Steve & Colm tackle the penultimate book in the Discworld canon, finding a lot to talk about and a lot more to disagree about. They discuss modernity, tradition, identity, fundamentalism, and, of course, trains. Colm sets off groans across the north east of England and Steve makes an enemy of the gnome community.
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Steve & Colm discuss Vimes’ final outing, as the Commander of the City Watch takes a jaunt to the country with his family. They discuss the risk of homogenisation during cultural integration, parse the plot to unpick its uneven attempts at narrative tension, and try to remember who was supposed to eat who in Swift’s ‘A Modest Proposal.’
Colm and Steve discuss the penultimate book in the Tiffany Aching sub-series. They talk about the pros and cons of narrative messiness, modernity encroaching into the Chalk, and characters navigating the tricky balance between public responsibilities and private desires.
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Colm and Steve take a look at Pratchett taking a look at the beautiful game. Colm pedantically grumbles about some of the football stuff Terry got wrong (a forward wearing the number 4 is a crime against nature) but there’s some actual critical analysis as well! Fashion, class and dramatic stakes (or lack thereof) are all discussed herein.
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Steve and Colm briefly divert from reading through the Discworld series to discuss the trailer for BBC America’s controversial adaptation of The Watch.
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Colm and Steve cast an eye over Moist von Lipwig’s second outing. Their discussion takes in how the novel’s strengths and weaknesses are interlinked (namely: loadsa ideas and a very well established world to draw from), whether Moist is worthy of the role of recurring protagonist and the worst joke in the entire Discworld canon.
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Steve and Colm tackle Tiffany’s third adventure, taking in Twilight, Titanic and teenage angst. They discuss the significance of the character-driven nature of the Tiffany books, themes of responsibility and community, and the struggle for a witch to hold onto herself.
Steve and Colm divert from their usual trek through the Discworld books to speak with Marc Burrows about his forthcoming book, The Magic of Terry Pratchett. Marc has written the first full biography of the great man and it’s jammed with insights, anecdotes and truly fantastic footnotes.
You can follow Marc on Twitter @20thcenturymarc & find the book at his website, askmeaboutterrypratchett.com. The Magic of Terry Pratchett will be released on July 30th.
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Colm & Steve go back to the well on Pratchett going back to the well of Dwarf-Troll tensions. They discuss brilliant atmosphere building, less than brilliant plotting and whether Vimes still works as a protagonist post-Night Watch.
Rose returns to join Colm and Steve in discussing the introduction of Pratchett’s final recurring protagonist, Moist Von Lipwig. They talk about community, finance, conman-archetypes, and Colm rambles about a Metal Gear Solid-style Discworld-set game replete with themed sub-bosses.
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