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Most of us grew up having always known when to touch wood or cross our fingers, and what happens when a princess kisses a frog or a boy pulls a sword from a stone, yet sadly some of these things are beginning to be forgotten. Legends, myths, and fairy tales: Our world is made up of the stories we told ourselves about where we came from and how we got here. It is the same on Discworld, except that beings, which on Earth are creatures of the imagination - like vampires, trolls, witches and, possibly, gods - are real, alive and, in some cases kicking, on the Disc.
A Blink of the Screen charts the course of Pratchett's long writing career: from his schooldays through to his first writing job on the Bucks Free Press and the origins of his debut novel, The Carpet People, and on again to the dizzy mastery of the phenomenally successful Discworld series.
A storm. Rain-lashed city streets. A flash of lightning. A scruffy lad sees a girl leap desperately from a horse-drawn carriage in a vain attempt to escape her captors. Can the lad stand by and let her be caught again? Of course not, because he's...Dodger. Seventeen-year-old Dodger may be a street urchin, but he gleans a living from London's sewers, and he knows a jewel when he sees one. He's not about to let anything happen to the unknown girl - not even if her fate impacts the most powerful people in England.
Thirteen-year-old Mau is the only one left after a giant wave sweeps his island village away. But when much is taken, something is returned, and somewhere in the jungle, Daphne - a girl from the other side of the globe - is the sole survivor of a ship destroyed by the same wave.
A wonderful collection of short stories by master storyteller Sir Terry Pratchett, featuring dragons, dinosaurs, cavemen and car races! Dragons have invaded Crumbling Castle, and all of King Arthur's knights are either on holiday or visiting their grannies. It's a disaster! Luckily, there's a spare suit of armour and a very small boy called Ralph who's willing to fill it. Together with Fortnight the Friday knight and Fossfiddle the wizard, Ralph sets out to defeat the fearsome fire-breathers.
The Witch's Vacuum Cleaner and Other Stories is the second fabulously funny short story collection from the late acclaimed storyteller Terry Pratchett. A follow-up to Dragons at Crumbling Castle, this second batch of storytelling gems features stories written when Sir Terry was just 17 years old and working as a junior reporter. In this audiobook new Pratchett fans will find wonder, mayhem, sorcery, and delight - and loyal listeners will recognize the seeds of ideas that went on to influence his most beloved tales later in life.
Most of us grew up having always known when to touch wood or cross our fingers, and what happens when a princess kisses a frog or a boy pulls a sword from a stone, yet sadly some of these things are beginning to be forgotten. Legends, myths, and fairy tales: Our world is made up of the stories we told ourselves about where we came from and how we got here. It is the same on Discworld, except that beings, which on Earth are creatures of the imagination - like vampires, trolls, witches and, possibly, gods - are real, alive and, in some cases kicking, on the Disc.
A Blink of the Screen charts the course of Pratchett's long writing career: from his schooldays through to his first writing job on the Bucks Free Press and the origins of his debut novel, The Carpet People, and on again to the dizzy mastery of the phenomenally successful Discworld series.
A storm. Rain-lashed city streets. A flash of lightning. A scruffy lad sees a girl leap desperately from a horse-drawn carriage in a vain attempt to escape her captors. Can the lad stand by and let her be caught again? Of course not, because he's...Dodger. Seventeen-year-old Dodger may be a street urchin, but he gleans a living from London's sewers, and he knows a jewel when he sees one. He's not about to let anything happen to the unknown girl - not even if her fate impacts the most powerful people in England.
Thirteen-year-old Mau is the only one left after a giant wave sweeps his island village away. But when much is taken, something is returned, and somewhere in the jungle, Daphne - a girl from the other side of the globe - is the sole survivor of a ship destroyed by the same wave.
A wonderful collection of short stories by master storyteller Sir Terry Pratchett, featuring dragons, dinosaurs, cavemen and car races! Dragons have invaded Crumbling Castle, and all of King Arthur's knights are either on holiday or visiting their grannies. It's a disaster! Luckily, there's a spare suit of armour and a very small boy called Ralph who's willing to fill it. Together with Fortnight the Friday knight and Fossfiddle the wizard, Ralph sets out to defeat the fearsome fire-breathers.
The Witch's Vacuum Cleaner and Other Stories is the second fabulously funny short story collection from the late acclaimed storyteller Terry Pratchett. A follow-up to Dragons at Crumbling Castle, this second batch of storytelling gems features stories written when Sir Terry was just 17 years old and working as a junior reporter. In this audiobook new Pratchett fans will find wonder, mayhem, sorcery, and delight - and loyal listeners will recognize the seeds of ideas that went on to influence his most beloved tales later in life.
Not just another science audiobook and not just another Discworld novella, The Science of Discworld is a creative, mind-bending mash-up of fiction and fact, that offers a wizard’s-eye view of our world that will forever change how you look at the universe.
Can Unseen University’s eccentric wizards and orangutan Librarian possibly shed any useful light on hard, rational Earthly science?
In the course of an exciting experiment, the wizards of Discworld have accidentally created a new universe. Within this universe is a planet that they name Roundworld. Roundworld is, of course, Earth, and the universe is our own. As the wizards watch their creation grow, Terry Pratchett and acclaimed science writers Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen use Discworld to examine science from the outside. Interwoven with the Pratchett’s original story are entertaining, enlightening chapters which explain key scientific principles such as the Big Bang theory and the evolution of life on Earth, as well as great moments in the history of science.
As other reviewers have said, this is really two books, a non-fiction brief history of time/evolution kind of thing with sarcastic jokes thrown in every so often and a mini disc world novella featuring the wizards of Unseen University.
It took me a while to get into this book, for two reasons which may relate more to me than to other potential readers: First, while I enjoy learning (and re-learning) about evolution and science fiction and extinctions, I really dislike learning or thinking about deep space and vast time. It gives me the heebie jeebies and makes my tummy hurt. If it doesn't do that to you, potential reader, you'll enjoy the first part of the non-fiction-y part of this book better than I did.
Second, I don't particularly like the Unseen University professors. I'd always rather read about the witches, the watch or, Vetinari. Especially Rincewind bugs me. Though he wasn't so bad in this one.
That being said, I pretty much enjoyed the second half of this book and got used to the interweaving of the two books. I was looking for the sequel but it looks like Audible doesn't have it. Shame--it sounded like there would be less deep time/space stuff.
One last suggestion: if there are any regular disc world books (besides color of magic) you haven't yet read, do those first. If you are through the whole set and need a Pratchett fix, read the Tiffany Aching books first. Still need more funny Pratchett? This one is it, I guess. (of course the less funny Long Earth books and his earlier stuff and YA is still out there for your enjoyment too).
9 of 10 people found this review helpful
This is a great book for anyone who is interested in an insightful overview of science and has enjoyed a couple of the discworld books
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
Excellent book of science (Roundworld science) for fans of Discworld. Looking forward to starting book 2.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Both educational and entertaining. All in all a good book. A must for all us discworld geeks out there.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
I wouldn't recommend this book. While the Discworld short story is charming, and the idea of an associated narrative about the real world science sounded fun. in actuality the scientific narrative is laborious, and its attempts to relate it to the Discworld universe are heavy handed and somewhat painful. I love books about science, but this is not a great example of the genre. That said, the Pratchett story, which is only a small portion of the overall length of the book, is adorable, and beautifully preformed. I would suggest the hardcore Pratchett fan who just has to have everything that Pratchett writes (which I am) listed to it, but skip every other chapter.
Was The Science of Discworld worth the listening time?
Only about 20% was worth listening to.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes. If you like the Discworld Wizards books, this is a must-read.
Have you listened to any of Michael Fenton Stevens and Stephen Briggs ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
I like Stephen Briggs's narrations very much. This is my first listen to Michael Fenton Stevens, and I do like his delivery. Lovely voice as well.
Any additional comments?
When I read my hard copy of this book, I read the alternate chapters because the novel and the science chapters alternate. If you want to read the novel without taking time for the science in the middle of the story, start with Chapter One and continue with the odd-numbered ones. The audiobook is divided by chapter, which makes it very easy to skip one and proceed to the next part of the story.
For those of you who like to read the story arcs in order, this one comes after The Last Continent.
I am so glad they have released this, and I hope very much to see the next three science books sometime soon.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful
Everything anyone needs to know about anything neatly synopsized in a low-carb, modern-paleo, gluten-free audiobook.
Features not one BUT TWO English-accented narrators meaning TWICE the IQ point bonus goes to the listener.
It's basically A/B format where the story (obviously following the Unseen Academy's storyline) is A and correlated popSci-essays are B.
That means it reads like older–more footnote-infused–Terry Pratchett, than most of his contemporary work. This may not be everyone's bag, but I feel like I'm getting the best of reading Gladwell and Pratchett at the same time.
Kudos to the sciency-writing-guys Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen (of whom, I've hitherto read nothing) for their parts. I look forward to reading more of them as well.
3 of 5 people found this review helpful
It fills the Diskworld void and educates at the same time. Great science discussions! Recommend!!
Brilliant from start to finish. A must for any science enthusiast. Discworld experience not required.
I loved the science but it's out of date now. The wizards are funny and seen a tad lost but I'm hoping they find what they really think they want next book. Headed to book two now. Love being a round world specimen