Outside of a Dog: Pratchett, Terry: (15) Men At Arms

Pam

Pam wrote on January 16, 2003 at 3:03 AM:

Hey, I've been wondering about Vetinari's age since I saw the picture of him in The Last Hero. I, too, had pictured him as a fairly old guy.

I've been thinking of rereading these, too, but I haven't gotten around to it, so I'm glad you're doing it.

Rebecca

Rebecca wrote on January 16, 2003 at 8:46 AM:

Can you have a "semi-MacGuffin?" It's a real object, after all. Subtle no, but I didn't find it strident in the least. It falls in well with other themes he has expressed in his novels over lo, these many years. Have you read "Small Gods" yet? ;-)

I think Vetinari is one of the parts of the universe that have been subjective to a certain amount of retroactive continuity, once Pratchett a) decided to do more Watch books and b) realized just how much he could do with the Patrician's character, playing him off the Watchmen.

The only bad thing about _Paths of the Dead_ in my mind was the agonized contemplation of how long we may have to wait to find out what happens next.

Chad Orzel

Chad Orzel wrote on January 16, 2003 at 1:56 PM:

Re: Paths of the Dead, I had heard that the wait for the next installment won't actually be as brutal as it might be-- supposedly, all three parts of The Viscount of Adrilankha are written, and will be published in a timely manner.

Tor's publishing schedule has The Lord of Castle Black listed for August of 2003.

Which, I'll grant, is Not Any Time Soon, but actually pretty fast for Brust...

Rebecca

Rebecca wrote on January 16, 2003 at 2:39 PM:

Thanks. So my cynical side was right, and the trilogy format is just to make mad $$$$ for the publisher...?

Mike Kozlowski

Mike Kozlowski wrote on January 16, 2003 at 4:03 PM:

Is Viscount even a trilogy any more? In Paths of the Dead, it lists a second book as forthcoming, but doesn't list a third.

(And I don't think it's for monetary reasons, but simply because each of the books is long enough to be a book.)

Kate

Kate wrote on January 16, 2003 at 8:16 PM:

Pam: So glad to be of service. =>

Rebecca: part of the reason Vetinari is retroactively younger is that it's so hard to imagine Ankh-Morpork if he was *gone*. Though that would actually be a pretty interesting book, now that I think of it. Also, I called it a semi-MacGuffin because it is real, but it also introduces a slew of motivations into the work...

RE Paths: yes, it's still a trilogy, but it doesn't appear to be fully done yet. Brust reports on his weblog that he's just finished revisions on The Lord of Castle Black, and (on Aug. 18) that the third volume will be called Sethra Lavode (previously reported as The Enchantress of Dzur Mountain, which I liked better, but I'm sure there were good reasons). Also, I'd prefer to have one at a time rather than wait even longer for one enormous volume...

Mike

Mike wrote on February 10, 2003 at 7:16 PM:

So is your installation of pink bathroom tile sucking up all your reading time, or all your blogging time?

Because I'm getting pretty bored with looking at this same page all the time.

Kate

Kate wrote on February 10, 2003 at 10:08 PM:

Mike: pfui. Hie thee to Blogtracker and stop complaining.

(And no, I didn't see this comment 'til after I updated.)

Leslie Simpson

Leslie Simpson wrote on May 12, 2003 at 11:44 AM:

Am i confused, or aten't there two Patricians -- that is, the older, more corrupt patrician is removed and Ventinari introduced? Or am I confused?...

Kate

Kate wrote on May 12, 2003 at 1:34 PM:

As far as two Patricians in the books: Pratchett says no, but with some caveats. See the Annotated Pratchett File (note for [p. 30/27]).

(Hi, by the way, and if I may ask, how'd you come across this post several months later--just catching up?)

K

K wrote on January 22, 2007 at 6:25 PM:

The reason he's limping and hobbling, I always assumed, was because [ROT13]ur'q orra fubg guebhtu gur guvtu va gur ynfg fxvezvfu orsber gur jrqqvat.

I've always been glad that Pratchett didn't forget - he still walks with a cane in later books.

(Why am I commenting to a three-year-old post, I wonder?)