An excellent edition
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Rather than summarise the book, which everyone else has done, I wanted to give the discerning listener a little guidance on the different audio editions of Pratchett available.
Let me begin by saying that Stephen Briggs' reading of Pratchett is hands down the best for me. He has a warm, loveable storytellers' voice and a real feel for the story, with great characterisations, pacy delivery and an understanding of the subject - which may sound silly in the context of a children's series, but really makes all the difference here. You can't read humourous prose as individual as Pratchett's without knwing what you're doing.
Having worked on adaptations of Pratchett books for the stage and authored the Discworld Companion, Briggs is clearly in territory that he loves, and this really comes across. He likes the characters and the humour and, in my mind, does a much better job of better known actors. Nigel Planer's reading is deadpan by comparison, plods along and doesn't pull off the humour - in fact there seems to be a twinge of boredom and even contempt there if you lilsten really closely (and sounds like it's actually sped up to make it move faster). I am struggling to finish his Light Fantastic now and it's really third-rate.
Tony Robinson is clearly more into it and gives the second best readings of Pratchett - his voice is a much better fit to stories about gnomes, but lacks the warmth of Briggs' baritone and the wit and variety of his characterisations.
In summary I would campaign for Briggs to record all of the Pratchett books and would happily buy them all again! Can someone put a picture of the edition up on there and do some proper marketing of this great unabridged recording!
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Read out loud fun for kids (and their parents)
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This is a great book for kids.
I read this out loud to my 8 year old and, for the final truck scene, we were laughing out loud as the events unfolded.
As you would expect from a great writer, this children's book has all the elements of a good read - a coherent plot (if completely off the wall), proper well-developed characters and sharp witty writing.
If you are a parent looking for a "proper book" rather than a "children's book" for your child, I'd recommend this one - it's fun.
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Truckers, A Brilliant Book
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I think Truckers is a great book because it is funny and exciting. It keeps the reader reading and it makes you feel as if all those things actually exist. The characters are very funny; my two favorite are Dorcas, an electricity master, and Angalo prince of Haberdasheri. The setting is set near a cafe, in a store, inside a lorry and in a quarry. Again this book is very funny and I would recommend this book to all ages.
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A great book by a fantastic author
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Terry Pratchett's Truckers, from the Bromeliad trilogy, is the story of a relatively small and unheard-of species, nomes, who live in parallel with today's humans. The majority of nomes resided in what was known as the store, which was in fact a large department store; there were different departments in the store, and each department had a tightly-knit factions of nomes (for instance, the Haberdasheri) who, for the most part, remained in their own departments. Arnold Bros (est. 1905), the founder of the store, was idolized by the nomes who resided in the store; to them, he was the akin to our God. Then there was another, smaller group of nomes, led by Masklin, who lived in the outdoors; the two groups crossed paths when Masklin decided that he disliked the cold winters, the wild hunting and the general difficulty to survive in the harsh conditions - so they hitched a lift on a truck, which, by complete coincidence, was destined for this store. This store was, apparently, the perfect dwelling; there was food at every turn, and everything a nome could possibly want was easily found. It was discovered that the Store was to be destroyed within a few weeks - and Masklin's seemingly impossible task was to evacuate every single nome from the doomed Store. Although this is a book aimed primarily at children, it is nothing less than enjoyable for anyone of any age-group. It is fascinating to look down on a completely separate species from a human perspective, and to see them fascinated by ours; the few nomes with the privilege of being able to read saw signs in the department as "messages" from Arnold Bros (est. 1905). The species is thoroughly constructed and cross-referenced to such an extent that you might even believe that nomes actually exist! Pratchett provides vivid descriptions of both the characters themselves and the surroundings throughout - but the best thing is that these descriptions are written from the point of view of a nome. This makes you feel au fait with the characters and their starkly different observations. The genre of the book is fantasy, and has many comic elements to it, featuring hilarious power-struggles, heated arguments, and a wonderfully ironic generation gap adding to the humour of the book. It is well worth a read, regardless of the type of book which you prefer.
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Brill!
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Another great book, my an amazing author. Of course its Terry. This is the first book of the adventures of the nomes; Truckers, Diggers, and Wings (which i'm reading now). The story is about a group nomes who are "outside" and they discover there are other nomes in this place called "The Store". The problem is the store nomes don't believe in outside. So when the other nomes find out that something terrible is going to happen to The Store will they do something in time... YOUR'RE HAVE TO READ OR LISTEN TO FIND OUT!
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