TQ's Book Count 2026

[The Queen]

#24: Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett. I should have read these books in order; or if not in order, by sub-topic. Within the Discworld series, there are a few uncategorized, standalone books, but several that each belong to a subtopic.There are the books focusing in the wizards, another series related to witches, another about the City Watch, several about Death, and two others I haven’t run into yet. It’s almost like watching a multi-year series with different seasons and watching them out of order.

This one was the first in the City Watch series, explains the Patrician, the origin of Captain Vimes and how he met his wife, and introduces Nobby and Colon who I’ve met in subsequent City Watch books. Nice to now understand the background, and it certainly would have enriched by experience of Men At Arms and Jingo.

Ah well, whatever. My brain will unscramble it all eventually.

[The Queen]

#24: Eric by Terry Pratchett. Eric is a rich man’s spoiled son, playing around with summoning demon the way a modern nerd might play around with hacking networks, because he’s bored and wants to live forever, world domination and a gorgeous chick with boobs. Eric somehow manages to summon Rincewind, a wizard who was trapped in an adjacent dimension (and who featured in earlier Discworld books as the wizard famed for his practical cowardice, and whose lack of talents and desire to be happily bored was thwarted by being adopted by sentient luggage and accidentally falling in with companions who led “interesting” lives). Rincewind is very surprised to be trapped in a magical circle and even more surprised when, having agreed to attempt to fulfill the brat’s wishes, snaps his fingers and finds they’ve traveled to the beginning of Time (because if you’re going to live forever, you have to start from the moment the world was created). Yes, there are two more finger snaps, and two more worlds and no, Rincewind didn’t suddenly become magically powerful, he’s just being used by a demon with an ulterior motive.

On the whole, it was a satisfying short story, but not enough Luggage in the story.