Wonderful start
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I can think of a few actors who might make a better job of this than Robinson, but while he's not an inspired choice, he's more than adequate. He gets most of the 'funny-voices' right, but gets Death totally wrong. For the record, Death doesn't hiss...he has a timbre deeper than a grave. They got it nearer right in the TV version of Hogfather. Think of an avuncular Darth Vader and you'll be close. Shame about this...for me, it ruined the read; I was cringeing every time the character appeared. On the other hand, Pratchett is always wonderful, so I'd give it three and a half stars if I could. But I can't, so a charitable four.
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What a Start to the Series
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Terry Pratchett has become one of the most popular authors alive today and his popularity is richly deserved. But not even with his fertile mind could ever have envisaged the heights to which his Discworld series would rise. This book first published in 1982 is the start of the Discworld novels and to a degree it is amazing that these books have achieved such popularity.
If listening rather than reading is your preferred choice then this is the one for you. If I sat here all day I could not think of anyone better than Tony Robinson to narrate this hilariously funny tale.
You would think that a fantasy world full of trolls, zombies, witches, vampires would be an alien concept to most readers. Werewolves and dwarves in the Ankh Morpork city watch. Wizards running a university. All this to come in future episodes. Surely this style of writing would have a limited readership? but no the books are loved by anybody and everybody and are read by people who would not normally allow fantasy fiction on to their book shelves. This is the Discworld of terry Pratchett.
This first book in the series is about a wizard whois plagued by spells that don't always work and if they do, they do not always achieve the ends he had in mind. His meeting with Twoflower a 'tourist' makes for hilarious reading.
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