefer information to be sent via email info@discworldmonthly.co.uk or rachel@discworldmonthly.co.uk but can also accept information via post at the following addresses: Discworld Monthly, 20 Cambrian Place, Pontarddulais, Swansea, SA4 8RG, United Kingdom
↑≡13.4 Latest Book Information
This Discworld Monthly website a list of books on our website with the cover blurb and direct links to UK, US and Canadian Amazon websites.
Terry Pratchett books at Discworld Monthly
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Discworld Monthly Affiliate Links
We have an extensive Terry Pratchett biography with a tick list you can print out at:
↑≡13.5 Subscription Information
To subscribe to Discworld Monthly simply enter your email address in the form on the Discworld Monthly web page. Our web site contains all back issues and links to other Pratchett sites.
To unsubscribe please follow the instructions at the end of this email.
↑≡13.6 Trivia Answers
| Q1. | What is the name of the magical sword that Rincewind uses? |
| A1. | Kring. |
| Q2. | When did Twoflower first discover his love of dragons? |
| A2. | When he was two after seeing illustrations in The Octarine Fairy Book. |
| Q3. | What substance are hydrophobes trained on from birth? |
| A3. | Dehydrated water. |
| Q4. | What is the name of the place where krakens went fearfully, and in pairs? |
| A4. | Gorunna Trench. |
| Q5. | What colour is Marchesa's hair? |
| A5. | The colour of Moonlight. |
13.7 Small Print
We make every effort we can to ensure the information in this newsletter is accurate and legal. All trademarks are recognized as the property of their respective owners, whoever they may be. Discworld (R) is a registered trademark of the Estate of Sir Terry Pratchett used under licence.
↑≡13.8 Thanks
Thanks for reading this issue of 'Discworld Monthly'. We hope you enjoyed it. If you have any comments, complaints or suggestions for the future of this newsletter please email the editor : info@discworldmonthly.co.uk
Thank you Terry Pratchett
↑≡13.9 The Final Word...
*Rachel here*
We may not be perfect designers, or award winning journalists but we do our best to keep you all entertained and informed about all things Terry. We do have some ethics though. We like our news to be current, up to date and factual with a solid source. We don't like posting rumours but occasionally the source it comes from is 98 percent solid so we will tell you it's a rumour and confirm it when we have a 100 percent confirmation. Our own articles are written by us for us only. You won't find articles from other publications here unless it's a formal press release about an adaptation, book release or event or something we actually wrote for someone else unless they begged us to publish it (OK not begged but some of our lovely friends do ask us occasionally to boost something) . [NB I say we are not award winning but Discworld Monthly did win Website of the Month for Issue 3 back in a different century. It would be nice to win something much more recent, or even just get acknowledged #justsaying]
Whilst you keep reading it, we'll keep on writing it because we love Terry's books just as much as you do.
GNU Terry Pratchett...
Affiliate Links
- Illustrated Guards! Guards! - Standard Edition
- Illustrated Guards! Guards! - Slipcase Edition
- The Ankh-Morpork Vol 2
- The Time-Travelling Caveman and other stories - Standard Edition
- The Time-Travelling Caveman and other stories - Slipcase Edition
- The Time-Travelling Caveman and other stories - Audiobook
- The Time-Travelling Caveman and other stories - eBook
- Crystal of Storms
- Illustrated Guards! Guards! - Standard Edition
- Illustrated Guards! Guards! - Slipcase Edition
- Puffin Book of Funny Stories