pro libertate net

Every once in a while I get on a little book buying spree. Either because I am in London at Waterstones and had enough time to leaf through a number of books or because I just saw something in a store and decided to buy it later on the net. In that case I start to work through a list that may be a littler bit longer. Lev Grossman’s The Magicians was on my most recent book wish list… I only later found out that it is also on the Best Books of 2009 list of several newspapers.

Does it belong on such a list? Yeah, maybe.

The book is divided in several “sub-books” that are considerably different in content and atmosphere, reflecting the different stages of the protagonist’s personal pursuit of happiness. While the first part is a little bit like Harry Potter for grown-ups – the slightly depressed and manic “hero” gets to a magic college – the second part feels like a LARP gone bad.

I like Grossman’s nerdy, non-positive, dirty, bleak, and yet romantic picture of the world. His protagonists are no heroes, they are not infallible. Their quest is not motivated by a noble moral and they are taken for a ride. And even the happy end has a sad undertone.

The Magicians is thus at least on my personal Good Books of 2009 list.

I read Terry Brooks’ Landover series some years ago – more like a decade ago actually. I liked the witty humor, the cross over from the real world to the fantasy realm that reminded me a little bit of Rick Cook’s Wizardry series that I just loved. Then I read Running with the Demon that was … different.

A Knight of the Word continues what began in Running with the Demon. It is a rather dark fantasy novel in which fairy creatures populate our world. A world in which the ultimate struggle between good and evil is causing a lot of collateral damage among the unsuspecting “normal” people.

En passant Brooks dedicates his novel to a worthy cause as the backdrop of the story deals with a fight to end homelessness.

This is all fine. The novel is tantalizing, the unveiling of the real evil is not too obvious. Brooks focuses on just a few characters, he builds the plot slowly and allows for sufficient space and time to depict the emotional distress his protagonists have to endure. All very skillful. Yet, I am still a bit upset. I am upset because I just learned that the Word and Void trilogy is not just a that: a trilogy. It is a part of Brooks’ Shannara series. And I do not like the idea to stop after finishing the third novel of the Word and Void trilogy when it is a just small part of a much larger work. The problem is, I did not want to start yet another series that will take forever to finish.

Pratchett’s third Discworld novel, Equal Rites, is delightfully distinct from the first two novels, especially from the second that tried a little too hard to be funny.

First, it’s plot is driven by a completely new cast, introducing the magical professions. Second, it addresses – in its own particular way – a pressing societal problem, gender differences and discrimination in the professional world starting with vocational choice and training. Third, the rhetoric changed. It is now more subtle, inducing every once in a while a quiet chuckle. Even the pace and structure changed. The story line is more linear, different plot elements build on each other and are more interwoven than before.

I consider this the real take-off of the Discworld series. From now on, Pratchett successfully published most years two or even more Discworld novels. Only recently he slowed down a bit.

The second Discworld novel is remarkably different from the first. While The Colour of Magic was almost chaotic, the plot a collection of seemingly random episodes of a Discworld-wide journey mixed with some clever puns and references to modern culture, The Light Fantastic is characterized by an almost linear plot, a few running gags, and barely any references to our modern world. Instead Pratchett includes relatively more allusions to ‘standard’ Fantasy novels. By doing so he tries very hard to (re-)define a genre: Comedic Fantasy Fiction.

The Light Fantastic follows the Law of Sequels. It does not achieve the entertainment value, the originality, and the appeal of its predecessor. The attempt to introduce a running gag is too stilted, it fails miserably. If it was not for Pratchett’s skillful writing the Discworld series [csw]ould have ended here. Mercifully, there are still a few rather funny lines that made me laugh out loud and saved the day.

I already read Making Money last year after a long period of Pratchett abstinence. And thus I desperately wanted to read the prequel Going Postal that introduces Moist von Lipwig. Alas, there is only so much time.

Last week’s trip to Berlin – I was invited to a workshop – finally led to me reading the book on my by now not so new any more Sony ebook reader.

I am not an expert on the postal system. But, I think this novel took a lot less research than Making Money. It is rather the typical Pratchett paltering with stereotypes. Nevertheless, nice. I really do like Pratchett’s takes on the state, government, and democracy. Vetinari’s precious few remarks on these societal phenomena alone are worth reading the novel. I will most definitely read the next von Lipwig novel that is, again, supposed to deal with an economics topic: Raising Taxes.

Es ist schon eine Weile her, dass ich ein Buch von Pratchett gelesen habe. Ich mag den Humor, den Wortwitz. Ich habe keine Ahnung, warum ich in der Discworldreihe nicht weitergelesen habe. Aber bei dem aktuellen Titel Making Money konnte ich nicht widerstehen.

Zum einen scheint die Zeit für den Titel gerade richtig zu sein, zum anderen habe ich auch eine kleine Vorliebe für den Humor meiner Profession.

Pratchett hat sich gut informiert. Nicht, dass viel Recherche notwendig gewesen wäre. Aber es erfreut einen schon, dass es keine inhaltlichen Patzer in Bezug auf das Geld gibt. So habe ich dann auch an einigen Stellen herzhaft lachen müssen. Vielleicht sollte ich doch wieder mehr Pratchett lesen… zumindest in das Prequel werde ich wohl hineinschauen. In Going Postal tauchen die Protagonisten von Making Money auch auf. Und vielleicht ist es nicht schlecht etwas mehr Hintergrund zu den Figuren zu haben. Pratchett hat ja die Angewohnheit seine Figuren über mehrere Bände hinweg weiterzuentwickeln.