12 votes

Humbe Bundle Books: (Almost) the entirety of Discworld for $16

11 comments

  1. [2]
    Chemslayer
    Link
    Humble brought back this amazing Bundle! Discworld is one of the best silly fantasy genres, I've been reading them in published order over the years and just recently finished book 8 and have...

    Humble brought back this amazing Bundle! Discworld is one of the best silly fantasy genres, I've been reading them in published order over the years and just recently finished book 8 and have enjoyed all of them immensely. The entire series for the cost of a burrito bowl may very well be the best ROI on art you will ever get!

    Note a few quirks of the bundle:

    It is missing two books, The Last Hero (which is a coffee-table picture book and doesn't seem to have any available e-book version), and Raising Steam (inexplicably, as it seems to be just another discworld book?). So if you want to be a completionist you gotta do a teeny bit more work/purchasing.

    Second, this bundle uses Kobo DRM, which means you have to use one of their readers/apps or AdobeDRM. Thankfully, AdobeDRM is so easy to break as to be almost trivial, happy to give any tutorials if people want it. (Or, if you are a busy boy without that kind of time, DM me with a proof of purchase and I'm happy to share my Drive link of the books I've already cleaned).

    5 votes
    1. Chemslayer
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      /offtopic Fun personal fact: this bundle in its original run is what taught me about Calibre, and De-DRM'ing my ebooks, in the first place! I purchased the bundle, was very upset upon learning I...

      /offtopic

      Fun personal fact: this bundle in its original run is what taught me about Calibre, and De-DRM'ing my ebooks, in the first place! I purchased the bundle, was very upset upon learning I couldn't use them on my Kindle, and some googling later I'm now an e-book hoarder archivist

      5 votes
  2. boxer_dogs_dance
    Link
    Coincidentally, Tildes book club will be discussing The Truth at the end of this month. Anyone is welcome to join the conversation.

    Coincidentally, Tildes book club will be discussing The Truth at the end of this month. Anyone is welcome to join the conversation.

    2 votes
  3. [4]
    Slystuff
    Link
    A heads up this one appears to be region locked, and isn't available in the UK or Europe as far as I can tell.

    A heads up this one appears to be region locked, and isn't available in the UK or Europe as far as I can tell.

    2 votes
    1. [2]
      Chemslayer
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      Fuck em. If you live in the UK or somewhere else that's region locked, DM me and I can give you the books. I ask that you give $16 to a charity of your choice, but I won't ask for any proof or...

      Fuck em. If you live in the UK or somewhere else that's region locked, DM me and I can give you the books. I ask that you give $16 to a charity of your choice, but I won't ask for any proof or anything. Edit: to be clear, this is an available offer for anyone affected, not just the person I replied to. Region-locking books from a dead author has actually made me mad, the greed of it all

      1 vote
      1. Slystuff
        Link Parent
        Thankfully I already own them all, but thank you for the kind offer. I imagine the region lock is down to how has the publishing rights for different parts of the globe?

        Thankfully I already own them all, but thank you for the kind offer.
        I imagine the region lock is down to how has the publishing rights for different parts of the globe?

        1 vote
    2. Chiasmic
      Link Parent
      This frustrates me as a Brit who used to love Terry Pratchett as a kid.

      This frustrates me as a Brit who used to love Terry Pratchett as a kid.

  4. [4]
    balooga
    Link
    I’ve heard the Discworld name mentioned for ages, but never really looked into it. What’s it about? What do people love about it? Gimme your best elevator pitch! Is this the sort of thing I should...

    I’ve heard the Discworld name mentioned for ages, but never really looked into it. What’s it about? What do people love about it? Gimme your best elevator pitch!

    Is this the sort of thing I should start with a particular book for? Is there a recommended reading order? Any I should skip?

    1. Chemslayer
      Link Parent
      It's a fantasy world (magic, heroes, etc), but it doesn't take itself seriously at all. It's full of dry-wit British style, clever wordplay, and absurd but fun characters. The setting has defined...

      It's a fantasy world (magic, heroes, etc), but it doesn't take itself seriously at all. It's full of dry-wit British style, clever wordplay, and absurd but fun characters. The setting has defined structures and rules, but also the rules are never allowed to get in the way of telling a fun story. It subverts traditional fantasy tropes in lots of interesting ways. And the series has many bits of morality and wisdom that comment on our society as a whole (the "$50 boots vs $10 boots theory" about how being poor is way more expensive than being rich, is from one of these books). They are light and easy reads; the stakes are never high, even when they are world-shattering, because the tone of the world is just set up to be humorous. But they still maintain compelling narratives.

      Note that there's several "sub-series" within the series, and you can ready any book in almost any order. If you do decide to read in published order like I did, note the first book is way weirder, as it was essentially him just writing a bunch of random goofs, before deciding apparently that the setting had real legs and making the rest of his books have actual coherence. (I really enjoyed that first book still but it is very random)

      3 votes
    2. Chiasmic
      Link Parent
      I think it’s something you could write a huge amount about. For me, they are funny, clever stories l, written in an easy way that makes it fun to read. They don’t take themselves too seriously....

      I think it’s something you could write a huge amount about.
      For me, they are funny, clever stories l, written in an easy way that makes it fun to read. They don’t take themselves too seriously.

      Ultimately they are all set in a fantasy world (the disc world) with magic, politics and nicely fleshed out characters. There are multiple references to the modern world dressed up in ye old style framings, which are amusing and sometimes thought provoking.

      You don’t have to read them in order, there are multiple threads following different characters. I don’t actually like the first book or the Rincewind thread, and I prefer the stories about the witches or the city guard.
      I’d pick up one of the books at the start of a thread which sounds good to you and take it from there. Guards guards! Is probably a good one to start with.

      2 votes
    3. boxer_dogs_dance
      Link Parent
      My best elevator pitch is that these are creative, fun, funny, thought provoking stories. Pratchett plays with the English language, plays with ideas and uses parody and satire effectively while...

      My best elevator pitch is that these are creative, fun, funny, thought provoking stories. Pratchett plays with the English language, plays with ideas and uses parody and satire effectively while maintaining a streak of hope balanced with realism regarding how people (of all fantasy types) interact with each other.

      Re reading order, There are charts! reading order

      There are 39 books set on discworld, but for the most part each one tells a complete story. However, some follow the same character or group of characters, so there are de facto subseries. These subseries include the city watch, the witches, the industrial revolution, the Rincewind books, the books that feature death as a character. There are also some stand alone books set on discworld.

      To start I would choose one and if you like it either dive into a subseries or do publication order. I tend to recommend Going Postal or Small Gods or the Wee Free Men as test cases, but it's hard to go wrong. The earliest books have a different style and content than later books, so if you start with one of the first four books bear that in mind.

      1 vote