Discworld Monthly - Hogswatch edition 2021 - Issue #287
↑≡1. Editorial
1.1 Rachel's Editorial
The last 20 months have felt a weird sort of time.
Like the Auditors have mucked about with the procrastinators or Death has buggered off to a timeshare in Klatch and left a leaf in charge whilst he's gone.
I personally coped for a while by putting on a three day virtual event (Llamedos On the Clacks) from my living room (learning a whole new set of skills like video editing, audio editing, credit creation, live streaming, etc etc) and running a whole set of online quizzes.
I have severely missed seeing actual people. The smell, the sound, the change in air pressure when someone walks in a room, the hugs... I've missed all of it.
Zoom/ Teams/ Skype/ Facetime/ Whatsapp/ etc are great in their own way but it doesn't convey the smell of someone's fart or the wetness of their tears on your shoulder like you would get in person.
My life usually revolves around doing a huge amount of stuff on my own at my PC and the reward and relief from it is going to events where I do crazy stuff with people I care about.
For the first year, I coped without the events. Without seeing people in person.
About 10 months ago a Roller Coaster Club event which I really wanted to go to got cancelled.
(yes we are members of The Roller Coaster Club of Great Britain)
I can't explain fully why but I lost interest in everything.
Anything that made me sit at a computer screen made me want to tear my own eyes out of my head.
That included writing Discworld Monthly newsletters.
With not enough news to warrant the effort to write it, I tucked my head into painting and drawing instead and pushed out whatever news came out via our social media channels only because I could do that without causing my eyes to bleed in protest.
That is why we haven't had an issue since April.
I want to thank everyone who took the time to email us to ask what was going on and if they had missed an issue. It meant a lot to me that people missed receiving Discworld Monthly.
It took a couple of small gestures from friends to make me turn on the PC and write this issue. (They know who they are. BTW I had to wait for the PC to have done the bloody Windows 11 update too)
Although I am knee deep in organising Llamedos Holiday Camp, stuff for Swansea Comic and Gaming Convention, talks and stuff for the Discworld Convention in August, I now have the motivation to keep you all up to date with the newsletter.
If you want to help us, WRITE STUFF!!! Rant about things, celebrate things, tell us what you think about the new audiobooks, the animation, the plays, the lack of plushies!!!
Email us with stuff to info@discworldmonthly.co.uk
So keep reading, keep yourselves sane and keep helping us by promoting us out there on social media land.
2022 is full of 25 Years of Discworld Monthly, Conventions, Events, films, 50 years of Terry Pratchett, and utter utter madness, we have so much we want to tell you but we can't just yet….
Let's hope we can do it all….
Happy Hogswatch everyone x
Rachel
↑≡1.2 Jason's Editorial
Welcome back to our first newsletter in several months. I would like to thank all those that asked what was going on. It was nice to receive the emails asking after us but it also made me feel incredibly guilty each time for letting you down.
I'd forgotten just how much effort goes into producing a newsletter. Rachel spent nearly 10 hours today collating the newsletter and I've already spent three hours putting it into a format ready to send out. And I'm only about half way there. Reporting the news via social media is relatively easy but formatting for the newsletter takes a lot more effort which is why we've let things go.
I'm not going to make any promises on how frequently we'll produce newsletters from now on but rest assured we will continue to report anything we find newsworthy via our social media channels.
With that in mind I am going to set an arbitrary deadline for submissions to issue 288 of Discworld Monthly and that will be 18th January 2022.
Jason
↑≡2. News
2.1 2022 is the Year of the Lachrymating Leveret
It was decreed on the 1st December that 2022 will be the Year of the Lachrymating Leveret.
For those who need to google that, it essentially means the year of the crying baby hare.
↑≡2.2 50 Years of Terry Pratchett.
Back in 1971, a young Terry Pratchett had his first book published by Colin Smythe Publishing.
That book was The Carpet People and whilst it was later mucked about with by another author called Terry Pratchett, the first edition version of the book has never been re-published.
The next twelve months will be full of surprises, keep an eye on our social media channels and on a new website terrypratchett.com
To kick start the year, back on the 15th November there was a special talk at Senate House Library by Colin Smythe titled Celebrating 50 Years of Terry Pratchett's The Carpet People.
It was a very small event with just 25 people in attendance, which Discworld Monthly's Rachel was able to attend along with Marc Burrows (author of The Magic of Terry Pratchett) .
The talk is available to watch over on Youtube. youtu.be
↑≡2.3 25 Years of Discworld Monthly
Discworld Monthly was first published back in 1997 which makes it 25 years old in 2022.
It was created as a replacement for Discworld Review which only lasted two issues before being resigned to the winds of time.
Phil Penney (ex of The Guild of Fans and Disciples) is the man Jason needs to blame for pushing Jason to produce a newsletter and here we are 25 years later.
Back in our very first issue we were talking about the documentary Jungle Quest and the fruitless campaign to get it released onto VHS (google that if you are unsure boys and girls - Jason) . Terry had just finished Jingo and was also working on The Last Continent, he had also made an announcement that he was going on a signing tour in the UK in May.
↑≡2.3.1 Discworld Monthly 25 years Celebration.
As Jason would have officially been writing Discworld Monthly for exactly half his life, we thought we would make a bit of a fuss.
In May 2022 we intend on holding a bit of a celebration hopefully somewhere relatively central ie in or around Reading. It will be a ticketed event with a meal and a bit of sentimental slush thrown into the mix.
If you would be interested in joining us, fill in this google form to register your interest!
↑≡2.4 NEW Book Releases
This last month saw a brand new special edition of the Hogfather in paperback appear on shelves in the UK. (see our competition to win a copy) .
Next year we will get another special edition, this time to coincide with the release of The Amazing Maurice. Currently we have a date of the 1st September for its publication.
Our best guess is that it will be a film tie-in edition similar to the Going Postal, The Colour of Magic and Hogfather editions we have seen in the past from Corgi.
It will be a paperback and it's current R.R.P. is 7.99GBP
View our affiliate links to order The Amazing Maurice (Special Edition)In April, we see the Bromeliad Trilogy get released in another hardback trilogy edition.
Whilst we don't have cover images yet for this edition, we suspect it will have a Mark Beech illustrated cover. Currently the date we have is the 14th April 2022 for its publication.
This edition will be hardback at a R.R.P. of 16.99GBP
View our affiliate links to order Bromeliad Trilogy (Hardback)↑≡2.5 The Abominable SnowBaby Animation
The amazing cast of Dame Julie Walters, Hugh Dancy and narrator David Harewood star in the animated adaptation of Sir Terry Pratchett's short story The Abominable SnowBaby
You can read the original story online or in the book Father Christmas's Fake Beard.
The Abominable SnowBaby (online)
In this charming, festive tale of friendship, love and the best of the Christmas spirit, a small town is thrown into disarray by the unexpected appearance of a 14-foot 'snow monster'.
The creature is rescued by the indomitable Granny (Walters) and her grandson Albert (Dancy) , but not everyone is happy with the new arrangement...
It will appear in the UK on Channel 4 on Christmas day at 7.30pm and in Australia on Channel 10 at 6pm on Christmas Day. The animation is 30 mins long.
Trailer is available to watch on youtube youtube.com
↑≡2.5.1 Soundtrack Album of Terry Pratchett's The Abominable SnowBaby
Eagle Eye Drama have released the soundtrack to Terry Pratchett's The Abominable SnowBaby. The album features the original music from the Christmas special composed by Stefano Cabrea and is just fabulous.
Listening to it doesn't spoil the animation and it just makes us more excited to see the end product.
You can purchase the whole album of music from the animation now over on Amazon, Apple Music and Spotify
Apple Music - music.apple.com
Spotify - open.spotify.com
↑≡2.5.2 Launch Event at BFI in London on Sat 4th December 2021
There was a launch event held at the BFI in London which was attended by BFI members and celebrities and their families such as Myleen Klass, Michelle Heaton, Linda Robson, Jade Parfitt, Adeel Akhtar, Annie Mac, Amanda Lamb, Gemma Whelan and Laura Hamilton.
There was a giant SnowBaby in attendance which had been previously used for promotional photos.
Whilst we have no photos from the event, the Snowbaby can be seen with Julie Walters dressed as Granny. It is a giant statue under all that fur!
The day not only included a showing of the animation, a Q&A with the creative team but also a workshop where attendees could design their own member of the Snowbaby family or have a go at making an animation themselves.
Special Abominable SnowBaby tote goodie bags were given out containing a special The Abominable SnowBaby coloring book and pencils, 2 badges, a bag of chocolate snowballs, a bag of Grannys chocolate sprouts, A SnowBaby bug and a Limited edition Light Blue Book.
↑≡2.5.3 Limited Edition Light Blue Book - Terry Pratchett's The Abominable SnowBaby
The Little Light Blue book is a limited (1000 copies) edition small blue folio book containing not only the original story illustrated by Terry Pratchett's The Abominable SnowBaby director Massimo Fenati but also two very special introductions about the animation by Rob Wilkins and Massimo Fenati.
We believe this edition was also available to mailing list subscribers of Discworld.com priced at 45GBP. (may still be - email them and ask!)
↑≡2.6 Good Omens 2 news round-up
They started filming Good Omens 2 back in October up in the wilds of Scotland.
Since then a smattering of images have appeared on various social media channels.
Our personal favourite is this image from a Glasgow baker who made doughnuts for the whole crew. Source : instagram.com
Some casting news came out last week.
Jon Hamm is back as Gabriel with Doon Mackichan as the angel Michael and Gloria Obianyo, who returns to play the angel Uriel.
↑≡2.7 The Amazing Maurice Sky Cinema Film news.
2.7.1 Casting News and images
The current cast list looks like this:
- Hugh Laurie as Maurice,
- Emilia Clarke as Malicia,
- Himesh Patel as Keith,
- Gemma Arterton as Peaches,
- David Tennant as Dangerous Beans,
- Ariyon Bakare as Darktan,
- Julie Atherton as Nourishing,
- Joe Sugg as Sardines,
- Rob Brydon as The Pied Piper,
- Hugh Bonneville as The Mayor,
- David Thewlis as Boss Man.
Last week, an announcement came out that Peter Serafinowicz will be the voice of Death. This means that there will be a definitive voice of Death throughout the film and new audiobooks (read more about those later on in this newsletter) .
If you haven't seen the images of the characters yet, here they are in all their glorious detail.
Let us know what you think of them via info@discworldmonthly.co.uk
↑≡2.7.2 Merchandise alert !!
Titan Books are producing a super-high quality hardback coffee table art book, 'The Amazing Maurice: The Art of the Film', which will be released to coincide with the launch of the film
Working in close collaboration with the production team, the book will be a celebration of the creative process of bringing The Amazing Maurice to life, including concept art, sketches, storyboards, behind the scenes photography, and interviews with cast and crew.
It is being written by Los-Angeles based author and journalist Ramin Zahed, Editor in Chief of Animation Magazine.
More details about this item when we get them !
↑≡2.7.3 More Maurice Merchandise!
Everything from T-shirts, scarves, board games, plushies, stationary, books and other giftware and apparel will be available.
Retailers such as Forbidden Planet will be carrying the range as well as the film's own online store.
Specialist retailer Forbidden Planet has partnered with Cantilever to launch an eclectic product range based on The Amazing Maurice including adult T-shirts, children's T-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts and scarves as well as an extensive range of gift and home product and accessories.
Cantilever has also partnered with Val Fry of Fryday Brands to build a consumer products range across key categories to include digital and board games, plush, stationery, gifting and apparel.
Val Fry said, "The Amazing Maurice has a broad appeal spanning a wide audience of both dedicated Terry Pratchett fans and also family movie lovers. We are excited by the reactions and conversations with licensing partners and look forward to expanding the world of Maurice to fans new and old."
Maurice Plushie anyone?
↑≡2.8 New AudioBooks !
Penguin Audio have been busy bees over the last year as they have started recording 40 of Terry's Discworld books as audiobooks.
They will be released over the next 2 years (see schedule below) and have a variety of well known voices narrating and playing certain parts.
The first to come out on Audible (and other places) was Hogfather back on the 9th December.
Sian Clifford is the narrator of the Death series of books with Peter Serafinowicz lending his voice to Death and Bill Nighy as the voice of the footnotes throughout all the books..
- Sian Clifford is the narrator of the Death series of books.
- Indira Varma is the narrator of the Witches series of books.
- Colin Morgan is the narrator of the Wizard series of books.
- Andy Serkis is the narrator of Small Gods.
The Watch series, The Tiffany series and some of the stand alone books have yet to have narrators announced. As soon as we know, we'll pass on the information via our social media channels.
↑≡2.8.1 Release Schedule.
Currently the schedule for releases looks like this.
9th December 2021
- Hogfather - Read by Sian Clifford
28th April 2022
- Equal Rites - Read by Indira Varma
- Wyrd Sisters - Read by Indira Varma
- Witches Abroad - Read by Indira Varma
- Lords and Ladies - Read by Indira Varma
- Carpe Jugulum - Read by Indira Varma
- Maskerade - Read by Indira Varma
- Small Gods - Read by Andy Serkis
7th July 2022
- The Colour of Magic - Read by Colin Morgan
- The Light Fantastic - Read by Colin Morgan
- Sourcery - Read by Colin Morgan
- Eric - Read by Colin Morgan
- The Last Continent - Read by Colin Morgan
- Interesting Times - Read by Colin Morgan
- Unseen Academicals - Read by Colin Morgan
6th October 2022
- The Amazing Maurice - Read by TBA
27th October 2022
- Mort - Read by Sian Clifford
- Reaper Man - Read by Sian Clifford
- Soul Music- Read by Sian Clifford
- Thief of Time - Read by Sian Clifford
23rd February 2023
- Pyramids - Read by TBA
- Moving Pictures- Read by TBA
- The Truth - Read by TBA
- Monstrous Regiment - Read by TBA
- Going Postal - Read by TBA
- Making Money - Read by TBA
- Raising Steam - Read by TBA
27th April 2023
- Guards! Guards! - Read by TBA
- Men At Arms - Read by TBA
- Feet of Clay - Read by TBA
- Jingo - Read by TBA
- The Fifth Elephant - Read by TBA
- Thud! - Read by TBA
- Night Watch - Read by TBA
- Snuff - Read by TBA
- The Wee Free Men - Read by TBA
- A Hat Full of Sky - Read by TBA
- Wintersmith - Read by TBA
- I Shall Wear Midnight - Read by TBA
- The Shepherd's Crown - Read by TBA
We'll write a review of Hogfather for next month when we have finished listening to it - but if you want to give us your views on this new audiobook, email us at info@discworldmonthly.co.uk
↑≡2.9 Cancellation of Australian Convention
Due to the ongoing issues with COVID and the unpredictability of whether events will be allowed to take place in Australia the team at the Australian Discworld Convention made the very difficult choice to cancel the 2022 Australian Discworld Convention. Head over to their website for more details about what this means to attending members.
↑≡3. Competition Time
We have a copy of the Corgi special edition paperback of Hogfather to give away to one lucky person.
To enter you need to answer the question below and email us with your answer, your name and address to competition@discworldmonthly.co.uk
| Q1. | In the book Hogfather, Twyla describes the monster in the basement to Susan. How many legs does it have according to Twyla? |
Competition date ends 20th January 2022.
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 to all readers.
↑≡4. 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 belated birthday to everyone we missed this year.
Happy December Greetings to: Pallas Jade, Martin Holloway, Sean Bell, Marita Arvaniti, Karlyanne Bantock, Gill Milford-Scott, Sharon O'Connor, Margaret Rouke, Charlotte Le Grys, James Serjeant, Hannah Boron, Roisin Rowlinson, Cathie McEvoy, Wendy Blaser, Paul Stevens, Andrew Knight, Freya Tarttelin, Nicole Landy, Kerri McCaffrey, Hilary Lucas, Sebastian Barwinek, Andy Loveridge, Marc Simonetti, Ian Whybrew, Rob Grundy, Susan Hagstrom, Dave Corne, Amy Atkins, Tim Brown, Lau LeiaTortoise Twenteas, Ella Farley, Karen Stropkovic, Steve Lewis, Steve Himel, Issac Olding, Robert Mansridge and Peter Helmer Madsen
↑≡5. 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 in ways that even we don't claim to understand...
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 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.
*From: "David White" ddpwhite@hotmail.com
I've just been reading my copy of Wyrd sisters (Corgi paperback edition reprinted 1991) . On page 16 near the bottom it says [Granny Weatherwax] sat down on a rock and looked at the child in her arms. It was a boy, no more than two years old, and quite naked under the blanket"
As the child was subsequently described and treated as a baby, I assume it should be two MONTHS old not two years!
Of no great importance, of course. I just enjoy picking up these oddities!
*From: "John Molyneux" Jay@molyneux1.force9.co.uk
Did anyone else notice the veiled reference to Sir Terry's Guards series in the re-run of the ITV series 'Endeavour'?
In the episode entitled CODA one of the good guys, Inspector Thursday, is giving some advice to a policewoman who has just witnessed her colleague being gunned down.
I can't remember the quote directly but he says words to the effect "Here is some good advice that my old mentor Sergeant Vimes gave me at Cable street"
Since the series is set in the sixties does this mean that as well as his time travel exploits in 'Night Watch', Vimes has also travelled to Oxford in our own world's past timeline?
Apologies if this is 'Old Hat' but it's the first time I've noticed it.
* From: "Alien Bard" alienskies@gmail.com
While I understood the perspective of the review printed in the last issue I also felt it was a bit harsh. So I decided to write my own review and offer it to you as a counterpoint of sorts.
The Watch TV Series, Yet Another Review
First, let me say that the show would be a lot more enjoyable if I had never read the books. Every time a character was named (especially during the first few episodes) it was like a slap in the face and took me out of the moment. If they had simply given the characters new names it would have let me really relax and enjoy the show. Although everything is clearly 'inspired by' the Discworld books it is just as clearly not those places or characters.
Next I would like to say that the sfx are amazing for a show who's budget clearly consists of whatever loose coinage they could find behind the couch cushions. It kind of reminds me of old classics like Star Trek or Doctor Who back when creators had to rely on creativity to produce their sfx. The only exception is death's voice. I have no idea why they didn't use the voice effects from the audio books or at least run it through a quick editor to give it some reverb.
I really enjoyed the acting, costumes, set design, and directing which I felt were absolutely top notch (despite the apparent budget) . Even the story is okay although it seems kind of muddled. The ending was the most disappointing with its implication that if they continue the show it'll just be recycling the same old story over and over.
As I said at the start, the biggest problem I had with the show was the attempt to force a connection with the Discworld characters and books. They seem desperate to force that link but end up falling flat on their faces in the attempt. The first episode alone must have used up nearly a whole novel's worth of discworld puns and jokes, very few of which were effective. Which is a shame because these 'new' characters have their own unique appeal even though they are not the actual characters we know and love from the discworld novels.
There were several other things that I felt were weak and confusing (and totally unnecessary) which dragged the show down to some extent. Such as the room in the library which allows people to read each other's minds, or the Bloody Stupid Johnson stuff being blamed on the archchancellor. But these are pretty minor faults and could even be made into positive aspects in the long term.
The bottom line is that there really is a lot of potential and the show could be good if it were allowed to grow organically, but it will never be the watch we were hoping for. And those slaps upside the head reminding us of that are going to make it very difficult for many Discworld fans to enjoy no matter how hard the cast and crew work at it.
Overall I did like the show despite everything and will continue to watch it (assuming it doesn't get cancelled) despite the annoyances. The nausea decreased considerably over the first 8 episodes and in time I will learn to mentally replace the character's names with different ones that don't make me want to compare them with their discworld counterparts.
A friendly reminder that these views are purely my own. I encourage everyone to make their own opinion based on their own perspective.
*From: "Bri Derbyshire" bd1944@yahoo.com
It's saddening to hear what happened to The Watch, but I can't say I'm surprised.
Compared with nearly everyone else, Sir Pterry did very well in his dealings with translators-into-video. Cosgrove Hall's versions of Wyrd Sisters and Soul Music were sort of Anglo-Manga in style, but nevertheless had their souls in exactly the right place. The three from The Mob were pretty much exemplary, too, as was "Good Omens." Pity it didn't last...
But it always used to be awful. Check out Neil Gaiman's short "The Goldfish Pool and Other Stories" (it's in "Smoke and Mirrors") for a report on what Hollywood does to writers. Look at what happened to the latter part of the film they made of his "Stardust," or to Carl Hiaasen's "Strip Tease." Even Studio Ghibli, who you'd expect to know better, made rather a mess of "Howl's Moving Castle." The motto seems to be, "Reduce to Lowest Possible Common Denominator."
(In fact, the one and only instance I know of the film being better than the book is "How to Train Your Dragon.")
Not even J.K.Rowlings' famously tight control over her Harry Potter franchise was able to prevent a certain degree of dilution and Disnification. So it seems the only way to get anything done properly is to have it done by fans who (a) are not in the employ of the spiritual descendants of Sam Goldwyn - and (b) are not sold down the river in mid-production.
So yes, let's cherish what we have, and hope for better things - but deny the oxygen of publicity to travesties and rip-offs.
PS - does anyone know what the term "High-concept" is supposed to mean? (As in the comment on Mort {but can we lose Death, please?} Either word, alone, is no problem: but the best I can come up with is:
A show-biz functionary's buzz-phrase meaning "good, but probably too clever for my boss."
Better-informed translations welcome!
*From: "Nancy O'Shea" dallasjr58@gmail.com
RE: The Watch
Well I had been warned, and so when it arrived on TVNZ On Demand, down here on our small green dots at the bottom of the world, I watched with some dubious anticipation.
Once you realised it had absolutely nothing to do with PTerry's view of Discworld it was alright.
Sam Vimes reminded me so much of PopEye the Sailor Man it was difficult to take him seriously.
But they did show right at the very end the Summoning Dark sign on his arm, so maybe there is more to come....
*From: "Graham Grigg" graham@possumprint.com.au
I found the review of The Watch interesting and I agree, to a large extent, with the author's thoughts on the characterisations in The Watch.
Richard Dormer's Vimes is a little too crazy, for mine (like,insane crazy) . The heavy eyeliner and lurching walk don't fit with the descriptions in the books, unless we're talking about his early days as a complete drunkard. Likewise, as was pointed out in the article, Cheery Littlebottom being over 6' tall is just absurd. That Lady Sybil Ramkin is a stunning black woman, rather than the 'Dawn Frenchesque' character described in the books (her breasts rose and fell like the Roman Empire) is another jarring miscasting. She's also somewhat of a martial artist, which STP's Sybil is not. Angua is also way too short to be a werewolf - and, to answer a point raised in the article, Angua isn't put in the cells by the others; she puts herself in the cell to avoid hurting anyone when she changes. Also, was it entirely necessary for the entire cast (other than Carrot, Sybil and Cheery) to look like they'd been dragged through a muddy hedgerow? I can live with these things though, but I cannot deal with the greatest travesty - that the Patrician is a woman. The term, Patrician, means a man. If it's a woman, she would be a Matrician!
Having said all that, I think what you need to do is suspend the thought that this show was based on STP's works and world, and watch it from a purely entertainment viewpoint. If you can do that (and it took me a while to get to that point) then the show is not all bad. It's not going to win any BAFTAs, but it's not alone in that.
By the end of Episode 8 I found myself looking forward to series 2. As yet, I have heard no confirmation that a Series 2 will even be made.
↑≡6. Review: Hogfather Audiobook
Review by Frankie Murphy
I have been a fan of Terry Pratchett's since reading The Colour of Magic back at the beginning, not a super fan but one of the quiet ones who just devour everything by STP. I was looking forward to this new production being read by a female narrator as this is Susan's book and Nigel Planer has never felt quite right. I have listened to thousands of Audio books as I am dyslexic and this one definitely falls in the bottom 25% and I am very easy to please.
I am sure the narrator would be fine with another book but not this one. The wizards' voices are high pitched and painful to listen to, fingernails scraping across glass and the other voices she does are not done very well. She definitely does not bring out the comedy in the book. Death's voice is mediocre at best, it does not have the timbre of one who comes from the depths of time.
The blame lies firmly on the producer and editors shoulders, what were they thinking of? Could they not hear it was going wrong? If the narrator had just been for Susan, she would have been acceptable. Wizards sound skinny and whingy and there is no gravitas for Arch Chancellor Ridcully. This should have been apparent right back at the beginning of recording.
To add insult to injury, Audible have removed the Nigel Planer recording so there is no choice.
I know tastes change with time, so new book covers, Audio versions and other stuff. I have to assume that once the estate handed the books over to Penguin, they had no say in the production. I was going to replace all the Nigel Planer recordings but now he seems the best of a bad job.
It has been a grave disappointment.
↑≡7. Review: Making Money - Live in Australia
Review by: Stewart Brown
This is a review for a recent trip to a production of Sir Terry Pratchett's adaptation to stage of Making Money at the Brisbane Arts Theatre, Brisbane, QLD Australia.
It is great to build the anticipation looking at the set and particularly the skyline of Ankh Morpork and the top of the guilds with the chimney stacks attempting to identify the guild by its silhouette. I only got half of the six I could see and it kept me thinking as to what the others were. My wife who accompanies me yearly on these outings to the Brisbane Arts Theatre, Brisbane Queensland Australia, and I agreed that this was the weakest production of Sir Terry's brilliant novels. It just lacks laughs there was only a minor character whose actor was naturally funny and although the actor playing Moist was competent in his stage craft he was unable to produce comic effect. Though for an avid DiscWorld fan there are still plenty of laughs with insider references and also habits and physical eccentricities that our much loved regular characters show. The staging was and always is simplistic but the front of the bank was very well done and cheap wood and plywood was painted superbly to look a very realistic sandstone. The costumes are very well made and provide a very realistic representation of my mental pictures of the characters clothing I have when reading the books. However, there was a problem with the costume of Gladys the golem which is that what is basically a helmet on her head makes it extremely difficult to hear the actor and not just a little it is so low that it is very hard to hear what is said.
The plot is slightly disjointed around the subplot in the book of the golden golems and what is rather a detailed short story is made into a very short and I'm sure if you were unfamiliar with the story that the treating of it in the play would be confusing and maybe even a little bewildering.
There was no differentiation in the set between Vetinari and Moist's desk and it was one and the same desk but it was confusing at times because you were left wondering why Vetinari was sitting at Moist's desk? The actor playing Pucci Lavish was excellent at portraying a self-centred and heartless heiress and when she said that she was going out for a date as she went off stage I actually contemplated who would have her and what she classified as a date.
The weirdest imagining of a character's appearance went to Mr Slant which was polar opposite to my image of the character. The actor looked like a poorly thought out halloween costume and his colouring was white and burgundy not grey and it was disappointing to see. The theatre has a regular actor who plays the part of Vetenari and this is a fitting place to finish up as he is a brilliant professional who has captured the essence of his character entirely. With comic timing and a well placed raise of the eyebrow he brings laughs and admiration for his mastery of the craft. So on the whole a great night out with only a few let-downs at a theatre with a crew determined to provide theatre-goers with quality entertainment.
↑≡8. The End
This month's issue is brought to you by a lot of mental spoons, a little patience and quite a lot of luck and determination.
The deadline for submissions to issue 288 of Discworld Monthly is the 18th January 2022.
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↑≡8.6 Small Print
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↑≡8.7 Thanks
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Thank you Terry Pratchett
↑≡8.8 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]
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Keep smiling, Keep washing those hands but most of all, Keep breathing.
We will all get to hug again !
GNU Terry Pratchett...
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